Harder to maintain than it is to lose?

I did try a bounce of 10 pounds on the scale, constantly losing and gaining, and two things happened: 1. I ended up gaining over 10.
2. I noticed a distressing change in body composition. More belly fat!

Exactly the same as me. I have put a couple inches on my belly and hips despite only 1700 calories a day.

Thanks for confirming it's not my overactive imagination! Well, it was worth a try, anyway.

We can do this, though. Because we are eyes wide open to the difficulty. And I don't know about you, but that puts me way ahead of where I've ever been before after reaching goal weight. I've never maintained in my life, but this time I'll find a way, and I'm sure you will too.

Low carb did nothing for me except screw up my brain chemistry. I lost four whole pounds in 8 months. The 4 pounds I keep in glycogen storage. :grumble:

How long have you been stalled? Have you visited the Eat, Train, Progress group? I think they have a couple of threads relevant to stalls there.

Low carb worked great for me when I had more to lose. It just isn't cutting my appetite enough this time. I'm losing again on a diet of milk, potatoes, nuts, and veggies, so we'll see how that goes. I take a multivitamin, too, but supposedly if I were eating at maintenance, I'd get all my nutrients with just those foods. And of course my breath is less deathly. I'm sure everyone around me appreciates that.

Yes, I do love cutting out entire food groups. It seems to work for me, if for no other reason perhaps than it cuts down on variety. Sometimes boredom is good. I might add some meat in again soon though and just leave out the breads and sugars. Something about bready and sugary stuff makes me go all out on the fridge.

Well I find maintenance quite easy and comfortable - basically just went up from 1400 cals to 1800 which is just allowing myself some treats.

I've kept the high protein / high veggie basis to my meals.

If you knew portion control before, OP, I don't think you'll find maintenance difficult.

Edited to add: I'm 41 and my weight was quite normal up to age 38 so I think that makes it easier for me to maintain (habits).

wow, I just looked at your intake. Even for losing weight there is no reason for a man to be under 1600 Net calories/day. I suggest you change your goal not to lose 1lb/week, then in 3-4 weeks change it again to 1/2 lb/week. this will get you ready for maintenance without one large jump in cals, and ensure that you don't lose much lean muscle mass. The larger your deficit the larger the % of your weight loss will come from muscle. And not that you don't have a lot to lose this is even more imperative.

I think you meant "now that you don't have a lot to lose", right?

I know how exhilarating it is to see that weight come off so fast, and especially once you get near the end you want to double-down and "get there" that much faster, but I promise, I guarantee, that if you do that, when you start trying to maintain, you are going to immediately gain 5 pounds. And then you're going to want to cut your calories drastically again to deal with that. But you need to understand that that immediate 5 pound gain is *normal*. The way to avoid seeing it, really, is to sloooooow down and sneak up on maintenance, so that it never knows you're coming. If you just gradually lose that last little bit until you're naturally eating at the level you'll maintain on, there won't be the spike at the end.

Now will you please just go eat a sammich?!

^^^Completely agree! I can sheepishly raise my hand and say that I did exactly the wrong thing last summer...lost weight quickly which I thought was awesome and then didn't have the mindset or know-how to figure out maintenance. I got discouraged and gained back alot of what I lost. I'm back now with the mindset more on the lines of this isn't a "race but a marathon". Thank you for the reminder!

personally I wouldn't like to just maintain. I'd love to keep improving and in turn that is what makes me maintain. If you were to maintain what I seen what would work is that you have to continue to keep the activity up. The training. You don't use it you lose it. Maybe you can back your effort a little with training and take it a bit easier if you are happy with the way your body is now but you never can slack. Secondly, you have to keep your eating portions to how it is now. Low.

I believe that you have adapted your body to require less and to be more active and it essence, you keeping this up is what will help you maintain. A little anecdote is what happens to people who have physical labour jobs their whole lives and naturally eat a lot of food. When they stop working and eat the same amount what happens? They bloat up in weight.

Remember this is a lifestyle.

Take home notes
1. Keep active, use your body everyday
2. Keep your meal sizes low