Imagine Maintenance
wabmester
Posts: 2,748 Member
@nicintime brought up a profound point in another thread. He said something to the effect that he originally hoped to get skinny so he could eat more, like all those other skinny people who can eat whatever they like. The profound part was his realization that that might not be a good long-term strategy, and that he now believed a ketogenic diet was the way to go long term.
So we're all aware of the sad fact that weight loss is often followed by weight gain. In fact, companies like Weight Watchers turned this into a business model.
What's your long-term strategy? Is your current diet the same as your maintenance diet? If not, do you have a maintenance diet in mind? Have you tried it yet?
This forum, and this entire experience, is a bit weird because we're all n00bs. Most of the pros who are successfully in maintenance have left. Maybe they're skinny people now who can eat whatever they like.
So we're all aware of the sad fact that weight loss is often followed by weight gain. In fact, companies like Weight Watchers turned this into a business model.
What's your long-term strategy? Is your current diet the same as your maintenance diet? If not, do you have a maintenance diet in mind? Have you tried it yet?
This forum, and this entire experience, is a bit weird because we're all n00bs. Most of the pros who are successfully in maintenance have left. Maybe they're skinny people now who can eat whatever they like.
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My strategy will be to eat my current diet and tweak my macros. I am a Type 2, so I will need to continue to eat this way to maintain my blood sugar.
Right now, maintenance seems like a long way off, though. It's a nice thought, though. 0 -
I truly don't know what i'll do. I've dabbled with it a little when I got close to my initial weight loss goal. I derailed quickly and freaked out that I would gain everything back so I lowered my goal and started again. I'm losing pretty steadily now and only 3 lbs from what I set me new goal at, actually smack dab in the middle of the 140-145 range I'd like to be in. So I should be transitioning to maintenance but I'm too scared to. I'm going to stay low carb but when I try to up a littler higher on carbs it gets out of control. Staying around 50 is good for me but at that level I don't have the hunger needed to eat at maintenance. Maintaining is going to be a lot harder than losing has been for me.0
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Oh! Oh! I'm excited about this thread! Time to see if the bookmark function works on my phone!0
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inspirationstation wrote: »My strategy will be to eat my current diet and tweak my macros. I am a Type 2, so I will need to continue to eat this way to maintain my blood sugar.
Right now, maintenance seems like a long way off, though. It's a nice thought, though.
Kinda ditto: I'm not Type 2 but it runs in my family and I keep a close check on my blood sugar. I'll eat ketogenically and raise calories, maybe allowing for an occasional treat. But really, the occasional treat (that turns into binge eating) is what got me in this mess to begin with. I swear my head has way more to do with me being overweight than my stomach. Stupid emotions.
I don't know either--it's a LONG way off.0 -
My strategy is to put on muscle by incorporating weights and to increase my bicycling to an hour or more a day. That way I'll get to eat a little more. Sadly not much. I'm short, I'm 43, I've been a yo-yo dieter for over 20 years. My BMR will probably be 1200 cal when I'm done. Exercise might add 400, not much more.0
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I'm hoping I'll be in maintenance by March. I'm lucky in that I only had about 45-50lbs to lose. I'll start switching to maintenance at about 140 lbs (I'm almost 42 and 5'8"). I'll reasses as I near that goal.
Right now I eat approximately 1500 kcal per day, + or - 500 kcal. I am guessing that at maintenance I'll eat between 1700 and 2000 kcal, + or - a few hundred, maybe even more if I am very active but I doubt I'll be able to go higher. To do this I'll add more to breakfast. Right now I usually just have BPC for breakfast but I'll add back eggs and bacon on most days and use my BPC to snack through the morning and afternoon. I thought I would have evening snacks of nuts more often then too, but my FBG seems to go up when I snack in the evening, even if it is just cheese, so that might not work. Eggs and bacon should take me up close to 300 calories so that might be enough to get me to maintenance.
I will continue to eat in keto for a while, maybe forever. I'll open up the option of eating a higher LCHF diet once I am more firmly rooted in this WOE. Maybe in a year or so. Maybe.
I also plan to make exercise a more regular and intense thing before I hit maintenance; something I can continue for many years. I like P90X and related videos. Walking is good. My dream and hope is to be able to run and play basketball regularly, and without a lot of joint pain, but I think I might have moved past that point in my life.
