Maintainance: can everone do it ? and how ?
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Sabine - I think that's true for some people. I think it might even be true for me, although I like logging and haven't missed it once since I started. It's particularly useful for me because I've gotten so good at eating well with good portion control that my log helps me eat enough.
But all the evidence suggests most people don't learn that much during their weight loss. They get back into old habits. They slowly gain weight. So for most of us, it's a useful tool and helps us stay mindful. In that sense, it's a good habit, like brushing your teeth.
If you don't do it, you need to find some other way of getting that same result without that tool. Maybe it's getting on the scale every day. Maybe it's religious exercising. Maybe it's logging in your head instead of online. Maybe it's spot logging every 3 days or one week a month. It doesn't matter.
Most people can't naturally eat in a food saturated environment that discourages exercise without gaining weight. That's why so many of us are overweight.0 -
Iwishyouwell wrote: »fenderman9 wrote: »I was thinking about this again and thought of this analogy; you wouldn't randomly put oil in your car withought measuring the exact amount as it would ruin the motor. So why would you randomly put food into your body with no idea of how much calories are in it or what your daily toal should be?
So what were human beings doing for the majority of our history before the calorie was "discovered"?
On top of that there are still hundreds of millions of people who live in places where the caloric value of foods is only sporadically available, if available at all. What of them?
Early Man could trust his hunger instincts because he didn't have to compete with Corperations, Marketers and Scientists who know exactly what to put into foods to make them addictive and to turn off peoples appestats such as MSG and High Fructose Corn Syrup. Not to mention fat and salt levels of snacks that dont naturally occur in whole foods. We don't have the same fight or flight outlets that prehistoric man had either. We can't just fight or run away, so we eat for many reasons except for hunger such as boredom, stress, depression. I'm talking from experience here, my appestat is shot. I havent felt true hunger in decades.0 -
Sabine - I think that's true for some people. I think it might even be true for me, although I like logging and haven't missed it once since I started. It's particularly useful for me because I've gotten so good at eating well with good portion control that my log helps me eat enough.
But all the evidence suggests most people don't learn that much during their weight loss. They get back into old habits. They slowly gain weight. So for most of us, it's a useful tool and helps us stay mindful. In that sense, it's a good habit, like brushing your teeth.
If you don't do it, you need to find some other way of getting that same result without that tool. Maybe it's getting on the scale every day. Maybe it's religious exercising. Maybe it's logging in your head instead of online. Maybe it's spot logging every 3 days or one week a month. It doesn't matter.
Most people can't naturally eat in a food saturated environment that discourages exercise without gaining weight. That's why so many of us are overweight.
Yup. The logging needs to be educational. It really does.0 -
fenderman9 wrote: »Iwishyouwell wrote: »fenderman9 wrote: »I was thinking about this again and thought of this analogy; you wouldn't randomly put oil in your car withought measuring the exact amount as it would ruin the motor. So why would you randomly put food into your body with no idea of how much calories are in it or what your daily toal should be?
So what were human beings doing for the majority of our history before the calorie was "discovered"?
On top of that there are still hundreds of millions of people who live in places where the caloric value of foods is only sporadically available, if available at all. What of them?
Early Man could trust his hunger instincts because he didn't have to compete with Corperations, Marketers and Scientists who know exactly what to put into foods to make them addictive and to turn off peoples appestats such as MSG and High Fructose Corn Syrup. Not to mention fat and salt levels of snacks that dont naturally occur in whole foods. We don't have the same fight or flight outlets that prehistoric man had either. We can't just fight or run away, so we eat for many reasons except for hunger such as boredom, stress, depression. I'm talking from experience here, my appestat is shot. I havent felt true hunger in decades.
General availability of food is another factor. Our ancestors had to hunt and gather food and would often go through periods of feast and famine. The problem is that food is no longer scarce and hard to come by and we haven't kicked our feast on calorie dense foods when they're available because the famine is coming instinct. The problem is for most of us the famine never comes.
