Scared of maintance

StacyRenee77

I am not even near my goal, but maintance scares me more. I need encouraging stories of people keeping it off and tips!! I see so many people lose the weight (mostly family members) just to gain it back and possibly more.

sfbaumgarten

Go here and start clicking: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/15-success-stories

ken_m

I like to wear incredibly tight clothes, that don't allow room for fat growth. That way I can eat whatever I like and while I get heavier, I never get fat.

cuinboston2014

I lost about 105 lbs a few years ago and have kept it off for 3 years without calorie counting or anything. All I did during my maintenance was continue to work out and work out a lot and hard (I LOVE exercise) and still watch what I eat. I learned during weight loss how to control portion sizes, what foods I can eat more of (like lettuce, veggies etc) and what foods I need to practice moderation with.

Like bradley said as well...if I am starting to feel like I might lose self control I put on clothes that are almost uncomfortable to remind myself to reign it in a bit.

Maintenance is not scary

AsaThorsWoman

I like to wear incredibly tight clothes, that don't allow room for fat growth. That way I can eat whatever I like and while I get heavier, I never get fat.

I might have to try that...

sijomial

Try to make your weight loss as close as possible to how you intend to maintain.
Don't exclude foods you like (you may have to limit of course), enjoy social occasions and holidays, exercise for fitness/strength/health.

Then when you get to maintenance (hopefully after tapering off the speed of deficit close to goal...) there isn't any big transition.
Build those habits now rather than having one set of habits for weight loss and then having to learn another set of habits to maintain.

Then it's just a matter of being vigilant. If you drift out of your maintenance weight range just make small adjustments to get back on track.

ntdcruz

lol :laugh:

proudjmmom

I too was terrified about maintenance. The first few months were the hardest, as I learned my maintenance calories, I lost a further 9 pounds after reaching my goal. But now it seems to be smooth sailing. I didn't lose weight with many restrictions, yes I had a calorie deficit, but I didn't restrict what I ate. I eat now the same as when losing for the most part. Maintenance is not that hard, trust me!

cwolfman13

I've been maintaining for a year come May...maintenance is nothing to be afraid of, especially if you're making efforts now to learn proper portion control, moderation, and what actually constitutes good general nutrition and working in a sustainable fitness regimen. When successful individuals talk about "lifestyle change", these are largely the things they are talking about.

One major problem as I see it is that people in general just fail to see the bigger picture...they get to goal weight and they think they've crossed the finish line and they are done. Reality is that they have actually only reached the starting line of a lifelong race towards better health, nutrition, and fitness...these things are life long endeavors. This is why it is pretty much pointless to obsess about time frames for losing, etc. It doesn't really matter because you're never done with this nutrition and fitness stuff. People who are successful in any walk of life, including this, are never 100% satisfied...they can always do better...they can always accomplish more.

To that end, goals have to go beyond what the number on the scale says and it is necessary to keep setting goals for yourself to keep running the race. For a vast majority of people who maintain a healthy weight, goals become more fitness oriented and geared towards overall performance, health and wellness, and just all around being a tiny bit better today then they were yesterday. That's pretty much what I've been working on this past year...I've been working on my physical performance as it relates to fitness, but also my performance at work and family life as well as my spiritual health and mental health.

Another big key to successfully maintaining weight is maintaining your fitness regimen. A lot of people lose the weight and then they just quit exercising...this is largely attributable to the fact that so many people view exercise as something you do for weight loss rather than something you should be doing regardless of your weight control goals...exercise does burn calories and can aid in weight loss, but it is largely about fitness and overall health and well being; these things still need to be addressed long after you've lost weight.

In maintenance, I continue to weigh myself regularly and I am mindful of how my clothes fit much more than I am the scale. You can't overly obsess about the scale because your weight won't be a static number....it will go up and down. I can weigh anywhere from 180 - 185 day to day throughout any given week with natural fluctuations...if I didn't understand these and what made them happen I would be driving myself nuts and doing a whole lot of stressing...but I do understand them and understand that just like weight loss, maintaining is all about the trend and the average. This is also why I pay way more attention to how my clothes feel...3-5 Lbs of water and waste isn't really going to make my clothes not fit...3-5 Lbs of fat will.

