The journey from Maintenance to losing again

pelleld

A little background - came here 3 years at age 47 to drop the pounds gained after I retired. I was 143 and set a goal of 125, which I hit easily in a matter of a few months. Tried maintenance and continued to lost, got down to 115 then settled in at 117 to 118. Maintained for about 2 years. In mid to late 2013 I gained a few pounds back but clothes still fit and I still liked the way I looked. When it got up to 5 pounds gained tried to lose them again without success. In 2014 I put on a few more, complicated by some health issues (that are no largely resolved). I am now up to just over 125, up 10 from my low of 115 and 7 or 8 from my ideal of 117 to 118. I've tried several times to get back into the swing of things but what worked 3 years ago isn't working anymore. I've got a few ideas on why that is, some just my own personal observations, others from trainers/professionals. I'm putting this all out there in the hopes that someone else has gone through this and can add some advice to what I've already learned.

When I started here the only exercise I did was a 45 minute workout at Curves, 5 days per week. I added in some Jillian DVDs when I came to MFP and after I hit 115 my Curves closed. I joined a real gym and have really added some muscle to my frame. While at 117 I really liked the way my body looked and I felt good too. My weight stabilized at 117 but I was definitely growing some muscles and relaxed my eating a bit. Hitting 121 made me try to knuckle under and take off some pounds but doing what I did the first time didn't work. Last week for the first time I put on a pair of pants and they didn't fit. Since most of my clothes were bought when I hit goal of 125 most things still fit at the 115, the 117 and even 121. But the great pair of jeans I bought at 115 no longer fit. And thus came the wake up call.......I've really thought about it and here's where I am now:

1. When I came here I was not that fit at all. I didn't wear a heart rate monitor and ate back about half my exercise calories. Now I am much more fit, wear a heart rate monitor and seem to need to eat all my exercise calories back and even then I am still hungry. I am much more muscular than before. I think my HRM may be over-estimating my calories burned and by eating them all I am not creating the deficit needed to lose again.

2. In the beginning I think there was room for error in my calculations and I tended to err on the side of caution (as it relates to my eating). Once I got to maintenance I found myself erring in the other direction. I think this has further eroded my calorie deficit and contributes to me not losing now.

3. I am further along in menopause than I was 3 years ago. I'll be 51 in July and while my symptoms are completely minor compared to what I hear most other women talking about, I am sure my hormones are creating some havoc and contributing in some way, even if only a little.

4. I may have lost the weight but I never really learned how to listen to my body, eat when hungry, etc. I still have food issues and still have some foods I do not have control around. In fact the list of foods I can't control myself around has actually grown since I lost the weight......maybe because on some level I've felt deprived through this journey? I really don't know but I do know its has contributed to my inability to reign myself in on occasion.

5. Thinking it was time to try something different, I took up running last fall. I only do about 2 miles 2 to 3 times a week. I feel great when I'm done because I feel like I am doing something positive for myself. But it only seems to make me hungrier and so I eat back those calories whenever I run. While I know the running is still doing some good I kinda feel like I'm defeating the purpose if it just makes me eat more.

So now, as of today, I am going to try something different. I'm going to use the TDEE method and see if that helps take off these pesky pounds. Because there are no exercise calories to eat back (they are built into the equation) I am hoping it will change my focus about exercise from a way to eat more to a way to be healthier. I now know that there is no room for error with my food consumption and if I eat it I log it.

I would love to hear other people's stories, thoughts on trying TDEE and maybe just an encouraging word to two. Thanks for taking the time to read this..............

pelleld

Bumping in the hopes of getting some responses.................

funkygas

I know how you feel!

I only wanted to lose about 5kg when I started, but ended up way overshooting it and at my lowest was 17kg lower than when I started. I was told I looked way too skinny and I needed to eat more. I stayed at that weight for about a year, and then some health issues hit and I gained 3kg quite quickly, and stayed there for a while.

My problem was that I would have two mentalities - one was that I didn't want to gain any weight, the other was that I obviously needed to gain weight so I should be happy eating whatever I wish. And when I ate whatever I wished, I would then not eat that much again to make up for it.

I'm still in that frame of mind, although I've gained another 2kg since then and I'm trying to get back to where I was this time last year. It's hard to balance - wanting to eat the right amount to stay the right weight, not too much and not too little.

You are not alone!

kelleybean1

You seem quite slim already. How tall are you? Aside from the clothes, why do you want to get to 115? Unless you are really short this might not be realistic and/or maintainable. Is 115 a weight you are willing to work for, for the rest of your life? If that is too hard then maybe you should rethink your goal.

pelleld

I know how you feel!

I only wanted to lose about 5kg when I started, but ended up way overshooting it and at my lowest was 17kg lower than when I started. I was told I looked way too skinny and I needed to eat more. I stayed at that weight for about a year, and then some health issues hit and I gained 3kg quite quickly, and stayed there for a while.

My problem was that I would have two mentalities - one was that I didn't want to gain any weight, the other was that I obviously needed to gain weight so I should be happy eating whatever I wish. And when I ate whatever I wished, I would then not eat that much again to make up for it.

I'm still in that frame of mind, although I've gained another 2kg since then and I'm trying to get back to where I was this time last year. It's hard to balance - wanting to eat the right amount to stay the right weight, not too much and not too little.

You are not alone!

Thanks. Its a real struggle but I am hoping that changing things up works for me. Today was a good day both eating wise and exercise wise. So I will go to bed tonight feeling like I did things right. I like that feeling

Wishing you the best too!

pelleld

You seem quite slim already. How tall are you? Aside from the clothes, why do you want to get to 115? Unless you are really short this might not be realistic and/or maintainable. Is 115 a weight you are willing to work for, for the rest of your life? If that is too hard then maybe you should rethink your goal.

I am 5'3" tall. 115 was never my goal its just where my weight loss stopped so I figured that's where my body wanted to be. I maintained between 115 and 117 for about 2 years then things went a little wonky with me. Most people think I looked better at 120 than 115 but I felt better at 115. I will see how it goes with the TDEE method and reassess. Thanks for responding!

Jruzer

My thought is this: I don't think the TDEE method would work for me. My exercise is too variable for me to assign an average value to it, and I would wind up being hungry or even hypoglycemic on days where I exercise above my estimated exercise. Plus I believe that I would put less effort into my daily exercise if I didn't get the immediate feedback. But that's just me.