Maintenance (+/-20#)

nowine4me

This is how it rolls for me. Starting weight 220#, goal weight 135#. Just finished second full year of “maintenance “...if you can call it that.

So far this year.....
Jan-Mar: stayed at 135 (GW)
April - hit UGW 125
June - 130, must be retaining water
July - 135, must be food stuck up in there
August- 140, must be putting on muscle
Today - 144. Oh, must be eating too much

Now, back to the grind. Please tell me this get easier in year 3, because year 3 was certainly NOT a walk in the park.

L1zardQueen

I’m on that same walk. Hugs

Malethyst

I've hit goal multiple times. I stop tracking, and then slowly gain again. I think I need to at least measure my food even if I don't track. Losing was easy for me, maintaining has been hard.

cmriverside

Well...I've been at Maintenance for a very long time.

In years where I tried to do it without tracking, I failed. I didn't let it get to 15 pounds, but I could put on 6-8 pretty easily in the beginning few years.

I finally decided that for me the only way is to use my food scale daily, log all my food daily, ALL of it, and to step on the body weight scale a couple times per week. Nothing else seems to work. Otherwise I start letting portions creep larger, I eat little snacks seemingly for no reason, I'll go days living on cheese and crackers and then finally realize I've lost the plot.

I have to be disciplined. You don't give many details, but for me it's really basic. Eat good well balanced home-cooked meals. Don't snack. Use the food scale. Hit the macros. Eat 4-6 servings of fruit and vegetables daily. Get a little exercise most days. Jump on the body weight scale.

febacon22

Wow I can relate to this thread. I started at my utmost high of 218, lost down to 129 (which is NOT a good look on me, actually), then bounced around but not tracking, etc. between about 145 - 155. I'm now dancing with my GW of 135...and I only "officially" weigh in once a week (record it), but I dance with that darn scale pretty much every day to try to keep myself in check. And I have also come to the realization that I have to continue to weigh/measure food, etc., because when I stop, it creeps in the wrong direction. And the Fitbit, when it's not frustrating me, helps me keep the exercise rhythm going.

So ultimately I have no advice on year 3 of maintenance, but I do wish you the very best and know you are certainly not alone in your goal (and the challenges).

nowine4me

This is such great insight. The bottom line, if I take my foot of the gas for even a few contiguous days it shows.

I think what I’m having the most trouble with is focus. After I hit goal, I want to concentrate more on strength, but then for whatever reason my weight pops up (and it ain’t muscle).

Thanks for chiming in. It’s nice to know I’m not alone and that y’all have my back.

zyxst

My year 3 has dropped so deep it's speaking Chinese. I've consigned myself to gaining the weight back. I had way less health problems. I'm up 10# in 11 months. Only 162# to go!

cmriverside

nowine4me wrote: »

This is such great insight. The bottom line, if I take my foot of the gas for even a few contiguous days it shows.

I think what I’m having the most trouble with is focus. After I hit goal, I want to concentrate more on strength, but then for whatever reason my weight pops up (and it ain’t muscle).

Thanks for chiming in. It’s nice to know I’m not alone and that y’all have my back.

The, "For whatever reason?" is that you haven't dialed in your maintenance calories. It shouldn't take more than three months of diligent tracking... I mean, it still comes down to getting the right amount of food.

spiriteagle99

I've found that I have to track or the weight comes back. It's not that I don't know what to eat, it's that the occasional treat becomes the daily treat, and it adds up. By tracking, I have to ask myself whether I really want to eat whatever it is, knowing how many calories it has and what the rest of my day looks like in terms of CI-CO. i.e. the other day we went out to dinner at a restaurant that has calories on the menu. I had a choice between the big fat burger at 1200 calories or the Cobb salad at 500. With beer and salad dressing, even the salad wasn't 'diet'. But that's what I ended up with, because I knew the burger would put me way over my daily total. If I wasn't tracking, I wouldn't know or care. On a day when I've done a long run, I'd probably go for the burger, because I'd have the extra calories. Tracking helps me make smarter choices.

psychod787

nowine4me wrote: »

This is how it rolls for me. Starting weight 220#, goal weight 135#. Just finished second full year of “maintenance “...if you can call it that.

So far this year.....
Jan-Mar: stayed at 135 (GW)
April - hit UGW 125
June - 130, must be retaining water
July - 135, must be food stuck up in there
August- 140, must be putting on muscle
Today - 144. Oh, must be eating too much

Now, back to the grind. Please tell me this get easier in year 3, because year 3 was certainly NOT a walk in the park.

I hate to ask, because I am only a year in. Are you weighing and measuring food. I am sorry for asking, but I am just curious. Honestly, I am scared Kitten-less of maintanace.