As far as my diet goes, I eat pretty much the same stuff I did when I was losing...I have a tiny bit more room for some indulgences and it's been nice having some beer back in my life...but really, the difference between when I was losing and now in maintenance is all of 500 little calories per day...that's pretty much a little desert after dinner and an extra snack or something during the day or maybe a couple beers after work...that's it.

WinoGelato

I've been maintaining for a year come May...maintenance is nothing to be afraid of, especially if you're making efforts now to learn proper portion control, moderation, and what actually constitutes good general nutrition and working in a sustainable fitness regimen. When successful individuals talk about "lifestyle change", these are largely the things they are talking about.

One major problem as I see it is that people in general just fail to see the bigger picture...they get to goal weight and they think they've crossed the finish line and they are done. Reality is that they have actually only reached the starting line of a lifelong race towards better health, nutrition, and fitness...these things are life long endeavors. This is why it is pretty much pointless to obsess about time frames for losing, etc. It doesn't really matter because you're never done with this nutrition and fitness stuff. People who are successful in any walk of life, including this, are never 100% satisfied...they can always do better...they can always accomplish more.

To that end, goals have to go beyond what the number on the scale says and it is necessary to keep setting goals for yourself to keep running the race. For a vast majority of people who maintain a healthy weight, goals become more fitness oriented and geared towards overall performance, health and wellness, and just all around being a tiny bit better today then they were yesterday. That's pretty much what I've been working on this past year...I've been working on my physical performance as it relates to fitness, but also my performance at work and family life as well as my spiritual health and mental health.

Another big key to successfully maintaining weight is maintaining your fitness regimen. A lot of people lose the weight and then they just quit exercising...this is largely attributable to the fact that so many people view exercise as something you do for weight loss rather than something you should be doing regardless of your weight control goals...exercise does burn calories and can aid in weight loss, but it is largely about fitness and overall health and well being; these things still need to be addressed long after you've lost weight.

In maintenance, I continue to weigh myself regularly and I am mindful of how my clothes fit much more than I am the scale. You can't overly obsess about the scale because your weight won't be a static number....it will go up and down. I can weigh anywhere from 180 - 185 day to day throughout any given week with natural fluctuations...if I didn't understand these and what made them happen I would be driving myself nuts and doing a whole lot of stressing...but I do understand them and understand that just like weight loss, maintaining is all about the trend and the average. This is also why I pay way more attention to how my clothes feel...3-5 Lbs of water and waste isn't really going to make my clothes not fit...3-5 Lbs of fat will.

As far as my diet goes, I eat pretty much the same stuff I did when I was losing...I have a tiny bit more room for some indulgences and it's been nice having some beer back in my life...but really, the difference between when I was losing and now in maintenance is all of 500 little calories per day...that's pretty much a little desert after dinner and an extra snack or something during the day or maybe a couple beers after work...that's it.

How many times/week do you copy and paste this answer? I have read this and appreciated it every time you have posted it!

StacyRenee77

It is very helpful and inspiring!!

beertrollruss

I have a coworker who dropped 110 pounds and has kept it off for over 6 years. I asked her what she does when she gets hungry. She basically said she got used to being hungry. I've never seen her eat any cheat foods and she's in a marketing department that loves to eat. I'm pretty sure she keeps a food diary and plans her meals in advance.

SusanUW83

It's been hard -- I backed off (not stopped) exercise and upped calories some -- and I started gaining. Obviously I don't have the balance yet. Portion control, planning, and keeping up on exercise seem to be the way ahead.

mtapia713

Regular Exercise!! Also, change exercise routine often.

Dreya711

I've been maintaining for a year come May...maintenance is nothing to be afraid of, especially if you're making efforts now to learn proper portion control, moderation, and what actually constitutes good general nutrition and working in a sustainable fitness regimen. When successful individuals talk about "lifestyle change", these are largely the things they are talking about.

