People who have been in maintenance for a while. ..

I have maintained for over 6 months now and log every day. It takes me little time and I cherish some of the "friends" I know only through MFP. I am also increasing cardio for my health and it helps me track against goals etc. Plus I'm a little OCD, it helps me feel in control of at least something.

I've been maintaining for 2 years - and still log most days (even if not everything). I can now 'guess' portion sizes and now naturally look at calorie compromises - either not both!. I worked hard to lose weight and spent a lot on a new wardrobe. I can't afford to put the weight back on and replace my clothes again.

This is me also. I usually give up on the logging if I'm out with friends and having a good time, but that's usually only once a week. Otherwise, I use logging to keep myself honest.

ETA - I love my new clothes, so there's no way I'm going back!

I logged for about 12-18 months post loss, but I didn't want to log food the rest of my life. Life has to return to a somewaht normal state and logging what I eat seemed a bit neurotic. I set up some guidelines to wean myself off the program.

First, I still I step on the scale every morning. If my weight goes 5 lbs above my average weight I will diet a few days and get it back under control.

I find a fairly monotonous diet helps keep my caloric intake in check. Breakfast and lunch are very similar healthy "food is fuel" type meals almost every day. in the evenings I relax and eat pretty much what I want to within reason, including desserts.

I suggest you try some trial separations from MFP. For me, it gets easier with each month that goes by. I even made it through Christmas season without gaining or logging, and I'm as optimistic as ever that I'll keep my weight under control.

If nothing else, looking straight down, and clearly seeing my belt buckle motivates me.

I joined MFP not to really lose weight as I had already lost 22lbs before I joined to get to my current weight. I use MFP to track macros and nutrition as well as workouts. I have stayed within a 5-6lbs weight range for over 8months And I don't know if that would have been the case if I stopped logging but in any case, I enjoy using the diary on here and it doesn't take that much time. I find it is worth the continued effort to ensure you stay on track & it also gives you useful data and as it can be trickier to maintain than to either lose or gain, it means that you can easily see trends on your weight graph compared to your net calories etc so for me it's really useful for playing with my calorie goals to ensure I stay where I want to be. The prospect of logging indefinitely doesn't bother me as I like it.

I don't log for maintenance. I still weigh in every week. If the scale starts to creep up it's a mental reminder that I need to dial back the consumption. When I'm trying to gain weight I'll log to make sure I hit my macro/calorie targets.

I am been maintaining about 10 years. I log most of the time, but do take months off. I have two physically demanding jobs, there is some overlap in their busy seasons. I can eat upwards of 3,000 calories a day during those times and not gain. I do keep an eye on the scale though and start logging again if I see more than a 5 pound gain.

I stopped logging. Ironically, I found that when I was very conscientious about logging, I continued to lose weight, and I realized that MFPs calorie goal for my maintenance was lower than necessary. I guess I'm more active than I think I am, or maybe I'm younger? :bigsmile: Anyway, I just decided I'd do the daily weigh-in, and if I'm above my goal weight, I'll eat like I'm dieting, and if I'm several pounds below by goal weight, I'll eat extra yummies. It's not an exact science, but it doesn't have to be. :drinker:

^^ this is what it's like for me

I just keep an eye on things and adjust when necessary. I'm much more active now than I was when I put on the weight, so that helps a lot!

Maintenance was hard for me. I got to eat a bit more, but that got away from me and I gained 10 lbs

Yep me too. It's been way harder than losing, but I'm winning the fight, so far at least.

Logging keeps me honest and focused on maintaining.

I've maintained now for 10 months staying within 5 pounds either way of my goal weight of 150.

I don't find the logging food to be that arduous, it's become a habit after almost 2 years of doing so.

There may come a time when I stop logging, but for now it's a good habit for me to have.