Maintaining your weight once you have met your goals?

willywonka

I have heard that it is somewhat harder to maintain weight than it is to lose, have any of you found this to be true?
I think the problem that I am having is accepting that I can eat a little more now. I am perfectly happy with the size that I am now and am still keeping up my daily exercise and eating habits. I tried to think of it more as a lifestyle change than a diet because I don't want to go back to the way I was before.
Any tips?

willywonka

I have heard that it is somewhat harder to maintain weight than it is to lose, have any of you found this to be true?
I think the problem that I am having is accepting that I can eat a little more now. I am perfectly happy with the size that I am now and am still keeping up my daily exercise and eating habits. I tried to think of it more as a lifestyle change than a diet because I don't want to go back to the way I was before.
Any tips?

age1389

I've been maintaining for a year now and at first it was hard for me to eat those maintaince calories. It took about a week or two for me to do it.
Nowadays my calorie intake is never the same on any day. I sometimes go over and sometimes under and it's been working. I've lost a pound or two over my original goal weight in the beginning but haven't lost any since.
It can be hard to maintain at times. You just have to remember why you got here and keep motivated. When I was losing my motivation was seeing the numbers going down and now I don't have that motivation. So now it's the toning of the body that motivates me.
Keep up the great work:drinker:



-Adrienne

kerrilucko

I definitly think it will be harder for me. I'm not there yet but almost. Think about it, you could eat anywhere from a 100-1000 cal deficit and still loose weight, just at different rates, but with maintenance, in order not to gain OR lose, you have to eat exactly what you burn, and unless you are using an HRM ALL day to calculate that, it's kind of impossible to do. I guess that's another reason why weight fluctuates- sometimes we eat a little too much, sometimes a little too little. anyways I am really nervous to start maintaining!:flowerforyou:

lizard9800

I have been maintaining for around 5 months now. I wouldn't say that it is difficult, but it is different than losing weight. I don't log my calories as much anymore. I have learned enough by now that I can make a conscious decision to eat/not eat something. I don't work out as many times per week, but I workout harder because of being in better shape. It takes more effort to burn calories.
I lost most of my weight through cardio. Once I hit my target goal I focused on strength training as well and actually gained about 5 lbs back in muscle, which is ok by me.
My weight fluccuates quite a bit now. Up a few pounds one week and back down the next. I haven't noticed a huge difference in body appearance, but I have a weight limit set that I don't want to go over. I hit it once on vacation and went back into weight loss mode for a few weeks.
So I still think about weight and health just as much, but it doesn't take as much effort. It's quite nice actually to be able to eat more. And when I do gain a little I know exactly how to take it back off.
It will be a lifelong endeavor for sure, but should get easier over time. Good luck with it!!

keiko

I've been maintaining since October. This is the first time I"ve gone this long without starting to gain back. I think it's because I have changed my eating. I have not gone back to eating chips.... or huge portions that I use to eat.
I sometimes take a week or two off of logging food/exercise. Then come back for a realtity check. Log for a few weeks. Take some time off. After you know your portion sizes and stay in your limits it gets easier.
I really think if you don't go back to your old ways you will be able to keep the weight off.