Maintenance Thread
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I try to use MFP during these times. That helps keep my calories in check. I find I tend to be hard on myself regularly and hold my eating to a very high standard. To the point where half the things most people eat as "healthy" snacks are on my "no good" list. So I know I can fall back onto those foods which are easy but still not very high calorie during stressful times. I also can eat junk, just not a lot of it. MFP lets me know if I'm going overboard on the junk.
I'm taking Dec. off from training for triathlons. I need to heal my injured calf. I know it's going to be challenging to keep my calories in line with such a drastic cut in my workout schedule. So I'm giving myself some leeway to lose some muscle weight and gain some fat weight. I know when I start training again for my Spring and Summer races, that it will reverse itself. It did last year.
We'll see if I can be calm about it all and not freak out like I did last year though. I probably will freak out a few times but I'm going to try to be calm and forgiving about it as long as my overall weight doesn't go up too much.0 -
Thanks for the replies about times of stress. It helps.
OK...so now I am converting to maintenance calories. I am eating 1400 per day and eating some of my exercise calories. (I was at 1200 and eating half of my exercise calories). Some days I am under and some days I am over by a small amount. (like two days ago I was over by 17 calories). So, the scales seem to be heading in the wrong direction. Where I had been down to a low of 119, I am now seeing 123-124. It could be related to my cycles. (I am 46 and very much in peri-menopause so I never know what is happening these days.) It could be extra food bulk since I am eating more. OR...it could be that after dieting for so long that even 1400 calories is too much. What do you all think?0 -
It could also be that your exercise calories as logged on the site are too high. If you do strength training, you could also be putting on muscle. If it's that, your clothes will continue to fit even though the number on the scale is higher.
What I did when I got to my goal weight was to add in about 100-200 calories and then wait a few weeks. If I kept losing, I would add in some more and wait a few weeks and see how that went. I did that until I got to a point where I wasn't losing or gaining within a 5 pound range that I attribute to water fluctuations.
Also, I weigh myself every day and if I am over 120 two days in a row, I cut back on my eating and/or increase my exercise.0 -
Well, looks like I am going to be trying to maintain without exercise for a while as I messed up my knee playing soccer. Thankfully, it is just very bruised but is going to take a few weeks to heal. Will still go to the gym for strength training but running is out for a while
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Hi, I've started reading with great interest through this thread. I would love to join you! I have maintained a 100lb loss for a year now. I'd love to keep on the right path with you all!!!
Gail x0 -
Hi, and a very warm welcome to Gail, 100lbs lost WOW well done you and to keep it of for a year, thats fab!!!! you will have to share with us how you have managed it..... I am struggling to keep at 119 lbs that I reached in August lol :laugh:0
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Hi, I've started reading with great interest through this thread. I would love to join you! I have maintained a 100lb loss for a year now. I'd love to keep on the right path with you all!!!
Gail x
Wow, that is awesome! You'll have to give us tips to those who have just started trying to adjust to maintenance. Welcome!0 -
Gail, Congratulations!! The victory of keeping 100 pounds off is more awesome than taking them off to begin with. Although I am sure the later was more gratifying!
That is the problem with maintenance. No one is patting you on the back or giving compliments. Eventually everyone gets used to seeing you that size...or harder becomes impatient if you mention something that implies that you are still conscious of your food intake or exercise.
Kath, I hope you knee is better for Christmas. Good plan to keep doing what you can.
Macmadame: Thanks for your input. I do wear a HRM so I am hoping that my exercise calories are fairly accurate. I take what the HRM says, round down and then subtract 1 calorie for every minute exercised to account for calories normally burned. My son told me last night that he thinks I am building muscle and truthfully my clothes all fit the same. I did decrease my calories from 1400 back to 1300 and will only eat half of my exercise calories. I am so grateful for logging as I can go back and see my net calories for the past 3 weeks and it gives me a ball park for the next three.
I admit that this is low and I think it is going to mean careful choices for the rest of my life if this is really my maintenance level. Stinks that my maintenance is lower than some peoples diet!! :laugh: But at 5 ft 1 inch, that might just be what it is.
When I saw the scales number I was tempted to do something stupid and radical but then decided that punishing my body was not healthy. I don't need to respond with a knee jerk reaction. I can calmly and simply adjust my calories and give myself time to work this out. I suppose that new way of thinking goes into lifestyle change.
