GOAL ZONE Maintenance chat

jugar

You have arrived at your goal weight! Welcome to the Goal Zone.

You have done a great job, and lost the weight. Now you want to stay there and never, never go back! The statistics are not good - this group is here for everyone to learn how to maintain the loss and stay there for the rest of your life.

Everyone who is at or near maintenance is welcome to post here. Everyone who is looking forward to joining us some day is welcome to post here. Come for information, inspiration, support, and anything else that will help all of us stay here at this weight where we want to be.

First post - introduce yourself! Tell how much you lost, how long you have been at your goal weight, and what helped you get this far. Then let the questions and sharing begin!

GingerPwr

I'm so thrilled for this thread!
Hi, I'm Casey. I've been part of F2F since late December of 2018. I've lost 30lbs and am at 135. My maintenance range I think is between 130 and 140.

I guess my biggest problem with maintenance is that I gradually go back to eating foods that are less healthy. Too many fried things, especially. Trying to stay away from that this time.

brown6267

Hi, I am Mary. I have been a member of F2F since Fall 2019.

I started my weight loss journey on my birthday, 09/14, at 155.2. My goal was to reach 135 by my next birthday. I reached 135 in 05/2020 and am now in maintenance. I have lost 20 pounds.

My maintenance range is 132 - 137; this morning’s weight was 133.8.

I am a active person so exercise is not my issue. I have a Fitbit and use MFP for daily logging my food. As long as I stay “green” when combining activity and eating within range I can maintain. My problem is food and overeating. I can have 1700 - 2200 calories per day to maintain based on my activity so I should not be starving/deprived.

Thanks for adding this group and hoping to see a lot of people join this thread as you reach your goals.

Luciicul

Hi (or should I say "G'day, mate"?)! I'm Australian, and mum to a teen. I've been maintaining a healthy weight for six months now, since January this year.

When I began this challenge, in February 2019, I was class 3 obese, weighed 119.5kg (263.5 lbs), had insulin resistance, a sluggish thyroid, and was an epic snorer. Everything was fixed within a year of consistent effort. My goal is to keep on track (eating liberal LCHF wholefoods, intermittent fasting, regular exercise, good sleep, stress management), knowing that "maintenance" is actually a bigger challenge for me than the weight-loss. I've lost and gained so many times in the past 25 years, I really need to stick with this!

My stats:
169cm / 5'7'
41 years
Highest Weight: 119.5kg/263.5lbs (27th January 2019)
Maintenance zone: 62-66 kg/138-146lbs (since 6th January 2020)
Maintenance duration: 6 months.

My biggest problem with maintenance is that when life gets stressful (which it inevitably does, sooner or later), focus goes to whatever that crisis is, away from my own needs (and health), and just can't care, remember or put effort into this stuff. There are certain parts of my life that are very stressful that I can't change. I do a lot around "stress management" to live alongside these problems, but nonetheless it is an ever present ongoing level of stress and when it gets really bad... everything is too hard...

To try to counter this I've tried to build good healthy habits when I have the extra capacity and motivation, as a means to be more resilient. I've selected to do things that should be fairly "sustainable" rather than needing a lot of time or effort. This makes it more likely I will be able to do even when things get hard.

However, it feels like I am always having to sandbag against backsliding. I worked really hard to create good sleep habits, to get myself going to bed earlier, and wake up early, do exercise first thing in the morning... but these have slipped. I like to blame COVID - being stuck at home more meant I didn't need to get up early, so could sleep in later, exercise later... but it throws all my time management out. Reality is, when I stay up late, it's usually not to do anything productive - just watch tv, play computer games, read a book. But when I sleep in, it eats into the productive part of the day.

Right now I particularly feel frustrated about the "drag" from living with people (my partner, and daughter) who do not share these goals. As if it isn't hard enough to motivate myself and keep myself on track, when there are people who are pulling you in the wrong direction and making you feel like you at times have choose between them and yourself. Other times the extra stress of their problems is the undertow. Extra work, extra emotional labour, looking after people who don't reciprocate and look after me in return... I feel eroded.