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fenderman9 wrote: »Iwishyouwell wrote: »fenderman9 wrote: »I was thinking about this again and thought of this analogy; you wouldn't randomly put oil in your car withought measuring the exact amount as it would ruin the motor. So why would you randomly put food into your body with no idea of how much calories are in it or what your daily toal should be?
So what were human beings doing for the majority of our history before the calorie was "discovered"?
On top of that there are still hundreds of millions of people who live in places where the caloric value of foods is only sporadically available, if available at all. What of them?
Early Man could trust his hunger instincts because he didn't have to compete with Corperations, Marketers and Scientists who know exactly what to put into foods to make them addictive and to turn off peoples appestats such as MSG and High Fructose Corn Syrup. Not to mention fat and salt levels of snacks that dont naturally occur in whole foods. We don't have the same fight or flight outlets that prehistoric man had either. We can't just fight or run away, so we eat for many reasons except for hunger such as boredom, stress, depression. I'm talking from experience here, my appestat is shot. I havent felt true hunger in decades.
Well lets be real here, it wasn't just "early man". The idea that you "need" to count calories, hell the discovery of a "calorie" in the first place, is a very modern notion that doesn't even exist worldwide in modernity.
But that's the point, isn't it? You're far more likely to "need" calorie counting in certain food cultures. I too would require calorie counting if my diet was made up primarily of modern western norms.
How do you break free from calorie counting? Most need to alter their diets radically to consume diets made up largely of those naturally occurring whole foods you mention, which make it generally easier to reach satiation without busting your caloric limits. Or they could also replicate the famine/feast cycle mentioned by Gmallan by intermittent fasting.
People do. I do.0 -
I just reach maintainance and I still log my food.It has became a habit so doesn't feel like chore .I would rather know if I have still have calories left for that cookie or ice cream.
Then again, its a personal choice and this what works for me to keep me accountable0 -
I've found that it has helped me to weigh daily (I know that isn't for everybody) and to log in here and record the weight. It helps to remind me that this is an ongoing project, rather than one I've finished!
I don't always calorie count. I try to control my weight by usually eating only at mealtimes (three times a day) and being careful about portion sizes. That has worked pretty well for a couple of years. Because I weigh daily, I've noticed an upwards trend just recently, so it's back to calorie counting for a while!
I think it can be done, but you're right that it's unusual - so many people lose weight then regain. I think you have to be aware that "dieting" (if you call it that) is permanent, and always be vigilant (unfortunately).0 -
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Metrics!
The fit of pants, weight within a 5 or 10 lb range, then if any of those things goes awry, adjust intake accordingly.
-Haven't gotten to maintenance yet, take what I say as a suggestion with salt.0 -
Once I got past the initial learning curve, I've never found logging to be much trouble. The only time I don't want to log now is when I want to eat something and not acknowledge that I'm eating it. Like pizza. I really shouldn't eat any more than one or two slices of pizza, but it's pizza, and there's no way four or five slices are going to fit into my daily allowance. When I'm around pizza I wish I'd never heard of logging calories.
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ha ha that's funny I have lost and gained on my fitness pal. loosing again 25lbs so far 20 to 25 to go. Hope I can maintain this time. only I plan to log all the cals just to know where I"m at this time. even if I scarf down a whole pizza. hope I can maintain the course this time.0
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I know where you are coming from - I know that I need a constant challenge to keep me focussed on maintenance. I am just back from a long holiday so have to shift some weight to get back to my maintenance range. Normally I stay focused but I have lapses and try to keep them to a minimum. The little voice inside my head that encourages to eat more than I need never really goes away. You need to find out what really works for you.0
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211AndCounting wrote: »
Also, I think "maintenance" is associated with "monotony" but I've maintained my weight for years but have drastically changed my goals as time goes by. By keeping goals fresh the little things like logging and measuring don't take center focus.
Wow!! You have maintained your weight for years?? Congratulations, that is so inspiring to read. Could you give examples of how you have changed your goals to keep things fresh. I would be so interested to hear how you did that.
Thank you, but I didn't do anything great or different - I just changed things as I went along. Initially, yes, I just wanted to lose weight. When I started working out seriously it made me pay even more attention to my diet because there's nothing worse than eating poorly and then struggling through a treadmill session. That leads to failure.