Hopefully, once I get rid of the extra weight, my hips and knees will be able to handle a bit more abuse. I'm also hoping some stabilizing muscle will help protect my joints.
I plan to be in this for life. I had prediabetes and some autoimmune issues that this WOE has really helped with, not to mention that my change in cognition was enough to give me a scare - I don't want to drop back to my before. I made the mistake, about 5 years ago, of losing my weight and then going back to what I was doing before, but (initially) at lower calories. That didn't work. I can't moderate a normal diet. I just can't. That way of eating has to be a thing of the past for me or I'll be back to square one.0 -
I'm hoping I'll be in maintenance by March. I'm lucky in that I only had about 45-50lbs to lose. I'll start switching to maintenance at about 140 lbs (I'm almost 42 and 5'8"). I'll reasses as I near that goal.
Right now I eat approximately 1500 kcal per day, + or - 500 kcal. I am guessing that at maintenance I'll eat between 1700 and 2000 kcal, + or - a few hundred, maybe even more if I am very active but I doubt I'll be able to go higher. To do this I'll add more to breakfast. Right now I usually just have BPC for breakfast but I'll add back eggs and bacon on most days and use my BPC to snack through the morning and afternoon. I thought I would have evening snacks of nuts more often then too, but my FBG seems to go up when I snack in the evening, even if it is just cheese, so that might not work. Eggs and bacon should take me up close to 300 calories so that might be enough to get me to maintenance.
I will continue to eat in keto for a while, maybe forever. I'll open up the option of eating a higher LCHF diet once I am more firmly rooted in this WOE. Maybe in a year or so. Maybe.
I also plan to make exercise a more regular and intense thing before I hit maintenance; something I can continue for many years. I like P90X and related videos. Walking is good. My dream and hope is to be able to run and play basketball regularly, and without a lot of joint pain, but I think I might have moved past that point in my life. Hopefully, once I get rid of the extra weight, my hips and knees will be able to handle a bit more abuse. I'm also hoping some stabilizing muscle will help protect my joints.
I plan to be in this for life. I had prediabetes and some autoimmune issues that this WOE has really helped with, not to mention that my change in cognition was enough to give me a scare - I don't want to drop back to my before. I made the mistake, about 5 years ago, of losing my weight and then going back to what I was doing before, but (initially) at lower calories. That didn't work. I can't moderate a normal diet. I just can't. That way of eating has to be a thing of the past for me or I'll be back to square one.
Good for you!
Also, me either. Sadly. I'd love to be able to look at a serving size of cake and think that will do me just fine! Not ever going to happen.
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I didn't get on a diet really. I just found lower carb as a satisfying way to eat the right amount of food for my activity level.
I added a few active lifestyle choices.
Long term hobbies and group activity type things
Seems like there is a new life in place. No failed lifestyle to really want to go back to
I don't want to die young, fat, and lazy.0 -
I still have about another 40 or so lbs to go before I am at my goal weight. My plan was the same as yours. I wanted to get skinny so I didn't have to worry anymore. But I now realized that is not gonna work. So my plan is to continue to eat low carb but prob higher carbs than I am eating now. So right now I eat aprox 30 total carbs a day depending. I will prob go up to closer to 50. I think that will still make things manageable. I know now I will always have to watch what I eat and how much. I am looking forward to no longer having to track my meals and make small adjustments to my diet once a month or so if I put on a couple lbs.0
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I'm not sure I'd ever call it maintenance - this is just how I eat now. I'd like to lose another 45 lbs but I am also willing to let my weight settle wherever it wants to be. If I mentally shift into "I'm done now" I would probably up my calories but continue to live "in keto" with occasional treats on birthdays and holidays.0
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I am almost at my goal weight and have been experimenting with upping carb level to 50, from 20. I instantly become ravenous for carbs and calories. All the wrong kinds. I am discovering that I may just need to do maintenance pretty close to what I'm doing now. Very scary. Even doing a strict keto, I find I still have to watch for carb creep. Still, I remind myself that I really love feeling like I look hot and getting to wear fun clothes way more than I love sitting home eating cake and ice cream looking like a hippo. So. For me maintenance will be more like daily vigilance, and minor and specifically chosen experimentation with what my body will tolerate. I will not go back to fat and yoyo. I plan to continue daily food logging and daily weighing in. Its how I keep myself on track. Good luck to all my fitness pals!0
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Six months in (started a year ago) I decided to maintain for a couple months. I found that to be at 3000 calories instead of the 2600 calories for weight loss.
