How do you keep the weight off once you've lost it?

amandakev88

I just read something disconcerting about how losing weight slows your metabolism [thats so sad if true] and thats why people gain it all back. i really dont want that to happen!! how did you avoid this?

Swiftdogs

Don't lose too fast! Reduce your weekly loss as you approach your goal. I've been at a half pound a week for the last 15 pounds, and I'm about to reduce even that target. Maintenance won't be a big transition.

amandakev88

genius

Hornsby

It only slows your metabolism if you do it the "wrong" way I think such as starving yourself and going way under your calorie goals.

I am not sure at all and I am sure someone has the science (if there is any), but eating at a slight deficit and exercising will more than likely speed up your metabolism. I know I went from netting 18-1900 when I was losing to 2400-2500 and I'm not going up and I basically changed that overnight.

This is one of the many reasons people on here are against the fad diets/meal replacements/ or anything that calls for very low intake numbers.

Holly_Roman_Empire

I have read things that say people at a normal weight often have lower metabolisms than those that are overweight/obese, but unfortunately I don't have links to science that support that. I'm not sure about losing weight actually lowering your metabolism, though.

I think metabolism is rarely a reason why people gain all the weight back, and not something to worry about.

emilyisbonkers

constant logging and dedication
it is so easy to slip back into old habits

devrinator

There was some documentary I watched called "Weight of the Nation," and in it, some professionals explained that once someone loses weight, he or she must eat about 25 percent less than his or her same weight counter-part who has never been overweight. I have this idea that the reason we all gain weight and yo-yo is because once we become technically obese, that is an indicator that we have some hormonal problems with leptin and ghrelin and insulin. That doesn't necessarily mean we have diabetes or something, but that we may overproduce the hormone that regulates appetite. The same documentary said that it was difficult to find many people who have successfully maintained a weight loss for over a year. So, I conjecture that because our bodies have kind of gone into a state of constantly gaining weight--even if at a slow pace, we never realize that when we reduce our caloric intake for our current body weight, that our bodies feel as if we've reduced our calories for that plus some. In other words, if you weigh 180 lbs and need 2200 calories to maintain that weight, your body may be driving you to consume 2300 calories. So when you reduce your caloric intake by 800 calories, it feels more like 900 calories. I think some of our bodies are designed in such a way that may have once survived famine by converting more energy into fat stores, and that triggers hormonal changes that drives us to eat more and to conserve more of the energy we consume into fat, so when we lose weight, our bodies want to store more fat. That said, I believe that slow weight loss and long-term maintenance could change it, but I really believe that your metabolism will correct after at least a year of maintenance.

Francl27

You have to realize that what you eat now to lose weight (if you're doing it the healthy way) is pretty much what you'll have to eat to maintain once you've lost the weight. And that's where people go wrong, they think it's a short term thing... but really it's not. If you start eating too much after you've lost the weight, you'll just gain again.

amandakev88

There was some documentary I watched called "Weight of the Nation," and in it, some professionals explained that once someone loses weight, he or she must eat about 25 percent less than his or her same weight counter-part who has never been overweight. I have this idea that the reason we all gain weight and yo-yo is because once we become technically obese, that is an indicator that we have some hormonal problems with leptin and ghrelin and insulin. That doesn't necessarily mean we have diabetes or something, but that we may overproduce the hormone that regulates appetite. The same documentary said that it was difficult to find many people who have successfully maintained a weight loss for over a year. So, I conjecture that because our bodies have kind of gone into a state of constantly gaining weight--even if at a slow pace, we never realize that when we reduce our caloric intake for our current body weight, that our bodies feel as if we've reduced our calories for that plus some. In other words, if you weigh 180 lbs and need 2200 calories to maintain that weight, your body may be driving you to consume 2300 calories. So when you reduce your caloric intake by 800 calories, it feels more like 900 calories. I think some of our bodies are designed in such a way that may have once survived famine by converting more energy into fat stores, and that triggers hormonal changes that drives us to eat more and to conserve more of the energy we consume into fat, so when we lose weight, our bodies want to store more fat. That said, I believe that slow weight loss and long-term maintenance could change it, but I really believe that your metabolism will correct after at least a year of maintenance.

very interesting and also makes a lot of sense.

thank you all.

