Is maintenance REALLY harder than losing weight?

Geocitiesuser

Someone said to me that it was almost time for "the hard part" when I told them I was near my goal weight.

But is it really harder? I don't plan on changing my exercise routine or foods that I eat, but I am definitely looking forward to eating 500-600 more calories per day!

lasvegasconcertgirl

Way way WAY harder for me...

macchiatto

Yes and no. I've had mixed experiences with both.
I've done a good bit of yoyoing in the past. Both can really be a mental game. I feel like with both, there are times when I'm in the zone and it goes well for months (or even a few years, when it comes to maintenance) but there have been times with both when I got off track and found it hard to get back on. Like I would try half-heartedly for a while and not make much progress, and then get tired of trying at some point and semi give up for a while until I found renewed motivation. (I think something like a planned diet break can be helpful there!)

LisaTcan

For me it is actually easier, provided that I'm pretty active. I'm currently trying to lose baby weight and it is way harder than maintaining was.

zyxst

It can be for some. I seem to be doing better at it than weight loss.

kommodevaran

It's both. It's different, but it's also the same. You'll still have to be mindful of your eating, but you'll have room for more. You won't get the reinforcement of losing weight, not from the scale, not from your friends, instead your goal is to be the same weight as last month, last year. It can be nervewrecking in the beginning. We know how to lose weight, but now what. If you have lost weight sensibly, and have learnt healthy habits, you just have to apply that knowledge, and time, to find a balance.

It's a mind game, and there are practical solutions. I have a goal weight range and weigh myself daily. I stick to the same amounts and kinds of food from day to day, and move around more than I did when I was overweight, but I don't do any planned exercise. This works for me, 2 years into maintenance.

livingleanlivingclean

Yes. I don't find maintenance as motivating as losing so it's more difficult to remember why you're focusing so much on what your putting in your mouth.

try2again

kommodevaran wrote: »

It's both. It's different, but it's also the same.

I was thinking something similar... you don't have to be as diligent, and that can lead to not being as diligent!

MoiAussi93

No. It does take work...but mainly to maintain good habits and not slide back into your old ways. The key for me is to weigh myself at least weekly. If you start to see the numbers creep up, nip it in the bud. Take action immediately so that you don't regain all you lost.

jenilla1

Not at all. I've been on maintenance for over 5 years now. It's exactly the same to me, same basic concepts - only you get more calories in maintenance. It's a little more fun, because now I work on challenging fitness and body composition goals.

Zinka61

I found I was less motivated when i was lacking a clear goal and not getting the reinforcement of numbers on the scale going down. I also found I wasn't getting that many more calories a day if I didn't want to gain. I was losing at an average net calories of 1400 but gain weight if I go up to 1600. I did some minor yoyoing the first year, and this year, after a difficult fall/winter with some sad events that derailed me, i find myself losing 7 or so pounds again and feeling more in control for *not* being in maintenance. I suspect it will always be a challenge for me, because once the "new" wears off of being slim, the reality of not getting to go back to old, free-eating habits sets in.

victoria_1024

One way that makes it harder is because it's forever. When you're trying to lose weight, you have a goal in mind so it gives you something to work towards. In maintenance, you're still working hard but staying the same weight. Many people try to find more fitness related goals to have something to work towards.

On the flip side, maintenance is more enjoyable for me because I'm thin and healthy. My confidence is higher than it used to be. So having that can make it manageable.

richardgavel

Maintenance is easy for me because I had another goal in recomposition, so there are still scale numbers to look at (BF, LBM). One thing also that can be tough. If you cheat a little at deficit, you might just end up a maintenance and be "no big deal, just little to no loss today". A cheat in maintenance means a gain.

TimothyFish

I think it largely depends on how active you are. I've never had trouble maintaining my weight while active. It's when I quit exercise that I struggle.

sgt1372

Not harder for me. Just a different objective achieved in a different way.

sijomial

More enjoyable - I enjoy eating more, I enjoy living in a fitter, healthier body.

For me it's a return to normal as I gained weight suddenly and maintained overweight for 20 years.
On the other hand normal for me is always being conscious I can't eat as much as I would like to. But less restricted compared to more restricted is definitely easier.

In the wider sense you can make a case for harder as more people are successful losing weight compared to the success rates for keeping the excess weight off long term.

Francl27

Harder for me but only because I'm hungrier now than I was when I was losing. But it could be due to age/hormones as I'm also 4 years older!

estherdragonbat

Guess I'm going to find out for the next two weeks. I've decided that 1) I haven't taken a diet break in almost 6 months and 2) Passover starts tomorrow night, I'm spending the next couple of weeks at my parents, and most of my proteins staples aren't permitted (I'm vegetarian and all legumes and grains, with the exception of quinoa are verboten, leaving me with eggs, dairy, quinoa, and nuts.) Less variety, more basic recipes I can't make or need to retool... no access to my usual exercise equipment, won't have as much time for long walks...

Let's just say that it's probably possible to keep to a deficit. I've done it before on Weight Watchers. But I'd like to be a bit less stressed and be mindful—not obsessive—over what I eat in my parents' house. Add in some of the wisdom I've seen on these boards about taking a maintenance break after 8 weeks eating in a deficit and... I guess I'm overdue.

