Is maintenance REALLY harder than losing weight?
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Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »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.
^
This. I'm SO NOT looking forward to menopause. And it's started, I'm just at the wee beginning...
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I find it more challenging for several reasons. My weight loss phase was around 6 months, (with a few extra months of transition). That's nothing as far as time goes. But I'm now 4 years into maintenance and realistically I'm looking at 45+ years more of maintenance ahead of me, (based on average lifespans of the women in my family). 45 more years of having to be mindful of my calorie intake. Having to be aware of portion sizes, (and using my food scale because I'm not good at eyeballing, even this far into things). Having to say no to food because they just don't fit into my day's calorie goals. Having to eat less of favorite foods. Having to order things at restaurants that I don't really want, because it's the low calorie option. Being the odd one out at family get togethers who has a mostly empty plate, while all my other relatives go back for seconds and thirds.
To have to think of what I eat and how much I eat and how many calories I'm eating and not just being able to eat what I darn want to, without the numbers going through my head over and over again and having to figure out if I can fit it all into my calorie allowance.
And yes, the loneliness of being the only person I know in real life who's made it to maintenance. The only one who's being mindful of what I eat, while everyone else I know is living their lives and eating whatever they want, without being bogged down by having to think of CICO. I hit my 4 year maintenance anniversary last month and I'm burned out and feel like I want to walk away from all of this.
But I wont. Because while the women in my family live into their mid-80s, they all do so overweight/obese and in horrible health, living their last days in misery as they struggle with debilitating pain and the loss of basic functions, like being able to walk due to their type 2 diabetes. That won't be me. Because for the next 45+ years I'll keep at this whole thing, and I will be part of that very small group that succeeds at maintenance long term. The stakes are too high for me not to. But I don't have to be chirpy about it all the time
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brenn24179 wrote: »why do so many gain their weight back? Because it takes a lot of discipline. Being fat is hard, eating different is hard, you have to pick your hard, yes both are hard but I don't like being fat. Never ending have to be cautious all your life, dirn it.
I've never understood this quote. Being fat is easy and requires no effort whatsoever - you can mindlessly be fat for years. I found it crazy easy to be fat for over 20 years. Much pissing and moaning about being fat, but nothing hard about it.8 -
crazyycatlady1 wrote: »I find it more challenging for several reasons. My weight loss phase was around 6 months, (with a few extra months of transition). That's nothing as far as time goes. But I'm now 4 years into maintenance and realistically I'm looking at 45+ years more of maintenance ahead of me, (based on average lifespans of the women in my family). 45 more years of having to be mindful of my calorie intake. Having to be aware of portion sizes, (and using my food scale because I'm not good at eyeballing, even this far into things). Having to say no to food because they just don't fit into my day's calorie goals. Having to eat less of favorite foods. Having to order things at restaurants that I don't really want, because it's the low calorie option. Being the odd one out at family get togethers who has a mostly empty plate, while all my other relatives go back for seconds and thirds.
To have to think of what I eat and how much I eat and how many calories I'm eating and not just being able to eat what I darn want to, without the numbers going through my head over and over again and having to figure out if I can fit it all into my calorie allowance.
And yes, the loneliness of being the only person I know in real life who's made it to maintenance. The only one who's being mindful of what I eat, while everyone else I know is living their lives and eating whatever they want, without being bogged down by having to think of CICO. I hit my 4 year maintenance anniversary last month and I'm burned out and feel like I want to walk away from all of this.
But I wont. Because while the women in my family live into their mid-80s, they all do so overweight/obese and in horrible health, living their last days in misery as they struggle with debilitating pain and the loss of basic functions, like being able to walk due to their type 2 diabetes. That won't be me. Because for the next 45+ years I'll keep at this whole thing, and I will be part of that very small group that succeeds at maintenance long term. The stakes are too high for me not to. But I don't have to be chirpy about it all the time
The first time i lost weight, back when calorie counting was not that easy, i went to a dietician. She told me that if i can keep the weight off for 3 years, it will be fairly easy to maintain. She was right. My stomach was used to eating little (even though i could go out and eat a huge portion of haagen dazs with waffles and syrop or something like that) and eat normal food the rest of the day, and i was used to walking a lot so i was "exercising". I only gained the weight after i moved to a different country (different products, different portion sizes, etc),and i stopped walking as much cause the weather sucks all year long.
