Anyone else find this interesting as hopeful maintainers?

PAV8888

The thing is that diet composition, if you're referring to TEF, to me is a bit of a red herring.

I mean in terms of satiety of course it might make a difference, but at the end of the day calories in are only the calories that you absorb.

So if your increase TEF, i.e. you increase the putative calories in, but not the actual calories that you absorb, have you actually increased your calories in, other than on paper?

StarBrightStarBright

PAV8888 wrote: »

So it seems the model implies that we counteract adaptation by... activity and that we'd better start as overweight slugs as opposed to overweight athletes

I've actually seen this play out with my mother over and over again and it has changed how I approach weight maintenance as I move into middle age.

She yo-yos every two years. Loses 60-80 pounds in about 6 months by cutting calories to the bone and exercising for hours a day, maintains for a year, stops exercising over the winter and the weight comes back over 6 months - every single time!

I'm in the sedentary part of my life - long hours at desk job, pre-schoolers who keep me tied to home more than I want, etc. I know it is an excuse but I am just not going to make time for exercise at this point of my life so I am maintaining through calories alone.

I'm waiting until my late 40s/early 50s to bring out the "big guns" (ie. regular, daily exercise for at least an hour). My current calories for maintenance are lower than I'd like (especially in winter) but when I weigh trying to fit in daily exercise vs. low-ish maintenance calories, the calories are the easier choice at this stage of my life.

HoneyBadger302

I don't watch the show, and try not to focus too much on "what was vs what is" because all that really matters is what works NOW.

That being said, I never had to worry about my weight growing up and through my 20's and into my early 30's. Once or twice there were a few pounds I wanted to lose so I'd "track" my intake and cut back a little, but the tracking was very inconsistent and pretty much a bunch of guesstimates. At no point was I overweight - but I WAS active. My jobs were active, I was active outside of work, and I had horses and had chores.

I didn't really start to put on weight until I got a desk job and didn't make time for purposeful exercise, not realizing the impact that would have on me. I still had active hobbies, and while I never got obese, I did fall into the overweight category (and I definitely was for my frame and muscle at the time). Eventually the lack of hard manual labor (and no ST) led to what ended up being a fair bit of muscle loss as well - I didn't notice it until I decided to get my fitness back several years down the road.

I lost weight dieting, but it wasn't sustainable. I knew from past history, activity would be the key for me. Before breaking my leg, I was making a lot of progress and things were going well. Since getting through that mess and returning to the gym, I've focused a bit more on strength than I had been, and while there's plenty of fat I'd like to lose, the reality is I'm getting happier with my body as it recomps even though, technically, I'm at the upper end of "healthy."

My guess would be that, the reality is most people who lose weight are going to struggle to keep it off without making a fair bit of movement a part of their life. Without it, they would really have to stay on top of what they eat and enjoy "eating like birds." I've seen people who can live that way - I am not one of them, I like food too much. So, movement/exercise are my best bet to get and stay trim.

lorrpb

I don't watch the show. I quit worrying about slow or fast metabolism a long time ago. It is what it is. I think the point to take from the article is that maintenance doesn't happen automatically and I find I must remain very vigilant about my CICO. Movement is important, but portion control is critical. Even in maintenance, I find it impossible to out-exercise bad nutrition. My motivation for movement is health and fitness. I just feel so much better when I workout regularly.

Maxxitt

I'm a 67 yo female. I lost about 50# 2014-15, and am about 15# higher than my "low" point, so basically have managed to maintain a 35# loss. The dance between calories in and activity is challenging at times - I tripped going down the porch steps last summer and that was a 2 month recovery period before I could resume my normal 4 miles of walking plus some lifting - put on a few pounds and realized that maintenance for me at so little activity was around 1300 calories a day. That is really kinda sad. This winter, I slipped on the ice and sprained an ankle and a knee, and that was another 6 weeks of recovery time.

I always figured that when I can't maintain a lifting program I can always walk. This, however, seems not to be the case. I guess bottom line is doing what I can.

mph323

Maxxitt wrote: »

I'm a 67 yo female. I lost about 50# 2014-15, and am about 15# higher than my "low" point, so basically have managed to maintain a 35# loss. The dance between calories in and activity is challenging at times - I tripped going down the porch steps last summer and that was a 2 month recovery period before I could resume my normal 4 miles of walking plus some lifting - put on a few pounds and realized that maintenance for me at so little activity was around 1300 calories a day. That is really kinda sad. This winter, I slipped on the ice and sprained an ankle and a knee, and that was another 6 weeks of recovery time.

I always figured that when I can't maintain a lifting program I can always walk. This, however, seems not to be the case. I guess bottom line is doing what I can.

I'm 67 too, and I think about this a lot. My sedentary TDEE is around 1250 - 1300 calories, but I usually average 1500 - 1600 (or more) because I'm able to stay active. When I was sidelined for about 3 months a year and a half ago with an injury, I was miserable, with the double whammy of being inactive and home all day with access to the kitchen. And for me it's becoming harder each time to start over with my activities and build up to where I was before being injured. I'm concerned that there'll be that last time I get injured and just can't motivate myself to start over.

On the other hand, all I'd have to do is post a thread about it and I'd get some kick-*kitten* motivation from the community

psychod787

mph323 wrote: »

Maxxitt wrote: »

I'm a 67 yo female. I lost about 50# 2014-15, and am about 15# higher than my "low" point, so basically have managed to maintain a 35# loss. The dance between calories in and activity is challenging at times - I tripped going down the porch steps last summer and that was a 2 month recovery period before I could resume my normal 4 miles of walking plus some lifting - put on a few pounds and realized that maintenance for me at so little activity was around 1300 calories a day. That is really kinda sad. This winter, I slipped on the ice and sprained an ankle and a knee, and that was another 6 weeks of recovery time.

I always figured that when I can't maintain a lifting program I can always walk. This, however, seems not to be the case. I guess bottom line is doing what I can.

I'm 67 too, and I think about this a lot. My sedentary TDEE is around 1250 - 1300 calories, but I usually average 1500 - 1600 (or more) because I'm able to stay active. When I was sidelined for about 3 months a year and a half ago with an injury, I was miserable, with the double whammy of being inactive and home all day with access to the kitchen. And for me it's becoming harder each time to start over with my activities and build up to where I was before being injured. I'm concerned that there'll be that last time I get injured and just can't motivate myself to start over.

On the other hand, all I'd have to do is post a thread about it and I'd get some kick-*kitten* motivation from the community

I am truly glad I found this community. It makes me realize that I am strange to the normal world, well I am strange, but my behaviors of weighing, measuring, tracking and activity are not looked as funny here.