Long time maintainers how do you do it

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Replies

  • malioumba
    malioumba Posts: 132 Member
    12by311 wrote: »
    Also, I've basically maintained my weight for 9 years now. Had two pregnancies during that time as well.

    Oh and one more thing, weigh at least once a week, even when not trying to lose!

    Geeze louise. Two pregnancies and you kept it off! Congratulations!!!!! My mother had 4 kids, and she is so tiny and frail still. Although she kept her physique, she didn't keep muscles. I WISH I could push her to do a little bit of strength.
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
    I lost 30 lb to maintenance three years ago. It took a year. Currently I'm 5lb below the bottom of my range because I had 4 molars removed last spring and was injured about 3 weeks ago. Between trouble chewing and stress, it's been hard to eat enough.

    However, the way I usually maintain is I'm very active. The most recent thing I did was to raise my computer's height so I have to stand while I work. Sitting is one of the worst things we can do for long periods of time. If you work out for an hour and then are sedentary for the other 23, it's not the best way to live. I hate those activity trackers that beep at you every hour, but if that's a way to remind you to move a bit, it might not be a bad idea.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    Just read through this thread. Thanks all, for your advice!

    I've got 10 kg to go to get to goal weight (unless I reassess my goal), so it's been great to get my mind moving towards a new phase.
  • Oscar8890
    Oscar8890 Posts: 11 Member
    edited November 2015
    :)
  • Oscar8890
    Oscar8890 Posts: 11 Member
    Oscar8890 wrote: »
    Matahairi wrote: »
    There is a great book I read called "Thin for Life". It gives great examples of how people maintained their weight loss over years. My best advice? Make MFP part of your life just like checking your email, voicemail, and bank balance, etc every day.

    What I tell my patients who want to lose weight and maintain is this:
    Think of tracking your intake and exercise is like tracking your checking account. Would you ever go to a store and swipe your debit card without ever knowing what your balance is to spend or what the price of the item your buying is? Eating without tracking is exactly this.

    Who would ever go to Best Buy and just start writing a check for the prettiest washer and dryer or fanciest computer just because you were "hungry to have one"? Blind eating is just like blind spending.

    Would any of us irresponsibly ask the question, "Hey when can I stop checking my balance at the bank? It's getting old seeing how much money I have or don't have every day . I just want to relax and spend freely and assume that I have unlimited funds available". Or how about, "Hey, I'm going on vacation for 2 weeks...can't I just blow a bunch of cash that I don't have and just worry about the overdraft fees later when I get home?"

    I would hope not.

    Your friendly Registered Dietitian
    Hey I really like that analogy of spending of money and calories. It was exactly what ive been thinking of just couldn't express it

  • jmaranion
    jmaranion Posts: 1 Member
    It's a simple.formula but need lifetime dedication and motivation. Energy in - energy out = 0 means weight maintenance. With the help of this app, I've lost 17kgs for the last 6 months, I've been on my ideal weight for already 3 months and still using this app to track my calories and activities.
  • speeno
    speeno Posts: 55 Member
    It's a habit now, I eat and log a certain way and enjoy the benefits of healthy eating and exercise. I have re-educated my brain into thinking of food as fuel, which it is :smile:
  • shaneseb
    shaneseb Posts: 16 Member
    feisty_bucket wrote: »

    Mostly, pay attention to what's happening. You have to consider yourself a "fit person" and a fit person does certain things that other people do not.

    This when I did this I was easily able to maintain an 80 pound weight loss. Now I am up twenty aiming to get back to this mindset.
  • Imomw2016
    Imomw2016 Posts: 93 Member
    Bump
  • Jesusjohnjames
    Jesusjohnjames Posts: 378 Member
    47Jacqueline wrote: »
    I've been maintaining for a while. I log most days, but if I'm out of tqqown or at an event, I don't. Also, I don't go back and log after I've finished for the day. I changed my status to "very active." and it seems like I'm eating all the time just to stand still. My brother commented on this when I visited last week. ;-)

  • Panda_brat
    Panda_brat Posts: 291 Member
    Bookmarking this thready to keep me motivated to maintain.
  • dlmciver
    dlmciver Posts: 149 Member
    Bump
  • fiddletime
    fiddletime Posts: 1,868 Member
    I maintained for the first 30 years of my adult life from about 123-133 (am 5'2"). Before calorie counting and apps, if I gained I ate more salads and less junk food. When I turned about 52 I slipped up to a 130-140 range. Too high and here I am. At 124 again I'm trying to utilize the common sense of my past with the high tech of today. Somewhere in the past decade I got tired of paying so much attention. Silly me. I loved the check book analogy. Oh, and I've worked out my whole life.
  • ginalove1960
    ginalove1960 Posts: 60 Member
    I've stayed at my maintenance weight of 150 lbs. with no problem, for the last 2 years. I am a 5 ft. 8.5 in. female, 56 yrs old.
    I eat a whole wheat cereal with a half a glass of OJ for breakfast, with 4 oz of vegetable juice, most mornings. I have a flavored Greek yogurt for lunch, and a big, old fashioned, home cooked meal for dinner, including dessert. I eat no snacks between meals and nothing after dinner. I never drink soda pop, regular nor diet. And I never drink creamed, sweetened, or flavored coffee or tea. Only water and black coffee for me. And no alcohol either.
    I do one hundred Burpees, spread throughout the day, as my form of exercise. I also take a couple of flights of stairs, routinely, at a running pace, in my building. I play piano also, 1-2 hours a day, which is a form of exercise.
    I track all my calories in a calorie app, and log all my exercise calories burned too.
    This all seems to do the trick of keeping me at goal weight of 150 lbs.
  • wayneh73
    wayneh73 Posts: 39 Member
    I'm 5ft 8 currently at 140lb and really struggling to maintain. I cycle and run a lot and despite wearing a heart rate monitor when I train to try and keep an accurate account of the calories I'm burning I can't get the balance right and I'm still dropping.
    The easy solution is to eat junk food but then I yoyo up and down and is not what I want to do. Any tips would be appreciated
  • PegMoffat
    PegMoffat Posts: 24 Member
    Been maintaining for a year. I still track my calories in and try to do it honestly, no matter what. I'd love to do 10,000 steps a day but can't get it in most days but do make sure I don't do fewer than 5,000 steps.
  • 12by311
    12by311 Posts: 1,716 Member
    12by311 wrote: »

