What has been your biggest struggle at maintenance?

I have similar feelings. My goal was 62 kilos but when I upped the calories a little bit I put on a kilo straight away. That scared me so I reverted to a goal of 60 kilos. I am now 60.5 kilos and wondering what to do now. I eat 1500 calories 4 days a week and 700, 3 days. My height is 5 ft 4 and BMW is 22.9. I lost my 18 kilos very slowly over 18 months so maintenance to me is much the same as loosing. Could I be eating more? I am 54 and hate exercise .

Since I'm small I don't get many calories even at maintenance, 1500 seems way too little sometimes

elize7 wrote: »

I recently tried out maintenence as I got close to my goal weight. All my foid isdues lept to the forefront and I gained back 10. Now I'm back on my strict diet plan and am planning on staying on it til 5 pounds below my goal weight. I'm reading all the maintenence threads and trying to come up with some serious strategy for when I try maintenence again. Wow! I was flabberghasted by how out of control I felt when I started letting the reigns loosen a little.

That's probably do to the restriction - when you allowed yourself a bit leeway then you wanted it all at once, maybe?
I'd suggest not getting crazy about it and allow yourself to enjoy something everyday. Just make it part of your calories. I tend to have smaller meals so I won't freak out for having a biscuit or two during the day.

tabletmfp wrote: »

I have similar feelings. My goal was 62 kilos but when I upped the calories a little bit I put on a kilo straight away. That scared me so I reverted to a goal of 60 kilos. I am now 60.5 kilos and wondering what to do now. I eat 1500 calories 4 days a week and 700, 3 days. My height is 5 ft 4 and BMW is 22.9. I lost my 18 kilos very slowly over 18 months so maintenance to me is much the same as loosing. Could I be eating more? I am 54 and hate exercise .

I think your issue is do to water weight - don't freak out when you reach maintenance as weight loss is not a straight journey. If you read about it, the less calories you eat the less your body will require to sustain itself. In other words, your body will adapt to lower calorie levels you're forcing it to live on. So when increasing it again, you'll gain water weight. But it should stabilize after a couple of weeks and when your body notices "there's plenty of food available" - it wasn't one day feast.

whmscll wrote: »

I bought some cute clothes when I was just about at goal and loved how I looked in them and all the compliments I got. Then the weight creep started, because I just like food and I like to snack because it tastes good. I had to self-talk myself into logging and tracking again. I loved how I felt at my lowest weight, and the knowledge that stuff in my closet would all fit, without me having to try it on to make sure it still did. I was starting to feel angry and frustrated with myself for starting to let the pounds back on and I did not like feeling that way at all.

I have the same issue with snacking. Just make sure you snack on fruit and vegetables mostly. I tend to have normal snacks when out of the house and fit them with my goals, but once in the house - I'll only allow myself the odd fruit and vegetables. You'd have to eat bags and bags of vegetables to be able to gain weight from it. It's not how much you eat, as much as what you eat - make smarter choices

amylou93xo wrote: »

Since I'm small I don't get many calories even at maintenance, 1500 seems way too littlees

1500 every day? I do 1500 for 4 days and 700 3 days just to maintain. I would love to be able to eat 1500 EVERY day!,

andyluvv wrote: »

tabletmfp wrote: »

amylou93xo wrote: »

Since I'm small I don't get many calories even at maintenance, 1500 seems way too littlees

1500 every day? I do 1500 for 4 days and 700 3 days just to maintain. I would love to be able to eat 1500 EVERY day!,

And that's the danger - the last thing you want is to set yourself up for an eating disorder.
You didn't get fat after a week or two, it would take years overeating to revert back to your old self. It takes 3500 calories for you to put on a pound of fat, remember? That's almost 2 days of eating.

Just try to eat healthy, plenty of food and veg low the amount of processed food.
And try to enjoy yourself every once in a while (that's what maintaining is all about - no more losing, but it's okay to fluctuate!).

Truth be told - if you don't enjoy your diet, you'll struggle to stick to it. So focus on consistency rather than just "calories amount".
And again, if you want to eat more...be more active!

Good advice here.

tabletmfp wrote: »

I have similar feelings. My goal was 62 kilos but when I upped the calories a little bit I put on a kilo straight away. That scared me so I reverted to a goal of 60 kilos. I am now 60.5 kilos and wondering what to do now. I eat 1500 calories 4 days a week and 700, 3 days. My height is 5 ft 4 and BMW is 22.9. I lost my 18 kilos very slowly over 18 months so maintenance to me is much the same as loosing. Could I be eating more? I am 54 and hate exercise .

Your maintenance seems very low. I have an "underweight" BMI, but I maintain on 2100 with elliptical for an hour 2 times a week.

Not a struggle, but the knowledge that I will always have to monitor myself to stay at maintenance is sometimes daunting. I have been on maintenance for 2 years now, and that is the longest time I have been at a normal weight for all of my adult life. It is well worth the effort and my goal is to be in the small percent that are able to maintain for more than 5 years.

My biggest struggle? Actually caring what I eat after I've had weeks of a deficient. I am great at losing weight. I'm great at gaining weight. Maintaining is a mystery to me. I decided that if I was in a 5lb range (152-148) I was happy. I get out of that range, it's time to tighten up for a few weeks. 3 weeks in and I'm 4lbs down. So, like I said, losing easy. Gaining easy. Actually staying put...not so easy.

My secret to making this happen? Forcing myself to get on a scale 1x week. Every week, no matter what kinda crazy binge I went on a few days before. It's easy to face up to your mistakes when they happen than let them get away from you.

Boredom.

The journey (yeah, I said journey, you wanna piece of me?) to reach a goal is exciting - the highs, the lows, the setbacks, the triumphs. Once you reach a goal it's a bit meh.

Find a successful formula. Repeat ad infinitum.