Why is it so hard to get in the maintenance mindset?

cassique

I reached my goal. I have lost weight plenty of times in my life (usually the same 10-15 pounds) but usually felt content enough when I was close enough to my goal so I would stop. The weight would slowly creep back and a year or two later I'd be back to losing those same 10. This is the first time I lost enough to get to my real ideal weight--in the past I always stopped about 5 or 10 pounds short of it. But this time I actually did it! I'm where I never thought I would ever be again. So I have a lot of experience and success in losing weight, but this is the first time I ever tried to maintain it--and it is really messing with my head.

I know that I just need to keep doing what I'm doing, but just with more calories allotted. But there is something about logging and controlling my portions every day without the payoff of a loss on the scale that is messing with my motivation. I feel like I hit a plateau even though I know that is what is supposed to happen during this phase. Part of me is tempted to just lower my goal another 5 pounds so that I have more cushion room--and I can continue to see pounds drop as my payoff, but I'm afraid if I do that I would just end up with the same mindset when it is time to maintain at that weight.

So how do you all get into the mindset of--now I am working for status quo and feeling ok with that?

Tanie98

When I reach my goal weight I am planning to still log my food everyday.I will take a break occassion when I am way from home or on special days like birthday when I go out and eat whatever I want without worrying about calories. Other than that I will still track my food and exercise to keep me accountable.It would be easy for me to lose track on my eating habits and start consuming too much calories if I am not forced to fit it into a my your ccalorie goal.I can see this happen since my potion size increases when I am away from home and I am unable to weigh my food. I would also go for that extra cookie since I can't log it in.

So do what works for you.For me this it a lifestyle change or I would go back where I started

dawnmcneil10

I completely understand what you're saying and feeling, I was just there myself. I switched to "maintenance" back in February and for a while was fine then I started questioning if I'd have to log my food and exercise forever in order to keep the weight off. I was seeing other people losing weight and was like I'm still doing what I was doing so why am I not losing? Well because silly girl you added a few calories in there otherwise nothing changed. I do still log my food daily, on the weekends when I'm busy enjoying life I may or may not keep track but it took me a long time to see that was ok that it wasn't a rule to log everything all the time.

I have been trying to look at maintenance as more of a balance of life, I can celebrate a birthday without cake because I really am not a big fan of cake anyway. I can go out for a night with the girls and enjoy water, coffee or a spritzer and be just as happy as if I had a glass of wine or tropical mixed drink. I'd rather meet a friend for a walk to catch up than over dinner or dessert and coffee and I've learned to express that. I'm not rigid though, if I want a muffin I have it however I make it work in my day even if that means a bit of extra movement. I think this is where many people go wrong, they restrict themselves to lose the weight and then start eating those forbidden items again.

Basically my thought process is this, I like my body, I like myself and I want to continue to enjoy all the things I've discovered in the process so I keep on doing what makes me happy. I don't pay much attention to the scale now but it took a few months of constantly weighing myself to finally come to terms with this is what I weigh. I've taken measurements along the way too and this was what helped me more than the scale for maintenance. I still have goals for myself too, but they are fitness goals that have absolutely nothing to do with weight, I weigh in once a week just to see where I am, and measure once a month. It does take a while to settle in though so take it slow, switch your activity level to sedendary, add about 100 calories a day to each week and monitor yourself. I took this step in 3 week sections, added 100 calories and stayed at that for 3 weeks, if you gain drop a few calories, if you lose add more. It's going to be different for everyone as each of us is unique. Another big thing is don't concern yourself with others weight loss, they're probably envious of you being at maintenance so own your own journey, encourage them in theirs but don't get envious or jealous, each journey is unique.

Good luck!

dopeysmelly

I'm just transitioning to "maintenance" but I'm not calling it that. "Maintenance" suggests that nothing about your body changes, and I don't want that. There's still work for me to do.

Weight loss was just one part of my plan to get healthy, and I'm not calling my target weight my "goal" as much as a "milestone".