Francl27

Oh wow did I not read the question properly!

I wouldn't be surprised if the reason people maintain at lower calories is because they're afraid to eat more because they don't want to gain. Like the people who increase their calories and immediately gain 5 lbs, when really it was just water weight.

FindingMyPerfection

Oh wow did I not read the question properly!

I wouldn't be surprised if the reason people maintain at lower calories is because they're afraid to eat more because they don't want to gain. Like the people who increase their calories and immediately gain 5 lbs, when really it was just water weight.

This

People don't realize if they want to maintain at their goal weight they have to drop 5 lbs below that to compensate for the glycogen and water weight they will gain when they switch to maintainance cals.

amandakev88

Oh wow did I not read the question properly!

I wouldn't be surprised if the reason people maintain at lower calories is because they're afraid to eat more because they don't want to gain. Like the people who increase their calories and immediately gain 5 lbs, when really it was just water weight.

This

People don't realize if they want to maintain at their goal weight they have to drop 5 lbs below that to compensate for the glycogen and water weight they will gain when they switch to maintainance cals.

interersting, and very scary. :S

Francl27

Oh wow did I not read the question properly!

I wouldn't be surprised if the reason people maintain at lower calories is because they're afraid to eat more because they don't want to gain. Like the people who increase their calories and immediately gain 5 lbs, when really it was just water weight.

This

People don't realize if they want to maintain at their goal weight they have to drop 5 lbs below that to compensate for the glycogen and water weight they will gain when they switch to maintainance cals.

interersting, and very scary. :S

I think it only happens if you increase your calories by a lot suddenly though. If you raise them by 100 every week or so, it should be fine.

boys4rmine

The way I have "kept the weight off" is by signing up for a race or challenge. It keeps me training for something, and once I have signed up and paid for it, no backing out. Doing the training then keeps me moving therefore keeps me in shape. It has worked for me so far, and I get more confident as I accomplish my goals.

FindingMyPerfection

Oh wow did I not read the question properly!

I wouldn't be surprised if the reason people maintain at lower calories is because they're afraid to eat more because they don't want to gain. Like the people who increase their calories and immediately gain 5 lbs, when really it was just water weight.

This

People don't realize if they want to maintain at their goal weight they have to drop 5 lbs below that to compensate for the glycogen and water weight they will gain when they switch to maintainance cals.

interersting, and very scary. :S

I think it only happens if you increase your calories by a lot suddenly though. If you raise them by 100 every week or so, it should be fine.

This works because as you slowly raise your cals you are still in a deficit so you are still losing fat till you reach maintenance. This loss is disguised by the slow water weight and glycogen increase.

JesterMFP

Oh wow did I not read the question properly!

I wouldn't be surprised if the reason people maintain at lower calories is because they're afraid to eat more because they don't want to gain. Like the people who increase their calories and immediately gain 5 lbs, when really it was just water weight.

This

People don't realize if they want to maintain at their goal weight they have to drop 5 lbs below that to compensate for the glycogen and water weight they will gain when they switch to maintainance cals.

interersting, and very scary. :S

It's not really scary. It only matters if you're more bothered about what the scale says than your actual size/shape, how you look etc. If you lose to the point where you are satisfied with your size, body fat etc, then gaining a few pounds of glycogen/water weight isn't going to affect that.

JTick

This is one of the reasons I lift. I want to retain my muscle so that I can eat more...if I'm a blob of fat and bones, I don't get to eat as much to maintain. I also run. My theory is that I'd rather run one more mile than eat 100 calories less.

Yeah, of course I'm terrified I'll gain the weight back. But the more logical part of me knows that as long as I stay active, I'll get to eat lots of food, and be satisfied and not feel like I'm missing out on life.

Indiri13

Every pound of muscle and every pound of fat requires a certain number of calories per day to maintain (a pound of muscle requires slightly more than fat). If you have 10 extra pounds of fat then there are a few calories extra to maintain that fat level. If you have 100 extra pounds of fat then you have 10x more extra calories to maintain it.

