Is maintaining harder than weight loss?

Options
1235»

Replies

  • Spiderkeys
    Spiderkeys Posts: 338 Member
    Options
    Depends how much weight you have lost to maintain and how old you are, if you just want to maintain and overweight range, it's quite easy, but maintaining in the middle of your ideal range, is full of restrictions.
  • bikrchk
    bikrchk Posts: 516 Member
    Options
    It is for me. When you're losing, the scale is moving, clothing sizes are moving, people are noticing the weight loss and it's easier to stay motivated. Once all of that stops and you're being a normal weight becomes "normal", you have to find other ways to stay motivated and not get complacent. Plus, for me at least, I've tracked every morsel in MFP through the whole weight loss. It's realtively easy to hit "under" my calorie target as long as I'm exercising to stay in deficit and lose weight. Maintenance is a whole different animal. You can't go much under or get too thin, but I'm terrified to go over and gain it back too. It's a different dance, but one that I'm learning to be graceful with, I hope.
  • CaitySins
    CaitySins Posts: 57 Member
    Options
    I think it depends on whether you are doing a diet, something you want to be temporary to lose weight then go back to the same old habits, if that's the case, I think maintaining would be harder cause the person has to accept it's a life style change, not a phase. But for people who are going into this journey knowing it's a life style change, maintaining shouldn't be difficult because you know it's a change for life.
  • bennettinfinity
    bennettinfinity Posts: 865 Member
    Options
    snip...
    If you view maintenance only as a time when you'll finally be able to 'afford' eating a few oreos a night and hitting the Chinese buffet again once a month, you need to make sure you don't send all of your fat clothes to the Goodwill because you'll be needing them again before long.
    ...snip

    Best. Line. Ever.

    QFT
  • sarafischbach9
    sarafischbach9 Posts: 466 Member
    Options
    It can be hard, because you may not feel like you have a goal to hit, or if you go over your calories, then you're either in a surplus or you have to exercise more to make up for it. For me, the best thing to do has been setting new goals. I'm training for a half-marathon and marathon in the Fall, so that brings a whole new meaning to maintaining. My mother just passed away last week so these last 10 days have been very challenging for me.
  • Alidecker
    Alidecker Posts: 1,262 Member
    Options
    It has been more difficult for me, that is why I am trying to lose 20 pounds again. Luckily I didn't fall completely off the wagon and have gotten back on track. I lost 130 pounds and I will never go back there, but I am angry with myself for the 20 that I regained. I think the scale was initially such a good motivator for me that when I wasn't losing anymore, I didn't watch what I ate as much. When I hit my lowest weight, I was training for a triathlon. I was doing a lot more cardio at the time and could eat more and not gain anything. When the training was over, I kept eating....so maybe it was bad timing on my part.

    Luckily I love working out and being active, so that part stuck and maintaining my health hasn't been bad.
  • Mav3rick54
    Mav3rick54 Posts: 180 Member
    Options
    Start thinking NOW about what NSVs you'll be shooting for as you transition into maintenance so you don't get caught unaware.

    So much this ^^

    For me it has been easier because I set new goals. That was the best advice I learned from MFP as I approached maintenance. I have been maintaining for 4 months now. I did not have a big celebration when I reached goal. I decided for me, I was not going to call my weight loss a victory until I have maintained for a year. I still use MFP to log foods and exercise etc. It is real easy to get caught up in the “I made it” mentality, so for me it helped to set new types of fitness goals.

    Good luck
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,370 Member
    Options
    I plan to maintain by keeping to a deficit on weekdays but taking the weekend off so I can enjoy my leisure time without calorie counting. I'm hoping this will work to keep me within a 10lb range that I'll set myself. Sticking to an exact weight isn't feasible as we all vary up and down throughout the month. I'll have a weight I can't go above again which will trigger full-time dieting again if I reach it until I'm back to goal. Has this worked for anyone else?
  • beamer0821
    beamer0821 Posts: 488 Member
    Options
    i hear it is hard. and from reading above posts mixed feelings about it.

    I've never made it to maintenance. however for the first time in my life i actually have maintenance in my sight now. and i think the key is what others posted and what i've read on other forums. the weight loss journey is just the training for the real deal. the real deal is maintenance and beyond. if you are eating for life and not "white knuckling it" through your weight loss journey I think we will be just fine. staying aware of what your eating and some minor caloric tweaks and I think you'll be set. weekly weigh-ins keeping you on top of maintaining during a hard week, because there's bound to be a few.

    for every new or different food or activity habit i take on i always ask myself can i do this for life if i can't envision it i re-strategize. you need to be realistic about what you are willing to keep up on.
  • SimaN2014
    SimaN2014 Posts: 23 Member
    Options
    I hope more people who have lost more than 10 pounds reply to this thread. Interesting that most replies are from members whose tickers show very low pounds-lost numbers... of course that could be just the amount the lost "this time" or with MFP.

    I wonder if taking a year or two to lose weight because you have so much to lose, puts you in a different place than if you lose 10 pounds (or less) in a few months?

    Another thought I had is that people who take control when they are overweight by just a few pounds compared to those who (like me) allow themselves to get morbidly obese before losing weight, are more nervous or shocked when they gain just a few pounds back, whereas someone who has lost 100 pounds might think "well I'm still 90 pounds lighter" if they gain back 10. Just rambling thoughts.

    I feel that learning portion control and tracking/logging what I eat is something I want to do pretty much forever, now that I understand how it enables me to feel healthier. I hope that maintenance will be more of the same without the deficit. Hope, hope, hope.

    I agree you are onto something. I've been thinking about this as I prepare to transition to maintenance. I'm within 2-3 kg of my goal.

    I've never been hugely over weight. I put on 44 lbs in 25 years of adult life, and a good portion of that (about 10 pounds) was in the last 3 years during & following pregnancy. Averaging it out, though, that gives me an average daily surplus over 25 years of about 17 calories. Like 3 or 4 cherries too many per day.

    I am planning on logging for a while on maintenance because I'm just not as active as I was pre-baby, and want to make sure I re-set my body and hunger cues. I'm confident that I can stop logging at somepoint, set a healthy range and go back to logging if I exceed a limit.

    But I have been thinking about his as I read the forums and the equation must be so different for someone who was very very over weight to begin with. I really wish you luck on your journey. I'm sure it's possible to lose and maintain. My mother did it in her 70s and she had been obese for as long as I could remember.

    57934839.png
  • skittle316
    skittle316 Posts: 128 Member
    Options
    It's not harder, people just lack motivation and give into temptations. If you haven't healed your relationship with food, you'll never keep it off. I read somewhere that it can take upto 7 years for your body to fully adapt and naturally maintain lost weight. Something to do with how the fat cells and how it takes a long time for them to shrink, as we all know overweight/obese people have bigger fat cells even after the weight is lost. If you don't plan to change for the rest of your life, it is hard to maintain. I've had to have 3 binges that lead me to gain huge amounts of weight to realize that it's a long term now on. That my friends,occasions and family are not worth me going back to hating and destroying my body. I'll have slip ups, but have already made a deal that i'm not allowed more than 1 serving plate of food outside of my house. Once those seven years are up, then i'll be more lenient :drinker:

Categories