5 years on maintenance and my secret

Great idea. I own few pants in size 10 and 12, so I have a choice, but honestly I do hate it. I need to lose and never get another one in size 12!

Yoga pants lie. Non stretchy jeans tell the truth!

Yanicka1 wrote: »

I have been 5 years on maintenance now and my weight stayed in a bracket of +/- 5 pounds. Send me $$$ and I will tell you how!!!!

Kidding I will give it for free

Pants........pants are my secret. I have one size of pants in my closet and only a few of those can stretch. I got rid of everything else that does not fit. When my pants get uncomfortable ....I have to face the choice....do I choose to buy bigger pants and gained even more weight or do I make the choice to lose the few pounds that will bring me back down. I never decide to buy new pants. It make it a conscious choice.

What is your secret?

i think this (or a version of this) is going to be mine too

nxd10 wrote: »

That didn't work for me. Because I'm tall my pants continued to fit just fine as gained 20 pounds. That was BEFORE MFP. My secret is I log everything and step on the scale every morning. When I get outside my 5 pound window, I drop 250 calories/day. That seems to happen every winter. In the spring, I pop it back up and I'm fine. Easy peasy.

I'm about 20-25 lbs / size as well. You're right, makes them a lousy feedback mechanism for us tall folks.

I've been maintaining my weight loss for 3 years

Keeping on being active, keeping an eye on overall calories and regular weigh ins ensures I keep maintaining

I couldn't go by pants/trousers either, I could gain 10lbs that way without realising and no way will I ever allow myself to gain anywhere close to that much again.

dcarter1020 wrote: »

I weigh myself almost daily. I know to some it sounds obsessive, but it's a way for me to stay aware. Whenever I go a long weekend without weighing I'm usually up a couple pounds. Logging helps but weighing keeps it in the back of my mind.

This is me too. I like looking at my graph and seeing the trend. Without the data points, it's much harder to analyze.

I'm doing similar but am still in the losing phase. I used to wear size 18 pants but got rid of them when I could fit into a size 16. I can only buy smaller, not larger. I've been taking way too many cheat days lately and those size 16s are tight. One choice - no more cheat days until I can comfortably wear the 16s again, then an occasional cheat meal (not day). I look forward to donating the 16s and buying size 14.

Yanicka1 wrote: »

I have been 5 years on maintenance now and my weight stayed in a bracket of +/- 5 pounds. Send me $$$ and I will tell you how!!!!

Kidding I will give it for free

Pants........pants are my secret. I have one size of pants in my closet and only a few of those can stretch. I got rid of everything else that does not fit. When my pants get uncomfortable ....I have to face the choice....do I choose to buy bigger pants and gained even more weight or do I make the choice to lose the few pounds that will bring me back down. I never decide to buy new pants. It make it a conscious choice.

What is your secret?

Fantastic post! I love it.
Well done on your success and I will definitely take your advice when I eventually reach my gw

dcarter1020 wrote: »

I weigh myself almost daily. I know to some it sounds obsessive, but it's a way for me to stay aware. Whenever I go a long weekend without weighing I'm usually up a couple pounds. Logging helps but weighing keeps it in the back of my mind.

i weigh daily as well. it really works for me, so i plan on continuing that along with logging. but i think i will incorporate some version of the pants thing as well. maybe one size over and under. that's what i have right now. all of them fit. the smallest are snug comfy, biggest ones are lose comfy, mid range one are just right and look good for work:-).

this calorie thing seems like a good idea too. i would probably decrease by 100. no reason not combine the ideas into a cohesive plan

nxd10 wrote: »

When I get outside my 5 pound window, I drop 250 calories/day.

I've already been planning to continue logging indefinitely, but this pants idea is great!

I've already thrown out a ton of larger-sized clothes. I like the idea of only having size 10 or 12 (Australia/UK) things only.

I have the same I have a pair of purple pants that keep me fking honest too - they NEVER stretch. I have to gain about 7 lbs before I can tell the difference (i'm 5'10" w/ a normal-range BMI).

My goal is to fit into size 40 (US size 10) pants and stay there. Am in size 44-46 at the moment, so a long way to go. But when I get there my plan is also to use the pants for maintainance. I can make up excuses to not get on the scale, but no excuses for not wearing pants/shorts.

After over 4 years at goal weight, I finally got rid of my fat clothes a week ago

I still log everything, and I have fitness goals that drive me.

Thanks for the pants tip, I have been putting the larger sizes away as I get smaller (have gone from a 16 to an 8 in about 18 months), but I think getting them out of the house all together is a better idea.

In terms of maintenance, I plan to keep logging forever, I think the secret for me has been to realize that my success is due to having made a lifestyle change vs. a temporary change just to lose the weight. Logging keeps me honest, and mindful of my food choices. p.s. I eat pizza and ice cream on occasion, but I adjust my calories and exercise accordingly, I know myself well enough to know that I will not be successful on a long term deprivation plan.