Hi all. I hope everyone is doing well. As I can see from the board postings, it seems many of us are progressing along great and also approaching maintenance. Congrats!

I want to tell you about what I’ve been doing to avoid gaining the weight back that seems to be working for me and maybe it will help you as well.

As you may or may not know, I lost 60 lbs and achieved my goal weight around mid June of this year and have been reverse dieting to try and uncover what my true maintenance calories are. I had 3 weeks of vacation this summer, so I delayed my true maintenance discovery a little. But despite that, I’ve managed to maintain my weight and really, it’s been going along great.

I have, so far <knock on wood>, been able to keep my weight around 142 lbs (+/- 3 lbs). This has been a HUGE accomplishment for me because summers have always been a period where I gain all the weight back plus more from my annual “New Year’s Resolution” weight loss. Here’s what’s been working for me so far (many of which are Nutrisystem based):

1. I measure/weigh (even if I have to guess) and then log everything I eat/drink. This has been fundamental for me to calculate how many calories I’m taking in.

2. I weigh myself regularly, every day and every night, and log it on my iPhone Health app. I do this to see what effect the foods I ate that day have on my weight and to see how much water weight I gain and lose every day and night. It’s been very informative.

3. Reverse dieting: Mainly occurs on Mon-Fri , I’m increasing my daily calories by 100 cal. So this week, I’m up to 1800 cal/day. Next week it will be 1900, etc. I still use NS foods M-F because it's so convenient for me, but now I sometimes will substitute other foods for NS entrees, especially dinners, and I’ll add on power fuels (generally some form of meat) and smart carbs (usually either fruits or treats like cake, ice cream, etc… you know, all those “bad” foods we think we need to avoid.)
The key is that I weigh/measure the foods and log them in MFP to make sure I stay within my daily calorie range. This has been exciting, because I was scared to do this at first and see the scale go up. But so far, if anything, I’m still not gaining, and sometime even losing weight. So now, I actually have to make myself eat more! Yay for me!

4. Saturday’s are my weekly “splurge” days. By this I mean that I allow myself to eat whatever I want. My only thing is that I log in everything I eat… good or bad. I’ve happily discovered that I can splurge anywhere between 2500-5000 calories (what?!) on Saturdays and gain only 2-4 lbs in water weight. I know this is water weight because as long as I go back to my normal routine the next day, I lose it ALL within 1-3 days. This has been the best part for me. I can eat out, attend barbecues, and just enjoy foods I may not each much of during the week.

5. Sundays I use as a little “cleansing” day. I usually eat 300 cal less than Mon-Fri. So this week, it’s still as much as 1500 calories. Usually after a Saturday splurge, I find myself not that hungry so this has worked for me. So after taking into account M-F, Saturday’s splurge and Sunday’s cleanse, I’m currently averaging 2000 calories per day.

6. I discovered that drinking a lot of water, ironically, minimizes water weight from eating too much sodium that day.

7. I’ve experimented with the timing of meals, and it seems it doesn’t really matter when you eat. What matters is how many calories we eat. So I can eat all my calories at once, or spread it out over 6 meals and everything in between and the result will be the same. For me, I still prefer eating 6 times a day, every 3 hours, especially M-F. It works for me.

8. I lift weights 3 times a week. I try to do cardio, but I hate it, so honestly, I’m lucky if I do HIIT for 10 minutes 2 times a week. But I stay active by walking a lot on my lunch hours and do outdoorsy things on weekends with the family. I’m sure this has contributed to why I can eat so much and still maintain my weight.

I also found out (through my daily and nightly weighing) that if I splurge for one day and go back to eating normal calories, I won’t gain weight. BUT if I splurge for TWO days (or more), that it can take me up to two WEEKS to get back to my 142 lbs. So now I try as best as I can to not splurge two days in a row. I know that I could, it’s just that it takes so long to lose it. So for me, it may not be worth it.

I have only 9 months left before I can sign up for the National Weight Loss Registry…. You can only sign up if you’ve maintained your weight at least a year. With the knowledge that most people regain weight after weight loss, trying to qualify for the NWLR has been very motivating for me.

Well, that’s all I can think of for now. Keep fighting!!