The funny part 3000 calories is all I can force myself to eat because unlike when I was living on carbs I get "full" and just have to push back from the table. I just learned from Dr. William Davis' Wheat Belly Total Health (2014) that grains block the brain from getting the "full" message.
Yes now my brain tells me to stop eating for the first time in my life so that lead to calorie reduction in my life finally. Finally at age 64 I have a Way Of Eating (WOE) that makes me feel better (pain managed after 40 years) and more happy than every.0 -
I've said this a few times, "I hope the last 5 lbs takes me years to lose."
OR 
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Ha, good topic! I can imagine myself being more or less paleo forever. So basically I'd just up my carbs from 20g to 50-100g. I don't imagine hitting close to 100g daily, but just having the right to some carby food once in a while. I always plan to exercise regularly and hope all of that comes together to a happy maintenance place. Then again I may even be looking to bulk up after I lose a certain amount of fat... so we'll see!0
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That's my plan too. Eat like this forever but a little more latitude on carbs in veg and the odd bit of fruit. Basically Paleo instead of keto.0
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I am only 14 lbs from my goal weight. I average just under 1300 calories a day and 23g total carbs according my health app. I'm really not finding it difficult to do. On days that I am crazy hungry for whatever reason, I still end up under my maintenance calorie limit and my highest carb day in the past 4 months was less than 50g and I had some no sugar added ice cream that day. Gave me a belly ache though...
I definitely want to stay at Keto levels long term because I think there is so much to be gained from it that is much more important than weight loss, but I can see myself raising my limit to 50g to allow sweet potatoes on occasion and more vegetables and maybe fruit just depending if I'm in the mood for them... But, I still don't think I would plan to have more on those things in my regular daily diet. I will likely think of them as treats that are allowed and won't wreck my health.
I am realizing that the best thing I may be getting out of Keto isn't the weight loss. I've noticed that I am more productive and clear headed and focused than what's been typical for me. I would love to get off of or reduce my ADHD medication and without the ketones, I don't think I can do that without my life becoming much more challenging for me. So, if I lower meds and stopped eating this way, it would not be good. I would have to increase the meds again.0 -
I'm still about 40 pounds from where I think I'll definitely WANT to stop losing. I'm *almost* happy at this weight if my body just decides it wants to stay here. Okay, maybe about 10-15 pounds from now. Even though that's still well over what the medical community considers a healthy weight for my height and frame size, I'd be happy to be in the 170s again. That was my lowest adult weight so far, and I've already reached my first goal, which was to be my pre-pregnancy size (from my most recent three pregnancies, that is). I guess I just figure my body will tell me when it's finished losing weight, but I intend to continue eating this way indefinitely. I feel so much better in general, not just because the weight is coming off. I have more energy, no heartburn, better sleep, less irritability, better mood, no sluggish after-meal feeling.... I can't imagine going back to eating all that sugar (which I've never been big on anyway, until I decided pregnancy and breastfeeding was a free-for-all) or refined grains/carbs. Now I may add back in some corn (freshly picked corn on the cob has always been my favorite summer food), fresh fruit, and potatoes, but all that straight-up carbage can stay off my plate as far as I'm concerned. Oh, and I'd be a total hypocrite if I said I'd permanently swear off beer. I have no intention of doing that either. That said, none of the above will be a regular visitor to my belly. At least that's how I see it now. So I guess the short answer to the original question is: Maintenance will look like my current WOE plus some occasional corn, fruit, potatoes, other higher-carb veggies, and beer. 0
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I'm hoping I'll be in maintenance by March. I'm lucky in that I only had about 45-50lbs to lose. I'll start switching to maintenance at about 140 lbs (I'm almost 42 and 5'8"). I'll reasses as I near that goal.
Right now I eat approximately 1500 kcal per day, + or - 500 kcal. I am guessing that at maintenance I'll eat between 1700 and 2000 kcal, + or - a few hundred, maybe even more if I am very active but I doubt I'll be able to go higher. To do this I'll add more to breakfast. Right now I usually just have BPC for breakfast but I'll add back eggs and bacon on most days and use my BPC to snack through the morning and afternoon. I thought I would have evening snacks of nuts more often then too, but my FBG seems to go up when I snack in the evening, even if it is just cheese, so that might not work. Eggs and bacon should take me up close to 300 calories so that might be enough to get me to maintenance.
