What are your long term maintenance strategies for the rest of your life?

Diatonic12

MadisonMolly2017

@Mari22na
I want to thank you & so many on this strand for your thoughts & reflections. Is that waterfall from Yellowstone?!!

I have found myself, OP, since I first read some of your comments, shifting my perspective/view of myself. Rather than thinking of myself as having lost XX pounds, I think of me as me. I think much of what you’ve written as “spot on” for my current reality.

We do need to focus on living our life!! And MFP is a great tool, as many -including you- have mentioned. Data helps, seeing trends early helps. But I agree that if it becomes all of our life, which it was the last couple of times I dieted, I found my life was lacking & I threw in the towel. This time, I’m actively pursuing old & new interests & true self-care activities.

Perhaps successful maintenance & weight loss finally happens after a few attempts because as @ShellyMacchi points out, there are many small things we need to learn/master such as prepping, realizing we’re only hurting ourselves if we’re not honest with ourselves, what foods work for us, what exercises are enjoyable & when we need to switch them up, etc. It’s complex. But many people in here have done it!

I always think back to The National WeightRegistry. Successful maintainers exercised an hour a day & weighed themselves at least weekly. Sounds do-able and sane.

We are all at different points of a complex journey.

Diatonic12

Ooo, lookie there. I got a bite. I'll have to play that song for you now.

Thanks for your kind words. I would love to demystify weight loss and maintenance. What causes binge eating in general and in particular. How do others get control of their weight and lifestyles. Alot of dieters look into their pasts and childhoods for clues. What the root cause is. I'm beyond willing to plumb the depths of my soul for the answers.

I search out the dark corners and ugly places of the ego and super ego hoping to find signs that point towards the key to unlocking the mysteries of thrill eating, dieting and then eating it all back. If there is no readily identifiable trauma. No food abuse. No weird attitudes about food. Nobody seemed hung up on food in your home or childhood.

Is it all genetic somehow?

No particular peer pressure, not an overweight child, did not suffer the slings and arrows of bullies. Your school career was blissfully uneventful. No sneak eating or secret eating. No hoarding food in your closets or under the bed. Why do certain foods make some people crazypants and others do not.

Theoretically, I'd love to know the why, why, why. I want to unlock the mysteries. So much of this is still unexplored and no one has all of the answers to this day. That's pretty major. I like to read the personal stories with interest. I look for the patterns and connections and new ideas. I've looked at the research.

I care about the whys but I can't get bogged down in the unknown roots. If dieting worked, it would take one diet, one time and we would be fixed.

If you have uncovered all of the secret keys and you know exactly why you started dieting, did it change everything for you then?

Thanks for the bite, today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwRrKaq0IyY[/url]

Seanathan45

It's about making lifestyle changes, not crash diets or extreme workouts. Start with removing liquid calories, drink water. Then focus on portion size. This will allows you to eat almost anything. Count calories until your diet choices become second nature. Before you know it, you will be feeling great and it will be a way of life. Congratulations on your first step!

Arekha

I have been thinking about this for the past for months. A couple of years ago i joined MFP, lost wt, fell of the wagon and put it all on again. But, I have mostly been quite thin most of my adult life and only after 2 kids, put on around 15 lbs of excess lbs. When i was 96 lbs (i'm barely 5'1"), i ate everything i wanted and never felt deprived. My portion sizes were small, and I never thought about eating/restricting/calories etc. I did not even own a scale. After my MFP stint, I know what normal portion for me is, and I know when I over eat. hoping to just go back to simpler times with just portion control and adding a bit of exercise.

texteach66

I plan to keep logging my food, keep exercising, and keep weighing every day. It works for me. I lost it all before and stopped doing those things and gained it all back. I know better for myself. We each need to figure out what works. There may come a day that I don't have to log, but right now it keeps me safe.