Why does this seem scarier?

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  • happymom221
    happymom221 Posts: 73 Member
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    I reached goal weight about a week ago. Before I was dieting with occasional maintenance (vacation, trips, holidays). Now I am maintaining with occassional dieting. (Weekdays and when I gain 2 pounds)
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    edited October 2015
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    I'm not 'maintaining'. I'm keeping a small deficit (talking 3000 calories a month or something) to lose 3 more pounds.

    That seems to work for me, I've been maintaining for more than a year... I lose vacation weight relatively easily that way and don't freak out too much if I have a couple days over etc. I don't know if I'll ever lose those pounds, but that's ok.
  • Ishii19
    Ishii19 Posts: 109 Member
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    I'm not there yet, but I do read these threads occasionally so I can plan ahead. I sometimes see people in maintenance who say they still log, but their goal is to have their weekly intake be on target as opposed to daily. That way you can have more leeway for going over some days or under others according to your hunger, special occasions, very highly active days, etc etc basically "life", then maybe the last couple days of your week tighten up and eat more or less to bring your weekly number to target. Who knows what it will feel like in practice but in theory that sounds good to me.
    Good luck! Take it easy :)
  • lsmathteacher
    lsmathteacher Posts: 12 Member
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    freesiasun5 wrote: »
    I am downright terrified to declare myself in maintenance.

    Losing weight seemed so easy. I knew the formula. I knew staying under goal had positive consequences and going over had negative consequences. It was an absolute I could easily deal with.

    Maintenance seems so foreign to me. The majority of my life has been spent either gaining weight or losing weight.

    Now my brain has constant battles that go like this:

    "You should TOTALLY have taco bell tonight! You've lost 55 pounds. You deserve it!"

    "That's how you got into this mess in the first place, dummy. Best go have a Lean Cuisine and stay 300 calories under."

    How long does it take to get into the rhythm of maintaining, accept it as a new normal, and not feel like everything you put in your mouth will get you right back where you started?

    I so understand and I am right there with you. I have been in maintenance mode almost a month. I am thankful I have my trainer who also helps with my nutrition to keep me from totally freaking out. We are slowly increasing calories to find where I need to be to maintain. This week has been tough as I see all I am eating in my diary and think that is way too much. I am going to gain weight. But I trust my trainer and I know he won't let me fail. I also reach out to my accountability friends when I start freaking out or my old stinkin thinkin come back. I just need to trust the process and my hard work and keep doing the same things I just get to eat more.
  • M30834134
    M30834134 Posts: 411 Member
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    Wow! Thank you everyone for this so informative and helpful thread!

    I've been in maintenance a few months and similar to OP still a bit nervous. This fear of starting to gain weight is just terrifying. Every time I see a bump on scale, even though I do understand it's just a fluctuation, I get that little worm in my brain that starts whispering about regaining - "that's how it starts, one pound here, two pounds there" and I rush back on a slight deficit.

    The processes of losing and maintaining are quite different to me. I know and understand that I need some time to adjust.

    I'm using Libra and its weight trend helps quite a bit.

    Thanks everyone for helpful tips.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    edited October 2015
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    I LOVE MAINTENANCE!! I couldn't wait to get here and 2 yrs ago I finally did....and yes there have been a few ups and ups on the scale but I never thought anything was scary about this process, whats not to love about having extra calories to enjoy :smiley: . Its just a matter of still keeping an eye on how much we're eating and still moving like we did when we were losing. :smile:

    I have a +/- 5lb goal range, I adjust my calories if I swing up..I've never had the issue of going below my goal range ( I enjoy my food too much!)
    I weigh in several times a week as I like to monitor fluctuations, I know what makes me retain water/gain by now and it doesn't phase me any more. Knowledge is power :smiley:
  • RaspberryTickleChicken
    RaspberryTickleChicken Posts: 629 Member
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    freesiasun5 wrote: »
    I am downright terrified to declare myself in maintenance.

    Losing weight seemed so easy. I knew the formula. I knew staying under goal had positive consequences and going over had negative consequences. It was an absolute I could easily deal with.

    Maintenance seems so foreign to me. The majority of my life has been spent either gaining weight or losing weight.

    Now my brain has constant battles that go like this:

    "You should TOTALLY have taco bell tonight! You've lost 55 pounds. You deserve it!"

    "That's how you got into this mess in the first place, dummy. Best go have a Lean Cuisine and stay 300 calories under."

    How long does it take to get into the rhythm of maintaining, accept it as a new normal, and not feel like everything you put in your mouth will get you right back where you started?

    Maint may seem way more scarier because there is no end to it ... it's for the rest of your life type of commitment and that in it of itself can be a very overwhelming thought.

    It took me about 18 months for my brain to kind of catch on to the body.

    Maint is a lot more mentally challenging I think than weight loss.