    Also, I've basically maintained my weight for 9 years now. Had two pregnancies during that time as well.

    Oh and one more thing, weigh at least once a week, even when not trying to lose!
    Geeze louise. Two pregnancies and you kept it off! Congratulations!!!!! My mother had 4 kids, and she is so tiny and frail still. Although she kept her physique, she didn't keep muscles. I WISH I could push her to do a little bit of strength.

    Another pregnancy now. My youngest is almost 10 months old. I'm 8 lbs from my normal adult weight - which is my first goal. But I want to cut more to show more muscle definition.

    Same thing applies as what I stated 1.5 years ago. I would also add weight lifting specifically when being active. The older I get, the more important I see this. I've been lifting on and off since I was about 13 years old (33 yr old now). I definitely think my muscle mass helps me "bounce back" after pregnancies and just in general with being able to do things in every life.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,159 Member
    About dead from forty years of yo yo dieting results I just flat out stopped dieting to lose weight and started eating to be healthy only in late 2014. It worked and as a by product some weight came off putting me at 200 for the first time in 22 years and the body has maintained there for one year now. The pain management control by my way of eating was my initial objective. The control is good as well as my health markers are improving.

    I do weight my body each AM to track my net CICO results and check my breath acetone levels to monitor my macro compliance. At 65 this is working for me and I plan to continue to do so until I get new info that may require a modification to my way of eating. If my weight goes over 205 for a week I just do not eat the last meal of the day and right before bedtime for a couple days and monitor my weight.

    I agree with weight manage success is only success if we keep it off for the rest of our lives.
  • Kim55555
    Kim55555 Posts: 987 Member
    edited April 2016
    I tell myself I'm a contracted afl footballer and need to keep my skin folds in check. I also tell myself I get paid to do my "2nd job" exercise.

    I was tempted and had this pyscological urge for 3 days in a row to buy an Easter egg but for all the wrong reasons (for comfort) and each time what stopped me was seeing fat people all around me buying the chocolate and I'm thinking do I really what to look like that again. I also tell myself it's not on my list of foods to eat as I am an athlete. I walk around the shops with a cockiness about me haha

    This works a treat.
  • ekat120
    ekat120 Posts: 407 Member
    Kim55555 wrote: »
    I tell myself I'm a contracted afl footballer and need to keep my skin folds in check. I also tell myself I get paid to do my "2nd job" exercise.

    I was tempted and had this pyscological urge for 3 days in a row to buy an Easter egg but for all the wrong reasons (for comfort) and each time what stopped me was seeing fat people all around me buying the chocolate and I'm thinking do I really what to look like that again. I also tell myself it's not on my list of foods to eat as I am an athlete. I walk around the shops with a cockiness about me haha

    This works a treat.

    Haha, I love this idea!
  • myfitnesspale3
    myfitnesspale3 Posts: 276 Member
    GaleHawkins wrote: »
    ... and check my breath acetone levels to monitor my macro compliance.

    Holy moly- how? Can you smell your own breath, or do you have some device?
  • medelaney13
    medelaney13 Posts: 9 Member
    Honestly, you have to stay vigilant and keep to the healthy habits - but keep it fun. Tracking food and exercise keeps you honest - its too easy to backslide otherwise. Mostly you have to want to stay healthy. And remember, as you age, your body changes so you may have to adjust food and/or exercise.
  • islandgrl14
    islandgrl14 Posts: 22 Member
    Great advice and very inspiring. posting so I can find my way back here for inspiration. :)
  • Budjola
    Budjola Posts: 148 Member
    long tim gym goer, first time mfp user, mainly to save my *kitten* from doing excel spreadsheets all day for food. lol. any friend is good friend. lets keep this up.
  • katy_2810
    katy_2810 Posts: 15 Member
    louisemcelroy wrote: »
    did you lift when you were trying to lose weight too? I'm only asking because I go to the gym 5 times a week and really enjoy lifting weights but keep getting told it will put weight onto me.


    Whoever told you that is wrong - I wear a heart rate monitor for my gym sessions and I lose the most calories when weight training or doing HIIT. Cardio such as cycling, rowing, treadmill is the least effective at burning calories unless you are sprinting at about 15km an hour consistently for 15 minutes and who wants to do that? Lmao

    I go 3 times a week and normally stay nearly 2 hours as you need to stretch a lot which can take 20-30 minutes. I have lost 33 lbs since 3rd Jan and I have never looked so toned even though I want to lose another 16 lbs ideally!

    Weight training is also important for muscle strength, flexibility and that "toned' look which makes you look fit. It is also important to do everywhere not just spot reduce because your body is fickle and won't just lose weight in one specific area that you want it to.

    Make sure to start with lower weights then build yourself up - fitness blender is really great so Google them (it's a fit married couple who do diverse amazing videos).

    Good luck!

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