What has been your biggest struggle at maintenance?

vicky1947mfp wrote: »

totaldetermination wrote: »

I really enjoy regularly eating large quantities of certain high calorie foods - far more than I could fit into my calorie / macro goals.

I had to accept that if I am going to maintain my weight loss then I can't eat like that any more.

I didn't mind watching what I ate whilst I was losing weight, because it was a temporary change - I thought once I had more calories I would be able to eat more. But its not enough calories for what i want.

It was a big step for me to accept that I cannot eat the foods that I want to eat, in the quantities that I want, as regularly as I want to, ever again.

It is a constant effort to control what I eat because what I would like to eat is way above my maintenance calories (not from hunger or because I miss any particular foods, just because I want to eat a lot).

I didn't expect maintaining to require so much effort. Or at least I found it hard to realistically see myself putting in that much effort for the rest of my life. It took me a while to deeply accept that this is what I will have to do in order to maintain my weight loss.

Controlling myself is still really hard. I am hoping it will get easier.

My determination not to gain the weight back is very strong, though.

You said exactly how it has been for me since I reached maintenance on May 31 of this year. I just do not get to eat what I would really love in the quantities I would like. But I do feel much better, have more energy and don't get a stomach ache anymore. It is worth the trade off to keep in control of my eating.

I have to agree with the above posters -- I'm very close to maintenance, within 3-5 pounds. Cutting calories very slowly so that I'm close to maintenance calories (1700 - 1800 with exercise). I've come to the realization that I'm never going to eat the way I used to and that's probably a good thing.

The trade off is increased energy, longer, quality sleep, and better markers for general overall health. I'm short (medium framed), 5'2.5" and at 66 years of age watching my calories in /calories out is a lifetime prospect.

I'm sad that I can't eat the volume of food that I used to but the benefits trump everything. I'm really sad that I didn't start MFP sooner than I did.

andyluvv wrote: »

trina1049 wrote: »

vicky1947mfp wrote: »

totaldetermination wrote: »

I really enjoy regularly eating large quantities of certain high calorie foods - far more than I could fit into my calorie / macro goals.

I had to accept that if I am going to maintain my weight loss then I can't eat like that any more.

I didn't mind watching what I ate whilst I was losing weight, because it was a temporary change - I thought once I had more calories I would be able to eat more. But its not enough calories for what i want.

It was a big step for me to accept that I cannot eat the foods that I want to eat, in the quantities that I want, as regularly as I want to, ever again.

It is a constant effort to control what I eat because what I would like to eat is way above my maintenance calories (not from hunger or because I miss any particular foods, just because I want to eat a lot).

I didn't expect maintaining to require so much effort. Or at least I found it hard to realistically see myself putting in that much effort for the rest of my life. It took me a while to deeply accept that this is what I will have to do in order to maintain my weight loss.

Controlling myself is still really hard. I am hoping it will get easier.

My determination not to gain the weight back is very strong, though.

You said exactly how it has been for me since I reached maintenance on May 31 of this year. I just do not get to eat what I would really love in the quantities I would like. But I do feel much better, have more energy and don't get a stomach ache anymore. It is worth the trade off to keep in control of my eating.

I have to agree with the above posters -- I'm very close to maintenance, within 3-5 pounds. Cutting calories very slowly so that I'm close to maintenance calories (1700 - 1800 with exercise). I've come to the realization that I'm never going to eat the way I used to and that's probably a good thing.

The trade off is increased energy, longer, quality sleep, and better markers for general overall health. I'm short (medium framed), 5'2.5" and at 66 years of age watching my calories in /calories out is a lifetime prospect.

I'm sad that I can't eat the volume of food that I used to but the benefits trump everything. I'm really sad that I didn't start MFP sooner than I did.

If you're struggling to "control" what you eat, then you're not really allowing yourself leeway at maintenance.

I sometimes struggle because I'd REALLY like to have a day where I sit down and go through a pack of biscuits...with what I eat, I COULD make that fit within my calories (but then I'd have to eat less...)
Because most packets will have about 400 calories - which is almost as much as a muffin.

About quantities - I LOVE to eat a lot. So if I were to eat pizza, rice or even my beloved sweet potato, I'd be forced to eat very little.

So - clever substitutions. Instead of sweet potato, I eat butternut squash or swede. Swede mash!
Instead of pasta, I spirilize courgettes and make a delicious vegetable pasta. OR I have vegetable noodles (the japanese ones with zero calories). I also find that having my meals with lower calories help me have more calories to spend with a little treat here and there (I don't need a pack of chocolates if I could share one with work colleagues).

You CAN eat a lot, you just need to be creative/wise about what you have. Keep some things as treats (although I don't really miss pizza...). It's not how much you eat, but what you eat. Research: Volumetrics Diet.

And also Hungry Girl. Good luck!

Hi, @andyluvv, I am quite content with the volume of food that I'm eating now. I'm not craving anything nor do I binge eat. When I do feel like a specific treat or meal, I have it in the proper portion to fit into my calorie allowance. I don't even do "cheat" meals because I've learned to control my portion sizes -- everything in moderation. I love the food I'm eating. No more diets of any kind for me. It's strictly calories in / calories out.

