What do you like about maintenance?

lorrpb

Let's get some positive mojo going about maintenance! What has gone well for you? What do you like about it? Any pleasant surprises?

I'm pretty new to maintenance and I love that my body is still changing, my clothes are still getting looser, even though my weight is the same.

kami3006

It's been a while now but I do remember how much better I felt with the increased calories. I was only at a 250 calorie deficit, losing half a pound a week and felt fine doing it but once I increased the calories, I realized I did have lower energy before and it affected my mood as well.

My favorite thing about it was how well my lifts increased with the increase in calories.

And, of course, more calorie dense food as well. I went from 40g of Peanut Butter on my sandwich to 50+ which made me a happy camper.

kommodevaran

At first I was scared, but wow to the pleasant surprises!

I hit maintanance 26 months ago, and things have evolved since then. I am much more relaxed now. I have reintroduced more starch - it feels a bit strange to "allow" something I grew up with as a staple, but I think it was useful to prioritize fat and protein while losing. I have watched my weight fluctuate, quite a bit; for a few months, I was down to the weight I had at 12 years old. I love being able to eat whatever I want, but that the amounts I want is more in line with what I need, and not worry, knowing it will even out over time. I love not having to count and track and micromanage. I love to not have to exercise, but I also love to walk and dance and play. I love feeling more normal.

HappyGrape

I am new to the game but I love it this time as I feel better geared for it. I love it as I found what suits me, I love it as while loosing healthy living that feels easy and happy was my goal and now it doesn't feel much of a transition. I love it as I like shopping and trying clothes, while feeling good about myself. I love it as I am not as focus on weight, day after day and I can focus on other things more - as picking up small charity project or getting my career progress going again.

iofred

The good thing about maintenance is that you have done the loss-part, and know how to do that. Maintenance is a different mindset, as you do not have to concentrate on the scales that much anymore. With my maintenance (got there 14 months ago) I have set a weight-boundary of 5lbs in which I can play, and look for the weight I am most comfortable with. I only weigh in every 3 months now, and have been very consistent

sijomial

"What do you like about maintenance?"

• Eating more food or more precisely not having to restrict.
• Feeling energetic in everyday life.
• Feeling good that I achieved something that eluded me for 20 years.
• Training/exercising fully fuelled and hitting new goals.
• Not logging food.
• Not having to go clothes shopping for new sizes.
• Seeing the subtle positive changes from recomp.
• Inappropriate touching from women on public transport. OK - that's a lie....

srecupid

I can actually have a few beers and still be under goal. Then again I may end up eating too much

fidangul

@sijomial after reading your post I just realised that I didn't have to keep on going shopping for new clothing sizes too. Good one! But in general clothes shopping is now far more enjoyable.

However, the best best best part of maintenance is having more calories to play around with. Also, binge days don't effect me as much as it used to whilst I was actively trying to lose weight.

(7 and half months of maintenance. Don't forget the half it's very important!!)

spzjlb

I've been maintaining for just over a year after losing 30+ lbs. I like just been less anxious about logging as a whole. Personally, I weigh several times weekly to make sure I'm staying in range, but the food-exercise-weight thing is just more relaxed as a whole.

lorrpb

Congrats to everyone on successful maintenance! Thank you for your encouraging stories. It's kinda sad that a positive topic brings only 8 or so responses whereas a negative thread about "I hate maintenance" brings dozens of comments, lol.

kami3006

lorrpb wrote: »

Congrats to everyone on successful maintenance! Thank you for your encouraging stories. It's kinda sad that a positive topic brings only 8 or so responses whereas a negative thread about "I hate maintenance" brings dozens of comments, lol.

Congrats to you for hitting maintenance!

As for the responses...I guess complaining is just easier or more folks just need to get it out.

rainbow198

Nice topic! Congrats on reaching maintenance OP!

I'm heading towards year 4 maintaining my weight and I feel at peace. This is something I've never experienced before with my weight.

- I know what works for me and what doesn't work for me.

- I'm very proud of my transformation and very pleased with the way I look and feel.

- My energy levels are off the charts and I feel amazing!!!!

- I love my fitness level and being able to do activities I've never could have done before.

- I seriously love shopping for clothes. Plus it's great to be able to buy things and not worry about it not fitting in a couple of months.

Maintenance is really great!!!

AnnPT77

In part, I think the "hate maintenance" threads get more traffic because people join in, trying to help the OP. Happiness is just us talking about ourselves.

Personally, I don't really either like or dislike maintenance per se. It's just regular life, right?

But I like being lighter a lot. I feel light, spry, (semi-) pain free, physically flexible, etc. It makes me feel more like me, somehow.

And I like rowing lightweight: On average, the field isn't is strong as the heavyweights, and I didn't get any weaker (it seems) after losing weight.

LivingtheLeanDream

I've been maintaining so long (4 yrs) that the novelty has worn off but what is nice that it now feels effortless to maintain my weight. What's not to like about eating a goodly amount of calories (2000+ cals for me at 5ft 2") and staying within the same weight range

WinoGelato

I think others have said most of what I like about maintenance (extra food mostly!) but a couple others I wanted to highlight:

When I was losing I steadily worked to increase my activity level, not just exercising more but moving more all day long to increase my NEAT and my TDEE. In maintenance now with a TDEE of 2200 per my FitBit, I actually eat more total calories than I did before I lost 30 lbs because I was so sedentary. Being in maintenance and enjoying those workouts for the sake of working out and not because I felt like I had to burn calories is a huge shift.