These aren't excuses: I take responsibility for my own choices, and would not have been able to lose the weight I have if I hadn't pulled away from their influence to make my own way. It's just one of the things that makes maintenance hard, because I don't get any support in my everyday life, instead I have people who pull the rug from under my feet and I have to try not to stumble.

Sorry for the rant - I'm not usually a negative nellie, but had an argument with my partner yesterday - same old *kitten* - he's never going to change. It wasn't about health stuff, but his continued lack of doing his share of the domestic work (or emotional labor) and how that impacts on me every single day of my life and makes it hard for me to achieve my goals when I carry this extra load.

jugar

So good to learn more about you wonderful people! I'll say Bonjour hi, since I'm in Québec where we never know which language to speak.

I have been with F2F for almost 2 years now, and have been within a maintenance zone for almost 8 years. I'm 66 years old, only 5'1", and my highest weight was 155 pounds. I'm maintaining around 115 (112-117). Most of last year I maintained around 120, but this feels good now.

At my highest weight I was starting to have blood pressure problems, acid reflux, aches and pains. I'm a musician and playing was starting to hurt, I had a couple of weird injuries including inflammation of the cartilage around the ribs. My back would go out. So finally I got serious, started a program I could do at home until I was brave enough to go to a gym. I accepted the fact that I cannot eat as much as my 6'4" husband or my very athletic (tall) kids. This made me grumpy, but I have gradually gotten used to it. I have found a way to eat a large volume of food that is not calorie dense - very little grain, tons and tons of vegetables, and fairly low fat. It has been a long journey and yes, maintenance takes as much attention as losing. But it is SO worth it!!! I am more intentionally active, feel much better than I did 10 years ago, and I am not going to let go of that.

Your rant is just what we all need on the regular, @Luciicul . Never apologise for ranting! After your rant, you still have to go on and do the thing, but you feel a lot better, I hope.

Drop by with questions, rants, ideas, anything - I'm sure we each have different ways of dealing with the same kinds of dilemmas, so let the learning from one another begin. Thanks!

raleighgirl09

So happy for this group! And I'll say 'howdy y'all' as we do in my version of the south, North Carolina.... => You might say.....maybe I'm the group's first consumer of all info maintenance...=> Thanks so much to @jugar for setting the group up!

I began this journey maybe 20ish years ago - I am not in maintenance. I considered myself in maintenance at 170 and I am very close to that now but, I kinda think that 160 is more appropriate because I want to be in a solid size 8. I am actually large and densely boned at 5'3 and built kinda like a sexy Fred Flinstone. My timetable is below; the numbers start getting fuzzy after a while and I grow weary of them but, eh, this is my herstory.

• 11ish years ago started gaining weight after spending maybe 7 years losing 130 pounds - from 300 (a guess, had stopped weighing) to 170. I had about a year or so of maintaining my wieght before this began and I failed to stop it
• Several years followed of being miserable as I gained my 50-60 pound heart anchor (I was most unhappy with it all)
• 3ish years ago in 2017, lost about 35 pounds using MFP, gained it back in 2018
• Now down 60 pounds since April 2019 - 15ish to go (125 pound overall loss to date)

I feel pretty good right now, I feel like I have learned so much about myself, this journey, my needs and my style. I struggle some with body image thoughts and being wrapped up in less fat. People's reactions - my own sometimes obsession with how I look or feel (I'm a bit of a bone feeler to be sure they're still there). But - despite that, yes, I do feel pretty good with where I am and how I am doing.

I want a future without gaining the weight back. This is the focus I have now....to be focused, be aware and not wake up really fat one day. I want to know what I haven't known or paid attention to before when I have regained so now is the time to learn how to do that. So I study my maintenance pals in Slimpossibles. And pick their brains. =>

Thanks guys, looking forward to listening and asking questions.

Maria
56 (57 soon!) and in NC
Married, 5 boys between us
work in clinical research - but looking for a job (thanks COVID)

jugar

Wow. Thanks @raleighgirl09 - that is some herstory. I love that you kept coming back to it and learning more every time. You are NOT going back. Feel those bones!

raleighgirl09

Hey - here are some questions I had in mind to ask.

How many significant weight loss events (lost what was a 'major' amount in your mind) did you have where you then regained the weight?

Any trends you identified and have done differently now, in your journey?

