New(again)!

BladeRun45

Hello everyone!

Here I am again…remember the movie "Groundhog Day"? yup..back again. Positive attitude tho! 59 (ugh) male, looking to lose 50ish lbs. Logging my food has worked in the past for me so that's what I'm doing. I do wish the scan feature was free tho lol Say hi, looking for accountability friends! Live in SC with a MA accent ;)

AnnPT77

Hello, and welcome (back)!

Coincidentally, I also joined MFP at 59 (though not male then or now 😉) with 50ish pounds to lose. I lost it, now maintaining. Logging my food worked great for me, too. I hope it will work well again for you!

Best wishes!

BladeRun45

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48753174#Comment_48753174

awesome! Great job !! Do you still log your food, while maintaining?

AnnPT77

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48753238#Comment_48753238

Usually, though I've been taking a bit of a break from it recently, kind of experimenting with how well my routine eating patterns hold up without counting. I'll probably return to it, for nutrition tracking if nothing else.

I'd been tracking pretty steadily for most of the nine years of maintenance so far. I logged like religion during loss and the early months of maintenance, skipped occasional days after that. My calorie needs are surprisingly different from what MFP and my fitness tracker predict, so careful, so consistent tracking at first helped me pin down what my calorie needs truly were, so I could get predictable results after that.

Whether logging in MFP or not, I usually note what I ate on paper first, put it into MFP later toward the end of the day. Lately, I've just done the paper for most of the last few weeks. Weight staying pretty stable so far.

My weight has crept up and down somewhat in maintenance, but all well within a healthy range, and in the same jeans size. I hate clothes shopping with a fiery passion, so my jeans getting a little snug is a good trigger for me to cut back for a while, creep weight back down. Since initial loss, I haven't been as close as forty pounds to my starting weight - well, literally one rare day within thirty nine after unusual circumstances, up almost 6 pounds that day, back down 3 of those 6 the next. 😆

Having some kind of guard rails for maintenance is pretty important IMO, but there are lots of different ways to accomplish that: Logging, watching the scale to stay in a weight range, clothes fit, tape measurements, whatever.

BladeRun45

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48753279#Comment_48753279

Wow, great for you! My biggest issue is keeping the streak going. I seem to go on vacation and that derails everything and then when I come home I don't start. Always put it off a day/week/month/forever.

yakkystuff

A woman lost and kept off 125+ lbs and shared her story in a book, The Amazing Adventures of DietGirl.

She tracked consistently and eventually started just jotting down what she ate on a little flip notebook she could carry in her purse. Said it helped keep her focused on healthy choices each meal without the tedious work of detailed tracking - as she was in maintenance after she lost that 125 lbs.

I could see that. Full tracking can feel like work.

Somedays I just snap a pic on my phone, when I am comfortable with my understanding and food choices. My meals often repeat similar foods & portions and are usually based on a "myplate" type of food choices and macros splits.

I want it (food choices) to help my body with foods I like and enjoy eating - without an emotional struggle... and not feel like the whole future rides on my choices today...

The future will get here soon enough and I can make those choices then.

That removes the angst and lets me focus on my choices today... I don't promise I will eat less tomorrow or next week or next year.… to eat more now... then never do it… That was causing a lot of extra pressure that went away when I started looking more at today's choices.

Welcome back - hope the tools and community here help you find good progress with your goals!

AnnPT77

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48754390#Comment_48754390

I think that what you're getting at there is a pretty important thing. Honestly, even a serious vacation blowout - typical one week or so duration - doesn't IME have major impact in the big picture. Not getting back to routine healthy habits right after, though: Much more self-destructive IMO.

Finding the healthy-ish habits about which I can truthfully say and feel "this is how I routinely live my life" has been really useful. I can't sustain some kind of white-knuckled, motivation-requiring difficult thing for the rest of my life. I felt like I had to find something more easy and practical, very repeatable. If it's hard, takes actual willpower, I'm not going to succeed long term.

So far, so good.

BladeRun45

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48754737#Comment_48754737

it’s been on my mind since leaving next weekend for a short vacation. Bound and determined not to let it ruin my gains. Well, losses. Lol