i lke this better than the success thread

csuhar

I don't know if I'd say exercise is *more* important, but it definitely is *an* important part of keeping the weight in control for a few reasons.

First comes the issue that it's part of the overall lifestyle change. Once you reach your maintenance goal, you can adjust your exercise level along with your food consumption to fit your daily routine. (It also means that, as we approach the traditionally food-heavy holidays, you have more flexibility to enjoy all the goodies people are making.)

If you don't keep exercise as part of the change, then your only option is to manipulate your food intake.

Second, there are multiple other benefits to exercise like increased strength and improved athletic performance. After being injured a number of years ago, I can tell you that it is very frustrating to look at a list of things you "used to be able to do". So the ability to maintain or improve your performance can be a large motivator to continue exercising.

CGreen177

Some great posts here. For me I tried maintenance this year and failed (put on 4-5 lbs over a few months) - mainly because I too can't outrun my fork. I like eating waaaay too much. So the scales are also very important for me as a sanity check. Exercise - well I like bits (like lifting) and I hate bits (like running, most days) - but the bits I hate allow me to enjoy life (and specifically hill walking) much more - and all of it allows me to eat or drink more (or at the moment to lose those last few difficult pounds again more quickly).

Hoping I can figure out maintenance better this time, which I think means LOG food!! For me, that's where I went wrong last time - let's the bad eating habits slip in without notice! Exercise is a given - it's just what I do now, whether I want to or not

stephenson2012

I exercised before I lost weight. I lost the first 20 lbs with just watching my diet. However, the last 30 lbs and the biggest body difference was after I started weight training. I like having muscles. I want to be strong and fit as I get older. Plus the exercise lets me blow off some of the stress from work.

chouflour

I'm about to bob out of maintenance and back into weight loss for another 5-10lb. Part of why I picked maintenance when I did is that I had health issues that kept me from my preferred exercise.

You'll lose less muscle without exercise if you aren't also losing weight.

nxd10

I don't exercise at the gym, but I bought a fitbit when I hit maintainance and try hard to hit my step goals. It buys me more calories and I like to eat. It's part of keeping my head on staying healthy.

yoovie

"do you find exercise if more important in keeping the weight off? Or was it more important in taking it off."

I gotta be honest, I have no idea. Because I was aiming for a lifestyle I could maintain, exercise has been vital all along. I dont know if it is keeping the weight off because I couldn't bear to stop and find out.

Since hitting the level I want to maintain, I have been more and more involved in the athletic activities I wanted so bad when I was out of shape. So it's even more important now that I am always in training, vs 'trying to lose weight'. ya know?

dopeysmelly

I've been finding my maintenance feet for only a month, BUT all I know is, counting calories lost me 70 lbs, but I get more enjoyment from exercising and moving my body than I ever thought I would. Watching what you put into your mouth, which I accept I shall always do now, isn't half as much fun as getting your heart rate up and feeling your body working hard, or lifting/pushing heavier weights than you thought you could. It's pleasurable. I can't say the same for calorie counting really, although that is a different kind of interesting challenge.

cliffodom1

I find that when I got to my target weight (190 pounds) the weight kept coming off. I COULDN'T STOP LOSING WEIGHT!!! There were no brakes. I settled around 185 and I found that the exercise was changing my dynamic. I had to control my calories out.

maria0elisa

bump

snowflake930

waldo56 wrote: »

Regularly watching the scale is the most important thing to do.

^^This is it for me as well. I do, and have been, at the very least, walking for at least an hour per day, for over 2 years now. (Gym M-F) I have to watch the scale closely, with a cushion of 5 pounds. If I go under (admittedly, not very often) I can splurge on calories a little. If I go over, I cut calories.
I am 63 and was morbidly obese 3 years ago. I am in the best shape of my adult life right now. I have not been this size since my early 30's.

janicelo1971

jenilla1 wrote: »

I've been on maintenance for well over 2 years now. Don't know about the research, but for me personally, maintenance doesn't depend on exercise. It's all about the eating, just like it was for weight loss. Exercise is important to me for other reasons: good health, stress management, energy and aesthetics. :flowerforyou:

I have maintained for about 7 months of the last 4 months due to an injury i stopped going to cross fit and lowered my calories by about 400 a week..no issues with maintaining with no exercise.

