Newbie maintainer

papple227 · August 2016

Within the next week or two I should hit my goal weight and finally start maintaining (woohoo). I have every intention of continuing logging once I hit my goal weight, but there is a voice in my head that keep telling me that when I hit my goal I won't want to log anymore. I'm going to ignore that voice because it's wrong, but has anyone else gone through something similar?

Also, for anyone who weighed daily while losing weight, do you still weigh daily? Or just every so often now?

icemom011 · August 2016

I'm still losing, but just like you are, getting close to maintaining. I haven't been logging for a long time, kind of eyeballing portions and just eating in a responsible way. To me, logging is tedious, so i tried to learn what portion sizes are with the help of a scale in the beginning, plus the approximate caloric value of certain foods, especially calorie dense foods. That seems to work for me, i intend to stick to this strategy. Also, for your second question, i intend to probably weigh in daily, same way i do now,at least in the beginning, maybe a little less after a few months of successful maintaining. Congratulations on your progress, and good luck .

sijomial · August 2016

I would advise just treating maintenance just the same as dieting for a while - with a higher calorie allowance of course! It may take some time to find your true maintenance calories and logging will help that - it will also help to learn the new habits around eating more food (food choices, portions etc...)

But you may well not need to log forever. It's a tool I use from time to time, if I need or want to make an adjustment or during a particularly intense training program.

I weigh daily and always have, which means I've weighed while I was fat/slim, losing/gaining/maintaining. The difference is the determination to not trend above an upper intervention amount. Many people prefer a range either side of goal though.

kgirlhart · August 2016

I just started maintenance two weeks ago. For now I am continuing to log. Partly because I am trying to make sure that I actually hit my new higher goal every day which is sometimes hard for me and also so I can figure out where my true maintenance calories are. I eat lots of the same things so logging is really pretty easy for me and I don't find it particularly tedious. But I may stop some day when I feel comfortable in maintenance. As for weighing every day I think I will continue that. It is such a part of my morning routine that I don't really think much about it any more. And I also have a weight range so even if I do stop logging I know that if I ever hit my upper limit of my range that I need to be stricter with my intake and not let the weight creep back up.

nowine4me · August 2016

Ignore the voice! I previously lost 75 lbs and logged out of MFP. Three short years later I'm back. I know maintenance isn't easy, but it HAS to be easier than starting over.

mitch16 · August 2016

Me: Hit my goal weight. Got lazy. Stopped tracking. Gained weight. Back to tracking.

Maybe take a week off. Maybe be a little less obsessive about weighing everything. But keep tracking.

cwolfman13 · August 2016

I logged for about a month after moving to maintenance and then I stopped and have maintained for over three years more or less. I suppose not everyone can do that, but this tool taught me how to eat and I became pretty adept at recognizing what appropriate portions of things were, etc.

Basically I just do the things that the lean, healthy, and fit people around me do. For the most part I eat a diet rich in whole food nutrition and prepare most of my meals from scratch, whole ingredients or minimally processed ingredients...it is possible to overeat eating this way, but it's much more difficult. I also exercise on the regular 5-6 days per week.

I monitor my weight regularly...not everyday, but I step on the scale probably 3 days per week and just watch the trend. If things trend up and I can see that it's not just normal fluctuations I just cut out a snack or whatever for a couple weeks. And that is the other thing...I don't mindlessly eat...I have meal time and planned snack time...I think where people really go off the rails is they start mindlessly eating again and don't realize they're doing it.

I do tend to put on a few pounds every winter mostly because I can't get out on my bike as much but it comes right off come spring when I start clocking in the miles again.

iManifestGoals · August 2016

Try not to drink alcohol like you did when you were heavier. Weight comes right back. And you are now a light weight! That was a shock for me.

sgt1372 · August 2016

I just hit my target weight of 175 down from 196) a couple of weeks ago and I am still weighing myself and logging my food intake daily.

I have alrrady dropped a few pounds below by target weight but am staying w/in my target zone of 170-175 by continuing to use MFP to monitor my caloric intake and to plan and adjust my meals as necessary.

After I'm confident that my weight has stabilized, I may stop logging but I will always weigh myself daily, otherwise there will be no way to know if I'm going off track or not (except to look at my stomach but by then it will be too late and I'll have to do this all over again, as I have already done once before).

papple227 · August 2016

Thanks everyone! I'll definitely ignore that voice and continue to log. At least until I feel confident/adjust to the new calorie amount (it may be awhile).

BikeTourer · August 2016

I've been maintaining for over a year. I'm still logging food and use a activity tracker to monitor my burn. I weigh daily but don't log weigh very frequently because it isn't varying all that much. My to my surprise I've a harder time with dropping too low than creeping up to high.

xbowhunter · August 2016

I stopped logging because I eat basically the same amount of foods daily. It's a bit tedious to log the same foods over & over again... However if a new food is going to be consumed I sometimes check it for calories to see if it fits. I know more or less what I should be eating & so far so good...

LivingtheLeanDream · August 2016

I weigh daily out of habit and it keeps me in check I reckon.
At maintenance 3+ years, kept logging my food for the first 3 years and the past 8 months not logged a thing and am maintaining easily. Its not for everyone but when it comes to me, I basically eat the same kinds of things all the time so I can't go wrong as long as I'm staying as active as usual then all will be well.
Its good to have a maintenance weight range of -/+5 lbs so when you see the scales veering too much in either direction you can take action.

nxd10 · August 2016

I've been logging four years. I've also maintained that long. It's a habit like brushing your teeth. There are times it bores me. But I'm not that interested in brushing my teeth either. The longer you do it the less time and attention it takes. It is invaluable. I also weigh every morning so I don't have to think about it and know where I am. Just do it. It's such a good and easy investment in your health. You don't want to have to lose again.

_piaffe · August 2016

I hit goal in April and spent the next 2 months trying to maintain. I made mistakes and went back up 5 pounds (part of that was the pretty common glycogen bounce people get when they increase calories too quickly).

It's now mid-August and I am finally in a solid maintenance routine, happy with my numbers and comfortable with my fitness and diet approach. It was a little scary to see how quickly I could undo months of hard work and discipline. As I've said elsewhere, I always feel about a box of chocolate away from reverting to my former self and habits.

I definitely need a maintenance routine. ^ Like brushing teeth.

leahkathleen13 · August 2016

Last month I was at my goal. I had a month long party about it and stopped logging. I found it very difficult to taper down my eating from feast to loss again. Here I am now losing the final five once more. This time I am doing a very slow approach, throwing in maintenance days along the way. The reason is so I can log maintenance days while I am losing, so I can see how it feels and get practice at it. Also so that when I reach goal this time,, I am well nourished and able to switch to maintenance without giving up on logging.

alejandragonzalez · August 2016

I have been maintaining for 4 months now, and I weigh myself and log my calories daily. These two things really help keep me on track. I force myself to log when I overindulge and also to weigh myself the very next day. That way I am able to start damage control right away. So far, so good!! Good luck!!

slim168mfp · August 2016

Hello...maintenance is the key to succeed in a HEALTHY body. It is for me, a daily battle. No other way for me to put it. This Lifestyle takes effort. But it is so so well worth it.

Christine_72 · August 2016

I will probably give up logging my food on here eventually, but i doubt i will stop weighing it. Portion creep is common for folks who stop weighing... their food, and themselves.

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