I will continue to eat in keto for a while, maybe forever. I'll open up the option of eating a higher LCHF diet once I am more firmly rooted in this WOE. Maybe in a year or so. Maybe.
I also plan to make exercise a more regular and intense thing before I hit maintenance; something I can continue for many years. I like P90X and related videos. Walking is good. My dream and hope is to be able to run and play basketball regularly, and without a lot of joint pain, but I think I might have moved past that point in my life. Hopefully, once I get rid of the extra weight, my hips and knees will be able to handle a bit more abuse. I'm also hoping some stabilizing muscle will help protect my joints.
I plan to be in this for life. I had prediabetes and some autoimmune issues that this WOE has really helped with, not to mention that my change in cognition was enough to give me a scare - I don't want to drop back to my before. I made the mistake, about 5 years ago, of losing my weight and then going back to what I was doing before, but (initially) at lower calories. That didn't work. I can't moderate a normal diet. I just can't. That way of eating has to be a thing of the past for me or I'll be back to square one.
Good for you!
Also, me either. Sadly. I'd love to be able to look at a serving size of cake and think that will do me just fine! Not ever going to happen.
I hear you! I just keep thinking of it as a medically needed diet. I wouldn't mess with medication, so I can't mess with my diet/WOE either.
Cake would be nice though... I'm looking up fat bomb recipes lately so I can make myself, and my family safe treats for the holidays.0 -
Sad fact indeed… been there! And been to WW too, though that was about 10 years ago during the wine and bread phase of my life (go figure!). I lost 20 lbs on WW, but definitely not a sustainable WOE.
Long term strategy is to stick with an LC WOE to maintain, pretty much what I am doing now. I kinda doubt that my metabolism will greatly improve, now that I am in my 40’s that does not seem to be happening! So no more carbage overload for me if I want to maintain. About 5 lbs to go to hit maintenance. So far I am losing slowly without logging (after 3 years of logging I hit major burn-out) so I am sticking with LC and intuitive eating. I love bacon and steak, can definitely maintain bacon and steak long-term!
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I am hoping to stay low carb, but maybe not keto, and will obey my fitbit in all things calorie-wise.0
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I don't think my maintenance meal plan will look much different than it does now. My plan is to keep doing what I'm doing and adding weight training in a month or so. I already run 5 or 6 days a week (less lately because of a terribly large and terribly painful blister, yuck) and will continue to do that but work on adding more muscle. To do that, I'll need to up my calories a bit but that's it.
I will definitely not be adding back refined carbs in maintenance. Maybe some fruit here and there (which I already do when I'm really in the mood) and some more veggies (I've cut them out because I feel like they make me too hungry after I eat them, like carbs tend to do) but that's about it. I enjoy experimenting with LCHF baking and would much rather make myself something healthier but still indulgent than feel the consequences of a sugar binge.0 -
I'm hoping I'll be in maintenance by March. I'm lucky in that I only had about 45-50lbs to lose. I'll start switching to maintenance at about 140 lbs (I'm almost 42 and 5'8"). I'll reasses as I near that goal.
Right now I eat approximately 1500 kcal per day, + or - 500 kcal. I am guessing that at maintenance I'll eat between 1700 and 2000 kcal, + or - a few hundred, maybe even more if I am very active but I doubt I'll be able to go higher. To do this I'll add more to breakfast. Right now I usually just have BPC for breakfast but I'll add back eggs and bacon on most days and use my BPC to snack through the morning and afternoon. I thought I would have evening snacks of nuts more often then too, but my FBG seems to go up when I snack in the evening, even if it is just cheese, so that might not work. Eggs and bacon should take me up close to 300 calories so that might be enough to get me to maintenance.
I will continue to eat in keto for a while, maybe forever. I'll open up the option of eating a higher LCHF diet once I am more firmly rooted in this WOE. Maybe in a year or so. Maybe.
I also plan to make exercise a more regular and intense thing before I hit maintenance; something I can continue for many years. I like P90X and related videos. Walking is good. My dream and hope is to be able to run and play basketball regularly, and without a lot of joint pain, but I think I might have moved past that point in my life. Hopefully, once I get rid of the extra weight, my hips and knees will be able to handle a bit more abuse. I'm also hoping some stabilizing muscle will help protect my joints.
