How long have you maintained?

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Replies

  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
    Well you know my story, but I've been maintaining for 5 months. I stopped tracking, but kept to pretty much the same eating habits as I was when I was losing, with a day of tracking here and there. Then, as they say, life got in the way and I started eating out more often and i started losing touch with my daily calories. I came back to MFP and started tracking again when I felt myself slipping, BEFORE I gained any weight.

    This is how I see myself maintaining long-term, logging for periods of time to establish routines, and not logging when I feel comfortable doing so, and then logging again when I feel like I'm losing grasp.
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    When I joined mfp I only weighed 4 pounds more than I do now. I've been using mfp for over a year, on maintenance. It's easier to be on maintenance and stay there consistently since joining mfp. I'm not strict about the calorie counting. I estimate and eyeball. I keep within a range (calorie needs are always changing). I take days or weeks off (and can still eat the same way, even though I'm not counting or tracking). I enjoy myself. But, it gives me an understanding of the calories in my food and what works and doesn't. It helps me track my protein and calcium. I see this is as being an effective way to maintain and continue working on my fitness, especially as I get older. And I've learned a lot from doing it, which would make maintaining easier if I did stop counting (as a result of all the counting I have already done).
  • JeanneTops
    JeanneTops Posts: 2,593 Member
    Two years.

    I think it depends on how overweight you were and for how long. For me, oh, 90 pounds for 30 years. The way I see it, after 30 years of maintaining a 90 pound weight loss, I can start thinking about not counting calories any more. Course, I'll be 92...

    Jeanne
  • BluejayNY
    BluejayNY Posts: 301 Member
    I lost 50 lbs 6 years ago and never gained any of it back. The highest I ever got was 3 lbs over my goal weight (125) which was in hopes it would increase my fertility.

    I do it by portioning my food, counting calories when the scale goes up, and eating certain foods in moderation. I basically changed my lifestyle to one I am comfortable living with. Its basically entirely by diet. I have worked out often and not at all and saw no difference in the scale. When I work out, I get hungrier and eat more. If I do not work out, I am less hungry and eat less.

    I haven't found maintaining difficult...YET. I am expecting that may change as I age.
  • LuckyFur
    LuckyFur Posts: 96
    Sobriety?

    About 10 minutes.
  • natalie412
    natalie412 Posts: 1,039 Member
    I have been maintaining since May 2012. I hit my goal (135), went into maintenance, continued to lose until I stabilized around 130. I kept counting calories until this summer, when I tried not logging, and started to gain a little. I got back around 135 again, and started logging again. Now I am around 133 avg.

    Maintenance is not hard at all - I like logging, it works for me (I am also a runner, so it helps me make sure I am eating the right amount) - I definitely estimate a little more and am a little less accurate and more likely to take a day or two off logging.

    I weigh myself most mornings, and if I consistently start seeing a weight above the top of my "happy range" then I know I need to do something.
  • donna1432
    donna1432 Posts: 87 Member
    started my journey 2009 and its a lifestyle journey now no longer just maintenance!!
  • greedygirl118
    greedygirl118 Posts: 37
    I was only just bordering on overweight when I lost more than twenty pounds, back in 2001/2. I went below my goal weight initially, then maintained at around 147-150 lbs until January this year, when I decided to lose the ten pounds that had been bugging me for years! I've been maintaining at 140lbs since Easter (i'm 5'8).

    For me, maintaining is about constant vigilence, and being determined to lose those few pounds you inevitably gain while on holiday/at Christmas etc. If I can mix my metaphors, it's so much easier to nip things in the bud than to bury your head in the sand!

    I lost the ten pounds by doing 5:2 fasting. I'm maintaining by fasting one day a week. I like it because it means only really watching what you eat for one day in every seven. The rest of the time I eat pretty much what I like, within reason.
  • melusinagr
    melusinagr Posts: 205 Member
    I've been on maintenance since December 2011. Lost about 5 kilos the first year of maintenance and I think I have the right balance now. I count calories, exercise, eat healthy, etc., etc.
  • jennaworksout
    jennaworksout Posts: 1,739 Member
    i lost about 60 pounds, and pretty much have been maintaining for about 8 months now....i have come to the conclusion that I just won't ever lose the last 5- 7 pounds I want to , so maintenance lifestyle for me :happy:
  • pkw58
    pkw58 Posts: 2,039 Member
    Two years.

    I think it depends on how overweight you were and for how long. For me, oh, 90 pounds for 30 years. The way I see it, after 30 years of maintaining a 90 pound weight loss, I can start thinking about not counting calories any more. Course, I'll be 92...

    Jeanne

    I like this.! I am going with it for timeline on how long I will be counting calories!!
  • The_Enginerd
    The_Enginerd Posts: 3,982 Member
    Since November 2011, so closing in on two years.
  • Seesawboomerang
    Seesawboomerang Posts: 296 Member
    Either have a weight range or mind how your clothes fit.

    I find constant logging a bit tiresome so I only do it if my weight creeps up beyond my happy range.
  • RobynMWilson
    RobynMWilson Posts: 1,540 Member
    I never counted cals to lose weight in 1987. I regained some of it in 1996 b/c of a failed pregnancy and my failure to exercise consistently. I lost it again in 1996 and have kept it off since and have been exercising since! Even through my heavy drinking days, my not so healthy days, but I still worked out and still kept it off.

    I didn't start logging food till last year, but not to count calories. I just wanted to track my macros, mainly protein, because I started lifting.
  • treesa101
    treesa101 Posts: 26
    ive kept roughly 90 lbs off for 6 years
  • clepant
    clepant Posts: 3,344 Member
    Weighing yourself regularly reminds you that you need to kick it up a notch or everything is okay. Like others said, exercise, rest, eating healthy foods are all key. You can eat healthy and still gain weight so portion sizes are also key. The longer you have kept the weight off the easier it will be to maintain. You will also get to know yourself. I am almost predict when I have overeaten or have not had enough calories for the day. Also, as you lose weight your stomach shrinks. You go and force a big meal in there or eat more than you have been and you know it.

    I have pretty much maintained for over a year now and am still losing the last few pounds while building lean muscles. Many programs out there tell you that as long as you stay within a five pound range you are okay. I am always afraid that five pounds is too much and try to stay in a 3 pound range.

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