Always yo'yo'ing. Help!

Hbarry7
Hbarry7 Posts: 24 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
NOTE: This post was prompted from a Success Story thread, for stats on women who are 5'6.
My stats:
32 years old
5 feet, 6 and a half inches.
160 lbs
BF scale says 31%
bust 36
waist 33
hips 39

SO FRUSTRATED.
I gained 10 lbs over the summer months because I was overeating and :blushing: indulging in deserts and :drinker: drinks. And I knew I was doing it with each bite and drink. My mind was constantly saying 'oh oh oh, don't eat that" and my rebel-self reared, "i'll eat it if I want to!" munch munch munch, slurp slurp. sigh

My size 10 Express editor pants offically don't fit anymore. I refuse to buy a 12 again. I got rid of all my size 12 pants last year because I didn't want to let myself get to this spot again. Got rid of all the shirts that became too baggy to be work appropriate too. I have nearly no clothes that fit properly to wear to work!

But here I am, finally cleaning up my nutrition and portion sizes AGAIN, so I can yo-yo back to a size 8.

Still searching for the ability to maintain instead of yo-yo'ing. Goofy thing is real-life people say I'm fine, to not worry about toning up and dropping down to an 8. I can't tell if my being bigger makes them feel better about themselves, or if they are just being polite.

Replies

  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Weigh your food, log what you eat, eat at a deficit, it's just that easy really.
  • Hbarry7
    Hbarry7 Posts: 24 Member
    I know how to lose the weight. Its the lifestyle of logging, counting calories and all that is not working for me over the long-haul.
  • Mia_RagazzaTosta
    Mia_RagazzaTosta Posts: 4,885 Member
    I know how to lose the weight. Its the lifestyle of logging, counting calories and all that is not working for me over the long-haul.

    Because you go from one extreme to the other. Restricting calories so much that you lose the weight then swing back into eating whatever you want. That's why it doesn't stay off.

    If you're not down with the lifestyle then you have to be content with where you are now because the weight isn't just going magically come off without any effort. You either want it or you don't.
  • Hbarry7
    Hbarry7 Posts: 24 Member
    I guess what I'm asking for is tips for how to transition into maintainence.

    I don't go crazy and restrict my diet and become a gym junky to get back to the size 8. I learned long ago that if I push too hard at the gym I get injured and if I'm not eating enough my engery, mood and patience tanks. I take the slow and steady route to reach my goal. It sucks to go so slow, to be constantly monitoring everything, so when I finally do reach my goal I'm burnt out from tracking.

    I just want to look okay in a swimsuit and not have so much of my mental energy sapped by the topic.

    I certainly 'want it". hell, who doesn't. But having trouble keeping it doesn't mean I don't want it. I have a hard time believing that in order to stay at a healthy size I'll have to think like I'm dieting and track/log for the rest of my life.

    I'm hoping people on MFP who are maintaining, and/or who used to yo'yo will respond. How did you break the cycle? Do you still have to track everything?
  • Mia_RagazzaTosta
    Mia_RagazzaTosta Posts: 4,885 Member
    I wish I could tell you what you want to hear.

    I've yo yo'd my entire life. Tried every fad diet out there. I thought I did everything I could, but really I didn't. I never stuck with anything long enough for it to work long-term. Then I came here and lurked around the forums for a bit and saw a common theme among the successful people here. They did it slowly. No fads. Just a reasonable caloric deficit and exercise. That way, once you get to maintenance it's not a drastic change. You don't have to log if you don't want to but if you start gaining again, you'll know why.

    I'm not sure what kind of exercise you do, but the game-changer for me was weightlifting. I've only lost 5.5# in 7 months, but I'm down 2 pant sizes because of body recomp.
  • Hbarry7
    Hbarry7 Posts: 24 Member
    Yeah weight is such an annoying measurement. At my most athletic in college I was 150lbs, but now 150 lbs I'm squishy, not nearly as mush muscle as back then. I've always enjoyed lifting, started doing that back in highschool, but I've heard a lot of talk about lifting heavy at low reps. So I'm doing that right now. 4 sets of 3-6 reps on various compound lifts. Actually added ten pounds to bench bar this week. Felt so good to actually have weights on it instead of just lifting the bar. lol. I haven't done cardio in 2 months due to a leg injury requiring deep stiches. But my doctor cleared me to start again, not worried about popping a stictch anymore. My knee is sore from lifting, so I'm focusing on reaching protien macros and staying between 1500-1800 cals.

