Avoiding the Relapse During Maintenance

cici1028

Hi MFPers!

I lost 50 pounds with MFP and have managed to stay at goal (+/- 5 lbs in either direction) for the past three years. However, after quitting smoking I definitely noticed the scale creeping up steadily over time. I notice a lot of people on here are on their second or even third attempts at weight loss.... so...

If you had a great bunch of success losing weight and then put a bunch of it back on... how did it start? How did you know when to correct yourself? How did you get back on track?

Mbierschbach

If you had a great bunch of success losing weight and then put a bunch of it back on... how did it start? How did you know when to correct yourself? How did you get back on track?

Step 1. Go to college. Eat like crap. Gain some weight.

Step 2. Graduate from college and actually earn a decent paycheck. Realize a whole rack of ribs for dinner and ice cream in the fridge every night is now affordable. Fool yourself into believing you're "getting old" and metabolism slows down so buying bigger pants is just part of "getting old"...(yes, that was at 22 y.o.)

Step 3 At 26 realize - this is ridiculous. You have no excuse for getting this fat. Get in the best shape of your life by losing 40 lbs and dropping to a junior high or maaaaaybe high school waist size.

Step 4 Now for the regaining weight part: Have kids, move to big city and make more excuses. Enjoy the plethora of new restaurants you have to visit because your small town never had them. Go out to lunch way more than you know you should. Then change jobs to one where you sit ALLLLLL day. Insert more excuses yet, not the least of which is "getting older yet." (35 y.o. at this time, I know ancient right?)

Step 5 Present day. Realize again, this is ridiculous. Buying bigger pants again? You jerk. You know better. That Five Guys? There's absolutely no good reason to set foot in there, certainly not as often as you are? $11 at Jimmy John's for a mayonaisse laden sandwich, chips, and soda? What a joke. Oh, good for you - you went to the gym this a.m. and half-a$$ed it so you feel justified in eating what you want for lunch (did I mention excuses?).

The first time I dropped 40 lbs was counting calories on paper (eek...what a PITA) but it worked tremendously. I maintained it for ~ 18 months. MFP has made life A TON easier. I didn't enter Step 4.5 where I did lose about 18 lbs on MFP and then got lazy, gave up, whatever you wanna call it as the winter doldrums and holiday gorging set in. I fell off the wagon.

I'm an engineer so my life is pretty data driven. Using MFP and a FitBit and multiple devices to log and track (tablet, smartphone, laptop) etc gives me that "nerd satisfaction" all while keeping me in check. As the logging becomes easier and more available I find no excuse not to do it. I know it works well, it worked back when I used pen and paper - now to stick to it.

My wife has joined me on the journey and is at a weight she was before either of our two kids. It helps having a committed partner as you don't feel like your calorie concerns are changing THEIR plans.

cici1028

Thanks for that... great post!