Putting things in place now for maintenance

LotusCass

I’ve just started my 4th attempt at losing and maintaining. Each year I lose around 10kgs and almost reach my goal weight, then something in my mindset does a complete 180 and I stop everything. I don’t know why it happens but I just stop caring about how I look and feel. It’s like a switch goes off in my head and I want to feel free to eat what I like. I know what I’m doing when I stop tracking, stop weighing and eat anything, but I just say to myself I don’t care. I gain all the weight back on again each time, sometimes more. This time round I need to do something different obviously. I’ve joined WW for the accountability and routine of attending meetings and weigh-ins, but that may not help either as I’ll probably just stop going. Has anyone else been through this and then managed to find a way to maintain and have any advice? I’m pretty sure it’s mindset and that I need to find a way to accept that I must be mindful of what I put in my body all the time, but not sure how to do that.

errollmaclean

Outsmarting yourself is tough. I've always found maintaining harder than losing. Maybe it's because losing has a lot more positive feedback as you hit each pound lost and maintenance is just static. I have other fitness goals that keep me on track, like daily cardio helping me wake up and feel energized in the morning and lifting goals.

Just have to keep trying things until you find out what works for you. I've always thought that success is just finding out what doesn't work over and over until you find out what does work. Figuring out what doesn't work is still progress.

ReenieHJ

If maintaining is the issue, what if you found an exercise program that fits your lifestyle? For example, just plain walking, or going hiking, dancing, play tennis, golf, whatever you like to do so it'd be easier to get it into your life and stick with it? IOW, become more active physically so you burn the calories?

kcmcbee

Maintaining is a tough one and I’m very new at it so... But I searched around for maintenance support type info and have listened to the podcast “half size me” quite a bit just for perspectives from a regular person who’s done it. She has other sources besides the podcast if you’re not into that. I put it on while on the treadmill or walking and listen to a few others as well just to see what has worked for other maintainers. Good luck! You can do it!

LotusCass

Thanks for all the suggestions. Definitely finding a fitness activity I enjoy is essential. I’m currently doing a trial at some different gyms as I know classes are my thing so I want to find one I really enjoy.

kcmcbee wrote: »

Maintaining is a tough one and I’m very new at it so... But I searched around for maintenance support type info and have listened to the podcast “half size me” quite a bit just for perspectives from a regular person who’s done it. She has other sources besides the podcast if you’re not into that. I put it on while on the treadmill or walking and listen to a few others as well just to see what has worked for other maintainers. Good luck! You can do it!

Yes I think this kind of thing might really help. I have a meditation app I use for sleep and I just checked and they have weight loss meditations too. I might try that as well.

LivingtheLeanDream

When you do lose, do you lose very quickly by overly restricting your intake? noone can keep on doing that for long - I certainly found that to be the case after years of doing just that.

How about the slow and steady approach? thats what worked for me as I never felt I was 'on a diet'. I had had enough of yo yo dieting and had to find a way to lose weight and keep it off for good. MFP worked for me because it was all about the calories in/calories out and the mindset in maintenance is no different to losing, we just get extra calories to work with. I'm in my 7th year of maintaining that loss. Losing weight is hard, maintaining is almost as hard, but its worth the effort

MikePfirrman

I'm going on like 9 years on maintenance. And I lost around 70 to 80 lbs originally. It's not easy. I have a very addictive type of personality. I workout an hour a day. I have a "red line" that I won't go over. If I do, I seriously buckle down. I went over it (by three or four lbs) over the Holidays. I can't workout more, but I stopped bringing any snacks into the house, I eat only fruit for snacks or a small bowl of cereal. I also am good at doing IM -- not because I think it's a magic bullet, but it works great for me for calorie restriction. I don't eat until 1:30 every day (after my lunch hour workout) and stop eating by 8 PM -- one snack. My meals are planned healthy so I eat healthy dinners and healthy leftover lunches. I dropped 5 lbs in 3 weeks already (and I'm already pretty lowish body fat -- around 21 or 22%).

SummerSkier

Lotus, you have gotten some great ideas here. And it seems to me by coming to the maintenance forum you have taken a very positive step in the right direction. Like you I did the up and down thing for years of about 20-30 pounds. It is VERY hard on your body and each time you go up it seems like you gain more pudge than good stuff. I am in yr 3 of maintenance and altho there is a sine wave it is a lot flatter than it used to be. I will throw out a few thoughts as to what is different for me this particular go round and maybe one will be helpful.

1) Start off with the mindset of how you are going to maintain. Obviously you have been successful at losing but have you ever focused on what to do once you get "there"? Where ever there is

2) Set your goal to where you can achieve it and not some ultimate gotta get there or bust place. That will assure when you reach it you can slowly add back cals and ease into maintenance instead of just throwing your hands in the air and eating all the food again. Instead of trying for 20 pounds say put your goal at 15 and then begin to maintain.

