How long have you maintained your goal weight?

Options
lalalalalaurie
lalalalalaurie Posts: 80 Member
edited July 2015 in Goal: Maintaining Weight
1. How long have you maintained your goal weight?

2. How did you do it?

3. Do you check your weight often? Or measure? How often?
«1

Replies

  • MelissaPhippsFeagins
    MelissaPhippsFeagins Posts: 8,063 Member
    Options
    18 months today
    I changed my lifestyle when I joined mfp. I didn't give up any food I didn't intend to never eat again. I learned to fit my food to my life and to be moderate. One brownie, not three. More Greek yogurt, less ice cream. I'm a regular at the gym. When I am gone, friends send me messages to find out why. I don't beat myself up over slip ups. Life happens.
    I weigh once a week. I haven't used a tape measure in months, my clothes fit correctly and that's good enough for me.

    Hope this helps!
  • arussell134
    arussell134 Posts: 463 Member
    Options
    1. 7 months as of this week! I lost over 30 pounds last year.
    2. By treating my maintenance similar to my weight loss. Knowing I need to continue up the habits I used to get here - watching my diet, working out, weighing myself daily. Allowing for "life" (parties, celebrations, travel, down days), but keeping an eye overall on making good choices.
    3. Yes! Every day! I don't count calories much anymore (maybe 1 day per week, if that.) If the scale creeps up, then I may log for a few days until things are back in check. I feel like after months of logging, I have a pretty good handle on roughly how much food I can eat in a day now.

    Good questions!
  • griffinca2
    griffinca2 Posts: 672 Member
    Options
    Two months; and ditto to the above. Eat real food (vs. fake), and don't deny myself; just watch my portion sizes and read package labels for ingredients--if it has something man came up with it goes back on the shelf, into the refrigerator, or freezer. As an example, I gave up the powdered creamer for my coffee and looked at non-fat half & half--second ingredient was corn syrup; I now use regular half & half.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    edited July 2015
    Options
    1. Since October 2014 so 9 months now.

    2. Same as how I lost the weight: Staying active & logging my food, just aiming for a little more calories per day now. I do approximate more now though than when I was losing. And I have a weight range, so if I'm between 123-128 in my opinion I'm 'at maintenance'. When I'm on the low end I splurge a little more. If I get too high, I can trim back to a 200-300/day deficit.

    3. I still get on the scale most mornings. Its part of my daily routine, but I do not have an emotional relationship with the scale.
  • paris458
    paris458 Posts: 231 Member
    Options
    about 5 years ago I lost 40lbs. I monitored my weight almost every day because at first I seemed real sensitive to gaining weight. but I have kept it off.
  • paris458
    paris458 Posts: 231 Member
    Options
    asflatasapancake wrote: »
    paris458 wrote: »
    about 5 years ago I lost 40lbs. I monitored my weight almost every day because at first I seemed real sensitive to gaining weight. but I have kept it off.

    5 years is a long time! Damn! Nice work!

    I've maintained it for around 8 or 9 months. Now I'm on a bulk/cut cycle. Gotta keep things interesting. :)

    thanks, now I am working out and trying to gain some muscle. maybe lose a tiny bit more fat. I am good at the dieting, now learning the working out
  • brynnsmom
    brynnsmom Posts: 945 Member
    Options
    Maintained for over four years. Just followed MFP, exercised regularly (and "ate back" exercise calories). I prefer to weigh in weekly.
  • lalalalalaurie
    lalalalalaurie Posts: 80 Member
    Options
    paris458 wrote: »
    asflatasapancake wrote: »
    paris458 wrote: »
    about 5 years ago I lost 40lbs. I monitored my weight almost every day because at first I seemed real sensitive to gaining weight. but I have kept it off.

    5 years is a long time! Damn! Nice work!

    I've maintained it for around 8 or 9 months. Now I'm on a bulk/cut cycle. Gotta keep things interesting. :)

    thanks, now I am working out and trying to gain some muscle. maybe lose a tiny bit more fat. I am good at the dieting, now learning the working out


    I love how this is such a journey building on itself.

    I look forward to the work out focus rather than the losing focus.

    I realize I can do both, but find it difficult just yet at my weight.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
    Options
    lalalalalaurie wrote: »
    1. How long have you maintained your goal weight?
    2 years
    2. How did you do it?
    While I was losing weight and tracking calories, etc I made it a point to adopt healthy habits and a healthful lifestyle...it wasn't just about dropping some weight. I knew and understood that the way I live life had to be different from the way I was living before. I eat very healthfully...I am admittedly a food snob and a whole foods snob at that...most of my diet consists of whole food nutrition or minimally processed food items and I cook most meals from scratch. I don't eat out often due to most restaurant food is very calorie dense...if I do, I tend to eat a little lighter elsewhere in the day. I have pizza night with the family every 2-3 weeks, but other than that, eating out is usually a special occasion or I'm on vacation, etc.

