NYT Ain't Got Nothing on Us: Maintainers Roll Call!

ARGriffy · May 2016

nearly two years of maintaining

snowflake930 · May 2016

Lost over 160# in 20 months.
Been maintaining @ 130# for 30 months today. Goal is to make to 5 years on maintenance, 1/2 way there.
My fitbit & MFP are my two best friends!

Kudos to all of you maintainers! You are all rock stars!

upoffthemat · May 2016

ReaderGirl3 wrote: »

Sewilban wrote: »

Maintaining 125lbs for two years by tracking nutrition with MFP; paying special attention to my macros and my sugar intake; following mostly Paleo guidelines; running with run clubs (yay motivation!); doing crossfit with a friend (more motivation/accountability); and doing little things like parking far away from the store, taking my dog out on a one- to two-mile bike ride every morning, and sneaking in squats in my cubicle when no one's watching.

Ha, thought I was the only one who did this-it drives my kids nuts lol!

I do the same thing, the funny thing is looking back as you enter the store and see the car you followed in as it goes up yet another aisle looking for a closer parking spot.

20yearsyounger · May 2016

17 months maintaining. Back to my same weight when I played college sports 22 years ago so I know I can do this. Didn't have far to go but I had a pretty high weight loss rate 2+lbs a week for the first 3 months.

rhtexasgal · May 2016

14 months maintaining ... it is my third weight loss go around and this one is sticking because I never lost all the weight I wanted TO MAINTAIN to begin with! The third time around it was about changing my lifestyle first and then applying what I researched into losing weight. I started in January 2014 just tweaking my eating plan and then joining a gym in April 2014 ... got impatient for results so I started with a personal trainer in July 2014 and I am still working with him today! Hit my goal of 125 pounds in early 2015 and kept losing weight until I got to 117-118. Now I juggle the same few pounds 117-120, maintaining every since.

While some simply eat to live, I live to eat so I am diligent about exercise and what I eat BUT I always work in my treats whether it is jalapeno chips with cheese or a piece of cheesecake. Nothing is off limits, just a bit limited.

upoffthemat · May 2016

rhtexasgal wrote: »

While some simply eat to live, I live to eat so I am diligent about exercise and what I eat BUT I always work in my treats whether it is jalapeno chips with cheese or a piece of cheesecake. Nothing is off limits, just a bit limited.

Love this observation

middlehaitch · May 2016

I have maintained within a 5 lbs range 6 years.

I lost slow and exercised at a level I knew I could continue when maintaining.

I always ate back at least 50% of my exercise calories (still do) so when a situation arises when I can't exercise my basic calorie level doesn't change.

I don't count my calories anymore on a regular basis, just occasionally when my activity level changes, or my portions start to grow.

For all the women hitting menopause- weight can be lost during menopause, and maintained after.

Cheers, h.

Poweredbycoffee06 · May 2016

I have been maintaining my 100lbs loss for 10 years! Now I am doing body recomp (which is so slow, but I can already see progress). That article is all over my facebook page. I am so tired of seeing it.

TR0berts · May 2016

If you accept maintaining to mean, staying in the low 180s until a couple months out from a PL meet, where I cut a few pounds to make weight? In.

Hornsby · May 2016

Been maintaining weight for over 2 years while successfully dropping 15% body fat.

jasmineruth · May 2016

I've been maintaining a 50 lb weight loss for about a year. I'm currently 14 weeks pregnant and have only gained the recommended amount. Plan on 'maintaining' a healthy body weight throughout pregnancy and getting back it my maintainence range ASAP after. I have either been losing or maintaining for a total of 2 1/2 years though as I lost my weight slowly and carefully. When I hear stuff about maintenance not being possible I am not going to let that stop me from eating appropriately and exercising.

stormyview · May 2016

Maintaining 45-pound loss for about two years now. I don't track my calories in maintenance now, but when I did, I found my TDEE to be pretty much what the calculators predicted for someone of my age, height, and weight. I have not noticed the large drop in metabolic rate that the researchers found in The Biggest Loser people in that article.