I plan to be in this for life. I had prediabetes and some autoimmune issues that this WOE has really helped with, not to mention that my change in cognition was enough to give me a scare - I don't want to drop back to my before. I made the mistake, about 5 years ago, of losing my weight and then going back to what I was doing before, but (initially) at lower calories. That didn't work. I can't moderate a normal diet. I just can't. That way of eating has to be a thing of the past for me or I'll be back to square one.
Good for you!
Also, me either. Sadly. I'd love to be able to look at a serving size of cake and think that will do me just fine! Not ever going to happen.
I hear you! I just keep thinking of it as a medically needed diet. I wouldn't mess with medication, so I can't mess with my diet/WOE either.
Cake would be nice though... I'm looking up fat bomb recipes lately so I can make myself, and my family safe treats for the holidays.
I make cheesecake with butter frosting.
It's cheese with some butter on it. Okay, it's not really cake, but I like it!
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I've said this a few times, "I hope the last 5 lbs takes me years to lose."
Here's my thinking about it.
Using FitnessFrog's TDEE calculator:
at 265 lbs. light exercise, tdee is 2950
at 160 lbs. light exercise, tdee is 2051
Now I'm eating 1500/1800 calories.
Without changing my calorie intake getting to goal weight will be tough.
I'm happy with my meal plan now & it should see me thru all the way.
Besides this WOE is to help me control my blood glucose levels, which
it is doing nicely. Weight loss actually is a bonus. OR 0 -
I've been at maintenance for over a year, with a couple kg swings up and down around my current settling point. I'd like to trade a bit more fat for muscle, but the weight I am at is basically where I want to be. If I go lower, it won't be because I was trying. I wanted something that I would be able to do without counting, restricting, or tracking. All I watch is my weight, to make sure it doesn't start going out of my expected range too dramatically.0
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I am about 20 kilos from my goal weight so I have a long way to go. But when I started I definitely was thinking 'this is just to lose weight and once that is done I can eat 'normally' again' Thankfully I have been reading and watching lots of info about keeping the weight off this time. I know I will have to keep exercising forever, the thing is I enjoy this WOE so my plan for maintenance is what I am doing now plus the occasional dark chocolate treat and wine. And weighing myself very regularly.0
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Gorgeous schnauzer! I have about 20kg to go also, probably more. I enjoy the WOE but can't wait till my kids are old enough for school so I can work and afford better foods.0
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I've been thinking about this today... In 2005 I stopped drinking regular soda, cut bread and pasta but nothing else and went from 205 lbs to 145 in about 8 or 9 months. I did gain 20 of that back but it took me a few years. Then I maintained there for a while, lost some... Gained some... Fluctuating between 155 - 165 for years. I just decided to look through old photos so I could see how much this showed.
Wow! It really showed! I basically thought I was maintaining pretty well since that initial big loss. 15 - 20 lbs just didn't seem like that much. I definitely went back to pasta and bread. Not in large amounts either! But I know my candy habit was a big part of it.
I'm confident I'll make it to my goal weight and I've felt pretty confident about maintenance. I definitely need to be more aware when I get there. And clearly, the fall of 2009 I was enjoying way too much pumpkin spice treats!
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I will almost certainly aim to stay low carb and likely very low carb forever. Two things I can see messing with:
Right now I aim to not go over 20g carbs a day. Maybe I'll experiment with 50 and see how I do? Right now I feel like with small increases in carbs I have issues with cravings, but its something I can see wanting to play with a little to better learn what I can and cannot handle.
I've only recently starting lifting weights, but I've been itching to do so for the last year or so (I didn't b/c I committed to $$ for a year of classes at the gym and stuck that out, even though it wasn't what I ideally wanted to be doing, it was very, very good for me). Until I get to my goal weight I just want to be losing weight, but I can imagine getting down there and deciding to experiment with bulking and cutting a little bit to see what I can do with my body. I dunno, that's a long ways off still, but those are the things I think about maybe in an ideal world.0 -
Wow @Sunny_Bunny_ that is quite the change over the years, so awesome! Also, when you hit your goal weight you should definitely break out the cat ears and strike that same pose from the 2012 pic for comparison.
RAWR. 0 -
Being on the road all last week I was more out of ketosis than in ketosis. The world did not end but I did not feel as well. My low back got tender for the first time in a long time.
I do plan to stay with ketosis for pain management plus the other awesome side effects.0
This discussion has been closed.