What are you doing during weight loss to prevent future relapse?
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Basically I established and I'm maintaining healthful habits. My diet (noun) is very nutritionally focused and exercise is a huge part of my life. These aren't "extra" things I'm doing with some end point in mind...these things are me...they are what I'm all about.
I do not log, but I am very mindful of what I'm consuming...I also eat, by and large, nutritionally rich whole foods and meals prepared from scratch whole ingredients. In my experience, while possible, it is difficult to over-eat whole foods. I can down a bag of potato chips and about a million calories pretty easily...but I'm pretty full off a good sized sweet potato that clocks in around 150 calories.
I do eat "junk" from time to time, but it is not a routine part of my diet at large. In this regard, my bigger issue is craft beer...I love the stuff and definitely have to force moderation here. I could easily sit down to multiple craft beers every night and pack on the pounds...I simply choose not to and enjoy a couple on the weekends. I think knowing your weaknesses is important...we all have them, and they are generally different for every individual. I have a hard time saying no to a good craft beer...but have no issues at all skipping the pie.0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »IMO, what is so hard is that you are determined until you aren't
Exactly. Today's determination can not define tomorrow's.lemurcat12 wrote: »That said, I think feeling confident is helpful to people, so I don't see the harm. Believing you can and will do something is part of what makes it possible to do it, although there's more necessary also.
So do I. Personally I am very confident about weight loss and maintenance this go round. I'm mentally better equipped for it and feel, after many years of trial and error, I've found a road that's damn near perfect for me.
I just don't think confidence is in conflict with reality. Nor do I believe that because I might have the answers for me, it means scores of other people who likewise felt the same didn't still end up regaining.
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lemurcat12 wrote: »IMO, what is so hard is that you are determined until you aren't, so there needs to be a way to make it work even when you go through less determined periods.
YEP. This is exactly it. It's real easy to say "I'll NEVER regain" because I am determined.... but I have found that my determination waxes and wanes. I know I could feel differently tomorrow than I do today, and need to be on guard for signs of faltering. "It's just a matter of making good choices"... but my ability to consistently make the good choices I want to make in all areas of my life simultaneously is apparently more compromised than some people I encounter online.
I sometimes am weak and make bad choices when it comes to food, especially if I'm depressed or anxious or distracted by overwhelming life circumstances. I fall off the wagon, not because I didn't make it a lifestyle or because I lacked determination, but because my lifestyle and determination changed as life circumstances shifted.
I think optimism is good, but if one's optimism is so unrealistic as to not consider the possibility that anything bad could ever happen... I think a person is setting him/herself up for failure, or at the least a hard and shocking fall if all that perfect determinism fails. I'd rather be hopeful, but cautious enough to stay on guard.... And realizing what odds we are up against, it helps me be less judgmental of myself and others if I/they fail to live up to the ideal.
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When we started school, they said 2/3 wouldn't finish. Most were sure it wouldn't be them. I was not and spent the school years completely and obsessively devoted to school a la Alex Dunphy. They could've based her on me, lol.
Then, I knew what I had to do. It was so simple and clear. There were things to learn and I had to learn and remember all of them. If X, Y and Z, then probably N. Defend the statement. Fill in B. Check, check, check...on to the next.
Now, I have no idea. There is no path to follow that leads to success. There are no grades, no final test, no end.
All I know is that most will fail and I cannot...but I don't know how to succeed forever and for sure.0 -
NoblankFRplease wrote: »Forget about the weight. Focus on your lifestyle. Don't have a "diet mode" and a non diet one. Certain changes have to be for life. If you are doing it right your weight won't change.