One major problem as I see it is that people in general just fail to see the bigger picture...they get to goal weight and they think they've crossed the finish line and they are done. Reality is that they have actually only reached the starting line of a lifelong race towards better health, nutrition, and fitness...these things are life long endeavors. This is why it is pretty much pointless to obsess about time frames for losing, etc. It doesn't really matter because you're never done with this nutrition and fitness stuff. People who are successful in any walk of life, including this, are never 100% satisfied...they can always do better...they can always accomplish more.

To that end, goals have to go beyond what the number on the scale says and it is necessary to keep setting goals for yourself to keep running the race. For a vast majority of people who maintain a healthy weight, goals become more fitness oriented and geared towards overall performance, health and wellness, and just all around being a tiny bit better today then they were yesterday. That's pretty much what I've been working on this past year...I've been working on my physical performance as it relates to fitness, but also my performance at work and family life as well as my spiritual health and mental health.

Another big key to successfully maintaining weight is maintaining your fitness regimen. A lot of people lose the weight and then they just quit exercising...this is largely attributable to the fact that so many people view exercise as something you do for weight loss rather than something you should be doing regardless of your weight control goals...exercise does burn calories and can aid in weight loss, but it is largely about fitness and overall health and well being; these things still need to be addressed long after you've lost weight.

In maintenance, I continue to weigh myself regularly and I am mindful of how my clothes fit much more than I am the scale. You can't overly obsess about the scale because your weight won't be a static number....it will go up and down. I can weigh anywhere from 180 - 185 day to day throughout any given week with natural fluctuations...if I didn't understand these and what made them happen I would be driving myself nuts and doing a whole lot of stressing...but I do understand them and understand that just like weight loss, maintaining is all about the trend and the average. This is also why I pay way more attention to how my clothes feel...3-5 Lbs of water and waste isn't really going to make my clothes not fit...3-5 Lbs of fat will.

As far as my diet goes, I eat pretty much the same stuff I did when I was losing...I have a tiny bit more room for some indulgences and it's been nice having some beer back in my life...but really, the difference between when I was losing and now in maintenance is all of 500 little calories per day...that's pretty much a little desert after dinner and an extra snack or something during the day or maybe a couple beers after work...that's it.

Thank you to the person who posted this! I am 2 lbs away from my goal weight and I have also been nervous about maintaining. This is so helpful and encouraging!

AHack3

My reply to Cwolfman13 , Pretty much this. This pretty much sums it all up very nicely. It took me way too long to learn this. I was a person who struggled with maintenance. I've hit it many times in my life only to gain a lot back many times. Losing I can do, gaining I can do...now maintaining has been a very hard learning process for me, but I've recently hit my maintenance yet again and everything that is said here is where I went wrong and since I 've learned. I really do believe this time around is going to be different for me, each time I've learned different things. My weight loss journey has not been an easy one at all! I like to tell people apparently I wanted to take the scenic route!

Cwolfman13 quote
I've been maintaining for a year come May...maintenance is nothing to be afraid of, especially if you're making efforts now to learn proper portion control, moderation, and what actually constitutes good general nutrition and working in a sustainable fitness regimen. When successful individuals talk about "lifestyle change", these are largely the things they are talking about.

One major problem as I see it is that people in general just fail to see the bigger picture...they get to goal weight and they think they've crossed the finish line and they are done. Reality is that they have actually only reached the starting line of a lifelong race towards better health, nutrition, and fitness...these things are life long endeavors. This is why it is pretty much pointless to obsess about time frames for losing, etc. It doesn't really matter because you're never done with this nutrition and fitness stuff. People who are successful in any walk of life, including this, are never 100% satisfied...they can always do better...they can always accomplish more.

To that end, goals have to go beyond what the number on the scale says and it is necessary to keep setting goals for yourself to keep running the race. For a vast majority of people who maintain a healthy weight, goals become more fitness oriented and geared towards overall performance, health and wellness, and just all around being a tiny bit better today then they were yesterday. That's pretty much what I've been working on this past year...I've been working on my physical performance as it relates to fitness, but also my performance at work and family life as well as my spiritual health and mental health.