Do you feel/think/believe that you have it nailed this time? And - do you have a back pocket plan now for recognizing the points of slipping you have had in the past?

I will answer these as a Maintenance in Training (Hi, I'm Maria and I'm a MiT) but I want to see your responses, first.

TIA, all!!!

jugar

Great questions!
I did not have too many significant losses that I regained - it was more a million failed attempts to make much progress, and over the years the total just getting bigger gradually. I tried the Herbalife thing and discovered that I liked not having to think much about what to eat, and that once I had the prescribed stuff I was done for the day. But then I discovered that I need to EAT my food, not drink it, and the rebound from that one was pretty bad.

The best experiment was the Whole 30. It is certainly not a diet I could sustain, nor is it meant to be. It is kind of like an elimination diet that seriously limits the kinds of foods you eat for 30 days, and then you add things back in one at a time to see how your body reacts. This was a turning point for me. I learned a lot - I don't react well to grains (this was a total surprise), they make my pulse speed up significantly and I feel weird. They are also hard to control. Legumes are my best pals. Milk is not my friend except when transformed into yogurt, and, in small amounts, cheese. Meat and eggs are things I am happy to ignore. Fish is good though. So through this I learned to be more sensitive to the effects of foods, and to really enjoy the combinations and variety of centering my food around vegetables, legumes, fruits, nuts, seeds, and fish. Yogurt as a vehicle. In any case, it was a great way to get strong feedback on what worked for me and what did not. I was never happier for a 30 day period to end (all that protein! ackkk), and I think I have been able to make better choices ever since.

I think I have the maintenance thing down, most the time. Yes, there is still the occasional day of cookies or cheese breadsticks. But they pass fast and not especially joyfully. Today I was extra super hungry, and instead of the grain-based foods I tend to crave when I'm super hungry, I had some red lentil pasta in my usual pile of veggies and stuff for dinner. I feel wonderfully full, but do not have the same bad effects that grain pasta (even if gluten free) gives. Then of course, there is my homemade sorbet. Fruit was never so wonderful - and I don't ever crave ice cream any more!

Luciicul

raleighgirl09 wrote: »

.
How many significant weight loss events (lost what was a 'major' amount in your mind) did you have where you then regained the weight?

I'd say 4 significant weight loss/gain events, though there were many minor efforts too.

