lost the weight, now what?...I'm gaining again

caesarslaw

So I made the decision to lose weight - law firm recruitment was coming up. I've actually stuck with it past the interviews, but now that school has started, I am finding that I am gaining weight. I'm 5.7 started at around 145 and was at 127 for a while but .....of course.....because things always go my way (sarcasm), I've been weighing in at 132 and up.

I had so many "cheat days" during the summer where I would consistently eat 1500 calories instead of the 1200 and all was well and I was losing the weight, and never gaining. I went home for summer and ate what my mom cooked and I was still weighing in normally. School has started now, and I should have more time to eat correctly - compared to full time work this summer - but every time I look at the scales I am gaining. I am hungry, I'm tired of going over my calories, and I'm frustrated with this weight gain.

Now that my rant is over...how do I maintain this? I've grown so tired of the foods I've been eating for 4 months now, but I want to continue eating healthy without starving which I am finding hard to do. Once you reach your goal, I just wanted to be in the 120s, how do you deal?

Mama_CAEI

Set MFP for maintenance??

Fairysoul

Maybe some new recipes would help?

BigDaddyBRC

Did you track while you were at home eating mom's homecooking?
change up your exercise routine? Did you stop exercising?

surfrgrl1

I steal shamelessly from my friends' food logs on MFP!!:devil: I've found some new things that I've tried and really liked.
I hope I can reach goal some day, so I can do the 'maintenance' thing. One thing I've noticed, I don't care for a lot of attention on myself, and as I lose weight, I can't avoid the 'attention'. Guess I need to learn how to deal with it, because I AM going to get to goal.
Sometimes I think the unwanted 'attention' can cause some people to start gaining weight again.

MIMITIME

Like one poster said, set the MFP to maintenance and keep entering what your eat. As for being tired of your menu, this is an ongoing debate here but I went to a nutritionist and she said a calorie is a calorie. Yes, some calories are a lot healthier than other calories but in weight issues, a calorie is a calorie. Eat what you want and like as long as you stay within your MFP guidelines and if you exercise, add the calories back in and eat them too! You don't have to torture yourself. If that was the deal, I would not be able to do this program. In fact, that is what I love about MFP.

ejohndrow

Just have to keep eating healthy and exercising, stop your cheat days.

caesarslaw

Does anyone know the websites for low calorie meals? I remember reading them on the food discussion thread but can't find them and not sure on how to search.

I'll change it to maintenance - I didnt realize this was an option. It just seemed to be so easy at the beginning but this last month, nothings really changed, but I'm gaining weight.

baisleac

Does anyone know the websites for low calorie meals? I remember reading them on the food discussion thread but can't find them and not sure on how to search.

http://healthydoesntmeanboring.blogspot.com/

/self-pimpage

meggers123

Does anyone know the websites for low calorie meals? I remember reading them on the food discussion thread but can't find them and not sure on how to search.

I like :
www.skinnytaste.com

Jewels211

Like one poster said, set the MFP to maintenance and keep entering what your eat. As for being tired of your menu, this is an ongoing debate here but I went to a nutritionist and she said a calorie is a calorie. Yes, some calories are a lot healthier than other calories but in weight issues, a calorie is a calorie.

It is true that a calorie is a calorie, but when you factor in the staying power of the calorie, I think it makes a huge difference. I mean, 100 calories of chips keep you satisfied for how long? And provide your body with just how much actual usable fuel? If you add in fiber &/or protein &/or vitamins by eating a healthier food than those chips, you not only get the health benefits, but you stay full longer, thus making it easier to stay away from eating more calories. 100 calories worth of apple or carrots, maybe combined with protein, like a bit of reduced-fat cheese, is going to satisfy hunger longer than the handful of chips with the same calories. So yeah, you can lose weight eating whatever, but you're going to have a bigger struggle staying satisfied and healthy while you're at it.

An occasional treat is a good idea if you're feeling deprived, but just realize that those treats may eat up half the calories you've set for that day. If you're good with it, that's great. But if you're hungry all the time, look to fit more quality food into your eating plan.