This is somewhat true, but eating is part of lifestyle. And you can only out exercise overeating to a certain point. There are physically fit muscular people who are still overly fat. If you are prone to overeat, not focusing on diet is unlikely to lead to long term success.0 -
I do not find it unrealistic that I am determined not to become obese again. I know I have only been maintaining for a little over a year, but I am watching what I eat and drink, and exercising every day. I have educated myself about nutrition, portion sizes, and moderation over the past 3 years. I am very well aware of the statistics, and I will not let myself go back to where I was. You can say that I am setting myself up for disappointment and/or failure. I prefer to think of myself in the 20% (or less) that will succeed in keeping the weight off. It does happen you know, and I know myself better than anyone else. No one knows the future, but I am going to try my best to keep myself (at age 63) in the best shape that I have been in in 30 years. I do understand that everyone that achieves this goal says the same thing, but, some people do succeed, and I intend to be one of those people that does.0
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alphabetsoup2013 wrote: »I don't know how many of you spotted this post on the blogs a few weeks back, but I found it really inspiring. I should make a list like this, too -- a list of all the reasons why going back to my pre-MFP lifestyle and gaining back the weight I've lost is simply no longer an option....
Great discussion, by the way.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/ShannonMpls/view/why-i-m-never-going-back-709782
Thanks for the link -- That was a great story anyone can relate to -- with a little tweaking anyone could you it as a model for reasons not to go back to the dark side... again Thanks
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Need2Exerc1se wrote: »NoblankFRplease wrote: »Forget about the weight. Focus on your lifestyle. Don't have a "diet mode" and a non diet one. Certain changes have to be for life. If you are doing it right your weight won't change.
This is somewhat true, but eating is part of lifestyle. And you can only out exercise overeating to a certain point. There are physically fit muscular people who are still overly fat. If you are prone to overeat, not focusing on diet is unlikely to lead to long term success.
The disconnect between these two posts is the way we think of "diet" in English. The word originally referred to general eating patterns, now we use it to refer to restricted eating for a limited period of time. I think what NoblankFRplease meant to say is that you need to realize that your new eating patterns are just that, not something that goes away as soon as you reach a goal weight, but something to live by. I hope I am not putting words into your mouth fingers.
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DeirdreWoodwardSanders wrote: »But if a habit is a routine behavior that we generally do unconsciously -- brush my teeth every morning, for instance -- and if general wisdom is to be believed, the period of time needed to adjust to a new habit is 21 days, then why do we slip back into old habits?
Seems to me that if we want to sustain a lower-weight lifestyle, our understanding of habits really needs better investigation.
Some research suggests that habits take 66 or 254 days to form, but I wonder, for something like our eating habits, how many days it really takes for the new habit to stick, and more importantly, for the old habit to dissolve.
I actually interviewed the guy who did the study that gave rise to the 21-day figure that's been paraphrased all over the place (mostly innacurately). What he found was this: anything can become a habit, but the more unpleasant and difficult the thing is to do, the longer it takes to become ingrained. (One of those they-needed-a-study-to-know-that? studies.) It took 21 days to adopt an EASY habit--I believe the example he gave me was making coffee at home rather than spending $$ at Starbucks. Not much effort there. The hardest habits for people to form? You probably know what I'm going to say: exercising regularly and maintaining good eating habits. He found it takes years for the average person to go from couch potato to regular exerciser, not to say that it's impossible, but it needed to be a conscious choice for much longer than he was expecting. Same was true for eating healthfully/appropriately--even when people were thrilled with the results of those things, they needed to continue to think about them.
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I think the biggest thing that causes people to regain the weight is that they don't have a maintenance plan. So, when they hit their goal weight, they go right back to their old, bad habits.
For me, I plan to keep logging my food for a while ( I haven't decided how long yet, maybe forever). Then, I plan to keep track of my weight, and keep a goal weight range in mind. If I go over that range, I go back to restricting calories.0 -
I started my weight loss journey 6 years ago at my highest weight of 180. It was a gradual process and took me a couple years to lose about 50lbs. I got down to 128 and started lifting and my weight went to 135. I maintained that for a full year. Last year during the holidays I gained 10lbs in 2 weeks. I did nothing but drink and eat and didn't workout. It took me almost this whole year to lose those 10lbs. So what I have learned is twofold:
1. Workout at least 5 days a week no matter what. Never go more than 3 days without a workout and never miss a Monday. This keeps me in the habit of working out. Now even when I go on vacation I at least walk for 30mins or more everyday if nothing else.