Cheers!

rtp_slg52181 wrote: »

Francl27 wrote: »

rtp_slg52181 wrote: »

Francl27 wrote: »

rtp_slg52181 wrote: »

Francl27 wrote: »

rtp_slg52181 wrote: »

Laughter_Girl wrote: »

@irenehb & @Francl27 Thanks for making me feel "maintenance normal". I was beginning to think something was wrong with me. I definitely monitor my macros to try to meet my daily targets. Other than that, I just drink plenty of water and try to eat slower.

I would suggest you haven't found your optimum maintenance cals. There is usually a ~500 cal range that your body can adjust for. If you are at the low end your body will easily get cold your hair and nails won't grow as fast and other non essential fictions your body would normally do are reduced to conserve energy.

Well, I don't know. It took me 2 months to lose the 2 pounds I gained on vacations (assuming it was real weight gain as I ate too much and pee'd every 30 minutes on the way back), so you'd think I would have a deficit, but the scale hasn't gone lower than 133 pounds in 18 months.

I zigzag my calories though so it might have something to do with it, but there are days when I'm actually not that hungry, and some when I'm starving, and I always eat too much during PMS (up to 3500 extra calories sometimes) so I have to make up for that somehow, so I try to keep a 800-2000 calorie deficit the other weeks. But if I was eating too little, I'd still be losing, and I'm definitely not.

It's because you haven't let your body

gain the ~3-5 lbs of glycogen weight it needs to switch out of actively conserving energy

After you let this gain happen you'll be surprised how much you can eat and maintain weight.

But I went on vacations twice since, eating at maintenance or over it for 7-10 days, and I have 3000-4000 calorie days at least every other month. Surely I would have gained that glycogen weight then? I'm not constantly at a deficit and eat at maintenance or over at least twice a week too...

What cal target did you eat to lose weight?

What was your goal or end weight?

What cal target do you average now?

What is your current average weight?

Answer those and I'll be able to guess if you have gained your glycogen weight.

Oh man we're derailing the thread, lol.

My goal is still 130 pounds. Lowest I reached was 131.5 in June 2014. I ate 1650-1750 a day to lose (using TDEE, so no eating back exercise calories). Increased to 1800-2000 a few months after I reached that low weight (basically when I lost 2 of the 3 pounds I gained during the vacation that followed).
Current low weight is 133 pounds (go up to 136-137 before my period). I was 135 pounds when I came back from my vacation in July.
My average calories for the last few weeks (going backwards starting with this one) is 1913, 2098, 2100, 1910, 1831, 2447 (that was PMS week, my period is late this month)... My TDEE is supposedly 2200, but I haven't weighed myself since that 1831 week, as I only weigh myself the week after my period, so I have no idea if I actually lost weight since or not... As I said though, I zig zag calories, in those weeks my calories went from 1650 to 4600 and I had 8 days over maintenance.

It's pretty much the way I've been eating for the last 1.5 year.

So your lowest weight was 131.5 which means till you hit and keep at least 135 you haven't filled your glycogen storage. Instead of dieting after your vacation you should have just ate to maintain and watched. I am willing to bet you can eat the 2200 cals daily and have your period binges for 2 days and it will all even out with the days you happen to eat less the rest of the month.

You keep teasing your body with enough food to "turn on all the power" and it revs up to be a fuel burning machine, but then you knock it back into energy saving mode when you drop back to ~1800 a week. This is when it kicks and screams that it is soo hungry.

I see this a lot...people get to this arbitrary magical number and go to maintenance and then mistake glycogen replenishment for fat storage because they're up about 5 Lbs...so then they just keep dieting rather than understanding that their weight isn't a static number in the first place and that having your glycogen stores full is a good thing.

Honestly, maintenance has been a breeze.

I'm 2 years into maintenance and my biggest struggle has been not falling back into my old ways. It's ridiculously easy to slowly slide back without even realizing it, once the excitement of losing weight has worn off.

The weight loss phase has a beginning and an end; you're motivated and excited. You're buying new clothes, watching the numbers on the scale go down, and everyone tells you how great you look ALL THE TIME. It's easy to feel like you can do this forever because you feel amazing.

Then all that stops. The new you, becomes just the regular you. The excitement of buying clothes in smaller sizes goes away and it's just your regular size.

In past failed attempts, I never looked beyond the weight loss phase when in reality it's SO important to have a plan in place to keep motivated going once you've hit your goal. For me the focus had to shift from weight loss goals to fitness goals. I still love to eat and I'm still prone to binge eating, but when I think about how far I've come with my running and how much I stand to lose, it becomes a little easier to get myself under control faster. Either way though, I'm pretty sure it'll be a lifelong struggle which I'm fine with; I just tackle each day as it comes and don't dwell on the bad ones.

I struggle to maintain ... the reasoning is my lack of prepping - things become unbalanced - I eat kind of randomly instead of having my lean protein, veggies and fruit at lunch and dinner. Also I am tempted by refined sugar ! Its very addictive - I have to keep it out of my home.