What was/is harder ?

3xpr3ss · June 2013

This question is more for those who have reached their goal. I'm wondering what was/is harder. Loosing the weight or maintenance and why?

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Alwayssohungry · June 2013

Everyone I know who has made it to maintenance says that it is much harder.

mrshoneydew · June 2013

The weight came off pretty easily once I started changing the way I eat and exercising.
The problem is now that I'm smaller, the weight comes off at a snails pace (I've lost the last 10 pounds in 6 months). I have hit my goal, but I have not stopped dieting and exercising, so I expect to lose more weight in the future. But it's discouraging because now I'm at a 150 and one week I'll be 151, then another day I'll be 149, then 150 again for weeks. I suppose now that I've reached my goal all that should matter is that I stay there, but with all of the hard work I do, I'd like to see that number continue to move down.

So I guess for me, it's maintenance. :ohwell:

AllyCatXandi · June 2013

Maintenance. Definitely maintenance.

It's a pretty big mentality shift to have to make, from losing weight to staying the same. The idea of eating more can make a person anxious, as if no longer eating at a deficit will suddenly make them balloon into how they were before. I kept increasing and increasing my intake, and yet continued to lose weight until I was getting uncomfortably close to underweight. So I bit the bullet and started eating a significant amount more, and it was rather odd to try and think of my weight gain as a good thing. But what I've found has been helping me is to shift my focus from exclusively the calorie count to the macros as well.

Others, I've noticed, tend to lose motivation in regards to healthy eating/exercise once they've hit the desired number on the scale, and subsequently slip back into old habits. To deal with this, it can help to set fitness-related goals and get involved in sports/activities because you actually enjoy them and not the calorie burn. Are there any events (fun runs, obstacle races, etc.) you've wanted to participate in? Use training for those as motivation. You can make exercise a part of your social life (e.g. team sports), or do it in time you reserve just for you. I try to think of it this way: if I eat right, then I will be able to improve at certain things and become a more capable individual in general. And hopefully do fewer dying seal impersonations, hilarious as they are, when it comes to push-ups.

There are also a lot of resources for people who are trying to lose weight, but not so much for the ones who wish to maintain a healthy one. But at the end of the day you have to figure out what works for you, and make a commitment to yourself for the long-term.

BethanyWV · July 2013

3xpr, great post. I've been thinking about this myself. I'm shooting to lose the "Final 15" and just started on this site a week ago, but I'm already wondering, if I get there, what then? Do I need to continue keeping track? How do I bump calories back up and yet stay within a reasonable limit? What about feast days, like parties and birthdays? How much impact will they have? Maybe if we post more of these questions, the weight-loss folks will start talking about it.

AllyCat, good response and good point. I haven't noticed much support out there for maintaining. WWJS? (what would Jillian say?) Would be good to have more info on this topic.

Also, I like your suggestion about finding activities that are fun rather than done just to burn calories. I haven't gotten around to starting a burn-only regimen. Instead, I've been doing more with the kids - making sure I push them on the swing every day, taking them for a walk at least every other day -- and some other things, like mowing the grass instead of having my husband do it. Perhaps that will help.

Oh, 3xpr, also, have you tried lifting? That is a significant way to keep calories in check while also building strength, definition, endurance, etc. I've done it before, and I highly recommend it. A lot of people like it. I've also starting doing a little bit of yoga, and I like it a lot, too. That's exercise, stretching, relaxation, and, if you want, mediation, all rolled into one. If it suits you, it's terrific.

Hope that helps and good luck!

Cannon_G · July 2013

I think maintaining is more difficult. Never thought I would say this but losing weight was fun. It's a challenge but you know where you are in the process by looking at the scale. Maintaining on the other hand is more difficult because it stops being about how much you weigh and becomes more about your body composition. The scale might show you are 5 or 10 pounds heavier than your lightest but the scale doesn't show that you have less body fat % than when you were lighter. If you get too bogged down on the numbers than you could easily think the weight is coming back and panic but you just have to trust in what got you to your goal weight.

What was/is harder ?

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