So maintaining might be easier than you think, even without a food scale.Perhaps you can give a trial month/week a go, and see how that goes.
But like you say it is hard, to always be mindful.Knowing you can't have both the piece of cake and the cookies (well technically you can and then you're left with almost nothing to eat for the rest of the day).I do find though, that as time goes by, i am ok with that mentally. Like, yes i do want to have 10 cookies with my milk like i used to, but in reality even 2 will satisfy me. And if i ate the 10, i would feel really stuffed and not that great afterwards.3 -
jennypapage wrote: »crazyycatlady1 wrote: »I find it more challenging for several reasons. My weight loss phase was around 6 months, (with a few extra months of transition). That's nothing as far as time goes. But I'm now 4 years into maintenance and realistically I'm looking at 45+ years more of maintenance ahead of me, (based on average lifespans of the women in my family). 45 more years of having to be mindful of my calorie intake. Having to be aware of portion sizes, (and using my food scale because I'm not good at eyeballing, even this far into things). Having to say no to food because they just don't fit into my day's calorie goals. Having to eat less of favorite foods. Having to order things at restaurants that I don't really want, because it's the low calorie option. Being the odd one out at family get togethers who has a mostly empty plate, while all my other relatives go back for seconds and thirds.
To have to think of what I eat and how much I eat and how many calories I'm eating and not just being able to eat what I darn want to, without the numbers going through my head over and over again and having to figure out if I can fit it all into my calorie allowance.
And yes, the loneliness of being the only person I know in real life who's made it to maintenance. The only one who's being mindful of what I eat, while everyone else I know is living their lives and eating whatever they want, without being bogged down by having to think of CICO. I hit my 4 year maintenance anniversary last month and I'm burned out and feel like I want to walk away from all of this.
But I wont. Because while the women in my family live into their mid-80s, they all do so overweight/obese and in horrible health, living their last days in misery as they struggle with debilitating pain and the loss of basic functions, like being able to walk due to their type 2 diabetes. That won't be me. Because for the next 45+ years I'll keep at this whole thing, and I will be part of that very small group that succeeds at maintenance long term. The stakes are too high for me not to. But I don't have to be chirpy about it all the time
The first time i lost weight, back when calorie counting was not that easy, i went to a dietician. She told me that if i can keep the weight off for 3 years, it will be fairly easy to maintain. She was right. My stomach was used to eating little (even though i could go out and eat a huge portion of haagen dazs with waffles and syrop or something like that) and eat normal food the rest of the day, and i was used to walking a lot so i was "exercising". I only gained the weight after i moved to a different country (different products, different portion sizes, etc),and i stopped walking as much cause the weather sucks all year long.
So maintaining might be easier than you think, even without a food scale.Perhaps you can give a trial month/week a go, and see how that goes.
But like you say it is hard, to always be mindful.Knowing you can't have both the piece of cake and the cookies (well technically you can and then you're left with almost nothing to eat for the rest of the day).I do find though, that as time goes by, i am ok with that mentally. Like, yes i do want to have 10 cookies with my milk like i used to, but in reality even 2 will satisfy me. And if i ate the 10, i would feel really stuffed and not that great afterwards.
Unfortunately I already tried this last summer and began regaining again 0 -
crazyycatlady1 wrote: »jennypapage wrote: »crazyycatlady1 wrote: »I find it more challenging for several reasons. My weight loss phase was around 6 months, (with a few extra months of transition). That's nothing as far as time goes. But I'm now 4 years into maintenance and realistically I'm looking at 45+ years more of maintenance ahead of me, (based on average lifespans of the women in my family). 45 more years of having to be mindful of my calorie intake. Having to be aware of portion sizes, (and using my food scale because I'm not good at eyeballing, even this far into things). Having to say no to food because they just don't fit into my day's calorie goals. Having to eat less of favorite foods. Having to order things at restaurants that I don't really want, because it's the low calorie option. Being the odd one out at family get togethers who has a mostly empty plate, while all my other relatives go back for seconds and thirds.
To have to think of what I eat and how much I eat and how many calories I'm eating and not just being able to eat what I darn want to, without the numbers going through my head over and over again and having to figure out if I can fit it all into my calorie allowance.
