When to start Maintaining!

miaangel345

Since I have joined this site I have lost 20 pounds so far, although I am still 10 pounds away from my goal weight 140 I think it's time to start maintaining my current weight. I have targeted the reason for my last weight gain: too much sugar. And have cut down sugary sweets a lot.

It would be nice to be 140 but I feel very sluggish and hungry all the time so I'm not too sure, my BMI is still 24, so close to the Overweight category so I'm not sure if I should still try to lose 10 more pounds, what do you guys think?

drvvork

I'm not an expert in this area, by any means :happy: , but would think if you have reached a comfortable weight it would be fine to work on a maintenance program for a time and see how you feel. If it becomes and issue then you can reduce that last 10 pounds. Congratulations on your success.

Betty

lulabellewoowoo

My thoughts? If you are feeling sluggish and tired, try maintaining for a month or two, give your body a little time to readjust and enjoy the new YOU. Then work on those last 10 lb, but at 0.5 a week and do it slowly. That way you'll have a decent amount of calories to keep you going.

Great job on your wonderful success!

SHBoss1673

well, finally a subject that I feel like an expert on. LOL! I've been at maintenance for about a year now, and I'm happy to say that I have been quite successful at it.

So first lets examine what maintenance really is and is not.

Maintenance is NOT:
- slacking off of your exercise. If anything you need to do MORE!
- Allowing yourself to change your diet to accommodate more of the "bad" foods.
- changing how you live your life.

Maintenance IS:
- a slight adjustment of your current diet to include a few more healthy snacks, or a small increase in your snack sizes.
- an even more vigorous amount of exercise, now that you have the muscle and are at a good weight, you need to keep it.
- harder than weight loss as your goals are no longer easy to see and measure, and don't really have defined endpoints
- something you need to prepare for, and commit too. Maintenance isn't easy, and it never ends.


IMHO maintenance should not be something you reach for, it's a necessary requirement for living your new life. Make no mistake, it's HARD! To this day I still have a hard time with it. I'm constantly creating new goals just to keep that demon we all know from creeping back (food and lethargy). It's something you MUST be conscious of. Am I stronger, younger looking, more alert, and proud of my body? YES, absolutely, it gives me tons of confidence to walk into the gym with a tight shirt on and feel like other people are looking at me with a tiny bit of jealousy (Oh come on, you KNOW you want that!) instead of being that jealous person I was for a really long time. but it's not easy, I work damn hard to maintain, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let my lazy nature EVER get the best of me. do I have bad days? Sure, sometimes, but I also have really good days, a lot more good ones than bad, and THAT'S the key to maintaining.

rtmama

bump for later!

miaangel345

My thoughts? If you are feeling sluggish and tired, try maintaining for a month or two, give your body a little time to readjust and enjoy the new YOU. Then work on those last 10 lb, but at 0.5 a week and do it slowly. That way you'll have a decent amount of calories to keep you going.

Great job on your wonderful success!

Yeah, I was thinking of switching to a half pound a week, maybe increasing calories by 200, just to see how my body adjusts!

miaangel345

well, finally a subject that I feel like an expert on. LOL! I've been at maintenance for about a year now, and I'm happy to say that I have been quite successful at it.

So first lets examine what maintenance really is and is not.

Maintenance is NOT:
- slacking off of your exercise. If anything you need to do MORE!
- Allowing yourself to change your diet to accommodate more of the "bad" foods.
- changing how you live your life.

Maintenance IS:
- a slight adjustment of your current diet to include a few more healthy snacks, or a small increase in your snack sizes.
- an even more vigorous amount of exercise, now that you have the muscle and are at a good weight, you need to keep it.
- harder than weight loss as your goals are no longer easy to see and measure, and don't really have defined endpoints
- something you need to prepare for, and commit too. Maintenance isn't easy, and it never ends.


IMHO maintenance should not be something you reach for, it's a necessary requirement for living your new life. Make no mistake, it's HARD! To this day I still have a hard time with it. I'm constantly creating new goals just to keep that demon we all know from creeping back (food and lethargy). It's something you MUST be conscious of. Am I stronger, younger looking, more alert, and proud of my body? YES, absolutely, it gives me tons of confidence to walk into the gym with a tight shirt on and feel like other people are looking at me with a tiny bit of jealousy (Oh come on, you KNOW you want that!) instead of being that jealous person I was for a really long time. but it's not easy, I work damn hard to maintain, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let my lazy nature EVER get the best of me. do I have bad days? Sure, sometimes, but I also have really good days, a lot more good ones than bad, and THAT'S the key to maintaining.

Yes, I still have to exercise 3 times a week, it's hard to keep up but I know it's important for my health! I was gonna try to eat more whole grains and fruits/veggies definitely not trying to eat all the bad stuff again:


my main problem was too much juice/pop/sugary liquids!

miaangel345

Also, thank you for all the support, this website is truly awesome!