They don't call it yoyo 'cause it's fun.
Replies
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kshama2001 wrote: »goldthistime wrote: »goldthistime wrote: »
You shouldn't be needing to go to bed hungry. There are foods you should be eating that will help you with satiety. If carbs are leaving you hungry, increase your proteins and fats. They will leave you feeling satisfied longer. Eat them later in the day and you won't be going to bed hungry. Finding out what satisfies you is part of the journey. It's a long-term journey, and learning things along the way is part of the process.It doesn't have to be work. The best to make something less effort is to make it a habit. When we create habits we do them without thinking about it.
If you weigh your solid food and log it on a daily basis, it becomes easier and quicker. I've been doing this for a long time and it only takes a few minutes to weigh my food and enter it into my log. I don't really even think about it- it's just a part of my meal prep.
When you eat at a calorie deficit, you lose weight. If you are weighing and logging all of your solid food and measuring your caloric liquids, you know you are accurate with your calorie counting, and can stick to your calorie deficit. You will lose the weight; that's guaranteed.
Once you lose the weight, you move into maintenance, and you're already doing the work you'll need to do to maintain. It's no different, except that you eat at maintenance calorie goal, rather than at a deficit.
For more helpful information, read the first post in this thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here
Really wish it was that easy, to be honest. I've been on MFP for more than 2.5 years and frankly, it is going to take way more than that for my new habits to catch up with my 25 years of old habits (not counting when I was a little kid, I guess). There's much more to it than logging. Logging won't do me any good if my willpower keeps failing on donuts and cookies. Is exercising a habit? By now, yeah. Lifting weights still isn't because I hate it, but I really enjoy my hour of peace on the treadmill at the gym and I hate staying home and not doing anything now, but the food part will NEVER become a habit. Ok I tend to crave healthier foods than fast food now, but I'll still pick dessert over veggies every time at the buffet. And I'm still hungry. I'd lie to myself if I said I won't have gained any weight back in 5 years, because I don't know if I'll still have the willpower to go to bed hungry half the time in 5 years (I've been maintaining for over a year now).
But yeah, I think the juicing part was a big red flag. It has to be sustainable if you really hope to get anything from it.
You don't have to 'pick' one food over the other - that's half of the problem with making it hard work. Trying to find willpower to avoid certain foods is hard and you shouldn't be doing that.
I eat things like cookies, or ice cream, or a cupcake almost every day. And I am not exercising at this point.
That's the point. If you are weighing and logging, and eating the foods you LIKE, you are making them fit into your calorie deficit, you are enjoying what you eat, and still losing weight. That's not work, that's living.
It might be easy for you, but it's not for everyone. Pretty much every day I spend more than 200 calories on sweets I'm regretting it later and go to bed hungry, except maybe one week a month. And that's eating at maintenance overall and pretty much burning 400 calories in exercise most days. Funny thing is that it was easier to eat 1700 calories a day when losing than 1800 now. I wasn't as hungry. Now that I've been maintaining, it's much harder, I'm hungrier, but I have to keep a deficit to make up for the days when I'm actually starving and eating more, or I will gain weight back.
So no, it's not a very fun way to live. Yes it's doable, just certainly not easy for everyone, hence why so many people regain the weight later. Your post is ok about the science part but doesn't take anything else into account - hunger, habits, hormones, circumstances etc.
If it was as easy as you make it sound, nobody would be fat, and nobody would gain the weight back.
Regaining some weight doesn't mean you failed. It just means there is something to be learned, and something to change in the process. You make those changes, and lose the weight again, moving back into maintenance.
Well I've been at this for almost 3 years and I eat more protein than I should, tons of fiber, and plenty of fat, and I still go to bed hungry most nights, the only solution for me not to go hungry would be to eat more (but I don't want to gain) or just eat no sweets at all, and that's just not happening... But it WAS easier when I was 10 pounds from my goal (and my goal isn't aggressive at all either).