KetoneKaren · May 2016

NewDay16 wrote: »

I have been maintaining my 100lbs loss for 10 years! Now I am doing body recomp (which is so slow, but I can already see progress). That article is all over my facebook page. I am so tired of seeing it.

NewDay16,
You are my hero! I want to be posting that I maintained a 90 lb weight loss for 10 years in a decade! Please share your story. Forgive my ignorance, but what is body recomp?
-K

Serah87 · May 2016

Maintaining weight for almost 2 years now (20 months), lost 121 pounds.

luluinca · May 2016

I'm a maintainer. I lost about 45 lbs the first year, 15 the second year, maintained for 8 months then lost another 7-8 since last September. Maintaining again. I lose on 1600 - 1700 cals a day and maintain on 2000-2200 and I'm 66 years old. I've been doing this since Sept of 2013 and plan on continuing logging, exercising, wearing my fitbit and weighing the rest of my life!

I've been switching back and forth between maintenance and fat loss for the last year and a half.

For me, having a goal of health and fitness as opposed to a number on the scale did the trick!

SLLadyVA · May 2016

Thank you all so much for sharing! I have just started trying to lose 30 pounds, after seeing my weight creep up a few more pounds this year. I've lost these 20-30 pounds before and gained them back, and have made multiple false starts where I lost 5 pounds and then relapsed. The NYT article was really discouraging and had me wondering why I'm even bothering, but then I read this chain and now I'm motivated again. Thank you!

macchiatto · May 2016

This thread is very inspiring. I've yoyo'ed a few times but I'm hopeful I'm figuring out what I need to do for long-term maintenance. (I've recently reached maintenance again.) A few things that have helped the times I've maintained for a few years are:
* weighing in regularly and going back to a deficit if I go above my maintenance range.
* keeping carbs at a lower level (I know this isn't necessary for everyone but for me with my health issues, it is) long-term. And using a lot of my carbs for veg.
* working out regularly.
Also, medication issues have been a partial cause of my weight gain twice. I'm not on either of those meds anymore.

dopeysmelly · May 2016

Maintaining since Oct 2014. Lost 60 lbs in about 9 months before that. I put on about 10 lbs from my lowest, 5 now gone since changing my diet to get cholesterol under control, but stayed the same size.

Kelleygirl79 · May 2016

zyxst wrote: »

Starting month 5 of maintenance here. I always remind myself that I'm part of the 7% of smokers who stopped smoking (10 years this month), so being part of the 5% of successful weight losers is easy.

Zyxst: I could have written your post. I, too, am 5 months into maintenance. I am also part of the 7% of smokers who stopped smoking (10 years last August). Ha!

I will easily be part of the 5% of successful weight losers. My epiphany was when I realized I needed a tool EXACTLY LIKE MFP to guide me every day and help me manage and monitor my overeating tendacies.

I'm female, 54, 5'6". I lost 48 lbs in 7 months and maintain a 153-155 lb range. I work out 5-6x per week, 30-45 min a day using kettlebells. I average 1800 cal a day and log daily (and always will have to, at least 90% of the time). And I'm really good with that!

HippySkoppy · May 2016

Lost 168 lbs overall. Took about 2 years and have been on MFP since April 201. (Other accounts)
Maintaining now for 3 + years.
Started late 40's, menopausal since op. at 28. Now at 53. Just over 2 years ago I was diagnosed with Lupus on top of having CRPS (since 1997) and have gone through a lot of life changes that I was told would be beginning of the end for me and I was sure to gain all the weight back.

I'm on long term steroids (2 + years) plus other meds. notorious for weight gain but it hasn't happened. I run a tight ship and log on here to make sure I'm getting good nutrition due to the fact that unintended weight loss is a constant issue.

It sucks I can't exercise like I used to be able, have developed osteoporosis and fractured my back twice, so my ways of getting mobile and maintaining strength have undergone many transformations and those setbacks have taken a bit of getting around but honestly even with disability and ill health there are ways of making the situation you are in work for you.

Best wishes to everyone.

NYT Ain't Got Nothing on Us: Maintainers Roll Call!

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