Struggling

swim777

I looked back over last year's weight logins probably to up my motivation..and I see how much I'm struggling on this journey. I reached my goal last March and immediately fought the 5 lb gain as I upped my calories to the half pound a week loss setting. I've added three pounds to that and I'm working steadily to get those off. With the weekly fluctuations which we all deal with I feel like my weight is always up and like I've gone backwards. Im great about exercising especially during the week, but I feel deprived so much calorie-wise, that it's easy to eat too much on weekends. Maybe my goal was too low for me to really maintain? I am trying for a range but I can't seem to get there and stay. Anyone else struggle with maintenance and motivation??

johnnylakis

What was your goal? We all struggle with maintenance. My solution is to always eat 500 calories less than maintenance so that an occasional slip doesnt become a major step backwards

lorrpb

Yes, what was your goal and how far are you from it now, 8 lbs? What is your height and gender, that will help people understand if your goal is too low, as you suggested. If you think it's too low, it mostly likely is. If you want to lose more, the answer is in your post "it's easy to eat too much on weekends."

swim777

lorrpb wrote: »

Yes, what was your goal and how far are you from it now, 8 lbs? What is your height and gender, that will help people understand if your goal is too low, as you suggested. If you think it's too low, it mostly likely is. If you want to lose more, the answer is in your post "it's easy to eat too much on weekends."

I'm 5'4 and my goal was 128. I'm a female age 61. I teach as well as walk on the treadmill every day so I get around three miles in m-f. I actually got to 126 but I just couldn't keep it that low. I'd be happy 128-132, I just can't seem to stay there.

Evamutt

I'm 5'4 too & am not at maintenace yet. lost 30lbs so far but what has helped me to stay within my calorie range is occupying myself in the afternoons & trying different foods that fill me up. If i want to eat when I'm not hungry, I sip on big mug of hot tea with a little low cal treat, that helps too

swim777

Evamutt wrote: »

I'm 5'4 too & am not at maintenace yet. lost 30lbs so far but what has helped me to stay within my calorie range is occupying myself in the afternoons & trying different foods that fill me up. If i want to eat when I'm not hungry, I sip on big mug of hot tea with a little low cal treat, that helps too

I will figure this out. I lost 70 lbs and I know how much better my life is now. I was so strict about dieting for so long..I just have to find a happy medium for maintenance. Thanks for the encouragement!

CharlieBeansmomTracey

swim777 wrote: »

lorrpb wrote: »

Yes, what was your goal and how far are you from it now, 8 lbs? What is your height and gender, that will help people understand if your goal is too low, as you suggested. If you think it's too low, it mostly likely is. If you want to lose more, the answer is in your post "it's easy to eat too much on weekends."

I'm 5'4 and my goal was 128. I'm a female age 61. I teach as well as walk on the treadmill every day so I get around three miles in m-f. I actually got to 126 but I just couldn't keep it that low. I'd be happy 128-132, I just can't seem to stay there.

weight fluctuates(hour to hour,day to day) and you dont have one set weight number. so if it fluctuates up and down a several pounds then you are in maintenance.so its possible you are maintaining and some of that extra weight could be water retention caused by many factors. most people think(for example) "oh I should weigh 150,I am 153 today so I gained weight because the other day I was 150" no,its just a fluctuation for them. take measurements and go by those its possible you didnt gain weight and if so it may only be a few pound of actual weight. remember the less you have to lose the slower its going to be as well.

Christine_72

Are you happy at your current weight? Would it be a big deal if you gained a few more pounds? The reason i ask is, i got down to my goal weight of 143lbs (I'm 5"8 ) last year and it was a constant battle to stay there. I regained up to 149lbs and my appetite tends to correspond perfectly with this weight.

GBO323

I hit goal August 2014 and the first freeing mindset was not to focus on one maintenance number, but a 5 pound +/- range. This is a tool I'm using from WW. So kudos to you for that. I've been up and down in the range and still aiming to find that sweet spot....but it's SO MUCH BETTER than losing the 70+ pounds all over again.

fiddletime

I empathize. At 5'2" I bike daily and my weight loss calories are 1200 and my maintenance was 1350 (I ate back my exercise calories). At 62 I lost the weight but felt it was very restrictive and ended up gaining it all back.

Now I have 17 pounds to go to get back to 125. I'm not thin at that weight, but was OK with that. My advise is to get used to the low calories. I think my metabolism has slowed a lot and this time around I'm going to suck it up, keep logging, and maybe have one meal a week in maintenance that I don't log.

_piaffe

I find maintenance to be a real struggle.

I had a similar experience.

Hit my vanity GW in April and basically, struggled until October / November to try and "maintain". I jumped up 5 lbs right away and they would not budge.

I think I'm getting the hang of it... but my "maintenance" pretty much requires me to set MFP for a 1/2 lb a week weight loss deficit based on my current numbers. That tells me my logging isn't perfect, nor is my ftbit. I'm totally good about accuracy and scales etc. 80-85% of the time but there is also some guesstimation every week.

Having maintenance be a small deficit keeps me much more focused when I can be (for example, regular work days) and it isn't too much of a deprivation because I workout often and intensely.

I will never be an intuitive eater. And I like volume.

swim777

fiddletime wrote: »

I empathize. At 5'2" I bike daily and my weight loss calories are 1200 and my maintenance was 1350 (I ate back my exercise calories). At 62 I lost the weight but felt it was very restrictive and ended up gaining it all back.

Now I have 17 pounds to go to get back to 125. I'm not thin at that weight, but was OK with that. My advise is to get used to the low calories. I think my metabolism has slowed a lot and this time around I'm going to suck it up, keep logging, and maybe have one meal a week in maintenance that I don't log.

I've been working hard to get past some of the water weight/ sodium of Christmas. I enjoyed myself Christmas Eve and day and then tried to get back on track. I'm 136 today, so about 2 lbs over my range. I'm logging carefully and not skipping meals because even though I can do that it just leads to overeating if I do too much of it. (I skip breakfast once in a while to save calories for a nicer lunch or dinner.). I've done a lot of that the past two weeks. I'm getting about 3 miles in walking most days and have my loss set for .5 where it usually stays. I have never set it to maintenance though I had hoped to very slowly up my calories. I did the 1200 calories to lose too. I'm 5'3 and 61. I am not giving up.. and I don't mind the exercise or logging. I'm going to have to do that I'm sure for quite a while.
Thanks for your response. It sounds like you are successful at this, and I appreciate any advice.