Is maintaining weight, just as hard as losing weight?
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Easier for me. I have seen the results -- so I can be my own motivation -- and I know how much better I feel without all the extra weight!!1
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Easier for me. I think it's because I "practiced maintenance" aka plateaued lots, while I was losing. What works best for me is going slow and easy. Also, I couldn't exercise when I was losing like I can now, so that definitely helps!2
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In some ways it's harder... Without a goal to work for and the constant feedback of the scale going down, blowing off a day/week/month can be tempting. A successful day in weight maintenance is a day when you do everything you're supposed to, and... and?... AND!!! ......... and NOTHING CHANGES. :grumble:
What a lot of us do is find new goals... Lifting more weight... Running faster or longer... Taking up a new sport... Doing push-ups, pull-ups, or whatever we couldn't do before. That helps to keep a focus on fitness.
Figuring out your maintenance calories is trickier than finding a deficit, but it's not really THAT hard: If you see the scale trending down over time, you eat a bit more; if you see the scale trending up over time (aside from the immediate glycogen bump or the expected TOM bloat), you eat a bit less.
Yes, it is harder than losing because as quoted above - you do it all right and 'nothing' happens. But then that's the point... This is the first time in my life I have needed to reduce my fat percentage/weight so I am not used to having to watch to maintain. Now that I have a condition that affects how much exercise I can get, I do have to watch and I admit it gets tedious :yawn: & I am already tired of logging on every day to track things. But probably if I don't I will just go back to eating normal healthy food but in too high an amount for my new metabolism. And then I'm back to slowly gaining a pound & a half a month until I actually notice and BAM! there's 30 pounds extra.
Ahh well, we can all hang in there together and keep each other motivated :flowerforyou:
Liana0 -
Harder for me because I've spent nearly my entire life losing or gaining weight. I've never tried to maintain before. It's an ongoing learning experience!1
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It's been a year and a half of losing weight and plateauing often. The plateaus sort of warned me what maintanance will be like. I find maintanance way easier because I do get to eat more. However, I need to be vigilant keep track because it's easy to forget yourself and suddenly all goes downhill. I use a measuring tape frequently, the scale still scares me and I use it less often.0
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I'm just starting out... I lost 60lbs before and did not maintain.... gained all of it 60 back and more! This time, I will log on MFP for the rest of my life if I have to!
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I just started maintaining, will be sure to keep checking back for words of wisdom.0
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I wanted to revisit this topic because I know a few people that can't find a happy balance after losing weight. I'm starting to find my happy place with losing weight and inches and I DO NOT WANT TO FAIL AT maintenance....lol. So please new comers, share your maintenance stories, or the vets can update their journey. Thanks!!!!1
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Harder. Oh it's midnight on a Saturday night and you want a churro? Go ahead you deserve it.0
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I'm far from getting to that point but i'd like to share that when i started i thought of eating in a way i can eat the rest of my life except i will be able to eat a little more of what i eat now. I'm eating "regular" foods that i can live on with the exception of eating a lot less of some things (like say spaghetti). I would like to add that one of my sons was 350 lbs at end of high school, he lost all the extra weight & has kept it off for the past 10yrs1
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shirleymut wrote: »I'm far from getting to that point but i'd like to share that when i started i thought of eating in a way i can eat the rest of my life except i will be able to eat a little more of what i eat now. I'm eating "regular" foods that i can live on with the exception of eating a lot less of some things (like say spaghetti). I would like to add that one of my sons was 350 lbs at end of high school, he lost all the extra weight & has kept it off for the past 10yrs
See these are my intentions as well...but what I am learning is that people become more relaxed and still eat outside of their calorie goal to maintain maintenance. My plan is to lose 10lbs above my goal so I can truly figure out what works for me in maintenance...0 -
Nope, it is not; at least it was/is not for me.0
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@Gisel2015 share what works for you?Nope, it is not; at least it was/is not for me.0 -
STLBADGIRL wrote: »
@Gisel2015 share what works for you?Nope, it is not; at least it was/is not for me.
