Was maintaining now slowly gaining

sararose39
sararose39 Posts: 7 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I was maintaining my weight (130) for about a year after I hit my goal... I originally lost 20 lbs and went from 150 to 130. Then after maintaining for about a year - I pretty much stayed 130 sometimes 128-132 but mainly stuck at 130. Then after about a year it was starting to see that I was 132 more frequently and started staying at that weight for about 3-4 months... Which I was ok with since it's only 2 lbs... Then slowly I started weighing 133/134 more frequently... Again I didn't worry too much since it's not that much weight. Now for the past 2 months I've been closer to 135-136 so I'm starting to worry. It's been difficult for me to go back down I just keep creeping up even when I've tried to lower my calories etc. It seems like it takes very little for me to gain 2 lbs but then it's difficult to get back down. I know this isn't a huge deal... But 6 lbs up consistently is scaring me... Like I will continue to slowly gain. I know it isn't water weight because it's been consistent. I drink plenty of water and usually workout 4-5 times per week. I have been focusing more on cardio to try and lose a few lbs but still nothing. I'm not sure if I need to start eating less calories now and maybe cut back and exercise a bit...?

Throughout my entire weight loss and maintaining I always had 1 cheat meal per week- just one meal not a day. And usually gave myself 1 other day where I had some sort of cheat snack or something. I've done the math adding my calories and it doesn't seem right that I've gained 6 lbs in the past 6-7 months... So I'm not sure what has caused it. I do feel like my cheat meals have gotten "bigger" recently I think from stress I've used that one meal as my release for the entire week.

I'm just getting nervous that this won't stop and I don't want to go backwards. I also find it really hard to eat less calories now because I always feel hungry since I was used to eating more. When I lost weight I ate between 1200-1500 cals roughly a day. Since maintaining I was around 1600-1700 a day. But that still wasn't eating my tdee... So idk if somehow I slowed down my metabolism ?

Any recommendations or help is appreciated.

Replies

  • IvyLuci
    IvyLuci Posts: 117 Member
    You don't mention how accurate your logging has been during the maintenace period. Maybe go back to the start? i.e. figure out how many calories you should have in a day, and then weigh and log. If you had not been weighing everything your estimations were probably a bit high, and you had been eating more than you think.
    I don't know what your standard meals looked like, but if you add leafy vegetables, salads etc. you can fill up without adding a whole lot of calories, so your meals do not have to decrease drastically.
  • cookmtn
    cookmtn Posts: 156 Member
    I'm not an expert at maintaining, still in the weight loss phase, but maybe heavy weight lifting is the way to go. It will increase your muscle mass, if you are eating at a surplus, and should increase your maintenance calories. I assume you are still weighing/ measuring all your food? Hard to tell your true maintenance calories if not.
  • summer8it
    summer8it Posts: 433 Member
    If you want to lose 6 pounds to get back to 130, then consider yourself in weight-loss mode again until you get back to your goal weight. Since you're close to goal, accept that the weight loss will be slower than if you had a lot to lose. Do the calculations again to figure out a good calorie goal -- I'd recommend aiming for a deficit that should give you a loss of one pound per week.

    The other thing to consider, since your weight gain has been slow and steady, is if you're truly gaining fat. Have your measurements changed? Are your clothes fitting differently?
  • sararose39
    sararose39 Posts: 7 Member
    I've always been as accurate as I can with measuring and adding. I do use a food scale so my Calories should be pretty accurate. I really don't "snack" in between or eat things and not add then. I try to be mindful of that stuff.
  • annette_15
    annette_15 Posts: 1,657 Member
    Just go back to doing what u did when u lost the weight until your'e where you wanna be again? I dont see what the problem is really :flowerforyou:
  • edg6strings
    edg6strings Posts: 37 Member
    I know exactly how you feel. I've been maintaining for about 6 months since losing 80 lbs. It seems so easy to put on a couple of lbs quickly, but then it takes several weeks to lose it again. Be patient & consistent with your logging & watch out for little bad decisions here & there. That's what I've found with myself lately... I've eased up a little on small choices (an extra beer here, some ice cream there), and it adds up. Not that you can never have that stuff, but maybe you need to pull back for a few weeks to get back on track.

    I saw many people post on here about how tough maintenance can be. I understand now, it really feels tougher than losing did. Don't let those few lbs get you down!
  • Blacklance36
    Blacklance36 Posts: 755 Member
    I find that maintaining is harder than losing.
  • sararose39
    sararose39 Posts: 7 Member
    I totally think maintaining is harder then losing!

