After reaching goal weight and maintaining...

splashblob
splashblob Posts: 249 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
If I have been maintaining for a while now and there is a week or two that I am going over my TDEE calories or eat anything without logging it-a combination of healthy food, junk food, sweets, bakery, sodium filled sauce and broth soup altogether like what I did before I started trying to lose weight. Then after a week or two I eat within my TDEE calories once again, will this makes me gain weight?

Also for those who are maintaining and experienced the time when you gaining your weight back? How long does it take to gain back your weight? I know it is OK to upping calories intake but I'm still scared of it anyway, yet it's so tempting to eat the same way I did before I start this journey. :(

Replies

  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    Just because you've lost weight doesn't mean it will stay off without still watching your calories. You may be able to eat a bit more than when you were losing but going over your budget will still lead to weight gain. Don't be part of the 95% of people who lose and gain it all back.
  • splashblob
    splashblob Posts: 249 Member
    I understand that. However, what I am want to know is would it make me gain weight back if I don't watch what I am eating and don't logging calories for only a week or two?
  • zhvah18
    zhvah18 Posts: 158 Member
    ETA: sorry, I misread the question
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    This content has been removed.
  • alderman59
    alderman59 Posts: 22 Member
    I can gain a couple pounds in a week if I don't watch things and have a lot of social stuff going on. What I have found works best is to adhere to my calorie level and exercise during the week and the weekend I can do pretty much what I want.both in exercise and food department. This is maintenance for me.
  • meghanmaeandrews
    meghanmaeandrews Posts: 53 Member
    It will all depend on how bad you are eating for those weeks. If you are eating out of control and back the way you were before you lost the weight every day, then yes you will gain some weight back. If you splurge here and there and then get back on track then you may gain a little but it should be easy to get back off when you are back on track.
    I find that once i go way off my diet it is like starting from square one again.
    The way I am looking at it this time is a life style change. I am eating healthier and making better choices. Not dieting and restricting food. I can have a treat every once in awhile as long as it doesn't become a habit again.
  • Mr_Bad_Example
    Mr_Bad_Example Posts: 2,403 Member
    EDIT - Should have read a bit closer before posting. Instead of taking an entire week or two to go off the rails, why not just have one day per week (or one meal) where you eat whatever you like and don't worry about it? That's what I do and I never feel compelled to give up tracking... if anything, it recommits me to it after the 'cheat day'.

    Just make sure that you can get back 'on the wagon' when you're done.
  • ApexLeader
    ApexLeader Posts: 580 Member
    you might gain a few pounds. you can't gain that much weight in 2 weeks unless you are stuffing yourself constantly
  • Laura80111
    Laura80111 Posts: 958 Member
    I can gain a couple pounds in a week if I don't watch things and have a lot of social stuff going on. What I have found works best is to adhere to my calorie level and exercise during the week and the weekend I can do pretty much what I want.both in exercise and food department. This is maintenance for me.

    This is me too. What I found my first time around was that if I went back to eating and not exercising like I knew I needed to the weight came back and it took about 6 months for me to be totally miserable. :sad: :sad: This time around I am continuing to watch it and even when I'm not logging faithfully on the weekends I still am very aware of what I'm eating and know that come Monday I will be right back to counting calories, logging it and exercising.

    I would say don't stop otherwise you will not be wearing all the clothes you worked so hard to wear and then you are back to square one.
  • LucyT4dieting
    LucyT4dieting Posts: 284 Member
    Why would you want to stop logging, even for a week or two? The point is to make permanent changes that will lead to maintaining the weight loss we worked so hard to achieve. I don't know about you, but I've lost weight many times before and always gained it back. It didn't come back quickly. It was so slow and subtle that I didn't even know how much I had gained until it was too late. Don't let that happen to you. Stay with what works. Good luck!
  • splashblob
    splashblob Posts: 249 Member
    I not intended to stop logging, just want to take a brake from it for once in a while. I live in Asia and most food don't provided its nutrition info so it's hard for me when I have to go out eating with people/family-it's hard for my family too when they are picking place to eat with me. There are many things I want to eat though-some are not junk food but because I don't know its calories, I have to choose not to eat it. So far either I tried cooking by myself-which is very expensive, or my food will be repetitive (canned tuna, boiled egg or some kind of cooked egg, brown rice, bread, cereal, milk)
  • ailiel
    ailiel Posts: 18 Member
    I have been at goal/maintenance for a month now. I have a five-pound range centered on 125 that I want to stay within. My weight tends to fluctuate a lot, even during one day I'll fluctuate a pound and a half. I have not deviated out of my range in this time, even with a 10 day vacation a week after I reached my goal (when I wasn't cooking and was eating out a lot). At one point I got down to 122, which had me seriously considering trying to lose a bit more and get to 120, but ultimately I decided I really like the way my body looks at 125 and I'm already well progressed into building a new wardrobe right here.

    I actually never really logged my food except for in the very beginning. I took a year to lose the weight I wanted and I know my body and understand how I react to certain foods. Since I don't eat wheat or sugar I have a lot more leeway, the only things I ever really worry about are nuts and cheese. I have a cashew addiction lately, and cheese is obviously something I have to keep at the moderate level. But otherwise I eat what I want and never log. I know the rough calorie content of the foods I eat. I also run three times a week, regular exercise certainly helps.

    Trouble only creeps in when I am eating out more than usual and inevitably eating sugar and wheat. I do go out with my friends (a lot more lately as I have more confidence now in social situations) and consume alcohol. As I said, so far so good. I wish/wonder if there is a maintenance group somewhere out there with wisdom and tips. I still step on the scale all the time and obsess over every little fluctuation, and I still feel guilty about the occasional late night food after drinking. I thought once I was at goal I would ease up on myself, and I have, but at first it was really hard to do and I did keep losing.

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