I only had about 10lbs to lose and only 6 lbs when I joined MFP; it was not difficult for me to get back to my "normal wt," so it was probably not fair or appropriate of me to post my original comment.
I don't think that the only reward, satisfaction or motivation should be seeing the scale go down; we can get those "feelings" seeing our weight steady and within a normal range for days, weeks, months and years. I have been in maintenance for 6 years already and I never let my guard down.
Discipline, weighting myself weekly and sometimes several tines a week, cooking and eating healthy and nutritional meals, enjoying eating out and/or with family and friends while making good choices, exercising, and being able and willing to get back on track very fast if the weight creeps up above my upper limit.
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STLBADGIRL wrote: »
@Gisel2015 share what works for you?Nope, it is not; at least it was/is not for me.
I only had about 10lbs to lose and only 6 lbs when I joined MFP; it was not difficult for me to get back to my "normal wt," so it was probably not fair or appropriate of me to post my original comment.
I don't think that the only reward, satisfaction or motivation should be seeing the scale go down; we can get those "feelings" seeing our weight steady and within a normal range for days, weeks, months and years. I have been in maintenance for 6 years already and I never let my guard down.
Discipline, weighting myself weekly and sometimes several tines a week, cooking and eating healthy and nutritional meals, enjoying eating out and/or with family and friends while making good choices, exercising, and being able and willing to get back on track very fast if the weight creeps up above my upper limit.
This is mad dedication! This is what they mean about lifestyle change and you are def doing that.0 -
STLBADGIRL wrote: »STLBADGIRL wrote: »
@Gisel2015 share what works for you?Nope, it is not; at least it was/is not for me.
I only had about 10lbs to lose and only 6 lbs when I joined MFP; it was not difficult for me to get back to my "normal wt," so it was probably not fair or appropriate of me to post my original comment.
I don't think that the only reward, satisfaction or motivation should be seeing the scale go down; we can get those "feelings" seeing our weight steady and within a normal range for days, weeks, months and years. I have been in maintenance for 6 years already and I never let my guard down.
Discipline, weighting myself weekly and sometimes several tines a week, cooking and eating healthy and nutritional meals, enjoying eating out and/or with family and friends while making good choices, exercising, and being able and willing to get back on track very fast if the weight creeps up above my upper limit.
This is mad dedication! This is what they mean about lifestyle change and you are def doing that.
Thank you!
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Depends on how much you lose, if its a lot, your metabolism will be extremely low making it hard to maintain. Every watched the biggest loser? Most contestants lost so much weight, but gained it back because working out every day didnt do the trick, seemed like anything over 1000 calories just turned to fat so they had to eat very little and exercises a lot to keep the weight off until their metabolism adjusted to their new weight, but most didnt get that far. For people only losing 20-50 pounds it shouldnt be as bad.1
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god I hope it's not harder. Two+ years of losing 147 pounds has been harder than hard. At least we can eat a little bit more, that makes it easier right? I think I"ll put less pressure on myself in maintenance...we'll find out soon.0
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god I hope it's not harder. Two+ years of losing 147 pounds has been harder than hard. At least we can eat a little bit more, that makes it easier right? I think I"ll put less pressure on myself in maintenance...we'll find out soon.
Gosh I hope its not harder....but hearing the testimony of some is helping me devise a plan and prepare for it...We can do it though!!!!1 -
Depends on how much you lose, if its a lot, your metabolism will be extremely low making it hard to maintain. Every watched the biggest loser? Most contestants lost so much weight, but gained it back because working out every day didnt do the trick, seemed like anything over 1000 calories just turned to fat so they had to eat very little and exercises a lot to keep the weight off until their metabolism adjusted to their new weight, but most didnt get that far. For people only losing 20-50 pounds it shouldnt be as bad.
