Is maintaining harder than weight loss?
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maintaining is a life long struggle0
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I hope more people who have lost more than 10 pounds reply to this thread. Interesting that most replies are from members whose tickers show very low pounds-lost numbers... of course that could be just the amount the lost "this time" or with MFP.
I wonder if taking a year or two to lose weight because you have so much to lose, puts you in a different place than if you lose 10 pounds (or less) in a few months?
Another thought I had is that people who take control when they are overweight by just a few pounds compared to those who (like me) allow themselves to get morbidly obese before losing weight, are more nervous or shocked when they gain just a few pounds back, whereas someone who has lost 100 pounds might think "well I'm still 90 pounds lighter" if they gain back 10.
I lost more than 10 pounds...it took me about a year and I've been in maintenance for 15 months now...
BUT..
About 7 years ago, I lost 75 pounds...it took me about a year as well using diet, exercise, but not MFP. Within 2 years of reaching my 'goal,' I gained back all the weight, +10 more pounds.
During the process, I too felt that with all the hard work I put in to remove the weight, there was NO WAY I would ever gain it back...WRONG!
two lessons learned this time over last:
1) there's no END when it comes to diet & fitness...it's a lifelong quest that will need constant vigilance & tweaking as you age & situations change...ALWAYS...till you die.
2). If you don't address the REASONS why you use food as your drug of choice to alter your moods and keep swallowing your pain, your weight will be a lifelong struggle.0 -
Nope.
NEXT!0 -
Not really..it is an adjustment of the calories....and exercise.0
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When I think of maintaining weight I think about my father, he was 50/60 and had abs, perfectly slim, always toned, super strong, powerful arms (still gentle arms), no double chin, could lift heavy things, never complained of lumbar pain, only some pain in the back of the neck, loved swimming pools, but he grew up in a mountain town, playing soccer with old super heave soccer shoes made of rough letter, he never had over eating issues: desserts, sweets, fried, just the necessary portion never between meals, never had a second dish or a dessert, never saw something and got it just for cravings, and he lived in a time where there were no: three milks, cheesecake, coke, fast food, fried chicken, but plantains, pork, corn (we had a very small corn field), chickens (we had chickens), greens, no ice cream and no flavored soups, so my thinking now is: maintaining weight is not buying into the system with food that one doesn't need, with the 0 calories products, with the: come and drink all you want or so, it's a lifestyle rather than a timed project.0
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I like getting to eat more so no it is not harder.0
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I don't find it harder. It's moved to the 'a habit like toothbrushing. I'm eating the same food I was before I lost weight and during weight loss, but just less of it.
Only 3 diet changes are less milk and cheese and less bread. I am cooking more creatively because I LOVE to eat.0 -
Weight loss was actually the fun part, its only a temporary change, you eat defliect and you are rewarded with new lower numbers on the scale.
Maintancing is still at a deflect, its a life time commitment, your only reward is to see your weight not returning, so long term effect maintance can feel so a slow starvation, so yeah it is harder.0 -
Yes! A million times yes!0
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I rather plan to use MFP for the rest of my life, including for maintenance, and if later on I want to lose a few more. I don't feel like weight-loss is a summer classes type deal. Once you decide to do it, it's a sort of rest-of-your-life decision, and that's why programs and apps like MFP are nice to have because they remind you of how far you've come. I've signed off almost all of my favorite foods in large amounts and outside of special/desperate occasions (these include: Cherry Coke, Flaming Hot Cheetos, Little Debbie Oatmeal Pies, Cheese sticks/cubes, Burger King's grilled chicken ranch wraps) for life, and I think it's just a sacrifice you need to be willing to make if you want to lose weight and be healthy to a degree that makes you happy.
I can't see where maintenance should be more difficult. I'm by far no expert. But maybe if you thought that once you lost weight you could go back to eating anything you wanted and as much as you wanted, it will disappoint you to find out that you can't. But otherwise I find it extremely hard to believe it will be harder for me to stay under 1600 calories without exercise than to stay under 1200 calories without exercise.
