I have no problem losing it, I have a problem maintaining it!
OnlyoneJasmaine
Posts: 5 Member
Where I am from people are not really into exercising or eating well. So I start off really well and then I return back to no working out and eating whatever.
Unfortunately I am not as active as my teen days :-(
But I ask to you fit people, how do you keep healthy as your lifestyle and how long have you been living this way?
I need motivation to know that this time my eating and working out habits are here to stay!
Unfortunately I am not as active as my teen days :-(
But I ask to you fit people, how do you keep healthy as your lifestyle and how long have you been living this way?
I need motivation to know that this time my eating and working out habits are here to stay!
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Replies
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I understand what you are saying. While it was hard losing it, maintaining it seems harder. Since you are no longer on that do or die plan the lazy days seem to multiply. I always figured whatever activities I took up needed to be things that I enjoyed and that worked for me. Tennis did not work for me, while I can hit the ball on a wall - large walls are hard to come by. I know I need my activities to be primarily solitary activities. I love going to the gym, enjoy strength training at home (this one was really hard for me) and love walking. Though I do two of them with friends on occasion I have yet to find anyone as dedicated as myself who will stick with our plans, so working alone is what works for me. Another thing that helps keep me motivated is when I can complete a 30 day Jumping Rope challenge and then fall off from JR for a while and then can barely get through 3 minutes I know I need to keep myself active and keep my strength up.
Try and find something that you enjoy and then schedule your workouts and reward yourself when you say complete a month or several weeks. Develop a habit.0 -
Hey there! First, congrats on tackling this tough problem. Keeping it off isn't easy! Here's what works for me.
• Get rid of clothes as soon as they are loose. Get them tailored or sell / donate and buy new. You'll feel better & get a warning when clothes start to get tight.
• Tell your friends you won't socialize around food anymore. Find non food activities and maybe, some new friends
• Vary workouts to avoid boredom.
• Get a fitness buddy who is motivated.
• Talk about your weight loss on FB, etc. You won't want to have to tell those same people you gained.
• Make sure your healthy food is YUMMY food. No one will be miserable eating forever.
Good LUCK!!!!!0 -
I'm trying to find the link, but there was a recent video release of findings from the National Weight Control Registry and they identified several key successful habit of individuals losing and keeping off 30lbs or more.
http://www.nwcr.ws/Research/default.htm
First of all they identified a higher motivation than losing weight, such as "being a better parent".
They exercised 60 min/day.
They logged their activity.
All of this is based upon small changes that have dramatic impact over time. Just continue developing good habits and if you start to drift, correct and make small sustainable changes to get you back on track.0 -
I always had a pretty healthy life style - I eat food I really like to eat. Which is fortunately mostly healthy stuff with some treats every once in a while. And I was pretty active - I walk every day after dinner or during lunch. I have to build it into my schedule or I don't do it. There is no way I am every going to be a gym bunny. So I walk to work or I walk after dinner or I walk the dog.
I gained weight - a pound a year for 15 years - by letting my portion sizes get too big. And then the last year before I lost, I gained another 15 pounds by eating a bit more and not taking my daily walk. That's the weight I lost (plus a bit more). Now I just keep eating that food I love - in reasonable portions.0 -
Try to find a workout/fitness plan that you enjoy. If you only diet to lose w/o changing you're setting yourself up for failure. "It's a process, not a project," and a lifestyle not a "diet." It may take you a while but experiment and find out what works for you.
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I always had a pretty healthy life style - I eat food I really like to eat. Which is fortunately mostly healthy stuff with some treats every once in a while. And I was pretty active - I walk every day after dinner or during lunch. I have to build it into my schedule or I don't do it. There is no way I am every going to be a gym bunny. So I walk to work or I walk after dinner or I walk the dog.
I gained weight - a pound a year for 15 years - by letting my portion sizes get too big. And then the last year before I lost, I gained another 15 pounds by eating a bit more and not taking my daily walk. That's the weight I lost (plus a bit more). Now I just keep eating that food I love - in reasonable portions.
That's my story exactly--slow gain of a pound a year from college onward, then one year with a drastic change in living situation (I moved and wasn't walking to do errands, etc. all the time anymore) when I really piled it on.
I don't own a scale, but I weigh myself at the gym a few times a week. If I'm trending upward, I go back to a small deficit and tighten up for a while before it gets out of hand. Also, I've bought some really nice clothes that I love--it sounds shallow, but I want to fit into them.