SummerSkier

funny you should mention this. It looks like you are ready to get back on the bus. I have a new belt buckle this week which says ....and that is what I intend to do.

nowine4me

psychod787 wrote: »

nowine4me wrote: »

This is how it rolls for me. Starting weight 220#, goal weight 135#. Just finished second full year of “maintenance “...if you can call it that.

So far this year.....
Jan-Mar: stayed at 135 (GW)
April - hit UGW 125
June - 130, must be retaining water
July - 135, must be food stuck up in there
August- 140, must be putting on muscle
Today - 144. Oh, must be eating too much

Now, back to the grind. Please tell me this get easier in year 3, because year 3 was certainly NOT a walk in the park.

I hate to ask, because I am only a year in. Are you weighing and measuring food. I am sorry for asking, but I am just curious. Honestly, I am scared Kitten-less of maintanace.

I am - kind of. I plan and cook and pack all my meals, which tally up to my daily allowance of 2,000 cals. But I tend to go off the reservation whenever there’s free food in the break room. Even crappy food. If I stuck to what I cooked, it would be a breeze.

psychod787

nowine4me wrote: »

psychod787 wrote: »

nowine4me wrote: »

This is how it rolls for me. Starting weight 220#, goal weight 135#. Just finished second full year of “maintenance “...if you can call it that.

So far this year.....
Jan-Mar: stayed at 135 (GW)
April - hit UGW 125
June - 130, must be retaining water
July - 135, must be food stuck up in there
August- 140, must be putting on muscle
Today - 144. Oh, must be eating too much

Now, back to the grind. Please tell me this get easier in year 3, because year 3 was certainly NOT a walk in the park.

I hate to ask, because I am only a year in. Are you weighing and measuring food. I am sorry for asking, but I am just curious. Honestly, I am scared Kitten-less of maintanace.

I am - kind of. I plan and cook and pack all my meals, which tally up to my daily allowance of 2,000 cals. But I tend to go off the reservation whenever there’s free food in the break room. Even crappy food. If I stuck to what I cooked, it would be a breeze.

Thanks for the rapid response. I am trying to learn what works and does not for people. I have not always been one to learn from others, but being here on this forum is making me realize, that others have much to offer. I hope you get back into the groove. I am actually pulling for you! I have read many of your post and have some extreme respect for you.

nowine4me

Thank you @psychod787 — we’re all in it together. It’s nice to have this particular forum for moral support, since as we all know, there are no trophies, pats on the back or words of encouragement for maintaining from the “outside” world.

“Hey honey, nice job staying at the same weight” isn’t a thing.

cmriverside

nowine4me wrote: »

Thank you @psychod787 — we’re all in it together. It’s nice to have this particular forum for moral support, since as we all know, there are no trophies, pats on the back or words of encouragement for maintaining from the “outside” world.

“Hey honey, nice job staying at the same weight” isn’t a thing.

haha.

Yeah, being at a healthy weight - I get alot of general snarky comments about it - mostly the ones like, "Well YOU don't have to worry about your weight." or, "It must be nice to be naturally slim."

NO.

No a thousand times. It is hard. The general process has been way harder than I ever thought it would be. I of course can't say that. I just say, "Well, I don't *get* to eat every thing that comes into my head." There's this envy thing - I wish they could see how long it took and how much nuance is involved. But, I don't get atta-girls for being normal.

RunsWithBees

I’m going into year 5 of maintenance and I can tell you it’s gotten much easier for me now. Through trial and error (lots of errors!) I’ve honed in on what my maintenance calories should be and accepted that they are sadly lower than what the calculations say it should be (I’m hypothyroid) I’ve also gotten really good at eyeballing portion sizes and calorie counts of food and exercise burns. I know what I need to do, I just have to actually do it. Sometimes I get lazy, complacent, and simply want to indulge. I have to remind myself why I will never go back to being obese and sedentary and since it’s for health reasons, that usually brings me back to reality and gets me where I need to be.
For the past month and a half work has been hectic so I’m taking a break from logging and have eaten a lot of fast food (a lot!) simply for convenience. I weighed myself and I am still at my exact goal weight because I’ve been honest and realistic about calculating how much I’ve eaten and how much I’ve burned. But it takes time and dedication to develop those skills and I’ve noticed as I get older it seems to get easier for that little voice in my head to try to convince me that I can ease up in my vigilance but realistically I cannot. I do indulge on special occasions and such but every day is not my birthday or thanksgiving and I shouldn’t eat as though it were. I love to exercise (especially running) so that helps me earn more calories to eat more and even things out (especially on date night once a week).
I weigh myself about once a week or every other week and allow myself up to 3 lb fluctuations +/- if I see any more gain than that then I start weighing foods again and ramp up the exercise a bit.
For what it’s worth, year 3 of maintenance was not an easy one for me because I took a break from logging and then there was a change in activity at my job and I started moving less so I gained 13 lbs. I started logging again and lost the weight. I did exercise regularly but it’s the daily activity calorie burn that was making the difference at that time.
My advice is to find out where your weaknesses are and deal with them systematically. For example I don’t watch much TV anymore because I know it gives me the munchies. And I eat if I’m bored so I try to keep busy. I don’t buy goodies because “out of sight and out of mind”. I’m not sure what to tell you about the office goodies within your reach because I remember when I worked in an office it was so difficult to resist the free goodies they had on a table I constantly had to walk by and those darn pastries were just calling my name! If they weren’t so visible it would be easy to resist them, do they make blinders for people to wear to not see all the yummy baked goods? Lol But I don’t work there anymore so not an issue for me any longer.
Just keep at it and realize you’re probably going to be in it for the long haul and take it one day at a time so as not to get overwhelmed. Time will pass regardless and it’s the small steps you take every day that will add up to the results you will see in the future. Good luck to you on your journey!