    Key to successful maint for me is to continue to set goals for yourself. Shift weight loss goals to fitness ones. ie. run a 5k.

    Also ck out my two favorite maint articles below:
    BEST TIPS FROM LONG TERM MAINTAINERS (NATIONAL WEIGHT CONTROL REGISTRY)

    KEY TO SUCCESSFUL MAINTENANCE

    Best of luck to you and remember consistence is key.
  • lyttlewon
    lyttlewon Posts: 1,118 Member
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    freeoscar wrote: »
    What's been difficult for me (Month 5 of maintenance now) is mentally dealing with the fluctuations within normal. I guess because when I was losing I ate similar types of foods all the time so I lost at a fairly steady clip - no real plateaus or gains. Now I'll gain or lose a few pounds at a time (I weigh weekly) with seemingly no correlation to CICO for that week. And of course when I gain I get nervous and think OMG 4 lbs - that'll take 6-8 weeks of eating at a deficit to lose. I just stick to my plan and so far CICO eventually evens things out, but mentally it sucks.

    I agree with this. I think I'm hyper aware of any fluctuation in my body, simply because I DON'T WANT TO GAIN WEIGHT. I'm three months in, and I'm starting to get a little less paranoid. I have been logging this week, to make sure I'm keeping on track, but I didn't log at all the previous months.
  • MissJay75
    MissJay75 Posts: 768 Member
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    When I log regularly, I have no fear of gaining weight. I know when I go over and by how much. There are no surprises.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    freesiasun5 wrote: »
    I am downright terrified to declare myself in maintenance.

    Losing weight seemed so easy. I knew the formula. I knew staying under goal had positive consequences and going over had negative consequences. It was an absolute I could easily deal with.

    Maintenance seems so foreign to me. The majority of my life has been spent either gaining weight or losing weight.

    Now my brain has constant battles that go like this:

    "You should TOTALLY have taco bell tonight! You've lost 55 pounds. You deserve it!"

    "That's how you got into this mess in the first place, dummy. Best go have a Lean Cuisine and stay 300 calories under."

    How long does it take to get into the rhythm of maintaining, accept it as a new normal, and not feel like everything you put in your mouth will get you right back where you started?

    It's still a formula...the difference between losing and maintaining is a handful of calories...that's it. It is illogical to think that you will gain weight if you are hitting your calorie targets...which BTW, did you set to maintain? You mentioned staying under...you didn't need to stay under your target while losing and most certainly don't need to stay under while maintaining.

    It's still the exact same formula...if you knew your formula before, you should be able to do the math and add in the calories that you would need to maintain given whatever average rate of loss you were experiencing.

    It's all still just math.
  • christinaleigh44
    christinaleigh44 Posts: 28 Member
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    I'm right there with you! it can really be terrifying lol. But I think as long as we are conscious of what we are eating and still logging, then we will be fine.
  • freesiasun5
    freesiasun5 Posts: 3,122 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    freesiasun5 wrote: »
    I am downright terrified to declare myself in maintenance.

    Losing weight seemed so easy. I knew the formula. I knew staying under goal had positive consequences and going over had negative consequences. It was an absolute I could easily deal with.

    Maintenance seems so foreign to me. The majority of my life has been spent either gaining weight or losing weight.

    Now my brain has constant battles that go like this:

    "You should TOTALLY have taco bell tonight! You've lost 55 pounds. You deserve it!"

    "That's how you got into this mess in the first place, dummy. Best go have a Lean Cuisine and stay 300 calories under."

    How long does it take to get into the rhythm of maintaining, accept it as a new normal, and not feel like everything you put in your mouth will get you right back where you started?

    It's still a formula...the difference between losing and maintaining is a handful of calories...that's it. It is illogical to think that you will gain weight if you are hitting your calorie targets...which BTW, did you set to maintain? You mentioned staying under...you didn't need to stay under your target while losing and most certainly don't need to stay under while maintaining.

    It's still the exact same formula...if you knew your formula before, you should be able to do the math and add in the calories that you would need to maintain given whatever average rate of loss you were experiencing.

    It's all still just math.

    I am set to maintain, but I tend to have a higher calorie day on the weekends, so I save up for that by staying under target a bit during the week.

    I'm working on trusting my Fitbit. I'm working on getting the "you're short and small, so you can't possibly be burning that many calories" out of my head. "Be active and you can eat more" is my current mantra.

    I also set up an account on trendweight.com and turned off the automatic wall posts for weight loss, so that I won't be posting that I lost .2 pounds every other day when I fluctuate and use my Aria. I had been avoiding using it, since I gained 2 pounds when I went into maintenance. I do miss seeing the nice round 55 pounds lost, but I want to see the trends so I can put the fluctuations into perspective.

    Looking back, I've been effectively maintaining for 2 months. I just need to keep on keeping on.

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