1. Teens. Weight triggers: Went from a skinny kid to a very overweight teenager with the combo of my dad dying, household financial stress, and hitting puberty. Never had a set of scales so don't know exactly how much I weighed, or lost, but I think probably about 15-20kgs (33-44lbs). How I lost weight: Lost some of this weight slowly as I got older (generally trying to make healthy choices, getting around on foot, moving away from home for university and having very little money, going out dancing, very occasionally using the university gym which was free for students) but most significantly when I was about 19 had to have my gallbladder removed and Dr told me I couldn't eat fat so basically cut out anything that had fat in it (which also, by the way, meant cutting out a lot of other things that go with fatty foods). Mostly I think I ate very little and did a lot of walking.
2. Late 20s. Weight triggers: pregnancy gain, sleep deprivation, stress, bad influence from partner. Probably about 10-15kgs (22-33lbs). How I lost weight: I tried a lot of things that didn't work very well before I found a way that did. I started by following what I considered the best scientific advice - the CSIRO Wellbeing diet. It was the first time I'd done CICO or had a set of scales to weigh myself and my food. Tracking, measuring and counting everything I ate, following a meal plan, going to the gym 3-5 times a week, plus being quite active with a young baby. It worked for my partner who wasn't really even following it, but it didn't add up for me. By the calculations I should have been losing the weight, but I wasn't, even though I was doing everything "right". Next I tried WW, again my partner lost some weight without really even trying, but it made me put on weight! Finally I heard about low-carb, and by making some modifications to the CSIRO diet to make it more low carb (primarily I just cut out grains, sugar, starchy vegetables) I was able to lose the weight.
3. Early 30s. Weight triggers: Regain, burnout, stress, influence of partner. 25kgs (55lbs). Obese. How I lost weight:This time I knew low-carb was the way, but as I was recovering from burn-out I couldn't do the same level of exercise as I had previously, and simply eating low-carb and CICO wasn't proving effective without the exercise. I opted for Optifast VLCD meal replacement shakes. In theory, includes all the nutrition but with very few calories. I lost weight very quickly, and as I lost the weight I gained energy and capacity for exercise. As I finished the intensive phase of Optifast (first 12 weeks) I transitioned to do the Michelle Bridges Total Body Transformation Challenge - 12 weeks of eating 1200 cals a day and huge amount of exercise, and I stuck with CICO and low-carb principles, weighed myself, tracked food, etc. I got super fit and strong, lost all the weight and more, got a bit too skinny.
4. Early 40s. Weight triggers: regain, stress, life crises, influence from partner & daughter. 55kgs (120lbs). How I lost weight: This time around I knew I could lose the weight - exactly what I could do - but what held me off a long time was the sense of hopelessness of impending regain. Every time I worked hard and lost the weight, it came back on AND more. I knew the stats - that this is the most common outcome of weightloss, that most people put it back on within 2-5 years. There was research suggesting that dieting damages the metabolism, causing this outcome. I didn't have any confidence in the dietary advice we are given - I'd always eaten a lot of healthy food, not a terrible diet, yet struggled with weight - or the confusing mixed advice that different health experts were giving. But I had gotten so big I was really feeling it. I was literally not comfortable in my own body, always tired, felt sick bending over, had painful chaffing, sleep problems. For a long time I hadn't had the capacity to address this issue because we had other crises that took priority, but there was a window of opportunity when those other problems improved a bit and I realised I needed to take better care of myself. I chose Optifast again. I had a doctor checkup and was diagnosed with insulin resistance and a sluggish thyroid. This led me to research how insulin impacts our health, and learned how it affects weight. I was also searching for more information not only about how to lose weight but how to maintain the loss - and was learning about intermittent fasting as a technique. I was really unsure about it all, there were a lot of ideas in these spaces that challenged my existing thinking, but in the end, as I transitioned off the Optifast intensive phase, I switched to a liberal low-carb-healthy-fat wholefood diet and intermittent fasting - following Dr Jason Fung's The Obesity Code. I don't track my food anymore, don't follow CICO.

Any trends you identified and have done differently now, in your journey?

• Stress plays a huge role. Partly on a hormonal level (it impacts on how we gain and lose weight), but also because when you feel tired and stressed you don't have the same capacity for motivation or willpower and end up taking the path of least resistance. Some stress we have no control over (such as when a child has a serious health issue), but we can try to structure our lives to be more resilient to stress. So, for example, a big problem in my household is that when we are stressed we might not feel like cooking dinner, and be more likely to get takeaway or fast food or eat convenience foods out of the freezer. This time round I started batch cooking, so we always have healthy home cooked meals in the freezer without having to cook every night. I cook less often, yet we are always covered. I've tried to streamline what I can in my life to create a healthier "path of least resistance". I also have tried to reduce stress by doing all the stuff recommended - gratitude journal, mindfulness, exercise, good sleep, etc.
• Influence of others. My partner is definitely the weakest link. There have been times in the past when he has actively sabotaged my attempts to be healthy. For me to get real traction, I have had to act like an individual rather than as a partnership (because he is not a good 'partner' and I will fail if my success is chained to his). This means I make my own decisions about how I will eat, and do not expect him to do the same. Even if he claims he wants to lose weight and be healthy, I cannot rely on him to stick with it, and it will cause friction if we'd planned something together yet are pulling in different directions. This goes for all social gatherings - there is so much peer pressure to eat as others do, and some people will take offence when I don't conform.
• Change of mindset. Need to really do a lot of psychological and emotional work to rewire how I eat and behave, to identify triggers, and find better ways around them. Understand emotional eating, and find better ways to deal with stress and friction. For me to be less tempted by the foods I don't eat, I view many of them now as slow poison. Sugar provides no nutritional value and I believe is just as bad for our health as smoking. When temptation is there, remind myself of my goals and motivation - why I'm doing this. Is the ice-cream worth more than my health?
• Habits versus short-term 'goals'. Some of the things I've tried in the past were possible in the short term (for 3-6 months when highly motivated and focused) but too hard for me to keep up long term. Going to the gym is an example of this. I have tried the gym so many times over the years, but at the end of the day I hate the gym and it always requires a lot of willpower to get myself there... which fails when life gets busy, stressful, or have something else more important or desirable to do. So this time round I have tried to identify how to streamline things so they will stick for life - choose things that are easier, less unpleasant, and try to make them habitual (just do it every day, so it is so normal that I don't need to feel motivated).
• Self experimentation and new learning. Initially I put a lot of trust in following the official health guidelines, and I carried a lot of ideas about health and diet in my head that I have since found to be incorrect. Some things are considered 'common knowledge', yet when examined may have originated in a brand's advertising campaign or simply be something people say without any evidence of being true. Some things were believed to be true in the past - doctors may have said so - but have since been proven false. I wasted a lot of time and frustration doing "everything right" even when it didn't yield the results everyone said it should. What worked best was when I took a more experimental approach - I'll try this and see whether it works for me. If it doesn't, I'll try something else. I still did all the research I could in advance of my decisions, to ensure I was informed as possible, but I didn't keep hammering away at something just because others said it would work. Equally, I don't care if others think my way is weird or extreme and criticise it (if it's working for me, who cares what they think?).