I want to increase the amount of higher intensity cardio I do. I currently walk, but I'm finding I have too much excess energy these days, so I really need to run or do something else or I'll find I won't be able to sleep. And I want to focus on building muscle to protect my joints and my bones. I have had various issues with knees and back, and osteoporosis runs in the family.

In order to achieve some of my other health goals, I recognize I need to keep tracking my protein, fat and fiber and make sure my calories are appropriate for what I'm asking my body to do.

Maybe having other goals to focus on will keep you motivated and stop you from thinking that this is The End?

colors_fade

I think the reason it is so hard for people is because while they are losing weight and operating at a caloric deficit, they aren't doing the other necessary work to create a healthy relationship with food. They're leaning on the calorie counter so hard they aren't doing anything else to develop the skills they need to deal with food once the cutting is over.

When you reach your goal weight, you should be able to stop logging calories. Because by then, you should have developed the necessary habits to continue forward with a healthy relationship with food and exercise. Exercise should be a daily part of your routine now. Food should be simple: you should know what a portion looks like, you should know how to listen to your body and its needs, to know when you're full, etc.

But I think people lean on the calorie counter so much that they don't develop these habits. They don't learn these things. So when it's over, and they've reached their goal weight, they still require the calorie counter, and there's a lot of paranoia and fear about overeating and gaining weight back.

The time spent cutting should be time spent developing habits. I just don't think many people do that.

The good news is, we're all capable of developing new habits, even after the cutting phase.

A good exercise for you might be to use the calorie counter in a different way now. Instead of entering everything into it and immediately seeing the caloric intake, you might just want to write down what you write on a piece of paper, or input it into a note on your phone. Try and go through the day just experiencing what it is like to not have the calorie counter at your immediate disposal. Focus on eating normal portions, quitting when full, drinking appropriate water, etc.

Then, at the end of the day, enter your calories and see how close your intuition is to reality. See if you can develop the skills to eat without counting.

The calorie counter is a great and necessary tool for weight loss. But it shouldn't be a lifetime crutch. Our ancestors knew how to listen to their bodies. You can re-learn that skill.

Mhgretsch

I completely understand what you're saying and feeling, I was just there myself. I switched to "maintenance" back in February and for a while was fine then I started questioning if I'd have to log my food and exercise forever in order to keep the weight off. I was seeing other people losing weight and was like I'm still doing what I was doing so why am I not losing? Well because silly girl you added a few calories in there otherwise nothing changed. I do still log my food daily, on the weekends when I'm busy enjoying life I may or may not keep track but it took me a long time to see that was ok that it wasn't a rule to log everything all the time.

I have been trying to look at maintenance as more of a balance of life, I can celebrate a birthday without cake because I really am not a big fan of cake anyway. I can go out for a night with the girls and enjoy water, coffee or a spritzer and be just as happy as if I had a glass of wine or tropical mixed drink. I'd rather meet a friend for a walk to catch up than over dinner or dessert and coffee and I've learned to express that. I'm not rigid though, if I want a muffin I have it however I make it work in my day even if that means a bit of extra movement. I think this is where many people go wrong, they restrict themselves to lose the weight and then start eating those forbidden items again.

Basically my thought process is this, I like my body, I like myself and I want to continue to enjoy all the things I've discovered in the process so I keep on doing what makes me happy. I don't pay much attention to the scale now but it took a few months of constantly weighing myself to finally come to terms with this is what I weigh. I've taken measurements along the way too and this was what helped me more than the scale for maintenance. I still have goals for myself too, but they are fitness goals that have absolutely nothing to do with weight, I weigh in once a week just to see where I am, and measure once a month. It does take a while to settle in though so take it slow, switch your activity level to sedendary, add about 100 calories a day to each week and monitor yourself. I took this step in 3 week sections, added 100 calories and stayed at that for 3 weeks, if you gain drop a few calories, if you lose add more. It's going to be different for everyone as each of us is unique. Another big thing is don't concern yourself with others weight loss, they're probably envious of you being at maintenance so own your own journey, encourage them in theirs but don't get envious or jealous, each journey is unique.

Good luck!