And to the OP, I think "where I'm from people are not really into exercising or eating well" is a bit of an excuse. Americans (I live in the U.S.) are generally overweight and unfit. I don't see that as a deterrent--I see it as a challenge not to fall into that category.0 -
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And to the OP, I think "where I'm from people are not really into exercising or eating well" is a bit of an excuse. Americans (I live in the U.S.) are generally overweight and unfit. I don't see that as a deterrent--I see it as a challenge not to fall into that category.[/quote]
Exactly what I thought. If people around you suddenly stopped caring about showering or brushing their teeth, would you let that affect you? You don't need their approval, and you don't even need to advertise it. Just do what you need to do.0 -
OnlyoneJasmaine wrote: »Where I am from people are not really into exercising or eating well. So I start off really well and then I return back to no working out and eating whatever.
Unfortunately I am not as active as my teen days :-(
But I ask to you fit people, how do you keep healthy as your lifestyle and how long have you been living this way?
I need motivation to know that this time my eating and working out habits are here to stay!
fit and healthy people practice good nutrition and get their fitness on...i really could give a *kitten* what other people around me do...just because my best friend doesn't ride a bike doesn't mean I'm not going to. I'm my own person...I do what I do.
the "people around me are not really into exercising or eating well" is week sauce...it's a lame *kitten* excuse to be a lazy *kitten*.
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I've "maintained" within a 20 pound range for decades, by eating good food, avoiding bad foods, exercising on a set schedule most of the time and finally, by getting back on the horse each time I fall off. I'm up 18 pounds again, and am also tired of such a large fluctuation, so intend to lose it and only go up and down by 3 pounds or so. I hope.
That's why I'm here- to learn from you all, how you maintained in a narrow range for a long time. The OP has a great question, as it's the one I have the most problem with. I say that I "maintained" as many of you might be glad to be only 18 pounds overweight, but for me, it's 18 pounds too much but I don't think it's healthy and is getting harder and harder to lose.0 -
Three years ago I went to my doctor borderline obese and I'm pretty sure on the edge of jumping into diabetes. Her reaction was nonchalant; according to her, my weight wasn't THAT bad and there is medication for diabetes. I realized it was totally up to me from that point forward...either I could change myself or I could keep going the way I was heading. I made a commitment to become healthy and changed my lifestyle. People who are committed to healthy lifestyles make time for the activities that promote good health. A temporary change (i.e., "diet") means you only have to make the changes at your convenience.
I have lost a total of 55 pounds in those three years. I also lost that doctor.0 -
Developing a habit of working out is one of the hardest habits to develop. Most other stuff takes about 30 days, but exercise takes almost 100 days to stick. And even then, people have recidivism rates that are high.
The thing about exercise or even it's paltry cousin, activity, is that people who are sedentary overwhelmingly have the excuse of not enough time, but if you ask anyone who is regularly working out, they will never say, oh, I have plenty of free time. People who have developed a habit and maintained that habit of exercise/working out have made it a priority in their lives.0 -
My experience has been that staying active keeps the weight in check. I've never lost more than 20 lbs by exercise alone and sometimes my weight just stayed the same, but I've never gained fat while exercising.
I think we make a mistake by calling it exercise. We never called it exercise when were are kids, we just went outside and played. I think adults need to remember the importance of going outside to play. Don't exercise; find an activity you enjoy and do it. I like riding a bicycle. I do it more to clear my head than anything else. But it is an activity that helps keep the weight off. Some people like to garden. Some people like to lift weights. Some people like to go play fetch with the dog. Whatever you enjoy, just get out and play more.0 -
In a way losing weight is indeed the easier part because in theory there is an 'end' But maint. there is no end ... it's quite literally the rest of your life so that fact can be SO overwhelming & daunting that many falters on old habits because the maint just seems too monumental of a task.
I think the key is to make sure that whatever healthy habits that you have developed while losing is something that can be maintained for the long haul. Transitioning to maint is nothing more but continuing the healthy habits and not revert to the ways of old with the mind set of 'yea I've reached goal I can eat whatever I want how ever much I want.' Because technically there is really no finish line ... it's a continuum - just with different goals.
Here are two articles I always recommend folks to read. They're helpful practical tips. This first one is from long time maintainers, boasting of about 10,000 members in the National Weight Control Registry. In 2014, NWCR reported 87 percent of their members maintained their weight loss over 10 years of at least 30 lbs or more. HERE
This second one I think is really helpful to put things into perspective for the long run not the quick 'I need to lose X lbs by X date' which I think is a mentality many follow & fail. Click HERE
I am embarking on my 2 yr maint anniversary here in a few weeks and I'd say the that two key things have helped me tremendously:- Auto Pilot: From the get-go I proactively & consciously conditioned myself to replace my unhealthy habits with new healthy ones because I like the auto-drive mode. Think get in the car & put on your seatbelt without thinking about it level of mindless conditioning. (Kinda like sitting at the TV mindlessly stuffing my face LOL - same principle just different activity). I like not giving my brain the chance to say, ''ooo I want to eat an entire bag of Doritos instead of a proper meal" Think of Pavlov dogs ... yes I was the dog HAHAHA Read HERE to get the science behind the approach
- Jedi Mind Tricks: This REALLY helped me to 'stick with it' in maint when I became overwhelmed with the whole rest of my life fact. By adapting a variation of this 80/20 approach (I'm more like 90/10) I gave myself permission to snack hence I no longer obsessed about it because I can. Yes silly jedi mind trick but it really worked for me. There are also recent studies where it shows maintaining success adapting a 75/25 approach. Key is being consistent.