Bottom line again - it's not as easy for everyone.vivmom2014 wrote: »It might be easy for you, but it's not for everyone. Pretty much every day I spend more than 200 calories on sweets I'm regretting it later and go to bed hungry, except maybe one week a month. And that's eating at maintenance overall and pretty much burning 400 calories in exercise most days. Funny thing is that it was easier to eat 1700 calories a day when losing than 1800 now. I wasn't as hungry. Now that I've been maintaining, it's much harder, I'm hungrier, but I have to keep a deficit to make up for the days when I'm actually starving and eating more, or I will gain weight back.
So no, it's not a very fun way to live. Yes it's doable, just certainly not easy for everyone, hence why so many people regain the weight later. Your post is ok about the science part but doesn't take anything else into account - hunger, habits, hormones, circumstances etc.
If it was as easy as you make it sound, nobody would be fat, and nobody would gain the weight back.
I relate so much to this. For me, it's effort. I have a rebellious personality and I don't like LIMITS. Even if it's not true hunger, I don't like that I can't have it. So this takes a lot of unlearning for me. Waaah-waaah.
But effort = discipline. I don't think it will ever become habit to me. I love vegetables and seafood, but as long as there's chocolate cake in the world, and ice cream, and peanuts and potato chips and French bread, and Kerrygold butter - I will want them in unlimited amounts. I won't have them, but I pretty much think I'll always want them.
Yep. I'll always want all the cake and ice cream and bread. I can do moderation 95% of the time, but it doesn't stop me from wanting them.
Any guesses as to why it was easier when you were 10lbs from goal?
No idea. Heck I was able to use a bigger % of calories for treats than now too. Just sucks. Maybe because my workouts are more intense? Who knows. Sometimes I wonder if there are diminishing returns with exercise at which point you get too hungry for it to be worth it or something.
Do you weigh all of your food?
Would it matter if the scales show she is staying at the same weight? For a minute I thought maybe all her exercise meant more muscle and a higher metabolism, which was making her hungry. But if that were the case, she would be losing weight.
Yes. If she was weighing it then, and isn't now, she could have been actually allowing herself more food then. She says that some days she's keeping herself in a deficit now to make up for some of the 'dessert' foods she's eating and that she's going to bed hungry. and that she's exercising more. Food choices are a big deal, and some people find different foods more satiating. If dessert foods are making her more hungry, perhaps carbs don't satiate her, and she needs to eat very low carb and higher fat and protein. In order to find out if that works, she needs to weigh everything, keep a tight caloric log, and stick to the LCHF limit for an extended period of time. For people for whom LCHF works, they find it very satisfying once they get into ketosis. I'd have to defer to someone who does it well, like @kshama2001, if she sees this thread.
Not me! I just reduced carbs. Maybe you are thinking of @nvmomketo
Either way, someone can hopefully help! I wasn't sure who was in the low carb group. but Either way should be able to help.0 -
You shouldn't be needing to go to bed hungry. There are foods you should be eating that will help you with satiety. If carbs are leaving you hungry, increase your proteins and fats. They will leave you feeling satisfied longer. Eat them later in the day and you won't be going to bed hungry. Finding out what satisfies you is part of the journey. It's a long-term journey, and learning things along the way is part of the process.It doesn't have to be work. The best to make something less effort is to make it a habit. When we create habits we do them without thinking about it.
If you weigh your solid food and log it on a daily basis, it becomes easier and quicker. I've been doing this for a long time and it only takes a few minutes to weigh my food and enter it into my log. I don't really even think about it- it's just a part of my meal prep.
When you eat at a calorie deficit, you lose weight. If you are weighing and logging all of your solid food and measuring your caloric liquids, you know you are accurate with your calorie counting, and can stick to your calorie deficit. You will lose the weight; that's guaranteed.
Once you lose the weight, you move into maintenance, and you're already doing the work you'll need to do to maintain. It's no different, except that you eat at maintenance calorie goal, rather than at a deficit.