Do you feel/think/believe that you have it nailed this time? And - do you have a back pocket plan now for recognizing the points of slipping you have had in the past?

Tough one to answer. On the one hand, I think I know a lot more about how to manage my weight than I did in any of the other attempts. On the other hand, 'knowing' what to do versus being able to implement in practice (when my triggers are when life throws you a curve ball and your capacity is diminished) are two different things.

Constant vigilance is required: I don't think I can ever relax and wing it, or I will regain the weight. I weigh myself everyday, and make sure I stay within the maintenance zone.

If my weight starts to trend upwards, that signals to eat fewer carbs and/or fast more; if my weight starts to get too low, that signals to fast less. I think these two things are manageable and easy enough to stick to even if life gets busy or difficult.

I have had a DEXA scan, and plan to make it an annual thing as well as a doctor checkup - to keep me accountable, as well as to recognise that there can be changes in body composition and health that won't show up on the scale.

I do accept that this is a "way of life" now. Forever. And I try to refine and improve what I do in terms of health benefits and sustainable habits.

However, I also recognise that there is a lot of unknown science in this space, and some of the things that seem to be working for me may not work forever or may be uncovered to be harmful in the longer term.

Luciicul

jugar wrote: »

The best experiment was the Whole 30.

I've been tempted to try Whole 30 or another elimination diet for this reason, to work out what my body reacts to. But the combination of "Am I motivated enough to do this strict elimination?" and there being foods in it I already know cause weight gain for me so I don't want to reintroduce them, and kind of scared of finding out that I shouldn't eat something that is a staple in my current diet, and not sure whether Whole 30 is as legit as another elimination protocol or which one to do... so far in the 'maybe one day' list

jugar

Sorry to have been so slow to respond to these really interesting posts - things got really busy, but I have been thinking about all this information for days!

It is amazing how many "phases" or ways of thinking we all go through. I had a lot of bouncing around too - from macrobiotic to herbalife (oh dear, I am NOT a meal replacement person), to fasting (seriously bad reaction to that), to low carb (also did not work well), until I slowly figured out what DID work. I need lots of fibre, plenty of volume of food, not much animal food, and while not low carb, certainly low grain works well for me. I probably could have handled some form of intermittent fasting when I was at my heaviest, but never once I got into lower weights. I naturally stick with at 12/12 anyhow, but anything beyond that is impossible. If I don't wake up really hungry, I know I have eaten too much the day before!

Hunger has been a big help, but it is a tricky one. I need to eat in a way that I get truly hungry. When I eat grains (especially flours) or fatty foods, my stomach feels like lead, and I don't get hungry. But I also feel like eating more, even though I am not hungry. It really helps to eat in a way that I get hungry within 3-4 hours.

As to trying an elimination type thing @Luciicul , I doubt that you would find you "shouldn't" eat something that is a staple, because the reason you would decide it was not a good choice for you would be due to a bad reaction. I could NEVER eat a protocol like whole 30 for any longer that that 30 days (and I'll never do it again!) because it did include things I normally don't eat, but I learned a lot from it and was glad to evaluate how well I handled different food types. I certainly have not eliminated things 100%, but the balance of the kinds of foods I eat has changed a lot.