The problem with your plan is MFP may or may not be around even six months from now. The way websites go, nothing is written in stone. Maintenance can be difficult because many tend to gain 4 or 5 lb when they go into maintenance likely because they don't reverse diet. That gain can trigger yo-yo dieting or at least trying to lose that gain again so the cycle repeats. If you reverse diet and continue to apply the good eating habits learned while losing the weight as well as continually improving your diet, then maintenance shouldn't be difficult at all.0 -
For me, maintaining is harder than losing. Maybe b/c with each passing year, my calorie count has to go down and the fitter I became the fewer calories I burn, which again lowers the amount I can eat. I have not reverted to eating the garbage I did that got me fat in the first place. I never gave up anything during my weight loss that I couldn't live without, I just controlled portions for the most part. But like someone else said, everyone is different. I lost a fair amount of weight and kept it off for almost three years now, but I can't say it has been easy. I did lose slowly with no fads or pills, just hard work and eating well.0
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I've still got some fat left to lose but right now my plan is to switch to building muscle once I'm happy with my fat loss. I just want to keep getting better and stronger and... lol... I'm not sure if I'll ever really want to maintain.0
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I tried a "bulk" Last winter after 110 pound loss. Stupidest move of my life. Never again not to mention - not needed.0
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It was hard for me because I failed miserably.... :-( After having lost about 22kg (50 pounds), I assumed I had it all figured out. I knew my calorie portions by heart, I exercised regularly, I was on cruise control. So goodbye MFP. Then, after about 8 months or so, I managed to gain 7kg back. And get out of shape in a big way....
Two major factors:
1 - I underestimated the psychological effect of logging food. When I log, I really think about every calorie. I hate going over my daily count. It's a huge motivator to choose healthy foods, avoid too much alcohol, too many oreos.... I completely lost this psychological deterrent when I stopped logging. I assumed I would still follow calories in my head, so no worries. But I didn't.
2 - I changed jobs (actually changed clients, as I have my own business). In any case, my regime changed immediately, and I wasn't prepared. Changing regimes can really have a detrimental impact on a fitness program. I still had time to exercise, but at different times than before, requiring a rethink on my part on what to do and when. For example, I had much more free time in the mornings, little time after lunch. Before I was doing a lot around lunchtime or in the evenings, and suddenly that was out.
So now I'm back. I've started running again, I'm going to buy on-line skates later today to use after breakfast, I'm eating much better again, etc. I'm quite confident I'll lose the 7kg in 3 months or so.
So I suppose the key takeaway from my experience is don't underestimate how challenging it is to maintain weight, keep logging, and if you have changes in your schedule, immediately craft a new exercise program to match it.
--P
good luck with your weight loss goals hun.. I actually did the same thing! Lost a good amount of weight... got confident I had it all figured out... gained 30 pounds... was like. oh shizz I don't have it figured out. I got too relaxed.0 -
This is my SECOND time attempting the SECOND phase of my journey! This time its's been easier in maintenance:
1. First time I stopped logging and lacked on exercise! I thought I wouldn't gain the weigh back because I knew how to eat! WRONG!!!!!! Like the above post said THIS. ISN'T a diet! This is a life long commitment, I actually eat more now just healthier! Portion control is the key plus if I want something I have it, smaller portions! If I gain 5 pounds, I just eat less the next couple of days and loss the 5 pounds!
2. I love my mornings so why STOP. If I don't get an workout I don't stress about it now! I also at least get 4 workouts in weekly! I stay fresh with NEW challenges, 5 k's, NEW workout toys!
3. The MOST important thing is consistency! If this means logging from now on and exercising regularly, it's better than wearing fat clothes! A size 6 pants FEELS better than I 18/20 size pants!
Plus I have meet wonderful people on MFP! Good luck on your journey! It's been a wonderful 3 years, looking forward to a lot more!
Jackie0 -
It's so much harder psychologically.
When you're losing weight, every time that scale went down it was great motivation. I've been in maintenance since January and it still bothers me when I see the most minuscule weight gain and I feel really guilty eating chips even though it fits my macros/calorie count.
Plus the complacency is pretty annoying and is something I really need to get over0 -
If you don't make a lifestyle change then yes. That's why people fail, they lose weight then think they can go back to doing what they did before. You can't, you need to change your lifestyle and then you will maintain.0
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Yes, maintaining is harder. Right after going from a deficit to maintenance, the cravings and symptoms that dieters have can persist for weeks or months until the body has adjusted to the lighter size. Weight gain and rebound risk are high. There is still a big temptation to overeat.
Weight can creep up easily, as being full and satisfied (to a point) have fewer side effects than under eating.
Also, maintenance is complicated if you have additional athletic interests later.
If you begin training for fitness goals like speed, strength, or endurance, your calorie levels and energy levels will fluctuate quite a bit from day to day. It can be hard to judge how much food is enough to fuel the workouts and recovery, without gaining weight - and what, if any fatigue is a result of under eating. Body fat level vs. muscle mass are more of a concern.
Dieting hurts, but it's simpler: eat at a deficit. Instead of just being sedentary, eating and managing the side effects, you have to continue with eating well and exercise with no thought of reward - kind of like servicing a car every few months to keep it running properly.0 -
For some people it is, for some it isn't.