2. Log everything you eat. That way you know you are staying within your maintenance calories. I always ate "healthy" but by not logging the lbs creep up. So even when I have a cheat day I log it. I'm not perfect at it. Some days I forget and I lose my streak but it's something I am working on and will maintain.
And like others say, you have to make it a part of your lifestyle. Fitness for me has become more than just a habit....I crave it.0 -
concordancia wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »NoblankFRplease wrote: »Forget about the weight. Focus on your lifestyle. Don't have a "diet mode" and a non diet one. Certain changes have to be for life. If you are doing it right your weight won't change.
This is somewhat true, but eating is part of lifestyle. And you can only out exercise overeating to a certain point. There are physically fit muscular people who are still overly fat. If you are prone to overeat, not focusing on diet is unlikely to lead to long term success.
The disconnect between these two posts is the way we think of "diet" in English. The word originally referred to general eating patterns, now we use it to refer to restricted eating for a limited period of time. I think what NoblankFRplease meant to say is that you need to realize that your new eating patterns are just that, not something that goes away as soon as you reach a goal weight, but something to live by. I hope I am not putting words into your mouth fingers.
Oops! Now that I re-read it I think you are correct, and we were saying the same thing, more or less. You need to always think about your food intake.0 -
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Hi everybody!
I lost my weight almost 9 yrs ago. I lost 120 lbs. I've been in successful maintenance since that time in 2005. It is very possible to keep it off as I'm living proof. I weigh in weekly online with a group of other successful maintainers.
I did literally change the way I eat and also got very tuned into my emotional eating and became very aware of it. I am a carb addict and had to get rid of all the white flour stuff that haunted me my entire life. So rarely do I eat that crap any more. Its just not worth it to me. Once in a while I'll allow myself a treat but that is few and far between.
Exercise for health and toning but not for weight loss as that's about 80% diet related. 0 -
I'm eating how I'm going to eat until I die - keeping food diaries, tracking sodium, portion control.
Me too. That's exactly how I'm thinking about it.
Also, learning new ways to cook things that eliminate extra calories you can just do without. Like tonight, we had homemade chips and lamb chops with a large salad on the side. My chips and chops were cooked completely oil free (chops cooked in lemon juice), all the fat was cut off the chops and chips were cooked on the grill after being dunked in lemon juice. I love lemon juice!
They were just so much more satisfying and tasty than an oily dinner.
That being said, my daughter and I had a cinnamon donut today (totally within my calorie budget) and took a long walk after dinner. The changes this way of eating has brought me are many and all positive.0 -
Iwishyouwell wrote: »One of my best friends was raised as a vegetarian since birth. He literally never had a single taste of meat growing up. That's about as solid a "habit" as you can form. However sometime in his mid 20's he ended up tasting meat and, now in his early 30s, he eats it pretty regularly, to his mother's horror.
Yes, this. ^^^
I changed the way I eat about 10 years ago and lost about 75 pounds. I also started exercising. About three years ago, I moved a couple of times, and started eating at restaurants instead of at home, and stopped exercising. In September of this year, when I realized I gained a lot of weight, I came here to MFP and I bought some fun Wii Fit games.
I've snapped back into food plan very easily and am already halfway to my weight loss goal.
But the Wii Fit just sits there. I've tried using it, and it's fun, and I've tried going for walks, and they are nice, but mostly I lie in bed and think that I should be up and exercising.
So one habit (the food) stuck and one habit (the exercise) didn't, even though I started both at the same time, and continued both up until three years ago.
*kitten* I cannot believe it has taken me half an hour to type this. If I walked instead of coming to these forums I would be so thin. lol late for work now!0 -
I'm eating how I'm going to eat until I die - keeping food diaries, tracking sodium, portion control.
