Booo...back on the bus
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DX2JX2
Posts: 1,921 Member
I went into maintenance mode in October and have been rock solid for the past 5 months despite quitting smoking and greeting a new baby over past few months. Unfortunately, I've seen a uptick in my trending weight for the past few weeks. It's definitely not a surprise as I've felt myself drift back into some old habits with portion sizes at dinner (justifying splurges as 'exceptions' on the regular), cocktails during the week, and having 'just a few pieces' of chocolate at night.
The gain is pretty small now (only up about 2 pounds in the past month) but it's clearly there and I it's time to get back into gear before the trend gets any worse. On the plus side, I'll be able to lose it in a pretty short period of time without any major changes to my existing routine, other than to regain my focus on mindful eating and portioning (on a separate note, the ability to identify trends pretty quickly and nip problems in the bud is why I really believe in daily weigh-ins).
At first I was kind of annoyed that maintaining requires effort. After the relative deprivation of weight loss, I expected maintenance to be mindless and easy. Clearly this isn't the case.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that many/most people actually do have to think about their weight on the regular. It's not hard or easy or good or bad, it's just something that has to happen. The sooner I can accept this, the sooner I can get on with things and get it done.
So, back on the bus for me. Time to put some new batteries in the food scale and brush off my food log! When I get back into maintenance in a few weeks, at least now I'll know what to expect!
The gain is pretty small now (only up about 2 pounds in the past month) but it's clearly there and I it's time to get back into gear before the trend gets any worse. On the plus side, I'll be able to lose it in a pretty short period of time without any major changes to my existing routine, other than to regain my focus on mindful eating and portioning (on a separate note, the ability to identify trends pretty quickly and nip problems in the bud is why I really believe in daily weigh-ins).
At first I was kind of annoyed that maintaining requires effort. After the relative deprivation of weight loss, I expected maintenance to be mindless and easy. Clearly this isn't the case.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that many/most people actually do have to think about their weight on the regular. It's not hard or easy or good or bad, it's just something that has to happen. The sooner I can accept this, the sooner I can get on with things and get it done.
So, back on the bus for me. Time to put some new batteries in the food scale and brush off my food log! When I get back into maintenance in a few weeks, at least now I'll know what to expect!
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Replies
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Does your bus pick up riders? Not staying vigilant is where a lot of people mess up.
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Yep maintenance takes as much effort as losing, welcome to my world!20
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I am so good at gaining and losing weight. I could teach a class! But maintaining is another thing altogether. I do find that mfp data and having a goal motivates me so I'm planning to use the same strategies when I'm ready to maintain. I have about five pounds more to lose and then I'm planning to jump on the maintenance train! I'm planning to log every day for a year and not gain or lose more than two or three pounds. I'm hoping that the "year goal" motivates me and helps me get in the swing of "not gaining or losing." It's hard!4
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I find maintaining exceptionally hard. All the time I am trying to lose, I am focused and have a goal, but the second I try to maintain its like I loosen the grip on my resolve and the floodgates swing open and 1000+ kcal meals slip out all over the place, protein bars escape, deserts and snacks become the norm .. and the weight shoots back up.
Basically I am good at suffering ... I am rubbish at being normal !23 -
I find maintaining exceptionally hard. All the time I am trying to lose, I am focused and have a goal, but the second I try to maintain its like I loosen the grip on my resolve and the floodgates swing open and 1000+ kcal meals slip out all over the place, protein bars escape, deserts and snacks become the norm .. and the weight shoots back up.
Basically I am good at suffering ... I am rubbish at being normal !
I'm in exactly the same boat. Give me a tough goal and/or something to change/achieve and I'll breeze through it with no problem. Take away that goal and apparently I become an uncontrollable beast! What makes matters worse is that I'm gaining despite the fact that I run 30+ miles per week regularly. This means that I've been eating somthing like 1000 calories per day over maintenance when I stopped thinking about limits!
BTW - my wife said I should keep the weight on and would actually prefer if I put on a couple more. She thinks that I look better with another 5-10 pounds on my frame (and to be honest, I switched to maintenance after losing 5 pounds more than I originally intended to). I'll still be well within the 'normal' BMI range (22) at the higher weight but mentally I feel like I let myself down by putting any weight back on. I'm not sure what I'll do, maybe split the difference and maintain at my current weight.3 -
I find maintaining exceptionally hard. All the time I am trying to lose, I am focused and have a goal, but the second I try to maintain its like I loosen the grip on my resolve and the floodgates swing open and 1000+ kcal meals slip out all over the place, protein bars escape, deserts and snacks become the norm .. and the weight shoots back up.
Basically I am good at suffering ... I am rubbish at being normal !
I'm in exactly the same boat. Give me a tough goal and/or something to change/achieve and I'll breeze through it with no problem. Take away that goal and apparently I become an uncontrollable beast! What makes matters worse is that I'm gaining despite the fact that I run 30+ miles per week regularly. This means that I've been eating somthing like 1000 calories per day over maintenance when I stopped thinking about limits!
BTW - my wife said I should keep the weight on and would actually prefer if I put on a couple more. She thinks that I look better with another 5-10 pounds on my frame (and to be honest, I switched to maintenance after losing 5 pounds more than I originally intended to). I'll still be well within the 'normal' BMI range (22) at the higher weight but mentally I feel like I let myself down by putting any weight back on. I'm not sure what I'll do, maybe split the difference and maintain at my current weight.