For more helpful information, read the first post in this thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here
Really wish it was that easy, to be honest. I've been on MFP for more than 2.5 years and frankly, it is going to take way more than that for my new habits to catch up with my 25 years of old habits (not counting when I was a little kid, I guess). There's much more to it than logging. Logging won't do me any good if my willpower keeps failing on donuts and cookies. Is exercising a habit? By now, yeah. Lifting weights still isn't because I hate it, but I really enjoy my hour of peace on the treadmill at the gym and I hate staying home and not doing anything now, but the food part will NEVER become a habit. Ok I tend to crave healthier foods than fast food now, but I'll still pick dessert over veggies every time at the buffet. And I'm still hungry. I'd lie to myself if I said I won't have gained any weight back in 5 years, because I don't know if I'll still have the willpower to go to bed hungry half the time in 5 years (I've been maintaining for over a year now).
But yeah, I think the juicing part was a big red flag. It has to be sustainable if you really hope to get anything from it.
You don't have to 'pick' one food over the other - that's half of the problem with making it hard work. Trying to find willpower to avoid certain foods is hard and you shouldn't be doing that.
I eat things like cookies, or ice cream, or a cupcake almost every day. And I am not exercising at this point.
That's the point. If you are weighing and logging, and eating the foods you LIKE, you are making them fit into your calorie deficit, you are enjoying what you eat, and still losing weight. That's not work, that's living.
It might be easy for you, but it's not for everyone. Pretty much every day I spend more than 200 calories on sweets I'm regretting it later and go to bed hungry, except maybe one week a month. And that's eating at maintenance overall and pretty much burning 400 calories in exercise most days. Funny thing is that it was easier to eat 1700 calories a day when losing than 1800 now. I wasn't as hungry. Now that I've been maintaining, it's much harder, I'm hungrier, but I have to keep a deficit to make up for the days when I'm actually starving and eating more, or I will gain weight back.
So no, it's not a very fun way to live. Yes it's doable, just certainly not easy for everyone, hence why so many people regain the weight later. Your post is ok about the science part but doesn't take anything else into account - hunger, habits, hormones, circumstances etc.
If it was as easy as you make it sound, nobody would be fat, and nobody would gain the weight back.
Regaining some weight doesn't mean you failed. It just means there is something to be learned, and something to change in the process. You make those changes, and lose the weight again, moving back into maintenance.
Well I've been at this for almost 3 years and I eat more protein than I should, tons of fiber, and plenty of fat, and I still go to bed hungry most nights, the only solution for me not to go hungry would be to eat more (but I don't want to gain) or just eat no sweets at all, and that's just not happening... But it WAS easier when I was 10 pounds from my goal (and my goal isn't aggressive at all either).
Bottom line again - it's not as easy for everyone.vivmom2014 wrote: »It might be easy for you, but it's not for everyone. Pretty much every day I spend more than 200 calories on sweets I'm regretting it later and go to bed hungry, except maybe one week a month. And that's eating at maintenance overall and pretty much burning 400 calories in exercise most days. Funny thing is that it was easier to eat 1700 calories a day when losing than 1800 now. I wasn't as hungry. Now that I've been maintaining, it's much harder, I'm hungrier, but I have to keep a deficit to make up for the days when I'm actually starving and eating more, or I will gain weight back.
So no, it's not a very fun way to live. Yes it's doable, just certainly not easy for everyone, hence why so many people regain the weight later. Your post is ok about the science part but doesn't take anything else into account - hunger, habits, hormones, circumstances etc.
If it was as easy as you make it sound, nobody would be fat, and nobody would gain the weight back.
I relate so much to this. For me, it's effort. I have a rebellious personality and I don't like LIMITS. Even if it's not true hunger, I don't like that I can't have it. So this takes a lot of unlearning for me. Waaah-waaah.
But effort = discipline. I don't think it will ever become habit to me. I love vegetables and seafood, but as long as there's chocolate cake in the world, and ice cream, and peanuts and potato chips and French bread, and Kerrygold butter - I will want them in unlimited amounts. I won't have them, but I pretty much think I'll always want them.
Yep. I'll always want all the cake and ice cream and bread. I can do moderation 95% of the time, but it doesn't stop me from wanting them.