Once I started progressing cardio-wise I switched to low carb, heavy lifting, and reduced cardio drastically. That's where I'm at now and it works great for me! But, I also know that constantly evaluating my health and lifestyle may mean other changes in the near or distant future.0 -
Some people don't want to continue to weigh/log/measure for the rest of their lives. So I suppose the dicussion is for those people
Also number 4 isn't compulsory for maintenance or even weight loss (a good idea for general health though)
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if you don't want your weight to be the forefront of your focus any more, the five pound rule might work for you.
let's say your ideal weight is 135. this means your maintenance range can be between 130-140 depending on normal fluctuations.
the instant you hit 145 (5lbs above your maintenance range) weight needs to become a priority again.
i imagine this will work for me once i hit my ideal weight, since my interest in things comes and goes much like yours.0 -
if you don't want your weight to be the forefront of your focus any more, the five pound rule might work for you.
let's say your ideal weight is 135. this means your maintenance range can be between 130-140 depending on normal fluctuations.
the instant you hit 145 (5lbs above your maintenance range) weight needs to become a priority again.
i imagine this will work for me once i hit my ideal weight, since my interest in things comes and goes much like yours.
^^ good reply - thats actually a good way to look at it
although personally I wouldn't want to let it go as far as 5lbs above my highest fluctuation weight.
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Great reply. Except I'd focus in again at 140. The minute I hit the upper end of my comfy range, I focus on my eating.if you don't want your weight to be the forefront of your focus any more, the five pound rule might work for you.
let's say your ideal weight is 135. this means your maintenance range can be between 130-140 depending on normal fluctuations.
the instant you hit 145 (5lbs above your maintenance range) weight needs to become a priority again.
i imagine this will work for me once i hit my ideal weight, since my interest in things comes and goes much like yours.
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I suppose- but I know enough people who have maintained w/o counting it's more than realistic to train yourself to be able to eat wisely and get a sense of your body happy place where it wants to sit without over thinking it.
Some people don't want to continue to weigh/log/measure for the rest of their lives. So I suppose the dicussion is for those people
Also number 4 isn't compulsory for maintenance or even weight loss (a good idea for general health though)
Secondly- I'd say 4 isn't compulsory for maintenance- but that is why I specifically mentioned for a balanced life style. I don't think you can really have a well rounded balanced life style if you don't have some form of exercise in your life.0 -
Log your food every day. Weigh in every day, track your weight daily, make adjustments if your weight goes above a specified number.
How long would you stay out of debt if you never checked your bank/credit card balance and didn't look at the prices of anything?0 -
I know a lot of people who lost significant amounts of weight 4-5 years back who have managed to maintain within roughly a 10lb range. And that's something that I want to point out to you -- maintenance is a range. You aren't going to get to the end of your weight loss, weigh your magical goal weight of ____ and forever weigh that specific number. Most people fluctuate 5-10lbs around that number through the course of the year depending on the season, their level of activity, the foods available, work schedule etc. So now only are those fluctuations something that you have to get used to, but that you need to plan for as well.
I will say, the friends of mine that have done the most successfully don't look at maintenance as something static. They set new goals in relation to their health that they look to achieve. One of my friends began by losing a whopping 220lbs. He maintained for a few months, but found it was pretty boring, so he decided that he should set a goal to get his body fat lower, so he did cut/bulk cycles for about a year. Next he decided that for how healthy he looked now, it was kind of pathetic that he couldn't run a 5k; so he did. And then a 10k, and I believe he's training for his first half marathon now which is in late spring. And he's already told me that if that goes well, he'd really like to try a triathlon the following year so that he could get comfortable with various forms of cardio.
Basically the moral of what I'm trying to say here is that those who succeed at maintenance recognize that just like weight loss, you need smaller goals. You need to monitor what you're eating, your activity level etc. And you need to do things that work for your lifestyle and are sustainable. It's not a one off fix, it's a lifestyle. If you don't change your lifestyle in drastic ways that will and do carry over long term, that's where you'll slip right out of maintenance.0
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