I hope to be going in to maintenance in the next couple of months and found your notes above very encouraging and helpful. I too have lost weight in the past and put it back on over time, and believe it really is a long-term mindset change that will make me successful in maintenance.

pkw58

I will log the rest of my life. I am on year three of maintenance, and I just added weight training with a PT last week. I really believe my weight maintenance comes from logging what I eat, but my overall fitness will come from how much and how I move. As in yoga, barre3, walking and weight lifting. I also now have a standing desk at work.

I get that other people don't want to log, but I don't live in my ancestor's world. I live where we drive a car to work and ride an elevator and where food is plentiful. I don't farm or ranch to get my food, it's served to me or I go grocery shopping. No shortage of ways to overeat and undermine, so I log.

cassique

I love all of the ideas here. I learned a lot about myself this time around with weightloss--well I guess every time I lost weight I learned something new that has stuck, but this time I learned more about why I gain weight back whereas in the past I just learned things that worked for weight loss.

I was very flexible with my diet and still plan to be (didn't try to meet my daily goal as much as trying to keep a daily average each week so I had high days and low days depending on what was happening in my life). I don't weigh or measure as much as is recommended and rely on eyeballing about 80% of the time. It works for me and I realized that portion distortion is not something I suffer from. But it is the daily nibble here nibble there that catches up and the periods of laziness that leads to more calories in and less out. That is where the logging really helps me. I can have a few chips and by logging as I eat I know when I need to stop having chips. Without it I will keep thinking "what's one more" so I think I need more time to develop the habits. Perhaps I need to get through a full year of all of my seasonal habits before I can let go of the obsessive logging.

It took me 10 months to lose these 20 pounds, but the first 10 were just by chance. Life changes, stress, and getting the flu has its perks. When the weight started climbing back I took up running and it kept me from gaining more and improved my physique but didn't contribute to any loss. I started logging in June and that was how I lost the last 10. So it has only been 3 months of real tracking, and those three months are the ones where I am typically more active anyway. I'm already losing the drive to work out--I hate strength training and as the whether gets cooler and the days get shorter I know I will be less motivated to go for my runs and walks. So I guess I will need to be accountable to keep me seeing the perks of working out. This week I haven't exercised once, but I went for a lot of walks and did a lot of heavy cleaning (moving furniture, lugging machinery around the house) so I guess that counts as something.

I like the idea of slowly increasing, and I also like the idea of slowly easing up on the logging but keeping track of my weight so I know when I need to go back to logging. It is just hard to stay motivated without the reward since I feel like I already have the reward. I also like the idea of fitness goals. I will have to try to come up with some that are appealing for me. Thanks for all of your suggestions.

gregpack

I've been on maintenance for about 2.5 years. I logged for a year after I had reached my sustainable weight, but realize I didn't want to have to rely on a daily tool to keep my weight down. I've done pretty good so far, with my weight generally staying in a five pound range. When my weight trends upward I know why. When I get to the upward end of my acceptable range,, I will "cut back" for a week, usually about every three months or so. During that week I usually log.

If you stick to reasonably healthy foods and sensible portions for the bulk of your meals your weight will stay pretty stable.

silentKayak

In the past, I've been like you, stopping when near my goal. Maybe I get afraid to succeed, I'm not sure.

This time, it's totally different. I have a complete plan for getting to my goal, with milestones, a timeline, and a sustainable set of behaviors that will make it happen. And I know what I want to do AFTER I reach my weight goal, which is to start setting (currently unimagineable) fitness goals that aren't scale-related. I already know my first one. The last few years I've walked our local 10k, with a time just under 2 hrs. By next summer I plan to be ready to walk/run/jog, and to come in at under an hour. Not possible at my current size, very possible by this time next year.

And the final piece of the puzzle is: daily weigh-ins forever, with a "warning" weight at which I'll start logging again (Target Weight + 5) if I'm not, and a "crisis intervention" weight (Target Weight + 10) at which I will set my calories low and take the weight off right away rather than letting it spiral out of control.

