Lets see your maintenance results!

DX2JX2

I entered maintenance in November of last year. Here is my 6-month weight chart since then. The black line on the chart is my goal weight - 171lbs for a 6'2" 40-something YO male.



My reflections:

December - new to maintenance, daily fluctuations probably reflective of a binge/restrict holiday mentality

January - Average weight slightly up. Wife and I had a new baby! and it got really cold so my running mileage dropped drastically.

February to March - Downward trend. I was able to increase my running mileage slightly once we were adjusted to the baby being home. I got the flu in early March which explains the three consecutive odd measurements.

Late March to mid-April - Upward trend. started drifting back into old habits but caught it early due to daily measurements. Made a resolution to limit calories for a week or two in order to lose 2 pounds.

Late April to current - Downward trend. weight actually on a slight decline as the warm weather had arrived and my running mileage is back up to about 30-35 miles per week. Also ran my first half marathon. I've been slowly increasing calories to offset but I don't mind heading into summer vacation with a little bit of runway so I can eat drink all I want.

My method in a nutshell - no logging but daily control and tracking. Semi-restricted calories for breakfast and lunch with modest snacks mid-morning and mid-afternoon. Eat however much of whatever I want for dinner with no limit. Dessert or night snack of <200 calories. Alcohol generally limited to Friday/Saturday nights though 1-2 drinks on a random weeknight is fine.

Overall I'm pretty happy with my results. Maintenance is a bit harder than I thought it would be but I think I'm starting to find the groove. I find that if I stay conscious about the number of calories that I'm eating, I don't really have to consciously work to keep them within limit. It just kind of happens.

Let's see yours!

SummerSkier

Well done DX2 and congrats on the new addition to your family. One of my insights into maintenance after 9 whole long months is that there will be a lot of fluctuations but just a few weeks of tightening up again and boom, you are right back where you need to be. No need to obsess over the day to day stuff as much. I figure heck, it took me several months to lose, but if I only have to watch myself for a week or so once or twice a year to stay where I am, that's not a big deal. MFP is a great tool but once in maintenance we need to think longer term and try to enjoy ourselves a little. BOO on the FLU. I had that for a couple weeks in Feb also.

LivingtheLeanDream

I'm in my fifth year of maintenance now and my chart still looks like yours OP. That's how maintenance is, ups and downs - for me I aim for no more than +/-3lbs.

My first year at maintaining was the hardest, I thought I could reverse diet but I was kidding myself I could eat more and more and not gain! hmm... once I realised that I wasn't a special snowflake and kept an eye on my intake everything was plain sailing.

I don't log my food any more, haven't done in a year and a half apart from now and again to check my macros. I will mentally total my calories though so I pretty much know that I average 1900-2000 cals a day.

rainbow198

Congrats OP!

I'm in year 5 of maintaining my 80+ pound loss. I keep a 10 pound weight range year round. I use a written food journal to plan and keep track of my meals, my daily exercise/activity, my weight, measurements and any notes for the day. My journals helped me to lose a lot of weight and it helps me to keep it off so I have no plans with stopping.

When I hit my goal I was happy with the way I looked in clothes, but I had a lot of work to do to be happy out of clothes. I had a big loss and was overweight for a long time. I knew it would take time to get my body the way I wanted it so I put in the work.

Fitness has always been a big motivator for me. I'm always switching up my workouts and trying new things/activities. I continuously set new fitness goals to work towards as well.

I've never followed a diet plan or any particular ways of eating while losing, but I naturally IF and eat when I'm hungry/stop eating when I'm close to getting full. This helps me keep me calories under control since I enjoy eating bigger meals. I learned that snacking/small meals used to set me up to overeat since I wasn't satisfied.

Year 1: A little nervous about weight regain. Hearing others comments on my transformation was very overwhelming. Still think I'm heavier then what I was in my head. Did an unintentional body recomp over the next year and a half of so.

Year 2: Inner thighs and triceps are finally starting to tighten up. Dropped another dress size without trying, but stayed the same weight.

Year 3: My head has finally caught up with the way I really look for the most part. Stopped eating all meat and drinking alcohol (lost the taste for both, nothing to do with weight loss/maintenance). Had a non-fitness related injury. Couldn't workout for a month. Got through it just fine and didn't gain. Had a lot of work to do to get my fitness level and my body composition back.

Year 4: Lower belly is finally gone (last trouble spot) and my body is tight everywhere. Finally able to wear a bikini with confidence.

Year 5: Going very strong and in a great place! Very happy with my lifestyle and with the way I look and feel.

I've had an incredible journey and maintenance has been very good to me overall, but I still keep going and work hard. It keeps me focused and on my plan. I'm so proud of myself for keeping the weight off for all of these years without any regain.

psychod787

I wish maintenance was so easy for me. I am finding I have to have a goal or I get listless. What I did learn through my time in maintenance was, food is fuel. Someone on here told me that. Not love, no emotion, simply fuel. Now in am actually lean bulking. I find that as I stated above I need a goal. I may one day join your ranks completely, but for now, I will soldier on. Lol keep the faith ya'll.

nxd10

I just filled out my National Weight Loss study yearly survey and I have been maintaining for five years. During that time I have very much enjoyed eating and have only gained back 5 of the 38 pounds I had lost (BMI 23). We have been so enjoying the Whole 30 program (just finished today) that my husband and I are going to continue on a slightly looser version of it essentially indefinitely. He lost 12 (much needed) pounds in the month. Although did not lower my calories, I lost the mysterious 10 pounds I had gained suddenly in January. I guess food composition matters! I fully expect to be back to my original low weight in the next few weeks.

When I gained the mysterious January weight, I realized how important maintaining was to me. I feel so much better at this weight and love seeing that scale where it should be every single day.

hesn92

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately on maintaining a healthy weight and making it a part of life. I wanted to start a thread where everyone can leave their quick tips for how to maintain their weight and things that work for them. The thing that makes the biggest impact (for me) is making sure I stay active. I have a desk job like a lot of people these days so I have to make a conscious effort to do keep up with this but since I started wearing my Fitbit I’ve been getting 8,000-12,000 steps per day including week days (yesterday 12,500) I am a tad worried about winter time though which will make it a lot harder. I won’t have gardening, watering plants, yard work, and it’ll be too cold to really play outside and take my kids to the park. We shall see. And I don’t foresee me logging my food in my food diary forever but I do need to be conscious of what I’m eating at all times. I can’t just grab a bag of chips and sit there on the couch eating mindlessly like I’ve done many many times. I try to view food as fuel, what I need to survive. I’m eating to live not living to eat. But I feel as long as I stick with my main meals plus a snack or two I will be fine. And the odd cookies or ice cream or whatever that I have here and there will be ok in my overall diet as long as it’s not a constant occurrence. I try to just limit portions of those things. Like I’ll just share with my 2 year old instead of having an entire ice cream cone to myself.

I’ve been maintaining my weight for about a year but I only officially declared “maintenance” a couple months ago. Before i had planned on losing a little more weight but never stayed on the bandwagon. I’m really enjoying myself so far with not trying to lose weight but actively trying to maintain.