Yesterday, I put on my exercise clothes thinking that if I was dressed to exercise it would come. Wrong! It didn't. My day was filled with helping and listening to my children.
A worthwhile trade off.
Well, no choice but to get some in today at least in the form of shoveling!:grumble:
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Hello,
thanks so much for such a lovely welcome and such encouraging words. I think I don't have any amazingly new advice- but just to reiterate what others have said; I found the first few months terrifying and weighed myself daily. Now I do it once a month, I'm lucky enough to have a personal trainer and she weighs and measures me and then I don't have to bother.
I work out lots - running, cycling, strength training, rowing, plyometrics, circuits etc. I would love to do a triathlon but need to toughen up I think!!!
I read something that said something like, " A destination is just the start of another journey." and I know it sounds corny but I think is sums maintenance up, in some ways it is a harder journey- you haven't arrived you are just beginning. I just try to stay organised about what I eat and plan ahead, I know if I am tired I have less self control so need to deal with that when it happens. I know for me personally, if I have chocolate, cookies, ice cream, cheese, crisps or candy etc in the house I will eat them and find it hard to stop - so I just don't buy them. I do eat this sort of food if I am out sometimes but don't bring it home.
I think it is true that the comments about how much you've lost stop and I found that tricky as they were such a boost to me on the way down. I became a bore and I tried people's patience by having the same conversation about whether they thought I'd keep it off forever....its just reassurance I think but I must 'do people's head in!!'
I am also lucky enought to have a good friend from here Kenny, who is also a maintainer and we email each other regularly and I have found it a great thing to be able to discuss all sort of things from dating, to lose skin, to what exercises we've done to who has accused us of 'going to far with this weight loss business....' as well as celebrating fitness achievements.
I don't know if this helps Donna but in my first 2 months of weight training, I lost 6inches but my weight went up about 2kg. (A bit later I began to lose more weight but this was planned for vanity purposes!) Now I only think about measurements and not weight. The other good thing about gaining muscle is your metabolism gets raised, at the end of almost 2 years of dieting, mine had hit the floor!!! I'm 5.5 and eat about 18,00 for maintenance now although for the next few weeks I've cut it back to 1400 so I can have a few indulgences!!
Hope I haven't gone on too much, I love reading this thread and am really glad I found you all.
Gail xx0 -
Thanks Gail! I don't think you went on at all! I really appreciated all that you had to say. I think I should update my measurements and see if there is any improvement.
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Special welcome and thanks to Gail. You have really made the transition. It's very inspiring.
I wish I could say that I am now "athletic" and work out regularly. I don't. I don't think that I have learned to eat properly either. I can usually stay below my calories (about 1500 daily without exercise as I am nearly 5'9"), but I am always working to "balance" the other nutrients i.e. fats, sugars and sodium.
Sugars are fairly easy. Just cut back on fruits. Fats can be tricky for me. Sodium is almost impossible if I eat out anywhere or have any soup or anything off my very strict regimen. I've got to just experiment and learn. I always know when I've gone over in the sodium department, because when I wake up my eyes are extremely puffy. Dead give-a-way.
I was reading another post earlier. The person asked "do you ever finish?" This was a lifestyle change. I don't believe you ever really "finish." Not during your active life. It is something I still have to actively concentrate and focus on every single day.0 -
I used to think that I would "finish" but soon discovered that it would be impossible.
I have received compliments from MFP people for sticking around and criticism from those outside MFP for still doing it but the truth is that the day I stop logging will be the day I start gaining.
Even with all of the support and knowledge it is still sometimes hard.
I thought that once I reached my goal and had adopted the "lifestyle" change that it wouldn't be hard anymore but it is.
that is the saddest part for me to think that controlling my weight and taking care of myself might always be "hard".
I have visions of Utopia and Nirvana! But reaching your goal is neither one, it is really just a continuation of what you have been doing.
I hope that over time I can increase my calories without increasing my weight.
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I am sure that all of us have read Bank's "Expectations" thread by now where he explains phases 1-5. I thought a reminder of the final section that he adds a few posts down might help us.
