frustrated

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brenn24179
brenn24179 Posts: 2,144 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
been maintaining for 2 1/2 yrs, usually gain my weight back after couple of years (my past history) gained 4-6 pounds gradually and now have gained 4 more, total of 10 lbs. Got back on track really good last couple of weeks and have not lost any weight.

Hopefully the weight will come off soon. Don't know what to do other than my calorie deficit and exercise. It is just weird when I was losing 2 lbs came off a week. It is like my body wants me to go back. Clothes still fit but still worries me I will keep gaining when I know logically if I eat in a deficit I will have to lose eventually.

Replies

  • dawnmcneil10
    dawnmcneil10 Posts: 638 Member
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    Were you tracking your foods while in maintenance? Logging your exercise? If you have you can look at the "reports" section and see if you were eating more calories or maybe moving less than usual. If not that's probably the problem right there, you might be adding a bigger scoop of this or maybe not pushing your limits with exercise.
    Instead of letting frustration get you look at what you've done, you've taken ownership of your life and health. You're here looking to pull yourself back before it's 20+ pounds. Take a deep breath, don't stress over the number on the scale just move forward and be patient.
  • brenn24179
    brenn24179 Posts: 2,144 Member
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    I have been logging but probably taking bigger scoop of stuff. Yes I am still 35 pounds ahead and wearing my clothes. Trying to move forward. Got complacent and not weighing stuff like cheddar cheese which I love.
  • RaspberryTickleChicken
    RaspberryTickleChicken Posts: 629 Member
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    Maint is a tricky thing because there is no finish line ... its essentially the rest of your life sort of thing. And honestly it's almost always seems to be the little things which adds up to a slow creep of accumulated weight regain.

    I think for maint if I had to chose to do one or the other, I'd to continue to weigh my food to keep portions in check rather than logging consistently. Logging daily with 'guess-timating' portion sizes seems a little counterproductive to me especially if I am underestimating.

    Some maintainers do become quite savvy & accurate with their internal portion calculator so for those folks weighing food & logging may not be so pertinent in long term maint.

    But I know for me, I will have to weigh & log for the rest of my life & I am A-OK with that because I'm never going back to the alternative. So I think it's just a matter of deciding if your internal portion calculator is accurate or no.

    Good luck!

  • brenn24179
    brenn24179 Posts: 2,144 Member
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    it is trucky, couple pounds and then a couple more and you think that is not so bad, then 4 more come on all of a sudden. have to be cautious not to let it get too far.
  • griffinca2
    griffinca2 Posts: 672 Member
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    Per Raspberryticklechicken's comments: it's a lifestyle, not a "diet" that you start & finish. You need to make changes that you can live with for the rest of your life--and I'm not talking abt depriving yourself (I had ice cream last night & Oreo cookies the night before). I don't normally eat that way so they were treats (a once in a while item). I do watch my portion sizes (some I guess, others I measure). I am just starting Recomp so I'm in the process of evaluating my calories along with my macros. Like I saw in a fitness mag a while back; "It's a process, not a project."

    Good luck! :)
  • michable
    michable Posts: 312 Member
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    Hi there, congrats on your maintenance for the last couple of years. I've been maintaining for maybe 18 months now, and I find that when life gets busy, I do get slack; I stop logging, my portions get bigger, I eat more often, more chocolate and biscuits find their way back in, I don't find as much time for exercise, etc, etc. Then I have a few kgs creep back on over 6 months or so, and that gives me the impetus to get back on track for a while to rein things in.

    When I cut my cals to get back on track, my deficit is smaller than when I first started on MFP, and I don't have as much weight to lose, so the weight takes longer to come off. I can be back on track religiously with weighing and logging every morsel, but because my deficit is smaller, it might take 4 weeks for any weight loss to register on the scale. This reminds me of when I was first trying to find my maintenance calorie level. I would eat at a certain calorie level, and not lose for weeks, thinking I had found my maintenance level, then Bam! the 4th week weigh in would show a 1kg loss.

    Give it a bit more time, and make sure that you are logging accurately. Your body will respond in time if indeed you are eating at a deficit.

    Good luck!
  • werdnek
    werdnek Posts: 35 Member
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    When on maintenance, do any of you struggle with hunger pains? or is I see I like I want it - what the heck I'm not on such a strict diet anymore i'll do it.

    If calorie count is a struggle, perhaps try a a diet doctor. I went to one - snapped off 9 lbs first week and 15 in 2 months. I could go down another 15 but I will be happy with going down another 10. I did cheat with this diet. The doctor saw what my cheats where and adjusted my diet. I'm okay with the slow weight loss here on in cause I want to get anyway strict diet and then not knowing how to maintain. Also at this point my life, I'm looking for health. I don't believe one size fits all. Some days I only eat less than 600 calories, another day as much as 1250. The diet doctor told me I am insulin restistant. So carb counting will be better for me in the long run.. He said my eating a cucumber can elevate my sugar levels. While I had a caear salad with two slice of bacon (no cheese) and I do feel satisfied. The carb counting moves you over to fat burning with fat. This sounds like a good idea to me because fat is good for the skin.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
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    werdnek wrote: »
    When on maintenance, do any of you struggle with hunger pains? or is I see I like I want it - what the heck I'm not on such a strict diet anymore i'll do it.

    I occasionally get hungry. But part of my lifestyle change was to put up with it. I eat four meals: breakfast, lunch, after-work snack (sometimes with a cocktail), and dinner (usually around 8-8:30, hence the snack). If I get hungry in between, and it's too distracting (especially if I did a morning workout and burned a lot of calories), I'll have something light: a couple of baby dill pickles, a few peperoncini, a celery stick with some salsa, etc.
  • MamaBirdBoss
    MamaBirdBoss Posts: 1,516 Member
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    When in maintenance, set your trigger at 5lbs. Much less irritating to lose!
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    edited July 2015
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    I am getting towards the top of my 5 pound weight range (after 3 years of maintenance), so I can sympathesize.

    For me it's portion size and too much salt. And that's what it is for most people who regain - they go back to their old habits.

    The other thing that I can slip up on is all the little stuff - particularly fat. So the extra pat of butter or spoonful of mayo or extra bit of salad dressing. A big glass of milk . . . It doesn't take a lot to add up to a few hundred calories.

    Maybe spend a few days of really really careful logging (measuring everything) and see where those extra calories are coming in?
  • griffinca2
    griffinca2 Posts: 672 Member
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    I have trouble trying eat as much as I'm supposed to, so no huger pains here. Guess I was under eating (w/o realizing it [around 1100 +/- calories]) and I have to get used to eating more--making sure I'm eating healthy of course.

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