And yes, the loneliness of being the only person I know in real life who's made it to maintenance. The only one who's being mindful of what I eat, while everyone else I know is living their lives and eating whatever they want, without being bogged down by having to think of CICO. I hit my 4 year maintenance anniversary last month and I'm burned out and feel like I want to walk away from all of this.
But I wont. Because while the women in my family live into their mid-80s, they all do so overweight/obese and in horrible health, living their last days in misery as they struggle with debilitating pain and the loss of basic functions, like being able to walk due to their type 2 diabetes. That won't be me. Because for the next 45+ years I'll keep at this whole thing, and I will be part of that very small group that succeeds at maintenance long term. The stakes are too high for me not to. But I don't have to be chirpy about it all the time
The first time i lost weight, back when calorie counting was not that easy, i went to a dietician. She told me that if i can keep the weight off for 3 years, it will be fairly easy to maintain. She was right. My stomach was used to eating little (even though i could go out and eat a huge portion of haagen dazs with waffles and syrop or something like that) and eat normal food the rest of the day, and i was used to walking a lot so i was "exercising". I only gained the weight after i moved to a different country (different products, different portion sizes, etc),and i stopped walking as much cause the weather sucks all year long.
So maintaining might be easier than you think, even without a food scale.Perhaps you can give a trial month/week a go, and see how that goes.
But like you say it is hard, to always be mindful.Knowing you can't have both the piece of cake and the cookies (well technically you can and then you're left with almost nothing to eat for the rest of the day).I do find though, that as time goes by, i am ok with that mentally. Like, yes i do want to have 10 cookies with my milk like i used to, but in reality even 2 will satisfy me. And if i ate the 10, i would feel really stuffed and not that great afterwards.
Unfortunately I already tried this last summer and began regaining again
Maybe you weren't ready then. It doesn't mean you won't be ready in a year or two. Don't lose hope, i think eventually you will learn to portion control by eyeballing.Maybe not everything. But even partially doing that will be a success.Or you can use a food scale forever. It's not that demanding time wise.You're a veteran in this, so i suspect you're pretty fast with weighing things.5 -
jennypapage wrote: »crazyycatlady1 wrote: »jennypapage wrote: »crazyycatlady1 wrote: »I find it more challenging for several reasons. My weight loss phase was around 6 months, (with a few extra months of transition). That's nothing as far as time goes. But I'm now 4 years into maintenance and realistically I'm looking at 45+ years more of maintenance ahead of me, (based on average lifespans of the women in my family). 45 more years of having to be mindful of my calorie intake. Having to be aware of portion sizes, (and using my food scale because I'm not good at eyeballing, even this far into things). Having to say no to food because they just don't fit into my day's calorie goals. Having to eat less of favorite foods. Having to order things at restaurants that I don't really want, because it's the low calorie option. Being the odd one out at family get togethers who has a mostly empty plate, while all my other relatives go back for seconds and thirds.
To have to think of what I eat and how much I eat and how many calories I'm eating and not just being able to eat what I darn want to, without the numbers going through my head over and over again and having to figure out if I can fit it all into my calorie allowance.
And yes, the loneliness of being the only person I know in real life who's made it to maintenance. The only one who's being mindful of what I eat, while everyone else I know is living their lives and eating whatever they want, without being bogged down by having to think of CICO. I hit my 4 year maintenance anniversary last month and I'm burned out and feel like I want to walk away from all of this.
But I wont. Because while the women in my family live into their mid-80s, they all do so overweight/obese and in horrible health, living their last days in misery as they struggle with debilitating pain and the loss of basic functions, like being able to walk due to their type 2 diabetes. That won't be me. Because for the next 45+ years I'll keep at this whole thing, and I will be part of that very small group that succeeds at maintenance long term. The stakes are too high for me not to. But I don't have to be chirpy about it all the time
The first time i lost weight, back when calorie counting was not that easy, i went to a dietician. She told me that if i can keep the weight off for 3 years, it will be fairly easy to maintain. She was right. My stomach was used to eating little (even though i could go out and eat a huge portion of haagen dazs with waffles and syrop or something like that) and eat normal food the rest of the day, and i was used to walking a lot so i was "exercising". I only gained the weight after i moved to a different country (different products, different portion sizes, etc),and i stopped walking as much cause the weather sucks all year long.