    I am super grateful I generally get results within a week or two. Makes it easier to stick with all the efforts. Its that point when maintenence comes and I'm burnt out on tracking. Somehow I have to make keeping maintence as strong of a motivator as the cutting phase.
  • Hbarry7
    Hbarry7 Posts: 24 Member
    I don't really do cardio anymore, not for the sake of cardio anyway. I go up the four flights of stairs to work every weekday as fast as I can. A 10 minute ellipse machine warm-up at 150-160 heart rate, before lifting.

    I used to run but overtrained and messed up my knee. I do more weekend warrior type stuff as the season and friends/time permits: swimming, biking, mtb'ing, snowboarding, rugged hiking (I live near mountains). But whenever I try to train up for 5k my knee starts to flare up and I have to RICE. I'm actually hoping to not aggrivate it with heavy lifts. I know I can squat more, but I don't dare increase the weight with that weakest link knee since the knee is starting to feel sore again. Its hard to tell when to push through the pain and wehn to back-off. And I have a poor history of pushing through the pain and getting injured or re-injured.

    Last year I fell mtb'ing and tore the muscles along the outside of my lower leg, still not 100% in that area. That triggered a yo-yo. Suddenly in a boot-cast for two months and looking down the barrel of months of Physical Therapy after that.
  • Stage14
    Stage14 Posts: 1,046 Member
    You transition into maintenance by figuring out how many calories you should eat to keep your weight stable, then eat those. You know you're eating the right amount by logging, at least for awhile.
  • walleymama
    walleymama Posts: 174 Member
    I'm not in maintenance yet, so I can't comment on that. But the key to sticking with anything is sustainability.

    Once I tried going to the gym four times per week. At first I was really motivated, but ultimately I didn't stick with it. I really didn't like doing it. On the other hand, I have always loved being outdoors and I go for walks almost every day (I also have a high-energy dog who needs the exercise even on days when I don't feel like it). And I love to run, so I am doing that. I tried cycling through the summer, and I enjoyed that, but I know myself: I hate cycling in the rain and cold so that is not something I could reasonably stick to. Running, I can do.

    The same holds for eating. I tried restricting certain foods: not sustainable. And I do have a sweet tooth and I enjoy my treats. So what do I do? First, I have a low weight loss rate (about 0.5 lbs per week) and I exercise and I try to eat foods that are filling and satisfying but not high calorie so that I have a few extra calories in the evening when I know I will have the munchies and want to snack on something sweet.

    If you are feeling deprived in any way or if going to exercise is a drag, you will not be able to keep this up over the long term. You have to go slowly and find the place where you can keep it up. I really don't find calorie tracking to be any trouble at all, in fact I like it because it makes me feel in control of my weight and my choices. But sure, everybody needs to pig out once in a while and I do that on occasion but I know what to expect afterwards and I often eat a lot less the next day.

    You have to figure out what the roadblock is for you: are you hungry? are you feeling deprived of certain foods? Are you feeling like you need to just have a day where you "let go" for a day? You can work that into your program.
  • nannymarty04
    nannymarty04 Posts: 33 Member
    what do you eat? how many calories do you consome each day? do you work out?
  • JustYandy
    JustYandy Posts: 221 Member
    If you eat until your satisfied and not full it will naturally work out...Don't eat your last 10 fries portion control?I can tell without logging yet about how many calories I've had by how full I am...IF I'm really full I ate about 800calories or more...IF I'm happy full I had around 500-650 calories and If I am satisfied but still want more I ate around 350-450...LISTEN TO YOU'RE BODY

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