Encouragement for Newer Maintainers

mylittlerainbow

I just got back from a trip Thursday night. I was away for a week, wasn't logging, am a stress eater and had the airports and airplanes and other crowds to deal with, was involved in a fender-bender, and I was with my grandchildren who are mostly fed healthfully but do enjoy a LOT of treats. So I basically binged for almost a week out of stress and freedom and all sorts of things.

When I got home, I didn't weigh myself - thought I would hydrate and go back to eating on plan and logging but let any retained fluid work its way out first. But I weighed this morning - and I was a "huge" 0.6 lbs higher than when I left!

So just as it's hard work to lose the weight in the first place, it's also real work to put it back on again. You have to "fall off the wagon" - eat relentlessly in your former pattern for days and weeks - in order to gain back any real weight. One weekend, one party, one trip where you see grandchildren you've been missing for 16 months will not do it.

Hope this helps allay some fears!

Olafiina

This is very true! I've recently had quite a few off the rail days due to some parties/pms cravings and today I'm 0.6 lower on my trend than my usual weight because I didn't let things slide and ate at a small deficit the rest of the week. It's a whole balancing act and gaining a half pound here or there isn't going to make or break you if you keep it consistent and don't let it add up to 5, 10 or 15 more pounds.

cmriverside

+1

True story for me, too.

BUT. Not in that first year. In that first year after my weight loss I could gain weight being in the bakery aisle.

Now though? I over eat all the time, at least once a week I have double my daily calorie goal.

charmmeth

Sadly it's not currently true for me. Hoping to be where cmriverside is now one of these days, but currently I am in the gain weight in the bakery aisle category. I'll see where I am next year!

wunderkindking

I'm still half-hearetedly losing, but I've done diet breaks all along for a couple of weeks at a time. I'm not sure if it's helped my metabolism or there's another reason, but I can easily eat above maintenance by 500-1000 calories once in a while and see no scale jump beyond water/actual food weight that's gone within about 48 hours.

Olafiina

wunderkindking wrote: »

I'm still half-hearetedly losing, but I've done diet breaks all along for a couple of weeks at a time. I'm not sure if it's helped my metabolism or there's another reason, but I can easily eat above maintenance by 500-1000 calories once in a while and see no scale jump beyond water/actual food weight that's gone within about 48 hours.

I don't nessicarily believe in "metabolism" jumps from eating more, But I do think there's more subconscious movement or something. I've been able to squeeze out an extra 200 calories a day after I stopped losing without express effort.

PAV8888

Initial post major (for each person) weight loss period especially if no diet breaks and no re-feeds were used?
I would be very careful about them sneezes... as they **could** result in longer term weight gain

Once things have settled down a few months down the road of eating at maintenance? There definitely seems to exist some resilience in terms of stringing together some over-calorie days before actual long term weight gain ensues.

But is this resilience "endless" or particularly "hard effort" to overcome... not so sure!

You will probably be aware that you're moving beyond "resilience" levels of over-eating while (if) you end up regaining long-term weight. The question is whether you will you be willing to do anything about any such regain while it is taking place, even when you're aware of it!

So yes. The occasional day or two of relative over-indulgence? No worries.

BTW: "half heartedly losing" was my happy solution to sliding into maintenance... and it proved very helpful!

wunderkindking

Olafiina wrote: »

wunderkindking wrote: »

I'm still half-hearetedly losing, but I've done diet breaks all along for a couple of weeks at a time. I'm not sure if it's helped my metabolism or there's another reason, but I can easily eat above maintenance by 500-1000 calories once in a while and see no scale jump beyond water/actual food weight that's gone within about 48 hours.

I don't nessicarily believe in "metabolism" jumps from eating more, But I do think there's more subconscious movement or something. I've been able to squeeze out an extra 200 calories a day after I stopped losing without express effort.

