An experiment in maintaining a 90 lbs weight loss

bubus05

So I lost roughly 90 lbs from May last year until April this year over a twelve month period, following my diet routine keto/IF/some hard core fasting. Age 50 male. I wanted to experiment with something.
Just to see what happens, for a week I put in 2500-3000 calories a day instead off the 1500 calories given to me by MFP. I pretty much eat everything from pasta carbonara pizza extra cheese to chocolate cake, fried chicken with chips. it was great. To counter the massive overeating I gave a challenge to myself, burn every single calorie on my road bike. I got on my bike every day equipped with my phone with the mapmyride app running. Some damn hard exercises, 50km rides followed by HIIT sessions on the hill. My fitness pretty much back to what it once was in my 20s I was able to pull this off, though after the week I am tired TBH. Guess what...I lost 3 lbs.
I love eating and that lead to my obesity in my 40s, I think this is the way for my weight maintanance. Eat what I want but burn the calories with exercise.

mylittlerainbow

Congrats on your significant weight loss! As for maintaining, the best thing to rely on is your scale (and/or the fit of your clothes). Data that you log and the projections MFP gives you are helpful pointers along the way, but the results of regularly weighing yourself will tell you unmistakably that Plan A doesn't work but Plan B is great.

sweetdaisy13

Well done on your weight loss and for keeping it off!

I'm fairly new to MFP and when I started in March my calorie goal was set to 1,200 to get to my goal weight (I'm female, 5ft 4inch, in my 40s). I've lost 9 lbs but am now maintaining at 118 lbs.

My daily calorie allowance is now 1,659. This is a lot more realistic for me, as I found that 1,200 wasn't enough and doesn't suit my exercise routine, as I need energy from food and can't function too well on low restriction.

I run around 30 miles a week, do 4 rebounding sessions and isometric workouts and go for walks. I do something daily (with the occasional rest day) and have done so for many years, but it was my diet that was preventing me from losing weight.

Now that I've fine tuned my diet, the increase in calories (from when I first started logging them), plus the deficit of exercise is helping me to lose/maintain. There are some days where I burn over 1,000 calories when I go for long trail runs, but I don't burn off all the calories I consume.

I don't eliminate any food groups and only eat back a small proportion of my exercise calories, however be careful burning off all the calories you eat. You don't want to end up over-exercising and getting injured.

rosiekin

As long as you like exercising as much, and it’s something you can keep up, go for it! Personally I don’t want to devote too much of my day to exercising, so I prefer to stick to roughly 2050 calories a day, averaged over the week, plus I average 10,000 steps over the week too.
I’ve accepted that I’ll never be able eat exactly what I like, when I like and still maintain my weight loss, and I’ve made peace with myself with that. I still allow myself lots of treats in the week, but I do try to eat a fair amount of healthy foods too. Mind you, as I type this, I’m actually thinking a lot of my food choices are not as healthy as they used to be, so that’s something I need to address!

bubus05

I am not planning to do this every week though I do enjoy my road bike immensely, I think long term it would lead to me burning out at best or injuries at worst. I wanted to test the CI/CO theory taking it to the extreme, plus see if my body is actually up to it.
I tried running, didn't work. Lack of strength or stamina wasn't the problem. My knees couldn't deal with it. Sadly when it comes to running I do feel my age. Than I found the world of road bikes and home bikes. The good thing I found is that cycling doesn't put as much pressure on the knees as running and can be just as hard, burn just as many calories. TBH the greatest satisfaction aside of losing weight is to be able to climb up our local hill out off saddle kind of Alberto Contador style and still be alive at the top...LOL.

sijomial

I'd suggest checking out Audax events as riding on the same local roads can get repetitive - they are a great way to explore new areas and new roads using the expertise of the local organisers. They run events from 50km up to extreme distances.
It's an interesting demographic on Audax events with riders of all ages including into their 80's still doing very long distances, at a decent pace, generally very slim.

https://audax.uk/

sweetdaisy13

I'm looking forward to seeing your progress @bubus05 . I'd never be able to maintain without exercise, there is no way I could do it just by diet alone.

Glad you've found a sport that you love, as that makes a big difference doing something you enjoy. I run and mostly do trail/mountain running so for me I love the outdoors, seeing scenery that most people never get to see and I get a sense of achievement when I reach the top of a mountain too.

Re: bad knees whilst running. I've had knee injuries in the past and I cross-train by doing Rebounder workouts, it really helps as it's easier on the joint, plus it's a great workout and burns a lot of calories.

sweetdaisy13

Hi @bubus05. How are you progressing with your maintenance? Are you still burning all of your calories through exercise?

bubus05

sweetdaisy13 wrote: »

Hi @bubus05. How are you progressing with your maintenance? Are you still burning all of your calories through exercise?

Hi. I am. Actually I lost another five pounds in the process. I am at 198 lbs as of today with a loss of 95 lbs over a year. That was my target weight, so I am kind of celebrating. I dont do the crazy stuff like eating over 2500 cals a day just to see what happens though. I am probably in calorie deficit but I am not really paying attention. I eat pretty much what I want while doing my regular exercise routines, but nothing crazy.

sweetdaisy13

That's great @bubus05. Well done on reaching your target weight too.