Length of maintenance period

lamasweileh

For how long should we do the maintenance period?
In my previous diets i did maintenance periods with the same length of weight loss period and keep up with exercises. But i always end up gaining the lost weight again.
So what's the thing with dieting? Are we supposed to diet/maintain forever?

I feel really discouraged.

xbowhunter

It's a change of mindset.

Figure out how many calories your body actually needs and eat said calories. Adjust as needed if your weight is going up too high or down too low.

Don't overcomplicate it because it's not that complicated.

lesdarts180

Surely you're not considering not maintaining for the foreseeable future? Are you seriously suggesting that yo-yo dieting is the best way forward?

The ideal scenario is that by the time you reach your goal you will have embedded new, healthy habits that enable you to maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle for ever.

I have been at a healthy weight for over 5 years and I don't diet as such but I do follow guidelines such as - desserts, cakes etc are a rare treat, alcohol is another rare indulgence, load my plate with veg, avoid fried foods etc etc.

Personally, I still weigh myself daily but others find weekly weigh-in is sufficient to catch any upward trend.
I have adopted a healthy lifestyle with lots of (enjoyable) exercise and activities.

It's your life and your choice but I know I choose to be fit, healthy and active as long as possible

xbowhunter

lesdarts180 wrote: »

Surely you're not considering not maintaining for the foreseeable future? Are you seriously suggesting that yo-yo dieting is the best way forward?

The ideal scenario is that by the time you reach your goal you will have embedded new, healthy habits that enable you to maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle for ever.

I have been at a healthy weight for over 5 years and I don't diet as such but I do follow guidelines such as - desserts, cakes etc are a rare treat, alcohol is another rare indulgence, load my plate with veg, avoid fried foods etc etc.

Personally, I still weigh myself daily but others find weekly weigh-in is sufficient to catch any upward trend.
I have adopted a healthy lifestyle with lots of (enjoyable) exercise and activities.

It's your life and your choice but I know I choose to be fit, healthy and active as long as possible

Perfectly said.

AnnPT77

lamasweileh wrote: »

For how long should we do the maintenance period?
In my previous diets i did maintenance periods with the same length of weight loss period and keep up with exercises. But i always end up gaining the lost weight again.
So what's the thing with dieting? Are we supposed to diet/maintain forever?

I feel really discouraged.

No to the bolded, strictly read.

We're supposed to limit calories until we reach a sensible weight, then maintain that weight long term, ideally forever.

Like lesdarts180 said, doing that depends on finding new habits that keep us happy, energetic, reasonably well-nourished and at a sensible weight almost on autopilot, because other parts of life will eventually get challenging.

Habits. New and better ones. Realistic habits, for you personally. That's how to avoid regaining every time.

"Diet" then go back to "normal" (the old normal) . . . that's how to yo-yo, and feel like you're endlessly repeating "diets" besides.

momlongerwalk

What AnnPT477 says.

By using new habits, you are essentially creating a new "you"--or at least a new lifestyle. To keep the new you/lifestyle, you have to maintain those habits.
If you use methods that you can't maintain (for personal or health reasons) for forever to reduce your weight, you'll simply go back to the old you once you can't maintain those methods.

For example, let's say you take up running simply to lose weight. You burn calories excess to your intake. You'll lose weight. As soon as you stop running, you are reversing the process, and you'll gain weight. Simplistic, but the point is there.

Over the long haul, those people who successfully keep off excess weight are those who ingrain their new habits--can live with them. If you can't live with the habits, you won't stick to them. It's an everyday thing.

CrazyMermaid1

There is probably more than one source of this concept, the concept of losing then going into a short “maintenance “ period was in the Dylan Diet book. But you had to go back to the strict diet mode 1 day a week for the rest of your life. For me it’s much easier to build my life around a maintenance plan that is sustainable for the rest of my life rather than losing and gaining weight all the time. But to each their own.