Range versus allowance for spikes

I do something similar-I give any bounces a week to correct themselves and then if I'm not at my 'low point' at the end of that time, within .5lbs, I adjust my eating accordingly. Right now I seem to have gone back into weight loss mode though, which was unexpected and unwanted, so I'm trying to figure out how to stabilize my weight right now. But up until a few days ago my goal weight was in the 125lb range and that was what I focused on. I definitely had bounces here and there, but as long as I settled back on 125 (or 125.5), within a few days, all was good

I have had an unhealthy relationship with food in the past (over-restrictive). I am using 6:1 as a health choice.

I have an agreement with myself (with my boyfriend tasked to remind me when things get hard) that I will weigh myself every couple of weeks and accept anything between 65-68 kgs as 'normal' where I may or may not track calories daily and between 68-70 kgs as time to start tracking daily again and consider 5:2 and/or increasing exercise for a few weeks.

I do not want to get obsessive at maintenance.

I have such a strong fear of back sliding that I will not even allow myself that .5 pound variance. I really fear the creep up.

My current daily swing is a range of about 2-5 pounds give or take. I know it's easier said than done, but relax. You're at your goal. Just maintain a sensible diet and exercise program and start limiting your weigh ins if they're giving you grief.

This is my big issue right now. I still weigh daily and have found myself freaking out if the scale says I'm up by half a pound over yesterday, or whatever. But I've found that a pound or more can be just having drunk a bottle of water or... well... dinner is still with you from the night before. I have one of the fancy scales that upload their measurements, so I hooked it up with trendweight.com. Now I can see if it's going up or down, by how much, and (to an extent) why.

When I started out, I was going to be content if I got within ten pounds of my ultimate goal weight... Well, that was easier than I thought and here I am. Based on my experience so far, I've set a 3-pound tolerance. I'll keep weighing daily and keep an eye on it at Trendweight. If I'm on an upward trend and I have a daily measurement that's 3 pounds over my ultimate goal weight, I'll immediately drop my net calorie target and go right back into weight loss mode starting that day.

We're always moving in one direction or another; my aim is to keep the movements tolerably small. I figure this method will keep me from getting to the point where clothes are tighter and I'm blaming the dryer for it. I'll see how it goes.

I'm 5'9". My range is anywhere from 123 to to 128 lbs, depending on the time of day, what I ate the day before, if I worked out the day before, and where I'm at in my cycle. I've been in this range for over a year now, and feel very comfortable here. I still avoid junk like fast food, donuts, sugar soda, fruit juice, candy, etc., but I still allow myself enjoyment of real treats like going out for dinner, wine, burgers, cake, fried fish and anything else that's tasty. I'm a huge fan of everything in moderation and portion control.

The great news is I can eat more in maintenance than when I was losing, which of course means I must be doing something right!

Ive been maintaining since end of December 2012, I set myself a 6lbs allowance either side of my goal weight (over a number of weeks not 6lbs in a week). Currently im 2lbs over what I was when I entered maintenance but my bf % has reduced. I still worry about putting it back on but hey that's only natural. If I get over that 6lbs I just lower my intake or up the exercise to get it back down.

It's all trial and error

Just to add - I got bored with maintenance logging after reaching my goal 2 years ago. The weight did slowly creep back on because I got lazy about exercise and made some bad food choices.

I had an upper limit I didn't want to get past. I got past it. I always thought to myself I'll just lose again if it feels like it's getting out of hand, which is what I'm doing now.

I think I'm happier dropping in and out of routine logging. I was getting obsessive about counting every calorie and it was stopping me from enjoying my food so much.

Next time I reach goal, I may log at maintenance for a while, but if the weight creeps again, just get more active. I can't see myself recording every damn meal for the rest of my life. It's tedious.

I'd drive myself nuts if I weighed every day. I'm strict with myself about keeping it to once a week.
I take measurements monthly to check there's no sneaky spread occurring.

As a woman, I know I am going to have major weight fluctuations every month, but can't know exactly when that's going to be. Every ovulation I get a sudden spike soon followed by a significant decrease, then level out. While my appetite goes crazy, even if I resist some urges, I'll get then get water retention during menstruation.

I'm also perimenopausal so I'm not even regular any more. I have had to learn to be patient with my body as well as really pay attention to it.

It sort of sucks, but is also really interesting (to me) :-D

Thanks for your note. I'm just starting this whole maintenance thing myself. I think I agree that if the swing stays for too long, it's time to rein back. Right now I'm going to try using the 6:1 method because I don't want to lose the anti-inflammatories benefits of the 5:2. I will definitely be weighing everyday - I can't seem to deny myself this yet but I know I have to expect minor fluctuations and to move on, unless the weight tries to hang around. I don't even want to give myself a 5 lb range because, as you said, I might let the weight creep back up, pound by pound.

I recommend : http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/online/hdo.html

I use the "Happy Scale" app for this reason.

Checking it out now-thanks!

I use The Hacker's Diet tracking for this. I can't tell you the formula off the top of my head, but it is a weighted moving average.
Considering that your daily intake (food, water and even air) and output totals 13.5 lbs/day (that's data from NASA, from a 1988 conference on life support for a mission to Mars), it is VERY easy to be higher or lower than your maintenance weight by a pound or three or even more.
That's part of why I set my goal at 177lbs, so that my fluctuations will keep me below 180.

http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/online/hdo.html

I count my 'weight' as what I am at my lowest and anything above that as a 'swing'. It makes me feel better. My lowest bounced lower and lower during loss and my highs got lower and lower.

Now that I'm essentially where my body likes to be - what I think of as my 'natural weight' - the swings are pretty small - plus or minus 3 pounds. When I wasn't watching what I ate it was a 5 pound zone. When I was heavier it would also be a bigger bounce. Now . . . pretty steady.

I have such a strong fear of back sliding that I will not even allow myself that .5 pound variance. I really fear the creep up.

My current daily swing is a range of about 2-5 pounds give or take. I know it's easier said than done, but relax. You're at your goal. Just maintain a sensible diet and exercise program and start limiting your weigh ins if they're giving you grief.

It's so interesting to read about other people's approaches to maintenance!

I try to allow for a 5 pound variance. If I go above the five-pound "range", I go into hard-core mode and eat super super clean until it drops again. (ex: switching out frozen meals and packaged snacks with fruit and vegetable and protein-rich salads). I try to stay on the mid/lower end of my range because while I like salads, I also like my healthy indulgences.

If I have a binge or a night on the town with abnormally rich foods (say, at a wedding or something), my weight balloons up 3-7 pounds from water weight. Those times, I allow a few days for things to settle down (while guzzling water) before I "count" the weight or else I would drive myself crazy, lol.