I apologize for the long post. Hope it was somewhat helpful. Best of luck to you!0 -
I maintain on a 90/10 food plan. Meaning, 90% of the time I eat according to my healthy lifestyle choice. Then maybe 10% of the time I'll have a meal or item off the "naughty" list. And to be completely honest, having lost 177lbs, the "naughty" food choices are not as appealing as they used to be. Maintaining for me has become my new way of life and new view of food. It's not easy to live in a world so obsessed with weight/health yet so overstocked with poor food choices... hope that helps. Just keep your goals in perspective, and the choices you make will follow what your heart and mind really want.0
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cherishpatterson wrote: »I maintain on a 90/10 food plan. Meaning, 90% of the time I eat according to my healthy lifestyle choice. Then maybe 10% of the time I'll have a meal or item off the "naughty" list. And to be completely honest, having lost 177lbs, the "naughty" food choices are not as appealing as they used to be. Maintaining for me has become my new way of life and new view of food. It's not easy to live in a world so obsessed with weight/health yet so overstocked with poor food choices... hope that helps. Just keep your goals in perspective, and the choices you make will follow what your heart and mind really want.
Amazing. Congratulatons to you!
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I've been maintaining within a 5-lb. range for two years. I still plan, log and track all of my eating and exercise, and weigh daily, to figure a weekly rolling weight average. If I go outside of my maintenance range, I go back to a deficit until it's fixed.
One thing that has helped me enormously is figuring my numbers on a weekly basis - so I eat at a deficit Sunday thru Thursday, then eat back the accumulated deficit Fridays and Saturdays - when you add in exercise calories(all of which I eat back), this lets me enjoy basically anything, within reason, every weekend, and just makes it much more sustainable, at least for me.
As is often pointed out, successful, long-term maintenance is really just a continuation of what got you there in the first place - so whatever that was for you, you just have to keep doing it, with the added bonus that you get to eat a bit more than you did. It's work, but 2 or 3 weeks of correction every few months beats the hell out of trying to lose tens of pounds on a long-term deficit - at least for me.0 -
Watch portions and move every day. Set a maintenance range and return to deficit eating for a while if you notice bracket creep.0
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I sometimes struggle with the motivation to go to the gym. Because weight lifting rightly encourages rest days I sometimes use this as a convienient excuse. However, I keep on going to the gym because I always have a good time when I'm there and I love the feeling afterwards. For me, it's the most important/rewarding thing I can do for myself that day and it only takes an hour.0
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The thing is, maintaining and losing is exactly the same mindset. You just have a few more calories to go with. You can stop exercising, but then you need to adjust your intake down. Most people start eating more and slow down exercising, which results in weight gain.
Or you just use MFP and follow the numbers.0 -
OK, this might sound unkind, but....
I had to sever my connections with unhealthy people and make new friends of common interest.
And after losing 100 pounds, I had to accept that though I reached my goal, the journey was on-going.
It took two years, and I have maintained my weight loss for almost 3 years.
On the other side of this coin was my friend who lost about 80 pounds. His philosophy was that he'd go back to unrestricted eating once he completed his crash diet of meal replacements and frozen diet entrees.
He lost 80 pounds in 4 months...and within a year had gained it all back plus an additional 15 pounds.
We do not have to be that guy.
Steady, lasting success is a life's journey. I wish you well.
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3 years ago I found mfp by chance...from day one when I saw that activity meant I burned more calories I made a conscious decision that I would workout - not for the love of it but because I knew I would be benefit in lots of ways...