Another big key to successfully maintaining weight is maintaining your fitness regimen. A lot of people lose the weight and then they just quit exercising...this is largely attributable to the fact that so many people view exercise as something you do for weight loss rather than something you should be doing regardless of your weight control goals...exercise does burn calories and can aid in weight loss, but it is largely about fitness and overall health and well being; these things still need to be addressed long after you've lost weight.

In maintenance, I continue to weigh myself regularly and I am mindful of how my clothes fit much more than I am the scale. You can't overly obsess about the scale because your weight won't be a static number....it will go up and down. I can weigh anywhere from 180 - 185 day to day throughout any given week with natural fluctuations...if I didn't understand these and what made them happen I would be driving myself nuts and doing a whole lot of stressing...but I do understand them and understand that just like weight loss, maintaining is all about the trend and the average. This is also why I pay way more attention to how my clothes feel...3-5 Lbs of water and waste isn't really going to make my clothes not fit...3-5 Lbs of fat will.

As far as my diet goes, I eat pretty much the same stuff I did when I was losing...I have a tiny bit more room for some indulgences and it's been nice having some beer back in my life...but really, the difference between when I was losing and now in maintenance is all of 500 little calories per day...that's pretty much a little desert after dinner and an extra snack or something during the day or maybe a couple beers after work...that's it.

* I had meant to reply to Cwofman13 quote but I had did it wrong so I edited it for clarity, sorry I know it's confusing, but I didn't see how I could delete my comment to try again...oh well, you get the idea.

AHack3

I've been maintaining for a year come May...maintenance is nothing to be afraid of, especially if you're making efforts now to learn proper portion control, moderation, and what actually constitutes good general nutrition and working in a sustainable fitness regimen. When successful individuals talk about "lifestyle change", these are largely the things they are talking about.

One major problem as I see it is that people in general just fail to see the bigger picture...they get to goal weight and they think they've crossed the finish line and they are done. Reality is that they have actually only reached the starting line of a lifelong race towards better health, nutrition, and fitness...these things are life long endeavors. This is why it is pretty much pointless to obsess about time frames for losing, etc. It doesn't really matter because you're never done with this nutrition and fitness stuff. People who are successful in any walk of life, including this, are never 100% satisfied...they can always do better...they can always accomplish more.

To that end, goals have to go beyond what the number on the scale says and it is necessary to keep setting goals for yourself to keep running the race. For a vast majority of people who maintain a healthy weight, goals become more fitness oriented and geared towards overall performance, health and wellness, and just all around being a tiny bit better today then they were yesterday. That's pretty much what I've been working on this past year...I've been working on my physical performance as it relates to fitness, but also my performance at work and family life as well as my spiritual health and mental health.

Another big key to successfully maintaining weight is maintaining your fitness regimen. A lot of people lose the weight and then they just quit exercising...this is largely attributable to the fact that so many people view exercise as something you do for weight loss rather than something you should be doing regardless of your weight control goals...exercise does burn calories and can aid in weight loss, but it is largely about fitness and overall health and well being; these things still need to be addressed long after you've lost weight.

In maintenance, I continue to weigh myself regularly and I am mindful of how my clothes fit much more than I am the scale. You can't overly obsess about the scale because your weight won't be a static number....it will go up and down. I can weigh anywhere from 180 - 185 day to day throughout any given week with natural fluctuations...if I didn't understand these and what made them happen I would be driving myself nuts and doing a whole lot of stressing...but I do understand them and understand that just like weight loss, maintaining is all about the trend and the average. This is also why I pay way more attention to how my clothes feel...3-5 Lbs of water and waste isn't really going to make my clothes not fit...3-5 Lbs of fat will.

As far as my diet goes, I eat pretty much the same stuff I did when I was losing...I have a tiny bit more room for some indulgences and it's been nice having some beer back in my life...but really, the difference between when I was losing and now in maintenance is all of 500 little calories per day...that's pretty much a little desert after dinner and an extra snack or something during the day or maybe a couple beers after work...that's it.