    Yes I think I will go back to what I did to lose the weight and hopefully drop a few lbs...I know it seems so "easy" but I feel like now that I've been in "maintenance mode" for a while its hard to switch my mindset back...and I feel hungry when I cut back 200-300 cals especially with working out 4-5 days per week... I was going to try and cut back on working on this week and focus on my diet, because sometimes I feel like when I'm working out and burning 400-500 cals then I really do NEED to eat more...otherwise I'm just not eating enough...especially when thats 4-5 times per week. Plus then I'm more hungry from working out, and I feel like it gives me the "excuse" to eat more because I worked out and burned cals....
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    When you notice this kind of trend, all you have to do is evaluate your diet and fitness...just cut a little something out...you don't have to crash back to 1200 calories or whatever...just cut out a snack every day. It's pretty easy.

    Generally what happens is that slowly but surely, little things here and there start getting added into your diet...so you're just eating a tiny bit more and a tiny bit more and a tiny bit more, and that all adds up over weeks and months.

    I usually notice this happening to me when I fall off on my fitness a bit as well. I've more or less been maintaining for going on about 18 months now...but I usually put on a few pounds towards the end of summer and going into fall because that's when the **** really hits the fan for me at work and I end up missing scheduled workouts fairly regularly. I'm missing workouts here and there, but I'm eating roughly the same amount of food which equals putting on a few Lbs very slowly. Once things quiet down a bit at work I usually maintain again for the winter and then I shed those pounds in the spring when I start training for endurance rides and have problems eating enough to support that much activity...I lose weight whether I want to or not.
  • ianthy
    ianthy Posts: 404 Member
    Hi
    I know how you feel. I have only been in maintenance for a couple of months and after a long holiday my weight was up 5lbs. I dreaded the thought of going back into weight loss mode and cutting back on my cals by 300+ a day or so. I read a posting on MFP about not panicking and just going back to the same routine and the weight will settle back to you range. After 2 weeks I am 1lb above my old GW - so it does work.

    Other posters have given you really good advice - logging everything, weighing as much as possible and being honest about it, working out but I would not eat back all of the cals. I normally eat back 50% which allows for over estimation etc.,

    You can crack this one it's 6lbs - take it nice and slowly then it won't feel like a diet.
  • sararose39
    sararose39 Posts: 7 Member
    Thanks :)
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Yeah it's much harder to go back to cutting after maintaining for a while! I would say, try to decrease your calories by 250, increase your consumption of veggies and lean meat, and see from there. I'm guessing you pretty much have to decrease your calories by 50 every 6-12 months anyway as you grow older.
  • jrodri0105
    jrodri0105 Posts: 91 Member
    Are you eating back your calories with the amount of exercise you're doing?
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,324 Member
    Hey you've caught it in time. I know the mental drain of not wanting to cut calories when you have to do it. Why not shave 200 calories by switching out a few painless items. Like an egg white omelet for breakfast instead of a two eggs. Or chicken and fish for dinner instead of beef or pork. And add 10 minutes of exercise and more steps to each day.

    That will do the trick. I also love skinnytaste.com some of those recipes make me feel like i'm not even dieting.
  • 6heatherb6
    6heatherb6 Posts: 469 Member
    I agree with you whole heartily...I lost my few kilo and was maintaining VERY easily. in fact I went under my goal weight and was unhappy. :blushing: But...gradually the weight is trying to creep on....I have come back to MFP, I am recounting my calories and just re-focusing! For me it might be as little as the soy milk that I have changed, from 99 per cent fat free to reduced fat. All the little bits do add up as we all know. Recheck your calories and see how you go. All the very best :)
  • astrampe
    astrampe Posts: 2,169 Member
    In order to maintain your weight it depends on many things. Food content, exercise and toxins. Toxins you breath in daily build up on your cells and hold fat in your cells. Toxins come in many forms like make-up, bathing water has toxins and many foods. I use the Isagenix cleanse to keep the toxins from building up. You can do a deep cellular cleanse for 11 days which is very easy and healthy and then maintenance is a 2 day cleanse every 4-6 weeks. It really works. If you want more information just let me know. You should continue exercising and eating your calories to maintain. I wouldn't cut any of that out. It wouldn't be healthy.