With you running that much is it safe to assume you have performance aspirations and/or scheduled races in the near future? You might be surprised how much research suggests "just a few pounds" can effect your running speed/time. A quick google will yield a number of articles written on the subject.1 -
I feel you! Maintaining is not as easy as anyone thinks. It's like I got an inch and I'm trying to take a mile!8
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Thank you for this thread. My yo-yo specialty was giving up in sight of goal because it gets hard that last few pounds. And now I am at my second, lower goal and just beginning to learn to maintain; headed out on a 2 week vacation without access to scales today, nervous, so taking this as inspiration to not stress-eat myself back into the booo place.8
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Maintaining is a lot harder than losing. I lost 40 lbs, put 20 back on. Did good for 4 years and this year my scales were off 10 lbs, gained 5, then 5 more. Got the flu, then ate everything in sight. Now I got 20 to get off, ugh. Oh well better than 405
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I am new to maintenance (about a month) and finding it difficult. I am still new enough at it to freak out at swings and it is so much harder to be very accurate than fairly accurate, which worked for loss. Trying to lose with a deficit of ~300, you could be off by 100 in either direction and it would still be a deficit and you would be moving in the right direction while you made adjustments. At maintenance, moving in any direction by any amount is wrong as it starts to add up. I am still very slightly in deficit most of the time because I am terrified of gaining and getting back into my old yoyo cycle that ended with me gaining it back. But in those past failures, I tried to just eat "normally/naturally" after losing the weight and did not make such an effort at maintenance. I am pretty committed to not making the same mistake again.5
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I'm walking to the bus stop contemplating whether or not I want to get on. Meaning...I've slid, I've gained, I know what I need to do, and I'm just dragging my feet (almost literally!) and not doing it. Maybe this will be one of the kicks I'll need to climb onto the first bus that comes along instead of waiting for the next...and the next...8
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CarlydogsMom wrote: »I'm walking to the bus stop contemplating whether or not I want to get on. Meaning...I've slid, I've gained, I know what I need to do, and I'm just dragging my feet (almost literally!) and not doing it. Maybe this will be one of the kicks I'll need to climb onto the first bus that comes along instead of waiting for the next...and the next...
I feel your pain. I hit my goal weight in May 2014 after losing 70 pounds over a year and a half. I maintained within a few pounds for about a year, but then solidly put on 10 pounds (I know exactly how). At 5'9" tall, I couldn't really tell where the 10 pounds went to, so I decided I would keep my new weight for maintenance. I stayed there until the last month or so when along came another 8 pounds (not sure why this time) and I'm feeling the difference in my clothes. This morning, I bit the bullet and entered my new weight on MFP (for a while I thought if I didn't enter it, it wasn't real) and set a goal to lose. MFP gave me 1250 calories per day before exercise calories. I know what I need to do, but part of me feels rather resentful for having to give up some of my indulgences yet again.8 -
The part of OP's post that caught me was, "...and greeting a new baby over past few months." OP, how is sleep going in your household? That can have a big impact on hormones governing hunger. Google "sleep, ghrelin, leptin."
Also, 30+miles/week, although maybe vital for your sanity (it is for mine), can stress your body (more cortisol, water retention) on too little sleep.
You seem to have a great attitude about it, and as a long time maintainer, I agree completely. It takes effort. Although sometimes it seems to take more effort than it should, it is not a crazy amount of effort, and feeling great is totally worth the effort.
ETA: Congratulations on the new addition!3 -
CarlydogsMom wrote: »I'm walking to the bus stop contemplating whether or not I want to get on. Meaning...I've slid, I've gained, I know what I need to do, and I'm just dragging my feet (almost literally!) and not doing it. Maybe this will be one of the kicks I'll need to climb onto the first bus that comes along instead of waiting for the next...and the next...
Its like these words just came out of my mouth... seriously describes my current situation. I just climbed back on the bus after a steady gain over the past 4 months. Not sure why I decided to keep on taking the next bus week after week but here I am, once again kicking myself in the pants.2 -
It's good you caught it early. Maintenance is a habit you need to form.3
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First off, quitting smoking is hard — you did it. That is probably the single best decision you ever made. If it’s just two pounds and there are no issues with breast feeding or whatever, just knock it out quick. Not sure of your stats, but I can drop 1# per week at 1500 without too much suffering. I eat almost entirely whole fruits and vegetables plus beans for these short mini-cuts.0
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I am so scared of this happening when I lose my last 6kg - how are you going now, OP?0
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Im back on the bus too..good news for me as soon as I got my structure back, logging food, portion sizes, water, diligent exercise...I feel pretty good...you will be fine.4
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I love this post so much! This is the real nature of maintenance, keeping an eye on your stats and making adjustments as soon as you recognize you're off track makes it so much easier over the long run especially.
I also love how you don't make the classic excuse of "life got in the way..." I hate that phrase so much. Life is always going on. But you acknowledge that you've had a lot going on and clearly recognize that it's just the nature of being alive.
I would love to see this post in the "Success Stories" section. I think it would be inspiring to others who focus only on losing weight and don't give a moments thought to actually keeping the weight off.
Thank you for posting this.11 -
ladyhusker39 wrote: »I love this post so much! This is the real nature of maintenance, keeping an eye on your stats and making adjustments as soon as you recognize you're off track makes it so much easier over the long run especially.
I also love how you don't make the classic excuse of "life got in the way..." I hate that phrase so much. Life is always going on. But you acknowledge that you've had a lot going on and clearly recognize that it's just the nature of being alive.
I would love to see this post in the "Success Stories" section. I think it would be inspiring to others who focus only on losing weight and don't give a moments thought to actually keeping the weight off.
Thank you for posting this.
I second this. When I started my insane weight loss, I had no idea about maintenance!2
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