I looked at your diary for the other thread in which you were talking about being hungry. (I liked Second Breakfast and Elevenses, lol.)
Looks like your fat macro is only 16%? Maybe you need more fat to be satisfied - try bumping it up and take carbs down?
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goldthistime wrote: »goldthistime wrote: »
You shouldn't be needing to go to bed hungry. There are foods you should be eating that will help you with satiety. If carbs are leaving you hungry, increase your proteins and fats. They will leave you feeling satisfied longer. Eat them later in the day and you won't be going to bed hungry. Finding out what satisfies you is part of the journey. It's a long-term journey, and learning things along the way is part of the process.It doesn't have to be work. The best to make something less effort is to make it a habit. When we create habits we do them without thinking about it.
If you weigh your solid food and log it on a daily basis, it becomes easier and quicker. I've been doing this for a long time and it only takes a few minutes to weigh my food and enter it into my log. I don't really even think about it- it's just a part of my meal prep.
When you eat at a calorie deficit, you lose weight. If you are weighing and logging all of your solid food and measuring your caloric liquids, you know you are accurate with your calorie counting, and can stick to your calorie deficit. You will lose the weight; that's guaranteed.
Once you lose the weight, you move into maintenance, and you're already doing the work you'll need to do to maintain. It's no different, except that you eat at maintenance calorie goal, rather than at a deficit.
For more helpful information, read the first post in this thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here
Really wish it was that easy, to be honest. I've been on MFP for more than 2.5 years and frankly, it is going to take way more than that for my new habits to catch up with my 25 years of old habits (not counting when I was a little kid, I guess). There's much more to it than logging. Logging won't do me any good if my willpower keeps failing on donuts and cookies. Is exercising a habit? By now, yeah. Lifting weights still isn't because I hate it, but I really enjoy my hour of peace on the treadmill at the gym and I hate staying home and not doing anything now, but the food part will NEVER become a habit. Ok I tend to crave healthier foods than fast food now, but I'll still pick dessert over veggies every time at the buffet. And I'm still hungry. I'd lie to myself if I said I won't have gained any weight back in 5 years, because I don't know if I'll still have the willpower to go to bed hungry half the time in 5 years (I've been maintaining for over a year now).
But yeah, I think the juicing part was a big red flag. It has to be sustainable if you really hope to get anything from it.
You don't have to 'pick' one food over the other - that's half of the problem with making it hard work. Trying to find willpower to avoid certain foods is hard and you shouldn't be doing that.
I eat things like cookies, or ice cream, or a cupcake almost every day. And I am not exercising at this point.
That's the point. If you are weighing and logging, and eating the foods you LIKE, you are making them fit into your calorie deficit, you are enjoying what you eat, and still losing weight. That's not work, that's living.
It might be easy for you, but it's not for everyone. Pretty much every day I spend more than 200 calories on sweets I'm regretting it later and go to bed hungry, except maybe one week a month. And that's eating at maintenance overall and pretty much burning 400 calories in exercise most days. Funny thing is that it was easier to eat 1700 calories a day when losing than 1800 now. I wasn't as hungry. Now that I've been maintaining, it's much harder, I'm hungrier, but I have to keep a deficit to make up for the days when I'm actually starving and eating more, or I will gain weight back.
So no, it's not a very fun way to live. Yes it's doable, just certainly not easy for everyone, hence why so many people regain the weight later. Your post is ok about the science part but doesn't take anything else into account - hunger, habits, hormones, circumstances etc.
If it was as easy as you make it sound, nobody would be fat, and nobody would gain the weight back.
Regaining some weight doesn't mean you failed. It just means there is something to be learned, and something to change in the process. You make those changes, and lose the weight again, moving back into maintenance.
Well I've been at this for almost 3 years and I eat more protein than I should, tons of fiber, and plenty of fat, and I still go to bed hungry most nights, the only solution for me not to go hungry would be to eat more (but I don't want to gain) or just eat no sweets at all, and that's just not happening... But it WAS easier when I was 10 pounds from my goal (and my goal isn't aggressive at all either).