So maintaining might be easier than you think, even without a food scale.Perhaps you can give a trial month/week a go, and see how that goes.
But like you say it is hard, to always be mindful.Knowing you can't have both the piece of cake and the cookies (well technically you can and then you're left with almost nothing to eat for the rest of the day).I do find though, that as time goes by, i am ok with that mentally. Like, yes i do want to have 10 cookies with my milk like i used to, but in reality even 2 will satisfy me. And if i ate the 10, i would feel really stuffed and not that great afterwards.
Unfortunately I already tried this last summer and began regaining again
Maybe you weren't ready then. It doesn't mean you won't be ready in a year or two. Don't lose hope, i think eventually you will learn to portion control by eyeballing.Maybe not everything. But even partially doing that will be a success.Or you can use a food scale forever. It's not that demanding time wise.You're a veteran in this, so i suspect you're pretty fast with weighing things.
I don't think I'll ever not weigh my food when I'm at home. I think it just becomes second nature and I like it. In fact, I'm probably one of the few people who has the problem of tending to under serve myself. Not out of some weird calorie obsession but I just can't eat that much or don't want to. Like granola, for example. 50g, a serving/portion size, when eyeballed is much too much for me especially with yoghurt so I'll have half. Except I need the calories 50g gives me so I weigh it to make sure I get enough*. Maybe ease into it by only weigh certain foods, ones you know can be a problem for you, and eyeball the other stuff and see how that goes.
(*5'10, very active, allergic to [coconuts] and/or don't like good fats [avocados/most nuts/oils] but still trying with them, also living with IBS that hates dairy but I'm working on small amounts of cheese and yoghurt)1 -
@glassofroses i agree it does become 2nd nature. And like i said it's really easy to do. But sometimes i find myself feeling a tad annoyed when i have to weigh 3 pieces of an apple, or a tomato, knowing how few calories they actually have. I'd rather save 100-150calories each day just so i won't have to weigh these things. At the moment though i have to weigh everything to make sure i eat enough.I lost a bit more weight than i wanted, and i do not want to drop any lower, but i don't want to gain any either.So for now, i keep weighing everything in order to keep the balance right.1
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In a way, yes, because you have to figure out how to live your life normally, with balance, fun, exercising for health, etc.. But as long as you have a great attitude it can be done. I've been maintaining for 14 years! I change my goals consistently though, like right now I am trying to gain more muscle. Last year I was aiming towards a certain body fat %...as long as you keep your motivation it becomes part of daily life. 5
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Is eating more food harder than eating less food. No, not for me. Maybe if someone lost their weight following a fad/crash diet and never relearned their eating habits, then they could have issues maintaining.2
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EbonyDahlia wrote: »brenn24179 wrote: »why do so many gain their weight back? Because it takes a lot of discipline. Being fat is hard, eating different is hard, you have to pick your hard, yes both are hard but I don't like being fat. Never ending have to be cautious all your life, dirn it.
I've never understood this quote. Being fat is easy and requires no effort whatsoever - you can mindlessly be fat for years. I found it crazy easy to be fat for over 20 years. Much pissing and moaning about being fat, but nothing hard about it.
I could be wrong, but I always thought that meant hard in terms of people being judgy or making rude comments, any possible effects on health and mobility, etc.1 -
Geocitiesuser wrote: »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!
It was easier for me, but I didn't do silly diet fads or stop my exercise routine when I hit maintenance. Too many people think.. hey.. I lost the weight.. screw exercise I'll just eat what I want now. Fail. Stick with whatever program got you to maintenance, watch your calories closely and ramp up to maintenance level slowly, and you'll do fine. Part of maintaining your weight is learning how to deal with the occasional over eating or over indulgence. For me, I either exercise more before it happens or after to make up for it. A year later and I'm still counting my calories, and probably will for at least another year.3 -
It should be easier, considering you get a higher calorie goal, usually. I think that the issue is figuring out the level at which you maintain, which will take a little time, trial and error. Then there is the fact that you need to remain as active as you were when you were dieting or your maintenance calories will change and you may gain weight.1
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the little bit of experience I had with maintaining it was easier. I lost 40lbs then for the last 2 months I took a break (before going on to lose 20 lbs more) I ate a little different only in that I had a little more food than I was eating, so instead of eating 3-4 oz of any kind of meat, I ate 5-6 oz, added an extra smoothie, added extra Tbl of pb, ate rice more often, had an evening snack. I did lose 1 lb thru all of this. So, I had a taste of what it will be like & I did fine with it. I continued to weigh & log it all. This week I started back on losing3
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jennypapage wrote: »@glassofroses i agree it does become 2nd nature. And like i said it's really easy to do. But sometimes i find myself feeling a tad annoyed when i have to weigh 3 pieces of an apple, or a tomato, knowing how few calories they actually have. I'd rather save 100-150calories each day just so i won't have to weigh these things. At the moment though i have to weigh everything to make sure i eat enough.I lost a bit more weight than i wanted, and i do not want to drop any lower, but i don't want to gain any either.So for now, i keep weighing everything in order to keep the balance right.