I love the Biggest Loser....Its always my goal to lose weight with them...and weigh in with them....lol... I'm a big dreamer though. But I want to lose 40 more lbs so I'm hoping I will not be affected by this...0 -
For me maintenance is both easier and harder than losing. I've been maintaining for 2 years, and this summer I relaxed my weight-watch and partied a bit harder (meaning I ate and drank a bit more) than I should have. Now the kids are back to school, life is settling back into a routine, and I realized that I'm about 3 pounds outside of my fairly wide maintenance range, which means I need to lose about 8 pounds to get to the mid-point of that range again. The ability to lose focus a bit and be a little less restrictive is awesome and makes things easier if you've taught yourself better nutritional/fitness habits. But this is a double-edged sword. It's also easy to lose focus. I'm back to weight-loss NOW before those extra 3 pounds turn into a pants-size. 4
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JustSomeEm wrote: »For me maintenance is both easier and harder than losing. I've been maintaining for 2 years, and this summer I relaxed my weight-watch and partied a bit harder (meaning I ate and drank a bit more) than I should have. Now the kids are back to school, life is settling back into a routine, and I realized that I'm about 3 pounds outside of my fairly wide maintenance range, which means I need to lose about 8 pounds to get to the mid-point of that range again. The ability to lose focus a bit and be a little less restrictive is awesome and makes things easier if you've taught yourself better nutritional/fitness habits. But this is a double-edged sword. It's also easy to lose focus. I'm back to weight-loss NOW before those extra 3 pounds turn into a pants-size.
Very good insight. Also I never thought about having a range to stay within...I love that idea. Thanks for sharing @JustSomeEm0 -
What's also liberating is seeing so many people that reached their goal that they are even in maintenance... For a long time I thought it was only a few that met goal....lol...0
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I lost roughly 109 pounds between June of 2014 {326 pounds} and June of 2015 {217 pounds}. I've been maintaining since then.
Maintaining is much much much much harder than losing.1 -
^ I agree...I went from 250lbs to about 175 (rather quickly I may add)... i'm constantly hitting the low to mid 180's and going back down to the 170's again--when I should be aiming for the 150's...it's a real challenge for me...Maintaining is HARD, no DOUBT about it!1
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i love this thread.
for me, maintaining has been more difficult for just about all the reasons listed above.
nice to know i am in good company!
i'm just back from a 9 day vacation involving "all you can eat and drink" cruise option - so i'm up 5 lbs and determined as ever to go back to "maintenance" weight. whether it's water weight gain from increased sodium intake or pure fat, it was worth it, and that's life!
i feel like when you're doing all sorts of research on which method of losing weight may work best for you, the focus is 100% on the process of loss instead of how you're going to think/feel/behave once you get there.
before my vacation, i felt old habits creeping in. i got lazy with logging, thinking i knew what 4 oz of pork loin looked like, etc. i think that sets me up for slow weight gain. the weighing/logging keeps me accountable.
so yeah, more difficult for me, because once the fanfare of hitting that goal weight died - you just don't have as much momentum/motivation to keep up with the logging so critical to keeping on your daily goal.
good luck, everyone! you are an inspiration to me1 -
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I've been at 'maintenance' for three months after losing 45 pounds. It's definitely a big adjustment. I'd made the investment to workout with a trainer at a specialty gym that's all one-on-one but couldn't afford that indefinitely. I gave myself three months to get used to being able to eat increased calories and have now switched to a 'box' gym. My current challenge is developing a good workout routine. Having a set appointment with a trainer I'd paid so much for really helped me stay accountable. I did my first class today - Les Mills Body Pump. I'm going to be hurting tomorrow! I think I'll do better if I plan one or two weeks ahead what/when my workouts will be.1
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I actually feel maintaining was easier. The reward was fitting into clothes nicely and being able to say proudly "I am 150 lbs" versus 180 ashamedly. I must have maintained for a few years before my life priorities changed and tracking my weight was no longer important. That's when my weight creeped up from 150 to 180 lbs DESPITE weekly jogging. It really is 80%nutrition, 20% exercise.
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