I can't actually see what could go wrong

dedflwrs

I think part of it is that it is so exciting to reach goals. Once you get there that whole exhilaration you get from losing is just gone. We get comfortable, plus eating is such a pleasure. Then we start the cycle all over again. I think as long as we don't let ourselves just totally go it is okay to fluctuate some (coming from the girl who just gained three pounds).

Like others have said, I will probably log my calories for the rest of my life. Funny thing, I told my husband today that I was going to stop and then I got home and logged my lunch. As much as I think that I know how to keep track without logging part of me is terrified not to do so. Oh, and the weight I just gained? While on vacation and not logging.

cassique

I like the idea of the 5 pound range. I think that might be the key. 5 pounds up takes me to my previous lowest weight (the one that always left me content enough to stop loosing) and I'm afraid to go back there--for some reason that number represents the old me, even though that was the old "skinny" me. I think I will remain at a low deficit until I am 3 pounds below my goal so that my goal is the middle of my range rather than my low and my high will still be under that number.

I had a similar situation was I was on vacation. It was only two days and I told myself I was going to lighten up and not log, but of course every night I couldn't fall asleep thinking about it and ended up logging anyway. There were 3 times I didn't log during this journey, and all three were BBQ parties where I wanted to try everything and knew I would never be able to figure out how much I ate. But I planned for it by eating less and exercising more in the days surrounding those parties. I didn't gain those weeks. I know I can do this. But yeah, without the goal it is hard to stay committed.

Karin066

I think you almost have to log during maintenance to stay successful. I just saw a documentary on HBO, part of their 'Weight of the Nation' series, called the Biology of Weight Loss and the depressing take away was that a person who has lost weight will have to eat 20% fewer calories (or burn them) daily for the rest of their life than a person of the same size, weight and age who never had to lose weight, in order to maintain.

dakotababy

I am approaching maintenance...and I have fears over it. Not only am I getting that horrible "this is the end" mindset (which I am well aware that I can not focus on their ever being an end) I am setting fitness goals. I figure after I do hit my goal weight, and I am physically happy - I will log for a full 365 days afterwards. Then, begin to move away from relying on MFP, but always staying in touch!

itsbasschick

losing weight is a temporary thing, and most of us are geared to do something that won't last forever - term papers, reports for work, learning to learn something - none of these things last forever, and all have an end. maintenance doesn't have an end, and it's goal is sort of a non-goal of staying where you are. unlike losing - or gaining - weight, maintenance requires that you either make a life change or close your eyes and pretend you're still working toward a goal. or you could make living a fit, healthy lifestyle your goal.

elisa123gal

I think the reason it is so hard for people is because while they are losing weight and operating at a caloric deficit, they aren't doing the other necessary work to create a healthy relationship with food. They're leaning on the calorie counter so hard they aren't doing anything else to develop the skills they need to deal with food once the cutting is over.

When you reach your goal weight, you should be able to stop logging calories. Because by then, you should have developed the necessary habits to continue forward with a healthy relationship with food and exercise. Exercise should be a daily part of your routine now. Food should be simple: you should know what a portion looks like, you should know how to listen to your body and its needs, to know when you're full, etc.

But I think people lean on the calorie counter so much that they don't develop these habits. They don't learn these things. So when it's over, and they've reached their goal weight, they still require the calorie counter, and there's a lot of paranoia and fear about overeating and gaining weight back.



The time spent cutting should be time spent developing habits. I just don't think many people do that.

The good news is, we're all capable of developing new habits, even after the cutting phase.

A good exercise for you might be to use the calorie counter in a different way now. Instead of entering everything into it and immediately seeing the caloric intake, you might just want to write down what you write on a piece of paper, or input it into a note on your phone. Try and go through the day just experiencing what it is like to not have the calorie counter at your immediate disposal. Focus on eating normal portions, quitting when full, drinking appropriate water, etc.

Then, at the end of the day, enter your calories and see how close your intuition is to reality. See if you can develop the skills to eat without counting.

The calorie counter is a great and necessary tool for weight loss. But it shouldn't be a lifetime crutch. Our ancestors knew how to listen to their bodies. You can re-learn that skill.