My comment was more aimed at @crazyycatlady1 than you, but I know what you mean. I can't say that I weigh tomatoes anymore but I don't really eat them with any sort of frequency. Does weighing them make much difference to your overall calorie goal over not weighing them?
I've been trying to count macros this week which is a whole other ball game but I had someone explain it to me and I finally understand it. I still weigh things but it's just a nice vibe to be counting something other than calories. I'm hoping that the transition into macros will help with the transition to maintenance, just because I can't seem to fuel my body on calorie counting because I just fill myself with carbs. Love carbs.
Macro counting means structure, high carb structure, mind, and I have to hit or get as close to my protein as possible. It's going pretty well so far. She says on Day 3. XD 0 -
Personally I do not think so, you learned the recipe during the weight loss, and I sort of have adopted it as a "way of life", which is why i not see this as a diet. I have been on the same "weight group" (I have got a weight range to keep to) for almost 2 years now, without any issues1
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Losing was easy, maintaining was easy, but losing another 20 lbs to get under 130 I'm having a hard time getting back into the mindset. I lost 35 lbs easily in about eight months with just portion control (weighed/logged). I decided to stop logging and have maintained for six months (1-2 lb fluctuation). My maintenance cals seem to be a comfy number, so eating less than that is going to be a challenge.
My big problem is that I while I move a lot during my day, I don't play any sports and exercise makes me feel jump-off-a-bridge depressed afterwards and physically painful (arthritis and old injuries) so until I suck it up and do something, I think losing will be harder this time around than maintaining. I am my own worst enemy right now.
TL;DR: My personal experience says the ease of losing vs maintaining depends on where you are in the process vis-à-vis your routine and eating habits.2 -
In my personal experience
Losing : easy.
Maintenance: easy
Recomp: That *kitten* is so hard man3 -
glassofroses wrote: »jennypapage wrote: »@glassofroses i agree it does become 2nd nature. And like i said it's really easy to do. But sometimes i find myself feeling a tad annoyed when i have to weigh 3 pieces of an apple, or a tomato, knowing how few calories they actually have. I'd rather save 100-150calories each day just so i won't have to weigh these things. At the moment though i have to weigh everything to make sure i eat enough.I lost a bit more weight than i wanted, and i do not want to drop any lower, but i don't want to gain any either.So for now, i keep weighing everything in order to keep the balance right.
My comment was more aimed at @crazyycatlady1 than you, but I know what you mean. I can't say that I weigh tomatoes anymore but I don't really eat them with any sort of frequency. Does weighing them make much difference to your overall calorie goal over not weighing them?
I've been trying to count macros this week which is a whole other ball game but I had someone explain it to me and I finally understand it. I still weigh things but it's just a nice vibe to be counting something other than calories. I'm hoping that the transition into macros will help with the transition to maintenance, just because I can't seem to fuel my body on calorie counting because I just fill myself with carbs. Love carbs. Macro counting means structure, high carb structure, mind, and I have to hit or get as close to my protein as possible. It's going pretty well so far. She says on Day 3. XD
well it can be tomatoes, or onions, or any of that sort of little thing.well the thing is i like knowing exactly how much i can eat.Because it helps to know how much of the "good stuff" i can eat. A tomato can be the difference between a 28gram cookie instead of a 27gram cookie. Thus a bigger cookie for me.So i keep weighing
I don't count macros faithfully, but try to get as close as possible.Sometimes i'll be low on carbs and "complain" to my boyfriend that i had to eat chocolate and cookies just to reach my carb goal, because tomorrow is a running day. I love these days! 0
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