My Experience With Maintenance

vingogly

I've been struggling with maintenance for a few years now. I've yet to see a "program" that gives you the tools to succeed in maintaining weight long term. Over the past year, I've gone up a few pounds then down again a couple of times. I need to stay at the lower end of the range to stay healthy -- I have a few conditions (like AFib) that are exacerbated when I put on 10 lbs from where I am now.

I log all my meals, and eat a diet that's low on the bad fats, has plenty of fiber and protein. What I'm working on now is determining my exact maintenance calorie intake at a certain level of activity -- the tables you find for this are based on averages, and I think everyone has to do this for themselves. The approach I'm taking is: change the calories by 100 or 200 per day, and see if the weight goes up or down over several weeks. Then repeat. I think I'm close to having it figured out. Once I have the number, I can add 250 per day to gain 0.5 lb/week, or subtract 250 per day to lose 0.5 lb/week. Knowing this is giving me a sense of control over my body weight I've never had before.

The other thing I've found is: I've developed a bad habit of snacking in the evening. So I've added intermittent fasting (IF) to my routine; I start eating at around 11am, and stop eating at around 7pm. Only water or tea after that. That works out to a combined breakfast and lunch between 11am and 1pm, an afternoon snack, and dinner between 5pm and 7pm.

The software apps on my iPhone I've found that are helping me with maintenance are:

• MyFitnessPal - calorie and exercise tracking
• Health - the built in Apple app that syncs with the other apps
• Happy Scale - gives a smoothed weight trend line
• Zero - my IF timer app

rosebarnalice

Sounds like you've got a good strategy for you. :-)

vingogly

I reduced my calories by 50/day in early December, and kept my activity level constant; the graph shows what my weight looks at maintenance (right around 183 lbs). It has been fluctuating up and down within a two pound "window". For those who are struggling with this, it looks to me like you have to keep things constant for at least three weeks to see if you're at maintenance -- then adjust calories up or down if you're still losing or gaining weight.

Since a pound of fat is 3500 calories, that means lowering your maintenance level by 250 cal/day to lose a half pound a week (or increasing by 250 cal/day to increase a half pound a week). The Takeaway: I'll turn 75 next month -- and I hope my experience will encourage other older adults on MFP to stick with it!

Note: A 2014 meta-analysis of mortality in adults over 65 found that the lowest mortality was found in a BMI range of 27.0 to 27.9. I'm at around 25.6, so the data from the study say I could actually stand to put on a few pounds.

makethistimedifferent

The problem with weight loss and weight loss maintenance is what works for one person won't necessarily work for someone else. While getting my master's degree, I researched the studies done on weight loss maintenance and found there are no real patterns because people are a unique mix of their experiences and habits. I will say that your thought process is the best place to start, like being mindful of what you say to yourself when you decide to eat something or if you're eating to avoid/distract yourself from something.
Karen