Hi, I'm headed toward maitenance and personally I plan to continue logging my food here daily. I need the accountability. In the last three years I've lost 30 lbs, gained 10 back and finally lost that final 10 - again! It's taken longer to lose it this time and I've had to watch my combo of calories, changing up exercise, incorporated whey protein, whatever works so I plan to keep logging and think I'll go with staying within 2 lbs of my goal weight.

Good luck to you!

I plan to stick with MFP. I have yo-yoed to many times. It's easier to keep track.

I've been at goal since April 2011 and still track my food daily (except when on vacation). Yesterday was my first day using MFP (integrated w/BodyMedia Fit).. I also weigh myself daily so realistically I probably don't need to be so anal about tracking but............I'm never going back to the way I was!!!!

Maintaining is hard when the challenge and rewards are not there!

I have just joined this group because my motivation has gone for exactly the reason above. I am my lowest weight for years and am enjoying it by re-discovering my lovely wardrobe of clothes which now fit and...erm....eating whatever I want!

While losing, I logged religiously - however, I recently got my first "has not logged in for 3 days" message since forever. I am lucky in that the past 3 weeks or so, I have barely put on a pound, but I know deep down that this is not a sensible way to continue and I know that it is very common for all lost weight to return over time. It terrifies me that I might have to go through the discipline of losing the weight all over again just because I let myself get sloppy. I really hated being bigger (and I need to remember that when I next choose a cake with my coffee)

I am going to start logging again, but perhaps build in a buffer like "only log during the week and then use judgement to eat moderately with a few treats at the weekend" and see how that goes. If I see the weight creep back on - I will need to review my "maintain strategy".

What does everyone else reckon?

I've lost 78 pounds, so I think Im gonna stick with what worked, I am going to continue to log everything, however I have backed off the amounts/days of exercising. I felt that if I kept up at that pace, I'd continue to lose. However, if I do start to gain, back to what worked to get the weight off. I need accountablility to keep on track, took a year to get off the weight, I don't ever want to have to do that again.

This week is my 5-month maintenance anniversary. I've only made 2 changes since getting out of weight-loss mode: I only weigh-in once a week, as opposed to daily; and I've cut back my workouts from 6 days a week to 5. I still use the diary religiously because while I think I have the hang of what and how much I should be eating, I just feel more in control having it documented. So far so good, I've been able to stay within the 5-pound window that I set (my goal weight of 140, plus 2 pounds on either side of that).

I'm surprised (in a good way) that I have been able to stay disciplined. I think fear is a big motivator because I feel like if I let myself slip up "just this once" then it will become easier to accept those slip ups more often, and then before I know it I'm back where I started. Do not want to go back to that, ever.

Congrats! I hear you on the fear factor.....

Been in maintenance since April. I gain a pound or two and lose it back...staying right around my target weight. My biggest problem at first was allowing myself to eat more...that was the closest I have ever been to an eating disorder. I was paying WAY to much attention to calories and worrying I would blow all the hard work.

Now I am actually trying to lower body fat % through high protein and weight training. That will mean gaining pounds back, but it's really more about bf% for me now.

Maintaining is hard when the challenge and rewards are not there!


YOU said nothing but a WORD!!!!!!! OMG!!! People don't realize when you are losing there are constant new discoveries and dazzling new NSVs daily and kudos but when it all stops...life happens stress, changes happen then you have to adapt! That is not always easy!

^^HOW TRUE!

I've been maintaining within a few pounds (gain a couple, then lose a couple) for a little over a year now. I try to log during the weekdays, but have stopped on the weekends. I've slacked off the last month or two in the exercise arena and KNOW I need to get more serious there again - it's what allows me those 'free weekends' I've grown so accustomed to! For me, I think logging keeps me accountable. If I get away from it too much, I'm afraid I'll slide into the old, bad habits and will gain back the weight I lost!

Well done for maintaining for such a long time. It is reassuring to hear from people who are succeeding at it (I'm just starting) and doing it with some leniency too ("gain a couple, then lose a couple") - I think this is the most realistic way to be - understand when to let yourself go and reel yourself back in before it gets out of hand.

Good luck getting back on track with the exercise. I have some equipment at home (or sometimes I just use a DVD). I find that as soon as I ask myself "can I be bothered to do any exercise right now?", I just go and change into my kit anyway, telling myself that I still don't have to do it if I don't want to. By the time I've changed, I'll never just change out again without having done something - that would just be silly. I guess my tiny brain is easily fooled , but it is a trick that has worked for me when motivation is low!!

Last summer, the weight was staying off really easily, so I didn't think I'd ever need to log again. Now I'm up to the weight that was my original goal weight (when the weight was falling off, I increased the goal). I realize that in the summer, I was often exercising more than two hours a day, and doing intense workouts at that. Now it seems that I need to log food at least a couple of times a week to be real with myself, and log exercise every day, because it's simply impossible for me to spend that much time on exercise during the school year.

It's so good to have this forum.