I started walking (hate the idea of gyms and don't have time for a 60 mins round trip drive), gosh those few miles I walked weren't easy, that's how out of shape I was! But it was invigorating plus I had my hubby by my side encouraging me (he had seen enough tears from me feeling fat and frumpy)
Then I decided to try something different - I committed myself to getting up 30 mins earlier for 30 days to do the 30 day shred...and I did it
And something happened to me. ..not only did I lose weight (not that much, around 3lbs in 30 days) I lost inches and my self esteem went through the roof! The endorphins kept me on a high going to work each day
Anyway I haven't looked back, 3 yrs later I still get up early to run/walk/lift, I've basically been maintaining my weight for 2 years although strictly speaking I only decided to call it maintaining a year ago when I felt I was fighting to lose 3 more pounds when my body just clung to them for dear life lol. Of course once I gave up the urge to lose them they came off themselves lol
I like to eat so I move, but I also now love to move so it's win win for me ...if I can enjoy being active, anyone can 0 -
You are definitely not alone. The statistics are staggeringly high (80% - some studies have this % even higher -) for gaining all of the weight back and a lot of us gain back even more than we lost. A very small percent keep the weight off for 5 years or longer. The key for many of us to get those statistics moving down, is to never let our new habits revert back to our old way of eating. We CAN change this! Many people here have, and many more of us are doing our best to stay healthy and active on maintenance.
I have lost over 1/2 of my body weight and have kept the weight off for 21 months. I have to monitor my weight and not allow myself any more than a 5 pound gain. When that happens, I cut back calories a little, and/or lengthen my time at the gym. So far, so good. I want long term success.
You have to find what works for you best. This is really an individual effort, as is losing the weight.0 -
Make exercise a habit! Download some podcasts that you enjoy and just walk!0
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As someone who has been in maintenance for years, I can tell you it's about changing your life. You can't see it as a short road to a goal of losing weight, and then being done. You are setting out on a lifelong road. Changing your life is an ongoing learning process. It's not about working out or going on a miracle diet, it's about learning to change the way you view food.
Eating less is the key. Seriously. Portion control and variety, eating the right balance of macronutrients for your body. Being active is important too. Not necessarily "I have to exercise every day" but that moving is important.
Buying a food scale, learning about the right balance of food for your body, and what portion sizes are, are the first steps. Calculating your calorie deficit, and sticking to it every day. When you weigh all of your solid food, you realize just what a single serving is, and how many calories are in each serving of your food. Having a single serving of foods you enjoy keeps you on the right track, rather than depriving yourself of them, and later binging when you finally do eat them.
Long-term success is about knowledge, and tools. Having all of this in your hands and feeling comfortable with both makes you able to handle the challenge of weight loss and maintenance.0 -
This is my third (and worst) round of losing weight. The first two were in 1980 and 1984, after my children were born. Each time I gained (and lost) twenty pounds. But for me, it was simple to maintain. I ate what I wanted and when the scales went up a couple of pounds, I cut way back for a couple of weeks. Usually the scales didn't go up, sometimes they went down, but when they did go up past my weight of comfort, I simply started eating less until they went down, which didn't take but two or three weeks.
Of course that was over thirty years ago, and I was a bit younger than now! I quit smoking in 2004 and my metabolism went nuts. When I got up to 169.8, I slammed on the brakes. I dropped about ten pounds before finding MFP, and have dropped another 18 since. Still have 32 to go. THIS is the hard part! I only hope maintenance will be as easy as it was before. When I get there, all I will do is weigh myself every day and if I get a couple of pounds over, slam on the brakes again!0 -
I have read all of these posts with great interest, as it seems that this is the HARDEST thing to do regarding weight loss...I have lost forty and put on twenty...You're right...It has to be a lifestyle change, although this is easier said than done...0
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I think the key is to find habits you're willing to maintain long term. I find it helps to find forms of exercise you really enjoy and find rewarding. That's precisely why I love bar classes and have kept with them. I find them hard but somehow I enjoy them and find them rewarding. On the days I don't take one I find them missing it. I also think sometimes people are prone to extremes eating either ALL healthy or ALL unhealthy. For me it's a mix of both and stopping thinking of foods as good or bad. I just eat the less nutritious ones in moderation.0
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You have to develop a routine. You need to step on the scale very often. Some say 1 time a week other 1 time a day but in the end you shouldn't let even a day go by that you don't think about your health and eating. Develop a range (Mine is 118 - 124) when you notice the scale leave that range adjust the diet until it is at the mid point again.0
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I think the key is to find habits you're willing to maintain long term. I find it helps to find forms of exercise you really enjoy and find rewarding. That's precisely why I love bar classes and have kept with them. I find them hard but somehow I enjoy them and find them rewarding. On the days I don't take one I find them missing it. I also think sometimes people are prone to extremes eating either ALL healthy or ALL unhealthy. For me it's a mix of both and stopping thinking of foods as good or bad. I just eat the less nutritious ones in moderation.You have to develop a routine. You need to step on the scale very often. Some say 1 time a week other 1 time a day but in the end you shouldn't let even a day go by that you don't think about your health and eating. Develop a range (Mine is 118 - 124) when you notice the scale leave that range adjust the diet until it is at the mid point again.
Excellent! Well said! Awareness is so important in this whole process. Love all the advice.
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