Aging is the interesting side of this journey now. I'm 66, and very glad to have a good handle on how important eating and exercise are for the way I feel, what I can do, and how to learn from the body as it changes. So far so good!

jugar

I have expanded the time period on this chat - rather than just July 2020, let's let it run a while. It is good to go back and read everyone's stories!

debbiewsharpe

I am from eastern NC so I will start with Hey y'all, Bless your hearts! Such interesting reading this morning but also somewhat overwhelming. I am new to F2F and am trying to find my way around. It is so interesting to hear from folks all over the world and I see that @raleighgirl09 doesn't live too far from me. I joined MFP in 2013 at my all time high of 173 pounds. By 2015 I was down to 126. I am 68 years old, 5'8" and bounce around between 125-130. I find maintenance harder than dieting but I can share a few things I have found helpful over these past 7 years:
1. I add my yearly weight to my profile page which helps me to look at the big picture.
2. I have 127 as my "magic number" When I see that on the scale I go back into diet mode.
3. I log my food and water every day!
4. I do my best to get 10,000+ steps a day. Absolutely love my fitbit.
5. I am a true southern girl and love sweets! I fit them in to my plan. I eat a smaller amount of something I like but NEVER feel deprived. For me, that leads to a binge! lifestyle change not a diet.
6. I keep dark chocolate at the house at all times. I buy the mini or snack size and can now STOP with just one little treat! My latest favorite is milky way midnight.
7. I don't snack much, between meals. I love baby bell cheese as a snack and at my age I need the calcium.
8. When you feel like you need to eat, drink water first!!! This will help you avoid extra calories and get your water total for the day.
8. I don't want to sound "preachy" but if you are a believer, ask for help as you would for any other problem in your life.
8. MY BIGGEST HINT:IF HUNGER IS NOT THE PROBLEM THEN EATING IN NOT THE SOLUTION.

I hope that something on this list will be helpful to someone here. As I said, I have only been a member for 2 days, done a heck of a lot of reading and so far I think this is the right place for me. I just hope to get acclimated. Thanks for this GOAL ZONE!

jugar

Thank you @debbiewsharpe ! I love your ideas - we are close in age (I'm 66), 5'1", hanging around 114-115. My magic number now is 117 - and I'm perilously close to it right now! I can't wait to welcome you to this group once you get back to your goal zone. Then I hope you stick around for a while!

AustinRuadhain

Howdy! Austin here.
I am so, so just catching up. This is rich and amazing and huge, so much to catch up on.
Just a robust reply to Maria ( @raleighgirl09 )'s questions could take a bit! (I wish I were a faster writer!)

@jugar and @Luciicul
I am someone who, when I finally did an elimination diet (because I was breastfeeding and my baby was miserable), and found that a staple food was a problem. I had even had a get-out-the-Benadryl reaction at one point, and only figured it out when doing that 3 week elimination. I added back that favorite, staple food, and suddenly the baby was miserable again, and suddenly I had itchy hands again.

All this to say, for some of us, editing the list of foods we eat is super helpful. I totally get that it is not needed for many, but I profoundly changed my everyday life by experimenting, tracking and analyzing, to figure out things that were not working.

So that self experimentation you talk about @Luciicul -- key for me, too!

Emmajhare

Hello everyone! I'm from Team Trimstones and very pleased to have reached my maintenance weight of 63 kg (139 lb) yesterday. 🥳

This time a year ago I was around 90 kg (200 lb) but too embarrassed to step on a scale to find out for sure. I joined F2F on 1st January and it has been great. So lovely to share stories and ideas with people in the same boat.

As already shared with my fellow Trimstones, this is not my first weight loss endeavour. I'm a yo-yoer and am good at dieting but better at piling it all on again, plus some extra!

That's why I'm so chuffed this group exists as I really feel it will help me maintain this time.

@debbiewsharpe I love the idea of a magic number. I'm setting mine at 65 kg.

jugar

Welcome @Emmajhare !!!!