I also enjoy the perspective that Maintenance has given me, understanding that it's not a specific number on the scale or a constant daily calorie target, it's a range that I'm comfortable with on both. Knowing that range I want to stay within on the scale, and also that my TDEE can vary as well is very liberating. If I get outside of the acceptable range, I know I have the tools to correct things before getting too off track. I think when losing we are so focused on one specific number (goal weight) and think there is one magical number of calories we have to eat in order to achieve that goal. Maintenance allows you to better understand averages and fluctuations.

benevempress

I've only been maintaining for about six months so it's still novel and fun. I still enjoy my reflection in glass, I love that when I shop for clothes and something doesn't fit I no longer jump to the conclusion that it is because there is something wrong with me, and I love that I can trust the math and know that even though I was over on calories both days this past weekend, it wasn't even 1500 extra calories total so if I see the scale jump up I know I didn't gain 3 pounds of fat. Most of all I love that I am setting a great example about food choices and being active for my elementary school-aged daughters and that I now look - and feel - like I am the mother of those two slim girls instead of the tubby grandmother of them.

My surprise was that I can now choose clothing to pack for a trip in about 10 minutes, because everything in my closet fits me. When I was so much heavier, I had a variety of clothing sizes in my closet and I could never be sure if my clothes from last summer would fit in the winter if we were travelling to a warmer climate, so I had to try literally everything on before packing it.

DanyellMcGinnis

I've been maintaining for under two weeks...I ate a Reese's Peanut Butter Christmas Tree last weekend. Never before would I have use like 170 calories on such a thing. It was about the most delicious thing I have tasted in a long while (plus it fit within my calorie goals).

I lost eating mostly high carb (fiber), low fat, because I am a vegetarian and also one of those people for whom bulkiness of food seems to be important (smaller volumes of protein-rich foods just don't do it for me). So it has been lovely to reintroduce fat -- mixed nuts, cheese, dark chocolate -- with the extra calories I now get.

I have also started decreasing the time I spend doing cardio, which gives me a few extra minutes to do something else in a day.

It sounds from this post like I am going overboard, but I am still faithfully logging everything. And still fitting in my size 2 pants. So all is good.

kgirlhart

While I do like that I can eat more now, what I really like about maintenance is that I am more active now without really trying to be. It is just second nature to me now and I hate just sitting around. I have enjoyed reading this thread. I will say that I think there are more negative maintenance post than positive, because maintenance is kind of hard at first. There is so much worry about re-gaining the weight and then lots of people (myself included) seem to have a hard time figuring out their maintenance calories and keep losing weight when they are not trying to lose any more. It can be difficult and so questions are asked which could sound negative.

cwolfman13

When I went to maintenance (4 years ago this spring), the best part was that my fitness went through the roof...the first couple months of maintenance was just one PR after another. Maintenance also ended up being way higher than I thought because the more I was eating, the more I was able to do...not just in the gym or out on the bike, but just my daily...I had a lot more energy and just did more.

My mindset also went from from diet and exercise to eat and train

nowine4me

I love the positivity of this thread and am encouraged by your collective long-term success. I've been maintaining since September and am still within my range, but teetering on the edge. I'm super hopeful that things get easier as time goes by and that it becomes second nature to me as it has for many of you.

paperpudding

What do i like about maitenance?

Mainly just the 250 calories per day more than when I was losing.

Also, as someone else mentioned, clothes still fitting. One thing I didn't like about losing was sometimes a clothing item I loved became too loose to wear any more.

bbell1985

Maintenance is okay. I'm a lazy butt so I still don't get to eat much.

crzycatlady1

I like that I'm in better health now and have consistent good blood test results. I actually get excited when I go in to get it drawn, versus before when I dreaded it!

fidangul

A huge one popped into my mind. Since hitting my healthy bmi range and maintaining it, my GP takes my complaints seriously and the first thing she says isn't "it could be down to your weight". Argh I used to get so frustrated. And now I go back with the same complaint and all of a sudden I'm given all this attention.

GBO323

I like that the hardest part is done...the consistently asking "Will I really get to goal?". Almost 80 pounds down, the smaller question is, "What are my calories going to be to stay in this range?"

A tenet I borrowed from WW is that Goal is a Target Range of +/- 5 pounds on a Target number. If I'm not exactly at target number but in range, I'm good.

neldabg

+1 on extra food. That's always a good thing.
I like not having weight be a factor in things such as health problems, finding clothes that fit and look nice on me, etc.
I like the confidence boost. I know that because I have tried and succeeded in losing weight before, worst case scenario that I gain a few pounds for some reason, I can most definitely keep my weight from spiraling out of control.
I like maintaining this status as someone who didn't just lose weight, but also succeeded in keeping it off.
Doing yoga is more fun and easier now that a pudgy belly is out of the way.
Higher energy levels since the deficit is gone

FitPhillygirl

I love that I don't have to log my food anymore.