Alatariel75

I think a lot of it is psychological. You no longer get the 'reward' of a lower number on the scale, people don't compliment you on being smaller etc. It's not new and exciting and rewarding like it was. Add in the mental block of ' now I've done it, I can go back to 'normal'' thing and yeah.. I think it can be harder.

adipace815

I have been enjoying the additional food. It's been nice to add a few things back to my diet that I couldn't budget calories for while I was "cutting" like peanut butter and some real starches. I think what makes it the most difficult is changing the mind set. Setting new goals is a great idea, but my new goals are not as tangible as that weight loss goal we all set for ourselves. New goals like recomposition, physical fitness, muscle tone, etc are not as measurable. The most frustrating goal of all is the weight range we set for ourselves in maintenance. I have changed mine a bunch but sooner or later when it settles in to a healthy range, I can see myself really obsessing over it. My weight is all over the place in maintenance within a very small window. I find I am constantly adjusting calories when it looks like I have had a small gain or loss. I think the word for maintenance is not that it is more "difficult"but maybe it's more "frustrating". We all enjoyed our success losing weight but none of us want to go through that again so we are now determined to keep it off, and doing that can be very frustrating.

Ironandwine69

I don't find maintenance to be harder than losing. The hardest for me are billing cycles, but that's because I don't log, so it's hard to find the "sweet spot" for gaining without going crazy and getting fat.

amusedmonkey

This is from a limited experience (long maintenance breaks) but I find maintenance to be easier. I don't operate on motivation, so it's less of a factor for me. What I found harder is that during weight loss you have room for screwing around. If you have, say, a 3500 weekly deficit and eat over maintenance by 1000 you still have a calorie cushion not to gain. During maintenance the balance is more delicate. Those 1000 extra calorie splurges cannot be random and if they happen they cannot be ignored. They need to be either planned for or mitigated by subsequent deficit. Other than that, I found it easier. Of course, who knows how I would handle a smaller maintenance budget once I'm at goal weight. My current maintenance budget is generous even without exercise so that may be another deciding factor.

Machka9

I find it harder.

I found losing weight quite easy.

But with maintenance, I find it difficult to find balance the fuel needs of long distance cycling with eating at maintenance.

janejellyroll

It's easier in that I get to eat more food. It was harder at first because I no longer had the positive boost of seeing weight loss. But the harder part only lasted for a couple of months. Now this is just the way I live

wpg2mpls

I think a lot of people tend to underestimate calories eaten and overestimate calories burned but if you have a big enough deficit built into your planned calories in the loss phase you will still end up losing. However, when you get to the maintenance phase and your estimations are off then you will start to gain. It's also not as inspiring to see the scale stay the same. When it is consistently going down you get excited and motivated to keep going.

swim777

adipace815 wrote: »

I have been enjoying the additional food. It's been nice to add a few things back to my diet that I couldn't budget calories for while I was "cutting" like peanut butter and some real starches. I think what makes it the most difficult is changing the mind set. Setting new goals is a great idea, but my new goals are not as tangible as that weight loss goal we all set for ourselves. New goals like recomposition, physical fitness, muscle tone, etc are not as measurable. The most frustrating goal of all is the weight range we set for ourselves in maintenance. I have changed mine a bunch but sooner or later when it settles in to a healthy range, I can see myself really obsessing over it. My weight is all over the place in maintenance within a very small window. I find I am constantly adjusting calories when it looks like I have had a small gain or loss. I think the word for maintenance is not that it is more "difficult"but maybe it's more "frustrating". We all enjoyed our success losing weight but none of us want to go through that again so we are now determined to keep it off, and doing that can be very frustrating.

I agree!!!!

Sabine_Stroehm

Alatariel75 wrote: »

I think a lot of it is psychological. You no longer get the 'reward' of a lower number on the scale, people don't compliment you on being smaller etc. It's not new and exciting and rewarding like it was. Add in the mental block of ' now I've done it, I can go back to 'normal'' thing and yeah.. I think it can be harder.

I think this sums up how I feel about it.
I'm at 15 years of maintenance now. I'm up 5-7LBS, but recently went through menopause, which is it's own mental game. So now I'm back at losing (fortunately just a tiny bit).
But yes, you don't get the same reward of the number, and instead of, say, six months of dieting, you're talking about the rest of your life.

cwolfman13

I think it's pretty easy, but I had and have many goals that are outside the scope of weight management...doing the things I need to do to achieve those goals result in pretty much natural weight management.

bbell1985

Harder for me. I still have the appetite I had when I was 30 lbs heavier, but I need to eat 400 calories less than that to maintain. Plus, ignorance is not bliss anymore.

Sabine_Stroehm

cwolfman13 wrote: »

I think it's pretty easy, but I had and have many goals that are outside the scope of weight management...doing the things I need to do to achieve those goals result in pretty much natural weight management.

That's a great point. You made NEW goals. And those new goals complement weight management.

JoeCWV

Weight loss is a sprint. Maintenance is a marathon.