This is kind of a slo-mo chat compared with the regular team chats, but that makes it possible to read through more than once, think about things, ask questions, and get off the yo-yo. We dislike yo-yos. Passionately!

I'm just about to complete 8 years of maintenance - first hit my goal weight in September 2012. I maintain a bit lower now than when I first got there, but it feels pretty normal now. It is still easy to slip away from the habits that make it stay that way, though - so I am also glad to have this group!

raleighgirl09

@jugar thanks for leaving this whole thing here - I have read these responses and now coming back for a second round. =>

Well - life has been so very busy of late, not a lot of posting from me, anywhere. But a few thoughts to share and then I need to hop on later and check in with my Slimpossibles crowd! =>

I love everyone's contribution! I love that there is a wide variety of people....all on the same path. And it has so many branches! I also have done a lot of different things to lose until I settled into what works for me. In fact - this is my secret hack that I share with people and it goes like this:

Everything works for someone and nothing works for everyone. The most important part of the puzzle is to keep doing....something. If what you're doing is working, keep doing it. If/when it stops working, move on to something else. If you keep moving on to something else (instead of throwing up your hands in despair and diving into ice cream), you'll eventually figure out what works. AND. It won't look exactly the same as anyone else's plan, it will be tailor made to fit you.

I made it to a major goal, 170 lbs, by my birthday on 11Aug2020. 57, in a size 10, 170 pounds - I worked really hard to get here, I seriously pushed for several months. I immediately set another goal of 10 more pounds to be at my true maintenance and set a range of 158-165. Now mind you - this is all conjecture. I don't know if it's what's best, it's just what I proclaimed. In the couple of weeks since then, I have not been really pushing and not really eating a ton. I think I've been more eating in a maintenance range, I guess, and my weight is sticking within about a pound a half in either direction. So, I wonder if I'm floundering but I feel like I'm not - I am, and I can see this, sorta in a not-trusting phase. And, I don't know if I need/want to lose 10 more pounds.....maybe I was doing it because it's what I know how to do. So - I think I don't really have well-formed thoughts around this idea/thought but I'm just laying it out there. Maybe someone from long term maintenance has some wise words or feedback. I guess it doesn't matter - maybe I just needed to say it out loud to me. But I'd love to hear from anyone who has wise words. =>

@debbiewsharpeI love the list - and #10 is pure gold and so true. If we get that much, we've almost got it licked!
@Emmajhare congrats on hitting your goal!!! WOW for you!!
Interesting that so many folks here also tried the elimination diets - this would throw me into a tailspin of feeling depriced. Yeah - I know this from low carb dieting.... => Best for me to eat what I want and adjust along the way!

debbiewsharpe

raleighgirl09
Good to see someone back at this page, I have been checking but not a lot of activity recently, must the the summer month and school starting back. I read your blog this morning and commented there. It is GOOD that you are reflecting. I have gained a little this week but I have overindulged on the sweets. My husband even said, please don't bake anything today. He had gained also. I will cut back and get back to my "magic number." Hang in there, it appears that you are doing great!!!!
Best advice as I have said before: when I am headed toward food of any kind I have to stop and ask myself "are you really hungry" that helps me. Another thing I try to do is to sip all day long. I start with my morning coffee then switch to about 1/2 cup of Trop 50 with calcium OJ mixed with ice and a lot of water in my big stainless Yetti. (best present I have received lately) It will have ice at the end of the day. At lunch I add tea to the concoction and continue sipping the rest of the day. It seems to keep me from reaching for a snack. If I do have an afternoon snack it is usually fruit or cheese. I am trying to add calcium where I can, not a milk drinker.
Another piece of advice, don't deny yourself it will only make you crave it more. I have definitely learned the value of MODERATION. Good luck!

debbiewsharpe

@AustinRuadhain
sounds like the elimination diet works for you, so far I don't know of any foods that bother me. My sister this for migraine triggers, sure was helpful.

@Emmajhare
I am also happy to have found this group. Many diet groups but when you get to maintenance you still need support. I hope my magic number idea works for you.

@jugar
Congrats on maintaining since 2012. I have been at it since 2013 and doing pretty good. I do appreciate a site for maintaining. I hope that this stays here for us.