This is what I hope is true… smart stuff.

dlbredesen

After losing 90 lbs, I reached my goal weight in February. It was a two year process with half lost before MFP and half after discovering MFP. I continued to log food and exercise in maintenance for a couple of months. Decided to go cold turkey and quit logging. After getting past the anxiety of not logging all is well. I am confident that I will continue to use what I have learned, monitor my weight and exercise regularly. I log on to MFP daily to read and learn from the message boards and use the database to research foods.

alereck

Maybe it might help if you set a new goal? One other than lose more weight. If you exercise maybe set goals there and use nutrition to support those goals. For me that is what have kept me motivated, wanting to build muscle slowly, I have to count calories to make sure I am getting enough and the right macros.

Good luck.

blackcloud13

Part of it is its quite hard to get mentally excited by "standing still" as compared to seeing weight come off. I also think its really hard to keep track of what you eat if you stop counting. The odd beer here, muffin there and a few ice creams creep up on you over time.

I just set different, non-weight targets (mostly sporting) for myself and has helped me stay interested.
I also have a "panic weight" which automatically triggers eating cuts! (learnt this trick from Congress!)

TommyWillWright

Your maintenance mindset is wrong is why!
Also
Weight is bunk Blackcloud13 and ultimately your panic weight will ruin any chance of making muscle gains...

I started out at 16 stone 8lbs and have fluctuated down and back up to 15 stone recently though my attitude has changed for the long term and I am finally fed up of my diet and my overall attitude toward food for the past 20 weeks I have been hitting myself hard with a gym diet, logging once a month or so with a scale set at my gym for the past 3 months popping a quid in and checking my progress, If I ate **** food I felt miserable I felt cheated and scolded myself it was hell.

This was my current progress since June:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/t31.0-8/s960x960/10572058_10154449762295471_5451980515187092795_o.jpg

As you can see at the last weigh in my weight loss had reversed???
As a result I got depressed, I like you I had a target weight to get down to and maintain and seeing a complete gain of weight over a month while eating under my calorie goals got me down...
But then I placed my past readings side to side...

If you notice the trend that I noticed then you too will change the way you look at weight loss.

My weight had increased, but check my Body fat!
+0.3Kg -1.1% Body Fat

This to me is a breakthrough, my attitude has changed completely about scales, not only that but my ability to moderate my Body fat has me targeting my diet better.

I know I, like many of you started out saying, "I am Fat" not saying "I am heavy"
So
1) Why did my weight matter so much?
2) Why am I correlating weight with fat loss?

Those are 2 questions I think, worth asking before starting a diet!
Here are my answers:
1)Weight doesn't matter you can have so much muscle under your existing fat and be trying so hard to shift weight you detriment the muscle you grew.
2) I don't know why we correlate weight=/=fat because Body fat=/= fat loss, it's in the name!

I think people like me look at the scales see that slow down of weight loss or a bit of weight gain and panic, get put off, give up, or get depressed... Heaven knows I felt depressed at that last reading!

Every gym has scales even Myfitnesspal measures "WEIGHT LOSS", and that is a killer in the late stages of a diet,
Personally I was lifting and exercising, initially of course the weight loss was rapid but actually the fat loss was steady at about 1-3% body fat per month depending on how religious I was with my eating regime.

To start with weight loss is fast but eventually as the fat loss percentage equalled the muscle growth percentage weight loss slows to a halt, and over 1 month seeing an increase in weight on a strict diet... man that makes you want to quit and eat a big mac. But the whole time we ignore the steady loss of fat!

Since checking my body fat I have been re-motivated, the fat loss percentage has been stable and steady, if any thing it shows me calorie intake doesn't correlate to weight but directly to body fat!
I know the fat measurement machine isn't the most accurate but it was enough to show my faulty logic.

I have re-researched and found better ways of maintaining my "Body fat Percentage" while gaining weight and now if I gain weight I won't be scared of getting fat, because if I eat the right AMOUNT of food TYPES, at the right times I can target my body fat at a certain percent, and still gain muscle.