So, from Banks himself
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Oh, I almost forgot:
Phase 6: Maintenance
So this one is probably the hardest of all, not because any particular portion of it is difficult, but there are a few demoralizing aspects to it. First, most of us have spent so long overweight and trying to lose weight, seeing the scale stagnant at one spot for a long time (even if it's our goal weight), can have a negative effect. Second, here is where we look at the big picture, and there are no more goals to try to attain, so the "What now" mentality really comes into play. It's hard enough to stay focused when you have a goal in sight, it's ten times harder when there is nothing left to shoot for. At this point it's a mental game. If you want to avoid YoYoing, you need to find things you really enjoy, both food wise and exercise wise, that take the chore aspect out of a healthy lifestyle. I am smack in the middle of this stage right now, and since my main exercise is Baseball, I am doing anything and everything to bide my time until I can get outside 2 to 3 times a week with the team to practice. There is really no "sure fire" answer to this stage. You just have to be concious of the fact that it's not going to get a heck of a lot easier and you just need to buckle down and ramp up the things you enjoy that will help keep you fit!
Hope this helps.0 -
I know I expected everything to be different once I reached maintenance. But I've found maintenance to be a lot like losing only with more calories to play with.0
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Yeah, sometimes being short sucks.But at 5 ft 1 inch, that might just be what it is.
But, exercise can give you a nice cushion! For a while, I was eating 2000 calories a day and maintaining. Right now I'm in the off-season for my sport and I'm healing an injury so I'm not doing much at all and it's been a bear to get my calories back down to the 1500-1600 range.0 -
I've actually dropped below the lower end of my goal weight this week. It's completely unintentional, I've been out of action with a sore back after my treatment so no trips to the gym for over a week and I've been completely inactive except for a couple of light cycle rides. I've been under my calories but they are set up for moderately active and I've seen slugs more active than me in last week. I've also been eating loads of cookies, and refined carbs, had a few glasses of wine and I've dropped 1.9kg in 10 days. I don't expect the weight to stay off once I start working out and eating properly again and to be honest I don't mind. I think I look better a couple of pounds heavier, unfortunately after 2 kids I don't have the skin tone in my stomach to not have a thin layer of fat there to pad it out, it looks horrible!
It's actually been a useful lesson for me, I always think oh just another couple of pounds lighter and I'd look even better but I actually don't. Just typical though that when I try hard,eat well and exercise I don't lose weight but while I've been feeling unwell, relaxed and eaten junk I've lost weight!0 -
Oh yvonnej1 poor you :flowerforyou: hope that you are back to full health real soon and what a fantastic lesson to have learnt, that you feel better a bit heavier....I wish i felt that way lol it was my birthday yesterday and I have had three meals out in 2 days + lots of Alcohol, chocolate and biscuits (candy and cookies) its not going well :laugh: I was back to goal weight 119 pounds on Thursday morning now at 123 :sad: :sad: :sad: and its not even Christmas yet!0
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Yvonne:flowerforyou:
Hugs to you Girl! Sounds like you're learning a lot about yourself during the transition process. Sorry your back has been been a pain.0 -
Thank you for the kind wishes Barty and Becca. I have been thinking things over quite a bit lately. I am terrible for thinking oh I'd like to be just a bit thinner, or more muscley but in actual fact it wouldn't suit my frame. Although I am 5'4 and fairly small built I am basically curvy and always will be. I am fairly well toned as I usually weight train 3x a week and whilst there's always room to improve I am pretty much where I want to be. Whilst I can think about it logically there still seems to be a gap between my logic and how I feel emotionally though. That is the biggest thing for me to address over the next few months.0
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Yvonne, I hope you are feeling better! I feel that gap, too. Some days I "feel" skinny and other days I feel fat, what is up with that?? it is so mental.
:huh: I think deciding on a real goal weight is very hard, so what a good lesson learned!
Happy Birthday Barty!! Hopefully those pounds will come right back off once you start eating right. However, with Christmas just around the corner...hmmm...:laugh:
Macmadame, I wish it wasn't a struggle to exercise. :grumble:
Wendypenner...I missed your post before...WELCOME!!! It is hard to thing that maintenance would be that low but it is how I feel too!!
Struggling here with the holiday thing. Yesterday was my nephews birthday and it was hard!! I have basically been sugar free for over 6 years but last night I wanted the cake and ice-cream really bad. Normally, I help serve and clean up and by the time I am done at least a couple of people are done eating the dessert but last night everyone was savoring and exclaiming how yummy it was (did I mention they were eating my very favorite home made chocolate cake topped with my recipe for peanut butter frosting??!)
... It was freakin' awkward to be the skinniest of the bunch and not eating it!
4 Christmas parties down and only a busy week and the big day to go!
The past two days I have stayed under calories so hopefully my little eat everything in sight binge is over. The scales are still up but despite last night, my resolve has been renewed which is good. I need to keep telling myself to stop whining!!!