3) Be active in the community with like minded friends. MFP is unique in that our friends understand our trials and successes more than most of our loved ones even. Sometimes the community can be a little repetitive but your friends will be there.

4) When you lose those sizes of clothes start clearing out your closet of everything which is too large.

5) Think of how your skin will improve over the first few years after you lose the weight and keep it off instead of constantly going up and down. This one is a big one and a pretty good incentive to stay at a lower weight. Plus of course health markers will be better and I think NAFLD (fatty liver) is partially thought to be caused by yo yo effect.

Best of luck this go around. Stick with it. You know you can lose. Show yourself you can maintain.

SummerSkier

Oh and 1 more thing. Some of us are all or nothing versus moderating types. You have to know yourself. It is not sustainable to restrict yourself from foods you love long term. But there are pretty decent low calorie alternatives on the market these days. So if your achilles heel is say peanut butter. Try PB2. Or Ice cream? Try Enlighten or Yasso yogurt bars. I used to love blue bell ice cream. I could eat a pint or 2 every evening (and that's about 2K cals!!!!!). Now it's really too sweet. I tried to go back to it when I started maintaining and I have to say I adore the Enlighten chocolate for a mere 280 a pint. And they are a little pricey but my store is constantly putting out coupons. etc.

Just more to think about as to how you can get off the merry go round.

MadisonMolly2017

So many great approaches & ideas here...

I wasn’t a yo-yo dieter after the first 3 times losing & then mindlessly gaining it all back. One time because I didn’t like the saggy skin/wrinkles, one time (I realize now 20’s) was due to lack of sleep (new mom age 30) and no exercise routine post delivery, and the third, all I was doing was riding my bike for hours (did centuries age 50), fixing the bike, napping, sleeping, working. Rather than being more moderate, I flat out stopped & didn’t weigh myself - regained astonishingly quickly. Each time 65-75 lbs.

So for me, it’s about Health. I have experienced the catastrophic effects of my eating for taste, not health, of chronic stress (deaths in family in accident, loss of pregnancy, perfectionism at work, huge commute), and habits formed growing up with two obese, non-exercising parents.

So, I developed Chronic Kidney Disease 2003. I couldn’t walk more than 1/2 mile, had 3-5 Lille calf cramps each night, insomnia, extreme fatigue & near the end, my skin color turned a pale get-yellowish.

14 years later, I was lucky enough to receive a transplant from a living donor. (I’d lost 37 lbs prior over 20 months- very small baby habit changes.)

You get a lot of labs as the Txplant team works to adjust your anti-rejection meds. And I saw a connection that is so obvious you will all laugh...

But...what we Choose to Eat gets broken down to nutrients and those are what are measured in your blood & urine labs. Not rocket science. I switched from Taste to Health. Joined apps, tracked macros. Got an Apple Watch - upped my steps. Lost the final 40-45 lbs.

So, if that isn’t enough, I had such low blood pressure (and all excellent labs) post-Txplant due to healthy eating & daily 10K steps that my PCP & my nephrologist both told me to eat more salt.
So I did & that opened up eating out again, which I did with gusto over our Dec vacation...

And guess what, my blood pressure skyrocketed (for me) to 134-140 over 84-87. Hypertension Stage 1. Usually 110-115/70-75 I freaked out.

Docs said take bp daily for a week & if still up we’ll put you on small dose no meds daily.

NO No No!!! NO WAY! Woke UP. Stopped playing around. Told myself: “This is no joke.” I knew my regular diet would take care of this again.

Back to eating solely at home. Back to low salt.

Blood pressure already back to 124/81 after 1 day. Scale going down.

Almost there. (Needs to be under 120 & under 80)

Lesson learned. I cannot eat like others. So be it. I choose Health.

So, perhaps get some labs done. Hopefully, they are all great!!! But if not, avoid the suffering that many of us go through, eat for Health. Your Future Self will THANK YOU as you climb 9 miles in the mountains & are not even sore the next day!!! Our bodies are amazing if we care for them.

I applaud your reaching out. I wish I had been as wise as you - more than you can probably imagine.

Maddie 💕
63 years old
228.3–>160
Headed back down to 157.
Maintenance since April 2019 or Nov 2018

AnnPT77

For me, this is one key difference between losing (for a while) vs. maintaining (I'm at 4+ years):

To lose, especially to lose some weight, quickly, almost any diet will work . . . at least for a while. The much-vaunted "determination" and "willpower" can carry me that far.

To lose all the weight, and stay at a healthy weight long term, I need to tune my methods to what's pleasant, practical, and easily sustainable for me.

Orthodoxies (named diets, etc.) are optional. Personal idiosyncracies rule, for the win.