For some, seeing the weight loss process as a temporary thing that gets you to goal weight whereupon you go back to "normal" means that maintenance will of course be very difficult. Also, if you cut out all the foods you love and do excessive amounts of exercise you don't really enjoy, then it can be difficult to re-introduce those foods or ease back off the exercise without gaining weight back. I cringe when I read people saying things like "oh, I don't have cheat days now, I'm very strict once I reach my goal then I can start having cheat days".
For a lot of people, maintenance is pretty easy because it's the same as the weight loss phase (where they practised their new lifestyle), except that they get to eat a bit more. I honestly think a lot of it depends on your past history with food, disordered eating, emotional eating etc. It seems to me that people find it easier when they have ahd a period of their adult life of "naturally" maintaining a healthy weight without putting much thought into it, and have healthy habits to fall back on.
For some people, maintaining is harder even if they did everything "right" and made a real lifestyle change, and did not go back to their old habits. For some of us, it will probably always be a challenge, although hopefully it gets easier with time. I have been maintaining for about 18 months now, and I am still finding it more difficult than the weight loss. I never went too restrictive on foods, always kept eating the foods I love, so that isn't an issue. I love the exercise I do and am very active. I get a very healthy diet and actually eat a much wider variety of foods than I used to, which means that I can easily find higher or lower calorie foods depending on my needs for the day. I do not deprive myself and have learned moderation. I love being fit, healthy and slim, and have no reason to want to go back to where I was. Without question, I have changed my lifestyle for good. I still have lots of goals that I'm striving towards that keep me motivated.
And yet... it is still frickin hard. The mentality is completely different. It's different for everyone, but for me I think the biggest challenge is no longer having the buffer of a daily calorie deficit. I spent most of my adult life and childhood compulsively over-eating to cope with negative emotions. That is not something that is easily changed. Losing weight always made me feel empowered and in control - I could eat whatever I wanted (in appropriate portion sizes of course..) and lose weight, and if for some reason I went over my calories goal it was ok because I would just be eating at maintenance for the day. Or if I really went over, well ok, then I might not be at a deficit for that week. Eating at maintenance and not having that buffer is scary, and something that I never expected to be a challenge.
Added to that the fact that I am still an emotional eater - food is still my knee-jerk reaction to stress/distress, even though I have learned to control that reaction much better. I still don't have a great physical gauge of how much food my body should be eating in any given day. In fact, most days I could happily eat more than my body needs. So, yeah, I get to eat more than when on a deficit, but it still feels like a restriction.
I have discovered that I can be prone to obsession (at least around calorie counting) and that the control I feel when eating at a deficit is quite seductive. I need to be very careful not to let it tip the other way. The whole process (losing and maintaining) is (at least some of the time) full of anxiety. I got obese as a result of an unhealthy relationship with and behaviours around food. Although those have improved massively, it's no surprise really that these things don't just disappear with the excess weight.
For you. That's your experience. It's not everyone's.Maintaining being harder than losing is a fallacy....it is no where as challenging as losing weight...not by a long shot.
Some people find it easy, some don't, and not everyone who finds it difficult is doing it wrong. For a lot of us, this stuff is always going to be difficult. I personally find it pretty damn easy not to smoke a cigarette, or not to get drunk on a daily basis. These days, I find it easy to get out of bed every morning and hold down a job. I'm not going to discount the experiences of those who struggle with those things though.maintaining is only normally had for people who go on fad diets or lose control/go back into bad habits, thats why diets are bad idea but healthy eating/lifestyle works0 -
Some studies show that maintaining requires fewer calories and more exercise than loosing (It is harder):
>Study Shows Why It’s Hard to Keep Weight Off
By GINA KOLATA
Published: October 26, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/27/health/biological-changes-thwart-weight-loss-efforts-study-finds.html
>The Fat Trap
By TARA PARKER-POPE
Published: December 28, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/magazine/tara-parker-pope-fat-trap.html?pagewanted=all
>The Weight of the Nation shows a controlled experiment where they kept people in the hospital and measured their calories exactly. It took fewer calories to maintain.
http://theweightofthenation.hbo.com/films -- This is free to watch because the US gov and HBO worked in partnership to produce it.0 -
Its not harder if you change your mindset and have changed what you eat and/or your activity level. Its harder if you have "dieted", have not changed your mindset, what you eat or what you do when "not on a diet", or fall back into old patterns, or reduce your activity without reducing caloric intake.0
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I'm over a year in and 80 lbs down I have to say for me it's pretty easy, but I do work hard every day to maintain. It took me a little time to figure things out after I reached my goal though.
I still watch what I eat and how much (I eat at a slight deficit during the week and have 1 or 2 relaxed meals over the weekend). I still write down everything I eat and my daily workouts in my notebook. I find it helpful to see what I'm eating and doing in black and white and I stay active everyday. More for health reasons, but it's nice to be able to eat a little more and I love the result working out has on my body aesthetically.
