Health and Weight Loss

4qydrpbgxy

Hi my name is Stacy, early 50s. 

So after losing nothing for many months I finally started losing and I’m within 5 pounds of my goal and now I keep going over those same 3 pounds
Feeling discouraged. I know that sometimes I over ate. That is something that has happened often before, but once I started losing, I was doing very well and less overeating happened. I know that these last two nights this week I had tortilla chips with Buffalo chicken dip which are high in salt, etc and two of the days on my weigh in I could not go to the bathroom first and woke up with a stomach ache. I won’t be eating that today.
I debated not weighing in at all, but for some reason, I feel compelled to weigh in every single day. I’ve only missed a few times along the way.. 

Any tips would be much appreciated. I was doing better when I was more carefully planning my food choices but somehow this week my choices became less than ideal again and I’ve fallen off the wagon so to speak.

sollyn23l2

This is a lifelong thing, not an "until I reach x weight" thing. You will always fluctuate plus or minus 5 pounds. And you will always have off days/weeks. The key is to never give up. Having a bad week is just that: a week. So you get up today and get back to it. You have the rest of your life.

csplatt

Agree with previous response. We will always weigh a range and not a specific number. Sounds like you’re a little hyper fixated on a number that’s literally going to change every day anyways.

rms62003

I know it can seem like you can see the finish line, but never cross it being that close. But, you are really within goal if you are only 5 lbs off. I agree with the others, give yourself a range. We gain and lose every day.

Also, the closer you are to the goal, the harder it is to lose the weight. Give yourself time to make it to the last 5 lbs, if it fits in your range.

Also, what BMI are you shooting for? As we age, we naturally will have more adipose (fat) tissue. So, shooting for a lower 'normal' BMI of 20-23 will be extremely difficult. I would shoot for a weight that puts you in a high 'normal' to maybe slightly 'overweight' of 24-27. (I use apostrophe's for this because there is some contention on what is considered a normal BMI. Some people advocate for normal being up to 27, and I kind of agree with them.)

AnnPT77

Anxiety approaching maintenance is pretty normal. For some, that can include some 'coloring outside the lines' with eating habits. You can get there. Impatience with yourself won't help, I think.

Here's the thing, IMO: You're so close to maintenance that I think that - maintenance - should be your focus now. What will your maintenance habits and strategies be? How can you organize your eating and activity to be happy and balanced, almost on autopilot, while staying at your healthy weight?

Sure, keep a tiny calorie deficit. If the 3 pounds or 5 pounds take 3 months or more to drop off, that's not (IMO) going to ruin your life. Not having a solid, relatively easy, practical, happy (at least tolerable) maintenance plan . . . well, that might. Most people find maintaining harder than losing.

If I were you, I'd plan your maintenance weight range now, at least best guess. Think about your goal weight, but also think about what your normal weight fluctuations are - the ups and downs you see on the scale commonly, including the salt/carb water retention and waste variations like you've probably seen on some of those recent days. (Your daily weigh-ins will be a plus in figuring that part out.)

Let's say your routine fluctuations are 2 pounds up/down, just for illustration, but there's no pat right answer, just the actual answer that's true for you. Let's say your goal weight is 135 pounds (just for illustration, because I have no idea what your goal is). With that example, I'd set the range to 132 to 138, i.e., plus or minus a bit more than the normal variation. But 133-137 would also be OK, just a little stricter. I think anything tighter than the normal range of variation is just a way to drive ourselves into anxiety.

Again, if it were me, while working on solidly pinning down maintenance habits and keeping a tiny deficit, I'd keep losing gradually down to/near the lower end of the range, then go to maintenance calories as estimated from recent personal logging/loss history. Then, as you go on, if you go above the top end for more than a day or two, cut back a little until your weight trend is center/low in the range again.

That's maintenance, pretty much. (I'm in year 9+ after losing 50 pounds, just as context.)

Usually, actual regain in the real world looks like a gradual up-creep in weight over a period of time, as long as a person doesn't think they can/should "go back to normal" where "normal" is the same habits as before weight loss. Look for that gradual up-creep, and creep weight back down by manageable cut-backs. A sudden big regain - when in good general health, anyway - only happens if there's a major blow-up in eating or activity habits. You'd know to expect it. But watch the slow up-creep.

In your spare time in the next few days/weeks, chip away at reading some threads in the Goal: Maintaining Weight part of the MFP Community, starting with the Most Helpful Posts sub-section. There's some great stuff in there.

Everyone does it a little differently. Personalization is key to success, IMO. How other people do it will help you figure out tactics that will work for you. Test drive them, keep the ones that help, toss out the ones that don't - in that sense, the early stages of maintenance are just like loss, in terms of test driving methods to find the best ones for you.

You can do this. It's a little different mindset. Recognizing that, and working it out, is part of the process. I'm cheering for you: The results are worth the effort.

P.S. Minor off-topic rant because I can't keep my mouth shut . . . well, turn my typing fingers off, I guess.

That "old people should have a higher BMI" thing? Nah. Some people? Sure. Of any age. Fine. Does body composition matter in that - the ratio of fat to lean mass? Dunno, maybe. Yeah, most people have less lean mass as they age, but individuals vary, and strength-challenging workouts can increase lean mass at any age if under-muscled. No one should wallow in stereotypes, feel controlled by them. No one should feel they need to be a low BMI when young or higher when old because of stereotypes. It's individual. I started maintenance at age 60. I haven't been over BMI 23 point something since, and this hasn't been some crazy difficult anxiety-ridden thing. Most of the time, I've been BMI 21-22. Higher BMI will be right for some people, lower for others. That's fine. Just be healthy and happy. You can figure out what's best for you.

4qydrpbgxy

Thank you so much everyone. I think I was getting a little paranoid because I’ve seen like the pound up even 2 pounds up but I did not see more than that in quite a long time. It has taken me 10 months to get here. I for the most part like I said gave up my overeating and stopped drinking ( would rather eat those calories) and I do exercise every day. My habits are pretty good and I intend to keep them for my maintenance strategy. They have become part of my life.

i think I was more successful because I focused on my sleep and trying to dial in my stress level even a tiny bit.

I will check out these resources for sure.

Thank you again.