Ever heard the BS about good calories and bad calories, I did and I have thrown it out the window, it's a myth.
A "Calorie" is just a unit of energy that is it, it has a set amount of Joules!
There are no good Joules and bad Joules.
When you turn on a light bulb it doesn't matter if coal, wind, uranium or hydrogen was the fuel it burns the same amount of watts per Hour!

I reintroduced the McDonalds, the Crisps and Chocolate and all the junk I loved and set new macros and targets.
50% Protein to aid the muscle growth at low calories, 35% carbs 15% fats. at 1850Kcals (calculated at my lean mass (- fat) to prevent starvation mode and aid muscle growth) before I was at 1400 (which is 200 above what myfitness pal reccomended) which actually was a massive detriment to muscle growth!

Every time I wanted that big mac or 20 chicken nuggets, I had to check the calories and burn them off before eating them.

I made my body into an experiment and the test showed massive results.
I have been lifting more, finding more energy throughout the day, Been cheerful I also made a prediction about my body fat based on my new outlook and tried it, check my diet logs if you like there are crisps, chicken nuggets, chocolate.
On any day I had pigged out and every time I go to the gym either the day before, on or after.
Some days my total calories hit 3000-4000 a day!

This was my latest weigh in I broke through that "Weight wall" I lost 1% body fat in 2 weeks!
Something that took the whole month last weigh in!
Having the junk as well as the clean foods. Has made dieting so easy if I crave a take out or junk, I just hit the gym burn the calories and then have that Mars bar, or kebab or what ever, it doesn't matter because it's been burned off.

https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/t1.0-9/1901304_10154497731280471_6616085898266331210_n.jpg
I am now at 11% I have 4% to go each time I weigh in I retool the amount of calories I eat to my lean body weight! this is important as it is your real target to grow muscle and lose fat.

So next time you go to measure yourself get a body fat reading and start checking the Fat Loss!

(Also height fluctuates throughout the day so measure in the mornings xD)

bvifun

So I have a lot of experience and success in losing weight, but this is the first time I ever tried to maintain it--and it is really messing with my head.

So how do you all get into the mindset of--now I am working for status quo and feeling ok with that?

This is something I too have been giving a lot of thought. I am transitioning right now in that I have reached my goal but decided I needed a "goal range" and am losing 3 more pounds to give me that range. I am post menopausal so my weight fluctuates less than it once did. Paraphrasing a quote I read from a psychologist.....maintenance is the art of gaining and losing the same 2 pounds over and over.

When I was losing weight, I set myself mini weight goals and gave myself rewards when I reached those goals. Now that will not work so I am considering setting time goals. Maybe a reward every month I stay within range. Another thought I had was maybe rewards when I can reach x push-ups, x miles walked per week or something like that. It is important that goals be measurable which is why when losing weight, the numbers on the scale are measurable and give us positive feed back.

I have also decided to stay with MFP for one year on maintenance and then review where I am at. My scale will still be in use every day because, for me, that keeps me on track. I will also only eyeball portions when eating out because I know from past experience how my portions can creep up. As I have not denied myself any foods while losing weight, there are no foods I feel a need to have now.

All the best in keeping your weight off.

cassique

Thank you for all of your advice. Today I decided to rethink my attitude toward maintenance from "keep doing what I'm doing but with more calories" which is sure to eventually lose its luster and I will end up just quitting altogether, to keeping track of what I am doing and the effect it is having on my body and tweaking as needed based on results and lifestyle situations that arise. I guess that is pretty much how I dealt with the weightloss this time around, but it was easy for me to do what I needed to do to lose weight during the summer--I love the outdoors, I love the heat, I love the sun, I love the beach, I love the longer days I love everything in the summer and spring. The fall and winter are a real challenge due to reduced energy levels and my disdain for the cold. My fitness routines will definitely have to change to fit in with my winter lifestyle. I get really cranky when I wake up to darkness and it leads to a lethargic and grumpy day--very unlike my optimistic get up and go attitude in the summer. So what worked for weightloss in the summer is not going to be easily adaptable to maintenance in the winter.