Indeed. Find what works and stick with it. Also, be flexible enough to change as your body's needs change... In other words, don't get too dogmatic. What got you there may or may not be what keeps you there.0 -
Idk. I guess being poor puts overeating (in my case, at least) into perspective. If I don't spend over my budget on food, I can't put on weight. I'll always stick to a £25-£30 a week between two budget for food (in line with inflation, obvs) and with that, exercise and feeling strong and getting that feeling of accomplishment is also necessary for my mental health (I'm prone to high levels of anxiety and serious depression).
So I'm hoping that enough, part reward and part restorative, is my need to focus losing weight on healthiness.0 -
My set back comes from I was never that "bad".
I was 140 to start with and now I'm between 118-122, but I still looking into lose another 10 lbs.
It's not biggy, I'm still considered healthy, I'm still working on toning my body, and it looks good. BUT I WANT THAT NUMBER.
maybe that's unhealthy..?0 -
NoblankFRplease wrote: »Forget about the weight. Focus on your lifestyle. Don't have a "diet mode" and a non diet one. Certain changes have to be for life. If you are doing it right your weight won't change.
so true.0 -
Right now, I am really trying to maintain a balance in my life. I don't do well with changes and stress so I am working to eliminate as many stressful situations from my life as I can.
Other than that, I am losing slower than I used to. This is partially because I want my skin to shrink back as much as possible as I am losing, but also I want to ingrain as many of the good habits as I can. Allowing myself more calories while losing is making the process much easier, especially working in the holidays, eating out, days I am very hungry or craving something, etc.0 -
All great ideas. As someone who is now trying to re-lose the same 25 lbs I've gained and lost and gained again over the last 3 years I really need to keep this in mind...0
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i created a lifestyle that demands that I continue to train and eat well. I have to keep up with myself. I don't think it's possible for me to go back, barring some traumatic life event that completely overthrew my world - but even then I'd end up still walking about 7 miles a day probably.0
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I'm not thinking of it as an issue. It's just food. If I overeat, that's not relapse. (I understand that for those with ED's this is a different issue.) Lately, I just feel like it's not all that important. On days I'm not that hungry, I give more of a deficit. On days where I need more, I try to top out at maintenance. If I go over by a bit, eh, it's ok. If I go over a lot, I try not to do that again soon. Basically, I'm only dieting on days that I feel like it and banking those for the days when I will inevitably not feel like it.
Exactly my mantra right now that I am more in maintenance mode, with the hope to eventually/SLOWLY lose a few extra pounds.
Personally, the daily weighing keeps me in check. I am able to not freak out over weight fluctuations, but they also keep me accountable and on top of my weight.
It's certainly a life style change and the people that gain back more weight than when they began went back to the unhealthy lifestyle.
When people ask how I am doing it, it's so simple, but it is not the magic pill or solution that people want. I eat healthy 80-90% of the time and live life for the rest. I am human so I have overdone it at points, but I acknowledge it and move on, and eat better for a while afterwards and work out harder.
I think another thing that has helped me was thinking "Not every meal you have is going to be the BEST or most satisfying meal. Some meals are meant to sustain and keep your body healthy." That said, you don't have to eat gross items, but not every meal can be pizza, cookies, chips, CHEESE, etc., if you want to lose or maintain weight. Can you have those items again? ABSOLUTELY! But not ALL the time or if you can, in moderation (which I am not the best at).0 -
i created a lifestyle that demands that I continue to train and eat well. I have to keep up with myself. I don't think it's possible for me to go back, barring some traumatic life event that completely overthrew my world - but even then I'd end up still walking about 7 miles a day probably.
How do you find the time to walk 7 miles a day?0 -
I've been maintaining my loss for almost 3 years now. Very little has changed from when I was losing weight, other than I eat more calories than I did then.