What worked for me was to treat weight loss as a time to experiment, and find those idiosyncratic strategies. I didn't do anything I couldn't see myself doing forever, except a moderate calorie deficit. I tried things, rejected some, kept others.

By the end of just under a year of pretty satisfying weight loss, I had new habits that weren't onerous to sustain.

I'm not saying there's no effort, but it's doable & practical long term, within the framework of my life and preferences - both eating and activity.

LotusCass

Wow thanks everyone, there’s a lot for me to think about. I do need to embrace the ‘eat for health’ idea. I also feel a bit like I’m an all or nothing person and that may contribute; I find it hard to find the middle ground in maintenance. I’ll take all those ideas on board. Thanks so much!

Lillymoo01

Another thing you can do on top of the great advice I have read is to have scheduled diet breaks. Every few months eat at maintenance calories for a week (your weight will go up a bit but this will be mainly water retention and extra food in your body). This gives you some practice for when you reach your desired weight but more importantly, give you a break from restricted calories. It won't work for everyone as some find it almost impossible to get back on the wagon (which still has you at that lower weight which is a benefit regardless) but for others, it is a godsend and what makes the difference between giving up and actually reaching their goal.

iromoorevic

Keep pushing strong and do not give up, believe me you will reach your goals

Unknown

This content has been removed.

LotusCass

So this was almost 2 years ago, and after 6 lockdowns (250 days total) in the most locked down city in the world, and a divorce, I am 10 kgs heavier. Safe to say the effort I put in to trying to maintain didn’t work. I won’t beat myself up about it, it’s been a pretty *kitten* time, but I’m back and ready to go again, and put all those suggestions into place.

ElioraFR

welcome back 🌸🌼🌸

mylittlerainbow

It's wonderful that you didn't give up entirely and walk away but instead are back in the saddle again. Not everybody does that.

annliz23

MadisonMolly2017 wrote: »

So many great approaches & ideas here...

I wasn’t a yo-yo dieter after the first 3 times losing & then mindlessly gaining it all back. One time because I didn’t like the saggy skin/wrinkles, one time (I realize now 20’s) was due to lack of sleep (new mom age 30) and no exercise routine post delivery, and the third, all I was doing was riding my bike for hours (did centuries age 50), fixing the bike, napping, sleeping, working. Rather than being more moderate, I flat out stopped & didn’t weigh myself - regained astonishingly quickly. Each time 65-75 lbs.

So for me, it’s about Health. I have experienced the catastrophic effects of my eating for taste, not health, of chronic stress (deaths in family in accident, loss of pregnancy, perfectionism at work, huge commute), and habits formed growing up with two obese, non-exercising parents.

So, I developed Chronic Kidney Disease 2003. I couldn’t walk more than 1/2 mile, had 3-5 Lille calf cramps each night, insomnia, extreme fatigue & near the end, my skin color turned a pale get-yellowish.

14 years later, I was lucky enough to receive a transplant from a living donor. (I’d lost 37 lbs prior over 20 months- very small baby habit changes.)

You get a lot of labs as the Txplant team works to adjust your anti-rejection meds. And I saw a connection that is so obvious you will all laugh...

But...what we Choose to Eat gets broken down to nutrients and those are what are measured in your blood & urine labs. Not rocket science. I switched from Taste to Health. Joined apps, tracked macros. Got an Apple Watch - upped my steps. Lost the final 40-45 lbs.

So, if that isn’t enough, I had such low blood pressure (and all excellent labs) post-Txplant due to healthy eating & daily 10K steps that my PCP & my nephrologist both told me to eat more salt.
So I did & that opened up eating out again, which I did with gusto over our Dec vacation...

And guess what, my blood pressure skyrocketed (for me) to 134-140 over 84-87. Hypertension Stage 1. Usually 110-115/70-75 I freaked out.

Docs said take bp daily for a week & if still up we’ll put you on small dose no meds daily.

NO No No!!! NO WAY! Woke UP. Stopped playing around. Told myself: “This is no joke.” I knew my regular diet would take care of this again.

Back to eating solely at home. Back to low salt.

Blood pressure already back to 124/81 after 1 day. Scale going down.

Almost there. (Needs to be under 120 & under 80)

Lesson learned. I cannot eat like others. So be it. I choose Health.

So, perhaps get some labs done. Hopefully, they are all great!!! But if not, avoid the suffering that many of us go through, eat for Health. Your Future Self will THANK YOU as you climb 9 miles in the mountains & are not even sore the next day!!! Our bodies are amazing if we care for them.

I applaud your reaching out. I wish I had been as wise as you - more than you can probably imagine.

Maddie 💕
63 years old
228.3–>160
Headed back down to 157.
Maintenance since April 2019 or Nov 2018

Inspired by you thanks.