    Can you please supply me with the names and other scientific research that proofs the existance of "toxins" that your body cannot get rid of on its own? No advertising material, real research results please?
    And just in case you do not know, No advertising is allowed here.....
  • DaniCanadian
    DaniCanadian Posts: 261 Member
    Keep in mind that as you lose weight and get fit your body becomes more efficient at burning calories so it needs less. Try changing up your regular workouts by throwing in something you don't normally do. Challenging your body will help prevent it from getting comfortable with a regular routine. Maybe add 1 workout of strength training a week since muscle will also increase how many calories your body burns in a day. I wouldn't cut back more than 100 calories per day. That 6 lbs has taken 6 or 7 months to come on so expect it to take at least that long to get back off. I really think strength training and varying exercises will fix your issue though. I'm a runner but I plateaued 3 months ago. I'd run longer and faster but still no budging. Then I started adding in weights and hiit training a few times a week and bam! The scales moved again. I hope this helps, keep at it!
  • sararose39
    sararose39 Posts: 7 Member
    No I typically don't eat back my exercise calories...when I was maintaining I ate around 1600 which was what MFP recommended to maintain... And I usually exercise 300-400 calories 4-5 days a week. I would still eat around 1600 even when I exercised that day.
  • jrodri0105
    jrodri0105 Posts: 91 Member
    it may just be water weight. Start taking measurements .
  • Ideabaker
    Ideabaker Posts: 514 Member
    Bump... have been in the same '+/- 3 pounds' for a few months in maintenance for the past months, but every once in a while see a spike toward the higher end. It's always good to hear tips from successful maintainers. Thanks for posting a great thread!
  • trishdg10
    trishdg10 Posts: 8 Member
    I have experienced the same thing. Lost 40 pounds maintained for almost 2 years then pound by pound. It started slowly, pound here, pound there, now I have regained 20 of the lost 40. I feel like I have relaxed my vigilance. Went on a cruise, that started it and then it seemed like the flood gates opened.

    Had several false starts to try to kickstart my plan but all failed. Now I have a significant bet for the highest percentage of weight lost by Jan 1. I feel more motivated now than ever.

    I think once you have been overweight, those fat cells want to fill up again and it is akin to being an alcoholic. Ya just can't let it get past 5 pounds before you are back on the plan.
  • tigerblue
    tigerblue Posts: 1,526 Member
    Story of my life for the past three years! Only I ultimately gained 20 lbs because I decided I needed to re-set my metabolism so I could eat more! There is only so much truth in that theory, but I kept trying!

    Most of the posts here are really good!

    I finally went back to MFP net goal for losing 0.5 lbs per week. And I started logging and eating back a portion of calories again (I subtract about 1 calorie per minute of exercise from the number of calories burned MFP gives me. This accounts for the calories already in my goal for regular non exercise activity). I was still stalled, so I manually subtracted a few calories per week from my net goal until I started losing again. Basically, I ended up with my net goal right about where my estimated BMR is.

    This has been working now for the past month. It is the first consistent loss I have seen in three years.

    I just couldn't use the TDEE method. When I go back to maintenance, I will slowly add calories to my net goal each week until I stop losing. And I will keep logging and eating exercise.

    When I look back at why I gained, I can see it now.

    1. My total body weight had slipped below the 1200 calorie floor for losing, which is why when I first started gaining, the 1200 MFP goal wouldn't work anymore. (I am petite and got down to 112 lbs before regaining. Basically the MFP estimates become invalid at some point below 120 lbs. I have not done the math in awhile, so it may be more like under 130. I can't remember.

    2. I was over estimating exercise burns. I recently updated my gps app, and I now see that when I thought I was running 9 minute miles I was really running closer to 11 minute miles! Big difference in burn if you do long runs. And when you are in deficit, a few errors will not put you in surplus. But if you are set exactly at maintenance, a few errors will put you in surplus in a hurry!

    3. MFP exercise estimates do not remove the calories that you are already burning with regular activity. So, again, with long workouts, you are overestimating.

    4. I wanted so badly to be able to eat more that I ignored the basic logic--if you are gaining, you are eating above maintenance, if you are maintaining you ARE eating at maintenance, and if you are eating at deficit, you WILL lose.

    5. I did not track my results (gains) because I did not like seeing the ticker go up, so it was not easy for me to correlate my eating levels with my gains (or losses).

    I am so much wiser now! Also, I make sure I train with weights at least three times a week (even though I still like a cardio mix circuit style). And I will never REGULARLY exercise just to eat more. (Special occaisions, maybe, but for everyday life, I plan 3-4 30-45 minute cardio sessions, and 3 30 minute strength circuits per week and just stick to that routine. Then I eat within that reasonable goal.). Before I was exercising primarily to eat more, and although there will always be a correlation there, what I was doing was not sustainable. It was making me crazy.

    That's my personal testimony. Hope it helps.
  • irleshay
    irleshay Posts: 102 Member
    I just had the same experience. I lost 21 lbs this time last year (146 to 125), then it became 121, then 118. It slowly creeped back up to 120, which I was fine with. But during August my weight creeped up to 122/123, and my waistband was feeling tight. So I cut back my maintenance calories from 1700 to 1600 and that did the trick (during loss last year I ate 1400). I'm now 119. I've kept my 3 workouts a week the same (swim/zumba/kickboxing). I also stopped little cheats with logging, and unlike last month I haven't been traveling or at any catered events where I easily went over. So I'm sticking with this new calorie count and trying to be disciplined.

    I'd say stop with your cheat meal once a week, try it every other week. Not sure about the TDEE formulas (I always just used the MFP presets), but less calories would probably help. Good luck!

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