Hummingbirdgirl22

I’m curious if you can tell a big difference btw 125 and 144? Because it sounds like some of it COULD be muscle maybe. I’m also trying to find my way in maintenance. I started at 161lbs, and kept changing GWs (first 145, then 140, then 135, then 130 and now I’m around 127 with an eye on 125lbs- I do NOT want to go lower than 125 -my lowest before my son was 135lbs in my late 20s but it didn’t look quite as good at 41, so I kept rolling downward) but what I don’t like it you can’t control where you lose... so sometimes I feel disproportionate. Like right now my thighs are bugging me 🙄but I’ve been reading on theses boards a lot (I have read a lot of your posts and find you very insightful and inspiring!), and a few people have talked about how even if they got to an UGW they found it to hard maintain and would gain back some purposely... this has been a worry of mine as well because I am a foodie and I do enjoy my treats. With this in mind, do u want to shoot for 125 again or 135? It makes me wonder if 125 isn’t really realistic for me to maintain if I get there...

nowine4me

@monkeefan1974 thank you for your thoughtful response and insight. I’m glad to know that it gets easier as time goes by. It’s funny, but I completely stopped watching TV for the exact same reason. And I know you’re right that overall consistency is key and small indulgences here and there are really no big deal.

It dawned on me that I stopped running after a race on 9/11. I was getting pretty significant pain in my butt and legs. I replaced that time in my day with weight training, but didn't think to adjust my TDEE (and calorie target) according. I’ll make that tweak.

@Hummingbirdgirl22 the difference between 125 and 140 is very evident around my middle. I had the same thought last night and tried on my favorite size 2 jeans that had fit perfectly. Nope, zipper wasn’t budging.

For context, I’m 5-7” and 53 years old (and probably shouldn’t be wearing Rockstar jeans anyway), so a goal range of 120-125 sounds low. But I look at pictures and I looked super healthy and felt fantastic (I carry most my weight in my hips, thighs, legs).

135 is fine too, but really the difference in maintenance calories between to two is minimal. I have been lifting off and on through my journey, but running took precedence. Now that I am taking a break, I’m all-in on building strength. I suspect that ultimately it will pay off in spades regardless of my scale weight. And may help me correct the imbalances causing pain.

It’s great to have such a wonderful tribe to lean on. I suspect many of you are like me and don’t have a ton (if any) actual “real-life” friends who are trying to maintain their weight after a significant loss.

So connections in this forum mean the world to me. Thank you!!

Johnd2000

After nearly 2 years, I’ve accepted that maintenance means repeatedly gaining a bit, then losing a bit.

hesn92

From May thru December of last year I repeatedly lost and gained the same 5 lbs over and over lol. Until in January I finally decided to say "F it" and declared that I was actually in maintenance the entire time

LivingtheLeanDream

I'm in year 5, it got easier for me after year 2, as long as I keep an eye on snacking I maintain just fine. In my second year at maintenance I was trying the reverse diet approach, ended up gaining around 5lbs so that didn't work. Finding my true average TDEE was probably the best approach for me, knowing that I need to average no more than 1900 calories and stick to that means I maintain pretty effortlessly.

I have a range like so many, mostly prefer +/-3lbs because I'm only 5ft 2, but recent hormone fluctuations as I approach menopause/peri menopause mean my fluctuations are wilder so now give myself up to 5lbs leeway.

I don't log my food any more, I eat the same kinds of things or should I say I average the same calories for each meal. As I said, its the snacking that is the only thing that could cause gain, so I need to stop myself from having that extra packet of Tayto Cheese n Onion crisps or that Frys Chocolate Cream!