Afraid to go into Maintenance

mulecanter

The best advice I've seen has already been mentioned. Establish your control boundaries like a house thermostat. If you get to the upper set point temp the AC kicks on to lower you back into range. If your weight hits the upper limit, go back into your successful weight-loss mode and get back into range (before it gets away from you). I hope some day to practice what I preach ;-)

briscogun

kristinecapua wrote: »

Hi all-

Some stats...
Age: 29
Height: 5'8"
SW: 203lbs
CW: 169lbs
GW: 165lbs, maybe 155lbs

I've been (mostly) steadily losing since July of 2017. I'm down 34lbs with 4 more lbs to go to my first "goal", which would put me at the high end of the "normal" BMI range. I do Crossfit 3-4x a week and run every single day, typically anywhere between 1 and 5 miles (although I do one long-run a week).

As I've come closer to reaching my "goal", I'm finding myself getting anxious. Although I'm excited by the prospect of reaching it (for as long as I've been weighing myself, I have been over 172lbs, so this is a whole new world for me), I'm afraid that transitioning into maintenance will not go well. I plan to continue tracking and everything, so I'm not sure where this is coming from, but I'm a bit fearful about not continuing to work toward a goal that I can see so clearly mapped out on a screen every day, if that makes sense.

So here is my plan:

Once I reach 165lbs, I want to change my MFP goals to lose only .5lbs per week. Currently, I avoid eating my exercise calories unless I do a longer run or if I'm hungry. I plan to transition into eating 1/2 of my exercise calories, as I don't want to consume all of them because I am unsure of how accurately they are calculated. I'd like to see how I do on that "plan", and make changes as necessary.

Does this sound reasonable? Does anyone have recommendations for how to make the transition into maintenance more seamless/comfortable?

You kinda hit the nail on the head and answered your own question without realizing it. The first time I went into maintenance I failed because I didn't have a goal other than not gain. I had been SO goal oriented and focused on losing, and rewarded for my efforts by seeing the scale move down, that when I started to maintain I felt lost. So guess what? It all came back...

The second time around, I started to focus on fitness goals instead of weight loss goals. So I transitioned my focus to using my new slimmer body to achieve new levels of fitness. Made it SO much easier. Run a 5K (or a 10K), lift more weight, do a challenge like a Tough Mudder, whatever.

Just change your focus and you will do great! Give yourself a new goal/challenge and enjoy that new body you worked so hard for!

CarvedTones

What I am hoping makes a difference this time is that my goal was a BMI below 25, which I have. I am not that far under. If I want a bigger range, then I have to lose more, not give myself permission to gain more by extending the range up.

Pastaprincess1978

MadisonMolly2017 wrote: »

@cwolfman13 Totally agree - even with weight loss...at the beginning when I was very sedentary I limited calories to 1200 to lose. Now, almost 50lbs later, after 18 mos of 2-3 Pilates sessions a week (easy at beginning, higher level now) and walking (infrequent & slow at beginning, now faster, longer, and often in the hills) I can eat 1700-2000 and still lose a pound a week. It’s much easier to keep moving throughout the day when lighter/stronger and the bottoms of your feet don’t hurt when you stand. Your comments make me less worried about moving to Maintenance soon. Thank you.

Could I ask your age and height - just to compare to me and my intake? Thanks?

jillstreett

bee_bee8 wrote: »

I was about to post here expressing almost exactly those feelings! I actually just hit my goal weight (which btw is about 5 lbs higher than I thought it would be when I started out - I feel good and I think I look good, so why push it?)

I like this because I really like that you listened to your body on when to transition into maintenance and not "push it" since you as an individual decided you are happy with your weight and your overall feeling. How did you know that you were ready to transition into this? How has it been the past few weeks? I ask because I feel like a million dollars, my work outs are great and I never feel deprived and don't live my life telling myself "no" to all indulgent foods but I keep my eye on calories and have lost 25 pounds, with the original goal being 30 pounds. I debating lightly transitioning to maintenance and see what my personal perimeters will be now at the -25 pound mark and then if I feel great, cool, if I decide that 30 pounds lost total should be kept as the goal, then I'll do that. This is in NO way me settling or saying I don't feel like dieting anymore, its about how I feel and how my clothes fit and about taking the 25 pounds loss, celebrating it, feeling strong and great, and letting the other 5 pounds come off if they want to and more naturally then "pushing it."

Thanks!

CarvedTones

I set mine in stone this time because I rationalized myself back to bigness the last time I lost a lot of weight. This time, it is below a BMI of 25. It's not a number I came up with; it's inflexible. I just didn't have the discipline to use a number I came up with and could modify.