Merry Maintenance Break

donidaily

It's that (most wonderful) time of the year for a lot of us, and I have decided to try something different this year: although I am not yet at goal I'm taking a maintenance break from Thanksgiving through mid-January.

While I have been through several cycles of weight loss I have never taken a maintenance break before. I'm either losing or...the opposite. In 2019 I have lost 11lb. Since 2016, when I started really tracking, I've lost 23lb. This is slow progress but I am trying to make it stick for life. I think it could be a good experiment to ask my body to settle at my current weight before attempting the home stretch.

I will weigh in and take my measurements on Wednesday morning before leaving for Thanksgiving. That will be my maintenance weight for the next two-ish months. Then I will use this thread to record weigh-ins when I can, but I will be traveling (fun!) a lot over the holidays and staying in places that probably won't have a scale. I usually gain 7-8lbs over this period and am hoping that a more moderate approach will give me different results this year.

If anyone else is planning a maintenance break for the holidays please join me here!

mtaratoot

I'm not exactly sure what your goal will be the next two months. If you are planning to temporarily stop your weight loss journey and instead stay at your current weight, you will likely be disappointed to learn it's just as hard as losing. If you've been in weight LOSS mode and typically GAIN seven or eight pounds during the holidays, what are your expectations if you aren't even trying to lose? How far are you from your goal, because those last pounds are usually really TOUGH to reach. Maybe you already are AT your goal, in which case... welcome to maintenance! I hope you have success with few setbacks. You can do this!

donidaily

Thank you for your insights and encouragement I am aiming to reduce the psychological load of the holidays by maintaining my current weight rather than attempting to lose while juggling travel and family celebrations. My previous, unrealistic, approach has been to try to keep losing and has always lead to me throwing the whole thing out the window until January because it's too hard. I understand that maintaining will be hard too but I'm hoping by increasing my calories to a temporary maintenance amount I can stress a bit less. (I want to lose another ~10lb next year to get to goal.)

mtaratoot

Good luck! I'm rooting for you. It will be really neat if you can stick to your goal if your goal is slightly higher. I wouldn't be able to do it. I've been in maintenance for about 18 months, and I still have to be vigilant, especially this time of year. Looking back to last year, I gained about five or six pounds between the end of October and the beginning of January. It took me until early March to get back to goal, and I've been bouncing around there since then.

What will success look like? Will you be upset with yourself if you ~STILL~ gain eight pounds, or will you just realize it's seasonal? Think about how you will react if you gain back even more since you're increasing your calories. Of course, I hope you will CELEBRATE when you don't gain even a half pound.

I haven't found a decreased psychological load being in maintenance. In fact, in ways it's tougher because you have to view "no change" as success, and you don't get the motivation of seeing weight loss. Well, until my weight goes up and I get to bring it down again. Like for right now....

Keep us updated. We're with you! And do think about how you will react to the possible outcomes when January gets here. You got this!

ghudson92

I think that's a good idea! When I was losing I took quite a few maintenance breaks when life got stressful or I went on holiday and found it manageable. Obviously it is still the same amount of effort but it does give you a bit more freedom. Good luck and enjoy the extra calories 😊

LivingtheLeanDream

Maintenance breaks can be good, especially if someones been eating in calorie deficit for months. From now til New Year seems a long time though?

TangledThread

What you’re doing is smart. A several month maintenance break is fine because one day you will be in maintenance forever.

My way of handling maintenance during the holidays is using weekly numbers. I need plenty of low days to offset the high days. I decided not to eat any the offerings at work so that I can have a little at the weekend parties.

The key is to keep tracking.

ElizabethKalmbach

The travel may or may not make it difficult to track. Travel always makes me retain water, and also ensures that I have trouble with logging accuracy as there are a lot of restaurants and SALT in all the food. Do you know how much water you *normally* retain on a trip like the one you're planning? Having THAT number in mind will also help.

donidaily

Oooh some great thoughts here, thank you for taking the time I really appreciate the advice about water retention (definitely an issue for me and I'll factor it in!) and about balancing calories out over a week rather than trying to hit a perfect number every day.

You're right @TangledThread tracking is key. If I can just stick to that habit—and I really really do intend to—even if I don't totally nail this I will have some data to look back over and learn from. The reason I am taking such a long time is that I have a perfect storm of Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Year-work travel that takes me from now until January 9. So for me New Year efforts realistically start after that. Exciting and slightly daunting...

NovusDies

What happens next year when you are presumably at goal and your eating cannot or should not change for this period of time? I am not saying to ditch your plan but I would suggest that you consider finding alternate stress management tactics while you do it. You don't want weight management first in line to "go out the window" during periods of heightened stress.

I am about to join you on a prolonged break through. Mine is a recomp break that I intend to last for about 4 months. I will practice maintenance while working on fat conversion instead of fat loss. I still have enough to lose that this is an early first recomp but I think it is right for me. I am not in any hurry to finish losing and my plan has been fairly easy to sustain for close to 2 years so getting back to it should not be a mental struggle.

TangledThread

There is no need to apologize for losing slowly. So what if it takes a year or five or ten as then the goal is to keep it off and maintain for even longer than that.

Since the only stress OP mentioned was trying to cut during the holidays season, I’m imagining the issue is all the free flowing tasty treats and eating out when traveling. A person needs to learn how to eat sensibly so why not now instead of waiting until a goal weight. That way next year will be even easer.

I’m cheering for you. Keep tracking and you can do this!

Personally I would consider it a win if you stayed in your current range through the end of January. But that’s a reflection on me.

My tools gets me through the holidays fine but in the cold darkness of January all I want is a snuggly couch blanket to binge watch shows and eat Mac and Cheese. I’ve been maintaining for years and still I find January to be a real struggle. My goal is to hit February 1st no more than 3lbs heavier than today.

MyEvolvingJourney

I can totally relate with losing slowly! I've been working at this for three years, and I've lost 65 pounds total. I'm glad you posted this because I'm working on maintaining for now, too! Like you, I was always trying to lose through the holidays or going to the other end and just eating whatever. This year though, I think trying to maintain is the goal. Good luck to you!

stricklee11

I have also decided to take a break for the holidays. I took a break from logging while on vacation abroad but now I'm back to logging, albeit at maintenance. I know some may disagree with this method but who cares. I plan on restarting at a deficit of 500 calories after Christmas.

walktalkdog

donidaily wrote: »

It's that (most wonderful) time of the year for a lot of us, and I have decided to try something different this year: although I am not yet at goal I'm taking a maintenance break from Thanksgiving through mid-January.

While I have been through several cycles of weight loss I have never taken a maintenance break before. I'm either losing or...the opposite. In 2019 I have lost 11lb. Since 2016, when I started really tracking, I've lost 23lb. This is slow progress but I am trying to make it stick for life. I think it could be a good experiment to ask my body to settle at my current weight before attempting the home stretch.

I will weigh in and take my measurements on Wednesday morning before leaving for Thanksgiving. That will be my maintenance weight for the next two-ish months. Then I will use this thread to record weigh-ins when I can, but I will be traveling (fun!) a lot over the holidays and staying in places that probably won't have a scale. I usually gain 7-8lbs over this period and am hoping that a more moderate approach will give me different results this year.

If anyone else is planning a maintenance break for the holidays please join me here!

I have done this periodically over the two year period when I was losing. I think it's a great idea during traveling and also holidays, and with both of those in the mix, I think you are being smart and realistic. Good luck!