I still track my calories, I still weigh myself on a regular basis, I still hit the gym 5 mornings a week, as well as some cardio during lunch at work. I try to keep myself within a 5lb range of my goal and adjust my calories and/or exercise to keep myself there.
The biggest change for me was changing my relationship with food. Food is fuel now, nothing else, and I'm mindful of everything I eat now. Granted some fuel tastes better than others, but food doesn't make me happy, and food isn't a reward.
Also, no food is bad, but some you just can't eat very much of and still meet you calorie and macro goals.
From what I've seen, the people who regain the weight stop watching what they are eating and stop exercising regularly when they hit there goal, and go back to the habits that got them overweight in the first place.
If you want to lose the weight and keep it off, you need to make life long changes and adopt a healthier, more active lifestyle.0 -
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0somuchbetter0 wrote: »i created a lifestyle that demands that I continue to train and eat well. I have to keep up with myself. I don't think it's possible for me to go back, barring some traumatic life event that completely overthrew my world - but even then I'd end up still walking about 7 miles a day probably.
How do you find the time to walk 7 miles a day?
I don't have a car. It's a little over 3.5 miles to work. It adds up to like - an hour and 50 minutes for the round trip, sometimes less.
Pretty much the same time commute as people who drive, but for me it's a daily consistent burn.
Or it is becoming so again now that my foot is healed from a crack I got earlier this fall.
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I've been maintaining my loss for almost 3 years now. Very little has changed from when I was losing weight, other than I eat more calories than I did then.
I still track my calories, I still weigh myself on a regular basis, I still hit the gym 5 mornings a week, as well as some cardio during lunch at work. I try to keep myself within a 5lb range of my goal and adjust my calories and/or exercise to keep myself there.
The biggest change for me was changing my relationship with food. Food is fuel now, nothing else, and I'm mindful of everything I eat now. Granted some fuel tastes better than others, but food doesn't make me happy, and food isn't a reward.
Also, no food is bad, but some you just can't eat very much of and still meet you calorie and macro goals.
From what I've seen, the people who regain the weight stop watching what they are eating and stop exercising regularly when they hit there goal, and go back to the habits that got them overweight in the first place.
If you want to lose the weight and keep it off, you need to make life long changes and adopt a healthier, more active lifestyle.
I love this. This is what I am thinking I will need to do. It's almost like nothing changes at all except the goal. Instead of trying to get down to a number (weight or bodyfat) I will be trying to stay AT that number. What did me in was not getting on the scale for a long time and then being "afraid" to assess the damage. So I let things balloon (literally) out of control and kept saying "I will do it next week". I gained a ton of weight this last time and it was more than just a few extra pounds. That's why I believe this time will be different. Because I gained so much weight and this has been so traumatic to me mentally and physically. I will never do this to myself again. I think logging is great and a useful tool but not essential (for me, anyway). But the most important thijngs for me are the mirror, scale, my clothes and my energy level.
Congrats on your accomplishment (losing and maintaining)!!!0 -
I've been maintaining my loss for almost 3 years now. Very little has changed from when I was losing weight, other than I eat more calories than I did then.
I still track my calories, I still weigh myself on a regular basis, I still hit the gym 5 mornings a week, as well as some cardio during lunch at work. I try to keep myself within a 5lb range of my goal and adjust my calories and/or exercise to keep myself there.
The biggest change for me was changing my relationship with food. Food is fuel now, nothing else, and I'm mindful of everything I eat now. Granted some fuel tastes better than others, but food doesn't make me happy, and food isn't a reward.
Also, no food is bad, but some you just can't eat very much of and still meet you calorie and macro goals.
From what I've seen, the people who regain the weight stop watching what they are eating and stop exercising regularly when they hit there goal, and go back to the habits that got them overweight in the first place.
If you want to lose the weight and keep it off, you need to make life long changes and adopt a healthier, more active lifestyle.
This is so good it brought a tear to my eye...
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