Vailara

It was the other way around for me. I exercise for health and fitness. I originally lost weight to help facilitate the exercise (rather than exercising to facilitate losing weight).

I've kept both exercise and diet very moderate, because I want them to be something I can stick with for years and years.

bwogilvie

Exercise has been important to me for quite some time, and regular, moderate-to-intense aerobic exercise for the last 6 years. However, by itself it wasn't much use in weight loss. In 2012, I bicycled nearly 2000 miles, and covered another 200 walking and hiking, but I gained 10 pounds.

In 2013 I lost 45 pounds by counting calories with MFP; in 2014 I lost another 20 and am now at maintenance, though I might decide in the spring to take off another 5 pounds if it seems like it would help with running and cycling.

Exercise was (and is) helpful with weight loss, for a couple of reasons:

(1) It lets me eat an extra 500 or so calories a day while maintaining the same deficit. Psychologically, it was a lot easier for me to net somewhere around 1500 by eating 2000 and doing 500 calories of exercise (measured with an accurate HRM and checked against my actual results), than to eat 1500 and not exercise.

(2) It helped preserve lean body weight (through strength training), improve my endurance, and maintain a positive outlook. Endurance exercise (cycling, and this year, running too) makes me feel good about myself. It gives me goals toward which to strive that aren't related to my weight.

And at this point, now that I'm at a healthy weight, my goals have shifted toward health, fitness, and body fat percentage. If I decide that getting stronger will help me meet my goals, I might bulk and cut, even if that means a higher maintenance weight. Or I might lose a bit more if it would help with my cycling and running goals. Weight is a crude metric, but it has the virtue of being easy to measure. It was clear that at 215 pounds, I had to lose weight. It's not so clear that 150 is my ideal weight, though it's clearly a good weight for my height (5' 10" / 178 cm) and frame.

DeterminedFee201426

for me exercise was not ever necessary for me ever when maintaining my weight
only thing i did was walk every once and a while and was fine . i prefer to exercise for (strength) now so i wont feel like sponge bob when he's trying to lift a twig

DeterminedFee201426

jenilla1 wrote: »

I've been on maintenance for well over 2 years now. Don't know about the research, but for me personally, maintenance doesn't depend on exercise. It's all about the eating, just like it was for weight loss. Exercise is important to me for other reasons: good health, stress management, energy and aesthetics. :flowerforyou:

same here

freedomlady

Ive maintained by 38 pound weight loss the past 3 years. I love it!!! I watch what I eat more than exercise. I was an avid exerciser but health problems have prevented me from exercise. Believe me, I LOVE to eat, but if I do I will surely gain and no way do I want to get heavy again. I just find lower calorie foods and if i eat over my calories one day I don't do it the next day.

FitOldMomma

I'm not near my goal weight yet, but I plan on continuing the exercise, maybe even adding more things such as bicycling and hopefully running. Not for the calorie burns, but because being physically fit and strong makes me feel so much better. I love having muscles that I can now see and feel.

jane837

I've lost about 115 lbs and have been maintaining for four months now. Other than tweaking my calories in/calories out a little bit, I haven't changed my habits at all from what I was doing while losing.

Being thoughtful about the number of calories I'm eating has been the most important factor (both for losing and maintaining), but exercise has been hugely important as well, for a few reasons:

- Going to the gym every day after work replaced my previous habit of watching TV and snacking in the evening.
- Exercise can be a great stress reliever/anxiety reducer/mood enhancer, and it's much easier for me to make healthy choices about food when I'm feeling good.
- Working out is a great way to add wiggle room for a few hundred extra food calories
- Now that I don't have weight loss goals anymore, I'm really glad to have ongoing exercise goals to keep me focused and motivated.
- Regular exercise has led to endless benefits in my daily life: being able to lift heavy furniture to help my parents with moving, having the stamina to walk all day exploring a city while I'm on vacation, being able to sprint two blocks to catch a train, etc.

All that being said, I *hated* exercise when I first started. I don't know if I was aware of it at the time, but I think the frustration came from the difficulty of learning a new skill. I was terrible at it in the beginning - even 15 minutes on the elliptical seemed hellish. But I kept practicing and pushing myself a little, and not giving up. Eventually, I started to feel really good about how strong and fast I was getting, and I realized I actually liked exercise!