Also I focus on fitness goals (I'm currently trying to increase my speed walking to 4.6 mph and trying to do 5 pull ups in a row...I'm stuck at 4), so I think that is helping me to maintain too. There is always a new fitness goal I can try to reach for.
I never had the mentality of "l made it to my goal dress size. I'm done"! It was more like "l made it to my goal dress size. I'm going to work my behind off to stay here"!
It a lifestyle thing for me now. I went on a short weekend vacation this past weekend and I woke up early to get a workout in at the hotel's gym to start my day. I would have never, ever, ever done that in the past, but I enjoy it.
Lastly, everything I did during weight loss mode was sustainable. All I know I was not giving up pizza or entire food groups and was not going to do painful, back-breaking workouts. I often wonder if I took that route if my maintenance experience would have had a different outcome or not.0 -
I lost 16 kilos in 2011 and have been maintaining since. I left MFP but rejoined again, as it helps me to keep my eye on the ball.0
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It's hard to stay focused over such a long period of time. Weight loss has an end, maintenance does not... at least it doesn't if you do it right. I've been on maintenance for over two years.I'm just curious. Is it harder than trying to lose weight?0 -
I think it is for a lot of people. If you keep tracking accurately and don't cut yourself a ton of slack it isn't bad, but a lot of people just want to relax and go back to eating the way they did before they started losing.0
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In my case, it is easy for me to lose or gain weight. For those I don't really have to pay attention. Either don't eat enough or eat too much.
If I want to stay in a narrow weight range, it takes a lot of effort.
I would suppose the difficulty you have in maintaining would depend on how you define maintaining.
If I call maintaining 160 +/- 10 lbs giving me a range of 150-170, that would be pretty easy.
However, if I am trying to maintain 158 +/- 3 lbs, that is more difficult.0 -
For me it is age. IN my 20's and 30's I could lose easier. I took off weight in between pregnancies...then when the 3rd came, not so easy! I gained more, I was 35, and on bed rest too soon to keep going to the gym. When you push 40, which is coming soon for me in 2 years....your metabolism slows down. You do not get to eat as many calories and keep losing. Therefore you have to really have mega will power. once you get the weight off and have a taste of a nice body...you will do anything to keep it up! Looking at old pics and having wonderful new clothes in your closet is huge motivation to keep going. It is a lifestyle change for most of us here. I was not born with skinny genes...so I am in it forever!!!!!0
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I really struggle with maintenance, i was maintaining for a short while but the increase of calories (i did 50 cal increase per week) made me feel really hungry. I started overeating and put 5lbs on over my range. This took me back to being able to lose again and today dropped 2lb. I personally feel much better when attempting weight loss and am more successful.
I think the whole mindset of losing is easier, ie when losing you have a goal number, when losing people notice a difference, you get compliments etc. Also when losing you get to buy smaller clothes etc.
I feel more comfortable whilst losing but know i will need to start maintenance soon. There are some really successful maintainers on MFP, i'm gonna await more posts on your thread. Good luck with all!!0 -
It is not any harder, because you already have made the life style change to being healthier. Just maintain portion control and continue exercising.
I maintained my weight last winter by doing this and my weight only fluctuated within 4 pounds all winter. I was still able to enjoy holiday food, just watched my portions and kept up with my running and strength training.0 -
Right after going from a deficit to maintenance, the cravings and symptoms that dieters have can persist for weeks or months until the body has adjusted to the lighter size.
I'm curious about these cravings and symptoms you mention. I have been eating at a caloric deficit almost every day for the last 17 months, and I haven't had any cravings. I didn't cut anything out of my diet; I just eat less than I used to. I did have hunger pangs for the first 2-3 weeks, but not since then (other than the usual getting hungry 5-6 hours after my last meal or snack).
I'm not saying that others don't or shouldn't have them - but I'm curious about what they are.
To the OP: I lost a lot of weight in grad school (maybe 50-60 lb.? I didn't weigh myself regularly back then until I had already lost a lot) through the "exercise more, eat less" approach (without calorie counting). At my thinnest, I found it hard to buy off-the-rack trousers.
But I slowly regained it when I got a job and didn't make the time for regular exercise. At about 6 lb. each year, it was hard to notice, but I gradually moved from wearing size 28 trousers up to size 40....
This time around I plan to continue weighing myself daily and tracking my average weight (with an exponentially smoothed weighted average). If the average reaches 2.5 lb. over my goal, I'll start counting calories again and eat at a moderate deficit until I'm back at goal. If I find that I can maintain without counting calories, I'll do that, but if not, I'll count calories as long as I need to.
Edited to add: The chapter "Perfect Weight Forever" in John Walker, The Hacker's Diet, explains what I plan to do in more detail. Free online at: https://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/HackDiet/0
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