Bottom line again - it's not as easy for everyone.vivmom2014 wrote: »It might be easy for you, but it's not for everyone. Pretty much every day I spend more than 200 calories on sweets I'm regretting it later and go to bed hungry, except maybe one week a month. And that's eating at maintenance overall and pretty much burning 400 calories in exercise most days. Funny thing is that it was easier to eat 1700 calories a day when losing than 1800 now. I wasn't as hungry. Now that I've been maintaining, it's much harder, I'm hungrier, but I have to keep a deficit to make up for the days when I'm actually starving and eating more, or I will gain weight back.
So no, it's not a very fun way to live. Yes it's doable, just certainly not easy for everyone, hence why so many people regain the weight later. Your post is ok about the science part but doesn't take anything else into account - hunger, habits, hormones, circumstances etc.
If it was as easy as you make it sound, nobody would be fat, and nobody would gain the weight back.
I relate so much to this. For me, it's effort. I have a rebellious personality and I don't like LIMITS. Even if it's not true hunger, I don't like that I can't have it. So this takes a lot of unlearning for me. Waaah-waaah.
But effort = discipline. I don't think it will ever become habit to me. I love vegetables and seafood, but as long as there's chocolate cake in the world, and ice cream, and peanuts and potato chips and French bread, and Kerrygold butter - I will want them in unlimited amounts. I won't have them, but I pretty much think I'll always want them.
Yep. I'll always want all the cake and ice cream and bread. I can do moderation 95% of the time, but it doesn't stop me from wanting them.
Any guesses as to why it was easier when you were 10lbs from goal?
No idea. Heck I was able to use a bigger % of calories for treats than now too. Just sucks. Maybe because my workouts are more intense? Who knows. Sometimes I wonder if there are diminishing returns with exercise at which point you get too hungry for it to be worth it or something.
Do you weigh all of your food?
Would it matter if the scales show she is staying at the same weight? For a minute I thought maybe all her exercise meant more muscle and a higher metabolism, which was making her hungry. But if that were the case, she would be losing weight.
Yes. If she was weighing it then, and isn't now, she could have been actually allowing herself more food then. She says that some days she's keeping herself in a deficit now to make up for some of the 'dessert' foods she's eating and that she's going to bed hungry. and that she's exercising more. Food choices are a big deal, and some people find different foods more satiating. If dessert foods are making her more hungry, perhaps carbs don't satiate her, and she needs to eat very low carb and higher fat and protein. In order to find out if that works, she needs to weigh everything, keep a tight caloric log, and stick to the LCHF limit for an extended period of time. For people for whom LCHF works, they find it very satisfying once they get into ketosis. I'd have to defer to someone who does it well, like @kshama2001, if she sees this thread.
Got it.
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From my perspective, I've yo yo dieted most of my adulthood. I'd commit to losing weight, anywhere from 30-50 pounds and get complacent, call it a day and eventually gain some of the weight back. I'd blame it on being too busy, or lack of energy but really it was my unwillingness to make real changes. This go around I stuck to a plan, I knew I had to change not just what I was eating but how and why. I've lost 135 lbs in less than 2 years. I've gone from wearing a 3x to wearing a medium and I like it. I like being strong and agile. I like knowing that I can run a 9 minute mile. I have no plans on going backwards save something grave happens. I've seen too many of my family members die due to not caring for themselves and my motivation is to break the cycle.0
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Wow, it's disappointing Phil gained the weight back
![:\](https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/resources/emoji/confused.png ":\")
But, from what I remember of the documentary his motivation for living a fitter/healthier lifestyle was primarily emotional. If you rely on emotions to fuel your habits eventually those emotions won't be there and you'll lose motivation. Discipline is more useful than emotional surges over time.
Also, I could never quite get on board with the juicing thing as a primary diet focus because it doesn't seem sustainable for the long term (at least for most people). Everyone should do what works for them nutrition wise but there's a tendency for folks to get religious about particular food groups or food prep methods as THE ONLY WAY to get healthy and that mindset can be disastrous for long term success.