So today I decided to choose new goals for motivation. And my son mentioned to me that he wants to start running so I started c25k with him. I already completed that program and can easily run a 5k (that was a typical morning run this summer) but it is fun to be a coach for him and doing it over. I think that on the days he isn't running I will ask the kids of they want to bike ride and I can jog along side of them. We did that yesterday except I walked because I was wearing flip flops.

AS for strength training, I need to come up with something I enjoy doing more than lifting. I was motivated for a while, but it quickly lost its thrill for me and getting myself to do it is the biggest hurdle. It also has to fit into my busier schedule now that summer is over. As for fitness goals, being able to do pushups and pullups has always been a goal. Strengthening my core is another one. My tummy is feeling a little softer since I stopped lifting and eased up on my runs, so maybe keeping closer track of my waist and less focus on the scale might help.

I'll treat this like a science experiment.

I made up a new spreadsheet (I had an old one that kept track of my calorie deficit and weight loss based on my TDEE. But this new one has an activity rating scale (0 being couch potato- 5 2 hours of intense workout or more) that I can mark every day and keeps a weekly average. I'm hoping I will be able to find out what my winter TDEE is, and monitor my habits.

So here is to fresh starts on a new journey! Thanks again!

Springfield1970

Be prepared to put on a couple of pounds of water, waste, glycogen etc from the extra food you're eating.

It's not fat, it's just your body repleting itself after having been in deficit.

It will balance out again, but it's tempting to start yoyoing and not really understand what is going on.

I cut to a few pounds under for this reason, too far, and then found maintenance very difficult so I turned my overeating by about 250 cals a day into a bulk, which went really well. I've since cut down very very slowly to a 126-129lb maintenance weight which is made up of much more muscle than before so looks really ripped.

Maintenance is hard work but after a few months you'll get used to that too. My body has responded really well to maintenance, my hunger is totally manageable now and I very very rarely get the urge to overeat any more after a lifetime of bingeing or overeating, then silly low calorie diets.

It's taken a couple of years to get here, but I log about 50% of the time now! and that's mainly to make sure I get enough fuel for training.

Good luck!

SezxyStef

I've been in maitenance since May 12th of this year...so...almost 4 months.

Maybe it's because I didn't weigh daily, didn't give up any food just cut portion size that moving to maitenance hasn't been that big of a thing for me...

I am not doing anything different than I did when I was losing...just eating more calories. I still lift 3x a week, I still walk/bike/HIIT training etc...

For me getting on the scale and seeing the same number for weeks on end...even days on end makes me smile...not a lot of flucuations and if there are it's down...

I still weigh most of my food, log it all etc but to be frank I don't have to log it...I can't eat like I used to...and sometimes have to force myself to eat calorie dense foods to get them all in....

Maitenance is life, the normal mundaness of living...and I think that is why lots have a hard time there are no drastic highs/lows etc. I prefer normal life...in weight loss and love.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

If you're like me you'll need new goals when you get to maintenance. I started running and lifting weights, and that helps keep me on track. I think it's easy to get complacent if there's no goal except to keep doing what you're doing. Now I have fitness related goals, and wanting to hit those goals makes it easier for me to keep logging my food and hitting my macros.

cwolfman13

Because people are scale obsessed rather than health obsessed. Being a healthy weight is just a bi-product of living a healthful lifestyle...it shouldn't be the only reason you live a healthful lifestyle. Maybe establish some actual goals for yourself that don't involve a scale.

brenn24179

My goal is to just stay where I am at. I go up 2-3 lbs, sometimes 5 over a holiday or vacation. Then I have to try to get back down. So I have goals all the time, go up and then try to get back down. Some people say they keep losing but not me. I like to eat too much. Guess I will have to calorie count for a long time, maybe forever.

alphabetsoup2013

I love the idea of time-based rewards. Thanks for suggesting that.

When I was losing weight, I set myself mini weight goals and gave myself rewards when I reached those goals. Now that will not work so I am considering setting time goals. Maybe a reward every month I stay within range. Another thought I had was maybe rewards when I can reach x push-ups, x miles walked per week or something like that. It is important that goals be measurable which is why when losing weight, the numbers on the scale are measurable and give us positive feed back.