Celebrating 16 years in Maintenance

gibbsak1

I'm a record keeper at heart and was so pleased to discover some figures I's stashed away on my PC that go back to many years...many diets and hard work certainly do pay off.

Name: Anna
Age: 69.5
Height: 64cm or 5'4"
Total Weight Lost: 11kg or 24 lbs
Time Taken to lose: 2 years (2003-2005)
How long in Maintenance: 16 years
Maintenance Range: 55 - 57 kg or 120 - 125 lbs
Average Weight 2011 - 20:
2011 - 55.1, 2012 - 56.1, 2013 - 56.0, 2014 -56.4, 2015 - 56.4, 2016 - 54.4, 2017-55.4, 2018 - 54.5, 2019 - 55.8, 2020 - 55.9

Average Weight 2021
Jan 53.6 (118.1 lbs)
Feb 53.3
Mar 53.3
Apr 53.3
May 54.6
June 55.9
July 56.0
Aug 56.1
Sep 56.1
Oct 55.7
Nov 55.6 (122.5 lbs)
Dec 55.3 (so far)

Successes/struggles for 2021- Medication to control blood platelets has impacted my ability to maintain without restrictions. I hope next year will be much easier.

MikePfirrman

Congrats, and at 69 now too! That's an awesome story. I'm just hitting 10 years (took me like five years to lose -- three working out and then finally started tracking calories for the last two).

It's hard work every single day. I weight myself daily after 10 years. My poor wife, who lost with me, has gained 2/3 of her weight back (she didn't have nearly what I did to lose) -- she's like, "why do you weigh yourself so often and workout so hard?". Gee, IDK...

gibbsak1

Thanks for popping in Mike. Good for you with your achievement as well. Couldn't agree more with you about the challenge for maintainers - tracking, daily weighing, regular exercise, researching diets. Nothing wrong "showing off" one's victories. Maintenance is all about focus and diligence. BTW, I'm creating my own version of the alternate day diet....just to mix things up a bit.

Luannelizabeth

Thanks for this post. Over the years I've lost and gained, lost and gained, so I know that maintenance is something I need to work at, by tracking my food and exercise, weighing every day, eating balanced meals. All the things I do to lose weight.

Since March I've lost 35ish pounds and am feeling pretty good right now at 152 lbs (5'4"). I would like to lose more, but right now I'm taking a maintenance break. Even as I write that, I'm thinking about winter and how my appetite and food choices have changed since the weather's gotten cold. Have you found that the seasons affect your weight?

I've always been an exerciser: running, walking, bicycling, yoga, free weights ... but have had a desk job for many years. At age 67, this is my first week of retirement! So I'm moving a lot more all day long. Started wearing a step counter to keep me honest about that!

I see that you lost your weight over a period of years. That's encouraging!

nxd10

Congratulations! I've been here a LONG time (8 years?). Still plugging along. Took a 6 month hiatus from logging during the worst of the dark times (I thought I had this down). But logging is a good tool for me. At 62 I weigh what I did in my 30's although less than I have at other points in my life. I DO still fit my wedding dress (from age 23).

rosiekin

Congratulations. I'm a long time maintainer as well, and that's something I honestly NEVER believed I would be able to say/type! I lost the bulk of my weight (about 5 stone) from January to November 2014, and a further stone over the next 6 months or so as I tried to find my maintenance calories. I maintained around that new weight until the start of lockdown in 2020 when I developed a 10,000+ steps a day habit!
I'm a data person too and a daily logger (currently on a 2355 day MFP run!), so when my weight dropped during lockdown, it was really interesting to be able to track back my calories intake for the last 18 months.
Overall, I have been very lucky and I've had very few struggles/challenges during my maintenance journey. While I'd still like to have a healthier and more relaxed relationship with food, I do feel that I am in control of my weight, and considering I'd spent the majority of my adult life overweight or obese, that is a good position to be in.

Luannelizabeth

So I know that I've always gained a few pounds just naturally during the winter. Plus I gravitate to warm foods rather than salads. I'm letting myself be OK with going up and down within a 5 lb window. As long as I'm tracking my food and exercise--staying honest with myself--I should be OK until I decide to start losing again. I may wait until spring to do this.

What are your thoughts about this?

rosiekin

Luanneliabeth
Re your post above... from what I read on MPF, having a 5lb window while in maintenance is perfectly OK. However, it's what you think that's important. If you're happy with a 5lb winter fluctuation, then go for it! Sounds fine to me.