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nitaleotta wrote: »Wow, it's disappointing Phil gained the weight back
But, from what I remember of the documentary his motivation for living a fitter/healthier lifestyle was primarily emotional. If you rely on emotions to fuel your habits eventually those emotions won't be there and you'll lose motivation. Discipline is more useful than emotional surges over time.
Also, I could never quite get on board with the juicing thing as a primary diet focus because it doesn't seem sustainable for the long term (at least for most people). Everyone should do what works for them nutrition wise but there's a tendency for folks to get religious about particular food groups or food prep methods as THE ONLY WAY to get healthy and that mindset can be disastrous for long term success.
What works is a calorie deficit. The method doesn't matter. There are several different methods, and everyone seems to prefer what worked for them, but you are correct, there is not just only one way. The real deal is making sure that you (the general you, not you specifically) are eat in a calorie deficit, because eating too many calories is what prevents weight loss. Whether you are eating in moderation, low-carb, paleo, intermittent fasting, IIFYM, etc, it doesn't matter. As long as you are in a calorie deficit, you will lose weight.
However, juicing is not a weight loss method. It can be a different way to consume fruits and vegetables, but for weight loss, does not work long term.0 -
Well said. I gained some of mine back due to being happy! There is the opposite side of the spectrum as well. There will always be a reason to gain weight. We have to continue to make conscious decisions.0
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I do agree with a few points. You have to want to make the change, when you decide you really want it, you don't feel like you are making sacrifices. I say this because you are onboard with the process and fully invested in it, because it was YOUR idea, not someone else's. I also agree with the fact that it's easier for some than for others. I can't ever see myself not wanting ice cream or cupcakes. Oddly, candy I can do without and I have for over 6 weeks! I don't think I will ever get away from not wanting 'certain' things and the more I think about NOT having it the more I want it. I am just on the beginning journey. When I manage to get a couple of miles in walking, I try not to eat that all back; but if I do, no biggie! I don't think that 'allowance' is going give me carte blanche to do whatever - but rather I look at it as insurance.0
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Of course I know how to lose weight; I've done it enough times. There was that awful yogurt and melba toast diet of 1986, then the goldfish cracker and malt o meal diet of 1997, and who didn't love the egg and green olive diet of 2007? Keeping it off, mechanically, works the same way. I don't want this to become "the MFP diet of 2015". I think that, when losing weight, you get those little thrills that keep you going. Seeing the scale go down a pound. Being able to cross your legs again. Fitting into those jeans again. Being called skinny minnie. So what about when all that stops? You have new friends who don't even know you used to be 50 lbs heavier, and when you casually mention over lunch that, no you don't want another slice of pizza because you don't want all those extra calories, you hear the inevitable "what do you have to worry about that for?". What keeps you going year after year?0
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While I'm here losing weight I've maintained in a 20 pound range for over 40 years. I'm 5'2 and weigh 131. My goal is 120.
How have I found the motivation to lose weight each and every time it's crept up? What keeps me going? Knowing what it feels like to be in shape, strong and fit, with only a small amount of extra fat that gets me the comment frequently that "you have nothing to worry about". I look at my friends who "used to do that when I was younger". I look at people in restaurants eating to obesity and diabetes and know that could be me.
I'll die of something but not of food, which I can control and choose how much to consume. I love sweets and wine and so on, but use moderation so that I get to hear "oh, you're lucky, you've always been thin". I'm not thin but it's all relative. It's been a life long battle. But so worth it at 60 to try to do my first pull up and to do 6 military push ups and still run 2 miles several times a week. Do you see why, for me, it's worth keeping going? I hope you find its worth it for you as well OP.0 -
I have hope that I'm done with yo-yoing.
Discovering how necessary adequate protein is for me is my main reason for hope. I had suspected, but never made protein a priority. So much less likely to go on a carb binge when I get enough protein.