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I don't think of it as exercise. I think of it as play for some things (water aerobics, ice skating) and a hobby for others (triathlon training).Macmadame, I wish it wasn't a struggle to exercise. :grumble:
I think we all just have to find something we love to do that just happens to involve moving our bodies. It's going to be different for everyone and it may not be the "best" or most efficient form of exercise but any moving is better than no moving...
I bet they were all thinking: I bet that's how she stays so trim.It was freakin' awkward to be the skinniest of the bunch and not eating it!0 -
Hey! A friend suggested I check out this thread. So cool.
I entered maintenance in October but I've been slowly losing since then and just stopped logging calories recently (see my blog for an explanation). I love the community aspect of this site and I look forward to gleaning from those of you that have been maintaining for quite some time.0 -
I stopped logging for a while too but I found I wasn't getting enough protein in when I didn't log. I'd like to get better at keeping track in my head as I've been measuring, weighing and logging for almost 3 years now and I'd like to start eating more intuitively.0
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Macmadame wrote:
I think we all just have to find something we love to do that just happens to involve moving our bodies. It's going to be different for everyone and it may not be the "best" or most efficient form of exercise but any moving is better than no moving...
Dee Dee replied:
Thanks! I was happy to hear this part especially from you! I do enjoy walking but every once in awhile someone (respectable and knowledgeable) on here will slam walking as a poor source of exercise. I understand that Turbo and p90x and running are all better but I always end up injured! My knees are paying the price of age and obesity. RA runs in our family and my knees just cannot take the more vigorous forms of exercise. We gave up our YMCA membership and I miss the pool!!!0 -
Hi, Well the maintaining went out of the window the last few days ......now the hard work starts again as i try to get back on track :sad: :sad: :sad:0
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Ugh, my Christmas eating has caught up with me. Time to detox and drink more water!0
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I just met my goal today... I'm scared about entering maintenance. The calories seem so high. Now starts a new struggle. Hopefully it will get better. 0
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Hi, Well the maintaining went out of the window the last few days ......now the hard work starts again as i try to get back on track :sad: :sad: :sad:
i am right there with you...the damage has been done though it could've been worse! i am easing myself into getting back on the wagon though...hope you had a fun and relaxing holiday! 0 -
Hey Gang:flowerforyou:
For those just joining up on this thread that reached their goals or those just peeking in to have a look at this thread I was doing some thinking and was going to share a bit.
I think sometimes ppl feel once they lose the weight life is gonna be one big party! Here to tell you maintenance can be scary. I've found it far easier to have a goal of weightloss than be feeling like I'm living on a high wire on maintenance. I'm balancing but as I look back I had little rewards of lbs. lost and cheers of support along the way, those meant everything to me to give me that push. Maintenance? It's all about the balancing act now!
Enjoy exactly where you are and you'll get where you need to be at exactly the right moment! :drinker:
Congrats to all who have reached their goal, it's an exciting place to be to realize we've reached that first milestone! 0 -
Hey Gang:flowerforyou:
For those just joining up on this thread that reached their goals or those just peeking in to have a look at this thread I was doing some thinking and was going to share a bit.
I think sometimes ppl feel once they lose the weight life is gonna be one big party! Here to tell you maintenance can be scary. I've found it far easier to have a goal of weightloss than be feeling like I'm living on a high wire on maintenance. I'm balancing but as I look back I had little rewards of lbs. lost and cheers of support along the way, those meant everything to me to give me that push. Maintenance? It's all about the balancing act now!
Enjoy exactly where you are and you'll get where you need to be at exactly the right moment! :drinker:
Congrats to all who have reached their goal, it's an exciting place to be to realize we've reached that first milestone!
You know, for me, it's not really hard to maintain. Once I came around to the new way of eating, maintenance was relatively straight forward. The hard part for me has been gaining muscle mass (I guess that's the hard part for everyone, or body building would be far more popular and wide spread). Gaining muscle mass without fat is really difficult and slow going, you need to be just about perfect every day, with NO cheat days (that's the rough part). But maintaining for me is the normal daily process now, so I don't feel it's hard any more (you can cheat every once in a while and still be fine long term, as long as you're within reason). When I first went from loss, and specific goals to maintaining with it's less measurable goals, it was harder, but now, it's just my normal day. You'll get there too, just stick with it.0
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