Struggling to shift from a mindset of losing to maintaining...

Oh wow, at 5'10" I don't think I would be doing maintenance at your weight, I would try to bulk and add some lean mass.

I am not big myself, but weigh the same as you at 5'6"

If you are having trouble getting your calories in, drink more of them, not filling and add up fast (milk, juice, shakes, etc) add olive oil to soups, salads and sauces. Avoid lite and low fat foods, opt for the full calorie versions. Use nuts and nut butters for snacks, eat full fat milk, cheese, yogurt.

OMG - you live in Parsippany! We're almost neighbors! hahahaha

I think I agree with the bulking idea.

OT - but you weigh 4 pounds less than I do and I'm a chick who's 5'8

iloseityes wrote: »

My suggestion would be to look into intermittent fasting (IF) to effectively use as training wheels as you forge a healthier relationship with food. If you're like me, I needed to leave go of food logging if I was to take the next step and forge a healthy relationship with food, instead of having an adversarial one where food was seen instead as a potential enemy to be contained.

The IF I find helped give me the training wheels and some structure that I could let go of letting the numbers control what I ate, yet provide a framework for damage limitation.

The other thing IF has given me, is a very convenient mechanism to cut calories 1 or 2 days a week if I feel the need to drop body fat at any point (I do, as I still have 5'ish lbs left to lose). Such a mechanism is important I feel, as if your weight does drift upwards too much, you want to be able to dial it back handily enough, without having to go into full-on dieting and tracking mode.

I like the freedom it all affords me, as well as the ability to build muscle by resistance training and eating enough to build that muscle most of the week, and focus any fat-cutting to one/ two days.

Anyway, an alternative perspective perhaps, as it's something I have given a bit of thought to and I don't intend to have to worry/ watch things closely for the rest of my life once I lose the weight I plan to. In such cases, some form of loose, but effective system, that allows me apply my focus to other areas in my life tends to suit me best personally, and I'm finding IF is allowing me to do that with weight management.

IF can work but is not necessary either.

OP: sounds like if you were not lifting while losing weight that a large % of your loss also came from lean muscle. lifting while losing is important so that you are a lower BF% at your goal weight, or your goal weight is higher than it would be if you lost a lot of muscle.

Reinventi0n wrote: »

I do a kind of loose variation of IF right now. I don't stick to any set rules, but I make a point to to leave at least 11-12 hours from when I last eat the day before to my first meal the next day. I almost never eat before 10am/11am and I tend to eat lighter (400-600) calories during the day and save the bulk of my calories for the me evening meal. However, I can look into other IF options that might make it possible for me to not track as strictly.

I was pretty much the same, in that I observed a 14:10 protocol (10am- 8pm eating window) without intentionally going out of my way to take up IF. I'm finding what works best for me right now, and tends to simplify things a lot, is eating my daily calories over 2 quite large meals that when I tracked, worked out to be about 50% of my daily calories for each meal.

It might not be for everyone, but it seems to be working great for me. With the 2 large meals, I find it very hard to snack with a very full belly. Also I find it simplifies food decisions (only 2 meals to worry about), but moreover pretty much lets me eat whatever I want, as I find there is only so much I can eat at a meal before I have to say no more. This last fringe benefit is proving great, as it's letting me work any food cravings out of my system (things I would have excluded from my diet when focussing on weight loss before), but without overeating too much I find. In all, it's proving a great way (at least for me), to work through forging a much healthier relationship with food, with just enough of a system/ structure to ensure things don't spiral out of control.

To be successful long term, I think you need a plan that let's you enjoy the things you enjoy, and also has some sort of lever(s)/ tool(s)/ mechanism(s) to moderate your weight up or down if so required. Intuitive eating is my ultimate goal I'm realising lately, and the above is just my way to get there, as if I just jumped into it and ate freely, I know it would be a disaster. An interim step is definitely proving best for me, although that is selling fasting short, as besides just being a useful tool, it's something that comes with a nice number of fringe health benefits too

By the way, I agree with the suggestion to adopt some strength training to add muscle mass. You seem quite light for your height, and some added muscular mass probably wouldn't hurt. Erickirb's suggestion is a good one, do a little homework on a good basic nuts and bolts strength programme like Starting Strength/ Stronglifts/ etc, and if you opt for a trainer, you will have a good idea of things so as to make the most of such sessions with a trainer. There are good bodyweight/ calisthenics programmes that will achieve what you want too, but given you stated this is quite new to you, a more accessible programme like a basic compound lifting programme at a gym may be more accessible. If you decide you want an alternative, I find this one very good http://www.startbodyweight.com/p/start-bodyweight-basic-routine.html

erickirb wrote: »

IF can work but is not necessary either.

Of course. Lots of options will work, it's all about the OP finding the most effective and suitable one for him

I'm in a very similar situation. I've been trying to get over the mental barrier of eating more. I've been working with a trainer/performance professional who's been helping get me there but what's been helpful is bumping up calories by a couple hundred and maintaining that level for a while. Inevitably I put on a pound or two of water with these steps up, but then it comes back off and I feel ok about going up again. With this method I'm actually eating more than I have in the past year and still lost weight last week, so I know it's time to move up again. So baby steps I guess you could say.