Second reason for hope is that I think I am done being a martyr. Both because I've had too many brushes with bad health to risk mistreating my body again, and because I think I'm ready to acknowledge that while in my head I was a martyr for giving up exercise and eating high energy foods to "get things done", in reality, at least part of it was just a "poor me" attitude. I'm ready to say "nope, that would mean too much stress for me, I have to decline".
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I don't care how you lost weight, if you misuse food as a comfort in hard times, you're going to gain the weight back unless you're some freak with a mutant metabolism or the capacity to work out 20 hours a day with the energy levels of a cyborg.0
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It doesn't have to be work. The best to make something less effort is to make it a habit. When we create habits we do them without thinking about it.
If you weigh your solid food and log it on a daily basis, it becomes easier and quicker. I've been doing this for a long time and it only takes a few minutes to weigh my food and enter it into my log. I don't really even think about it- it's just a part of my meal prep.
When you eat at a calorie deficit, you lose weight. If you are weighing and logging all of your solid food and measuring your caloric liquids, you know you are accurate with your calorie counting, and can stick to your calorie deficit. You will lose the weight; that's guaranteed.
Once you lose the weight, you move into maintenance, and you're already doing the work you'll need to do to maintain. It's no different, except that you eat at maintenance calorie goal, rather than at a deficit.
For more helpful information, read the first post in this thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here
Really wish it was that easy, to be honest. I've been on MFP for more than 2.5 years and frankly, it is going to take way more than that for my new habits to catch up with my 25 years of old habits (not counting when I was a little kid, I guess). There's much more to it than logging. Logging won't do me any good if my willpower keeps failing on donuts and cookies. Is exercising a habit? By now, yeah. Lifting weights still isn't because I hate it, but I really enjoy my hour of peace on the treadmill at the gym and I hate staying home and not doing anything now, but the food part will NEVER become a habit. Ok I tend to crave healthier foods than fast food now, but I'll still pick dessert over veggies every time at the buffet. And I'm still hungry. I'd lie to myself if I said I won't have gained any weight back in 5 years, because I don't know if I'll still have the willpower to go to bed hungry half the time in 5 years (I've been maintaining for over a year now).
But yeah, I think the juicing part was a big red flag. It has to be sustainable if you really hope to get anything from it.
Just to add to this - I've been maintaining for more than 2 years now and I'll share some of my experience along the way.
You're right that when something becomes a habit, it becomes natural. However, since I'm hungry a lot one of my strategies has always been to load up on veggies - the problem with that? It's hard to get enough calories and nutrients from veggies and protein alone. I went down to about 62 kg last Christmas - a shocking weight that did some real damage to my body and made me start having horrible issues with binges for denying myself a LOT of food. I had stopped logging as it was making me anxious, I had stopped weighing myself every week.
Now, I've learned a few tricks:
Forgive yourself - your old habits won't come back if you don't deprive yourself of things. Create a habit of enjoying things in moderation. If I have a treat, I try to make it once a week. Despite your fears, you won't balloon back to your old weight after one bad day. As much as you won't hit maintenance after just a week of weight loss. I don't deny or deprive myself of anything - if I want something, I'll have it, but just less of it and exercising moderation. I'll also tend to have them on exercise days since I know I'll probably burn more than usual.
Keep healthy foods in the house - I KNOW myself now well enough to know my own pitfalls and bad habits. If I'm cooking, I'll be eating. After dinner, I tend to feel a bit peckish and want to snack. Having vegetables around means that I can avoid reaching for biscuits or bread (bread is a big no no for me). Since I have a sweet tooth, I'll freeze berries and snack on them if I'm peckish. I try to eat smaller meals to make space for some snacking. This way, even if I'm under-logging, it's harder to get 3500 extra calories (to gain 1 pound) from vegetables than it would be from rice or anything with more calories (or general carbs since I can have endless amounts of it).
Maintaining means keeping an eye - I stopped weighing myself every week as it'd make me anxious, but I have created a habit of facing the scales once every two to four weeks.
That means that if I can tell my weight is increasing - I get back on the veggies the following week.
Today I log not because I need to know my weight, but because I want to make sure I'm eating enough.
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