There have been some studies that people who diet on/off by a couple of weeks at a time have less metabolic adaptation, even far down the road. I don't think it's any magical thing that is the direct result of more food, but I do think there are probably some psychological impacts and definitely some movement ones and quite likely some hormonal stuff.

I also think that being in a deficit for an extended period of time is long term stress which, at least in my case, leads me to retaining more water weight than I would otherwise . Because my god, ever time I'd switch to maintenance the next day I'd drop an extra pound/two pounds. It's not fat loss. It's just really abrupt water weight loss. Which is a whole 'nother thing and slightly weird one since it's more volume food, AND probably higher sodium food. BUT EVERY TIME - that being 9-10 times -? Not a conincidence.

wunderkindking

PAV8888 wrote: »

BTW: "half heartedly losing" was my happy solution to sliding into maintenance... and it proved very helpful!

Missed this but, yeah, that's what I'm hoping. I'm down to a healthy BMI now and way more focused on other things and activities right now. I've been getting less and less focused and determined about it as I go. Less deficit on most days. I'd like to see another 10-15lbs go, probably, but I don't care if that takes a year or two Right now it's still coming out at a deficit on a weekly basis, but not by a whole lot. It's working as intended (very slowly :P) and it'll be an easy step to maintaining with no big changes.

AnnPT77

mylittlerainbow wrote: »

I just got back from a trip Thursday night. I was away for a week, wasn't logging, am a stress eater and had the airports and airplanes and other crowds to deal with, was involved in a fender-bender, and I was with my grandchildren who are mostly fed healthfully but do enjoy a LOT of treats. So I basically binged for almost a week out of stress and freedom and all sorts of things.

When I got home, I didn't weigh myself - thought I would hydrate and go back to eating on plan and logging but let any retained fluid work its way out first. But I weighed this morning - and I was a "huge" 0.6 lbs higher than when I left!

So just as it's hard work to lose the weight in the first place, it's also real work to put it back on again. You have to "fall off the wagon" - eat relentlessly in your former pattern for days and weeks - in order to gain back any real weight. One weekend, one party, one trip where you see grandchildren you've been missing for 16 months will not do it.

Hope this helps allay some fears!

Really good insight. It's super common to feel, when first in maintenance, that one needs to keep a white-knuckle-tight grip on the reins every single minute. That's understandable. But it really isn't necessary, to that extreme, and it isn't necessarily the pleasantest to go through life feeling that way, IMO.

Sure, there's a problem with getting too loosey-goosey overall, and many people have demonstrated that regain will happen if one goes too far on that route.

Nonetheless, there's a comfortable balance somewhere, for most people, I think, that isn't continuous tense vigilance every second on the one extreme, or letting all one's accomplishments be lost, on the other. Balance FTW!

ExpressoLove11

Just here to really confirm what OP is saying. I have been in maintenance since October 2019 and was able to incorporate higher calorie days quite easily in that time with no scale change, however over the christmas period I had one of those times where life tests your stress limits (finishing my PhD, watching a family member die of cancer before my eyes, letting go of a romantic attachment etc...) and I under-ate massively which inevitably led to bingeing. It took me 5 months to see genuine weight gain from the bingeing. I have only just got it under control in the last few weeks and now have to lose the 5lbs I have gained. So OP is right, everything takes time. It is OK to have higher calorie days here and there. Consistency is more important than perfection.

mylittlerainbow

ExpressoLove11 wrote: »

Consistency is more important than perfection.

I do think that sums up what I was trying to say! If your overall pattern is one of healthy maintenance and you don't let one lenience become permission to overeat wildly, then yes, you can take pressure off yourself and not judge yourself harshly for having a little slip or slide here and there. It probably won't have a deleterious effect, provided overall you do keep weighing yourself and overseeing your consumption (whether or not physically logging).

judefit1

As someone who tends to yoyo (over years, not months) I've found that it's all good if I keep my eye on my overall patterns and stay accountable. I just lost 20 lbs that I gained back by ignoring the scale and the warning signs. My best friends are the kitchen and bathroom scales- and MFP.