Your daily burn is smaller if you weigh less because you don't have to eat to maintain all those extra pounds. Losing 50 pounds means you are probably burning about 200 less calories (ish) a day overall.

devrinator

There is also some research being done on people have lost weight and kept it off for a year or more. So far, the findings show that people who don't gain the weight continue to restrict their calories and watch what they eat. So while a woman who weighs 130 lbs after losing 50 lbs must eat fewer calories than a woman who weighs 130 and has never been overweight, the new caloric restriction should be easier than the calorie restriction needed to actually lose the weight.

If you've been overweight and have lost it, that's an incredible feat. It's not impossible to maintain it, I think, but it's not as easy as being naturally thin--because you may have a body that's sort of hard-wired to store fat and motivate you to eat more. I've lost weight in the past and gained it all back. I stopped logging calories, thinking I could eyeball my portions and foods. I gained a little, restricted a little, then eventually let myself slide into doing things that should have been off base, like drinking sodas and having snacks and going back for seconds. It didn't happen right away, but kind of over time. I'm back here sort of getting myself ready to head into this with seriousness again.

FindingMyPerfection

There is also some research being done on people have lost weight and kept it off for a year or more. So far, the findings show that people who don't gain the weight continue to restrict their calories and watch what they eat. So while a woman who weighs 130 lbs after losing 50 lbs must eat fewer calories than a woman who weighs 130 and has never been overweight, the new caloric restriction should be easier than the calorie restriction needed to actually lose the weight.

If you've been overweight and have lost it, that's an incredible feat. It's not impossible to maintain it, I think, but it's not as easy as being naturally thin--because you may have a body that's sort of hard-wired to store fat and motivate you to eat more. I've lost weight in the past and gained it all back. I stopped logging calories, thinking I could eyeball my portions and foods. I gained a little, restricted a little, then eventually let myself slide into doing things that should have been off base, like drinking sodas and having snacks and going back for seconds. It didn't happen right away, but kind of over time. I'm back here sort of getting myself ready to head into this with seriousness again.

I believe the reason for this is you still have the excess fat storage cells. It takes the body 5 years for these to die. And not be replaced. After that you should be just like apersonwho has never been overweight.

dejamos

Someone linked to an article in another thread a while back that talked about this. While it did say that people who have lost weight have to eat less calories to maintain than people who have never been overweight, I'm pretty sure it also said that this is a temporary phenomenon and that after about 7 years (I think it was 7?) the metabolism adjusts again and is closer to that of someone who was never overweight. Don't remember where I saw that, though - sorry.

eta I see the person above me said the same thing (with better explanation).

amyx593

You can't just lose weight, then go back to what you were doing before. That's why it's a "lifestyle change"... so you'll need to maintain eating mostly healthy foods and continue to work out for your long term health! Good luck!

kk_140

When I lost my first 20 pounds (I separated my diet into two 20 lbs diet goals) I brought my calories up to maintenance 150 calories a week and have kept the weight off for 6 months. Now I'm dropping it back down for my next 20 pound section and plan to bring it up the same way when I finish my goal!

amandakev88

There is also some research being done on people have lost weight and kept it off for a year or more. So far, the findings show that people who don't gain the weight continue to restrict their calories and watch what they eat. So while a woman who weighs 130 lbs after losing 50 lbs must eat fewer calories than a woman who weighs 130 and has never been overweight, the new caloric restriction should be easier than the calorie restriction needed to actually lose the weight.

If you've been overweight and have lost it, that's an incredible feat. It's not impossible to maintain it, I think, but it's not as easy as being naturally thin--because you may have a body that's sort of hard-wired to store fat and motivate you to eat more. I've lost weight in the past and gained it all back. I stopped logging calories, thinking I could eyeball my portions and foods. I gained a little, restricted a little, then eventually let myself slide into doing things that should have been off base, like drinking sodas and having snacks and going back for seconds. It didn't happen right away, but kind of over time. I'm back here sort of getting myself ready to head into this with seriousness again.

I believe the reason for this is you still have the excess fat storage cells. It takes the body 5 years for these to die. And not be replaced. After that you should be just like apersonwho has never been overweight.

incredibly interesting. amazing how being overweight continues to affect you even after you lost the extra chunk.....