    Regular exercise is an integral part of my life...as a general rule ride 60 - 80 miles per week (sometimes more) and lift a few nights per week, walk my dog 3ish miles 3-4 days per week and do a bit of swimming and hiking...and yes, there are days when life happens and I miss workouts, but I'm overwhelmingly religious about my fitness.

    I understood very early on that there really wasn't a finish line...hitting that rather arbitrary number on the scale didn't mean I was done with anything...it meant that I had just arrived at the starting line of the real race...everything before was just practice. Few people actually grasp this concept and simply go back to old, ingrained habits and the weight goes right back on.

    3. Do you check your weight often? Or measure? How often? [/quote]
    Of course...that's how you catch yourself before things spin out. I weigh myself pretty much daily just as I did when I was losing. It is important to note that your body weight isn't a static number...you don't way exactly XXX lbs...you are going to fluctuate up and down and you need to watch the overall trend. Maintenance basically looks like you're gaining and losing the same 3-5 Lbs day to day and week to week. I take the average of my weigh-ins every week and consider that to be my "real" weight...I also use an app that graphs out my numbers so that I have something to visually look at trend wise.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    Options
    Personally I found that I don't do well to focus on 'working out'. I do need to make improvements in terms of strength training and such - but mainly I focus on activity. Making sure I'm not a slug lol. The key to that is finding an activity that you enjoy, whether with others or alone.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,658 Member
    Options
    1. 16 days :)
    2. I had a very good idea of my TDEE based on Excel spreadsheets, so I just upped my calorie goal to that.
    3. Every day.
  • BZAH10
    BZAH10 Posts: 5,709 Member
    Options
    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    1. 16 days :)
    2. I had a very good idea of my TDEE based on Excel spreadsheets, so I just upped my calorie goal to that.
    3. Every day.

    Ah, congrats!

    To the OP, I've maintained a healthy weight for several years, but I'm always changing my fitness goals to keep me moving forward and transforming myself. I think in maintenance the important thing is to not get stagnant. Keep setting goals and have something to work towards.

    I also take my measurements monthly and keep a log of them.
  • lalalalalaurie
    lalalalalaurie Posts: 80 Member
    Options
    Thank you to everyone for you thoughtful answers! It was so helpful to read.
  • loulamb7
    loulamb7 Posts: 801 Member
    Options
    1. How long have you maintained your goal weight? 18 months

    2. How did you do it? Kept logging and new goals of recomposition and strength gains.

    3. Do you check your weight often? Or measure? How often? Both weigh and measure twice a month.

  • Laughter_Girl
    Laughter_Girl Posts: 2,226 Member
    Options
    1. How long have you maintained your goal weight? 9 weeks

    2. How did you do it? I have been doing the same things I did to lose the weight. I eat healthy most of the time, log everything, drink plenty of water, and I exercise almost daily.

    3. Do you check your weight often? Or measure? How often? I weigh myself at least once every two weeks.
  • Azurite27
    Azurite27 Posts: 554 Member
    Options
    1. 10 months

    2. I still log everything I eat and exercise regularly. Same things I did when I was losing but I eat maintenance calories instead of at a deficit.

    3. I weigh every day and track my weekly average and trend in a spreadsheet. This has helped me adjust my calories as needed as I've never maintained a healthy weight in my life.

    I have always been overweight until last year and have hypothyroidism to boot so I expect I will always have to be diligent about my diet and weight. I'm ok with this. I look at it similar to any disease that needs to be monitored.
  • toadg53
    toadg53 Posts: 302 Member
    Options
    10 months for me. I still weigh and log everything. I weigh daily and take measurements once monthly. I follow my same food plan, just @ maintenance level. Continue with my walking and workout schedule. It has become a new lifestyle and it's habit now.
  • sistrsprkl
    sistrsprkl Posts: 1,013 Member
    Options
    1. How long have you maintained your goal weight?
    About 12 years minus time having 2 kids (+50-60 lbs each)
    2. How did you do it?
    Made fitness and balanced diet part of my life.
    3. Do you check your weight often? Or measure? How often?
    Yes, I check my weight every morning. I'm a little OCD about it but don't stress when it fluctuates as it does often esp now that I've started lifting heavy(er).

Categories