^^^^THIS!
I can relate. I posted a similar topic last May when I decided to ease myself into maintenance. Here I am almost a year later. It is scary, but as long as you don't "forget" you'll be fine. If you have a bad day/week/month...you learn from it, and keep going! Kind of what you are already doing! See...now it doesn't seem that scary! One thing that helped me was adding a few maintaining friends. Good luck!
[/quote That's also good advice. It also helped me to add some maintaining friends as well.

pennyjlong

I am in the same situation, scared of maintenance. I have lost the weight and regained part of it several times. I am told, I must keep a daily diary of my food, exercise, water intake. I should weigh myself daily and if I gain more than 3 lbs, I should try eating just proteins for the day, keeping it at least 50 carbs. Once we stop writing our food in the diary and stop weighing daily we get in trouble with a gain. We must stay focussed and be aware of what we are eating. For Life!

StacyRenee77

You guys and gals help so much, thank you!!

nxd10

Try to make your weight loss as close as possible to how you intend to maintain.
Don't exclude foods you like (you may have to limit of course), enjoy social occasions and holidays, exercise for fitness/strength/health.

Then when you get to maintenance (hopefully after tapering off the speed of deficit close to goal...) there isn't any big transition.
Build those habits now rather than having one set of habits for weight loss and then having to learn another set of habits to maintain.

Then it's just a matter of being vigilant. If you drift out of your maintenance weight range just make small adjustments to get back on track.

Yep.

aleggett321

I've been maintaining for a year come May...maintenance is nothing to be afraid of, especially if you're making efforts now to learn proper portion control, moderation, and what actually constitutes good general nutrition and working in a sustainable fitness regimen. When successful individuals talk about "lifestyle change", these are largely the things they are talking about.

One major problem as I see it is that people in general just fail to see the bigger picture...they get to goal weight and they think they've crossed the finish line and they are done. Reality is that they have actually only reached the starting line of a lifelong race towards better health, nutrition, and fitness...these things are life long endeavors. This is why it is pretty much pointless to obsess about time frames for losing, etc. It doesn't really matter because you're never done with this nutrition and fitness stuff. People who are successful in any walk of life, including this, are never 100% satisfied...they can always do better...they can always accomplish more.

To that end, goals have to go beyond what the number on the scale says and it is necessary to keep setting goals for yourself to keep running the race. For a vast majority of people who maintain a healthy weight, goals become more fitness oriented and geared towards overall performance, health and wellness, and just all around being a tiny bit better today then they were yesterday. That's pretty much what I've been working on this past year...I've been working on my physical performance as it relates to fitness, but also my performance at work and family life as well as my spiritual health and mental health.

Another big key to successfully maintaining weight is maintaining your fitness regimen. A lot of people lose the weight and then they just quit exercising...this is largely attributable to the fact that so many people view exercise as something you do for weight loss rather than something you should be doing regardless of your weight control goals...exercise does burn calories and can aid in weight loss, but it is largely about fitness and overall health and well being; these things still need to be addressed long after you've lost weight.

In maintenance, I continue to weigh myself regularly and I am mindful of how my clothes fit much more than I am the scale. You can't overly obsess about the scale because your weight won't be a static number....it will go up and down. I can weigh anywhere from 180 - 185 day to day throughout any given week with natural fluctuations...if I didn't understand these and what made them happen I would be driving myself nuts and doing a whole lot of stressing...but I do understand them and understand that just like weight loss, maintaining is all about the trend and the average. This is also why I pay way more attention to how my clothes feel...3-5 Lbs of water and waste isn't really going to make my clothes not fit...3-5 Lbs of fat will.

As far as my diet goes, I eat pretty much the same stuff I did when I was losing...I have a tiny bit more room for some indulgences and it's been nice having some beer back in my life...but really, the difference between when I was losing and now in maintenance is all of 500 little calories per day...that's pretty much a little desert after dinner and an extra snack or something during the day or maybe a couple beers after work...that's it.

How many times/week do you copy and paste this answer? I have read this and appreciated it every time you have posted it!

This is the first time I have seen this and think it is outstanding! This was perfect for me as I just reached my goal and was apprehensive about maintenance. Thank you so much!