Long time maintainers how do you do it

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  • kjhandymartens
    kjhandymartens Posts: 2 Member
    I found a helpful mindset is, keep thinking longterm and ask yourself will I be able to sustain my current eating and exercise habits for the rest of my functional life? If the answer is no, than well...you might find it hard to keep it off. If your answer is yes, than you should be fine. So the real trick is to find habits and lifestyles that keep you fit and healthy for you. If you have zero idea where to start, may I suggest joining a 45 HIT program 3-4 times a week and eating whole foods with as little sugar as possible.
  • KareninLux
    KareninLux Posts: 1,413 Member
    Great thread!
  • domeofstars
    domeofstars Posts: 480 Member
    edited February 2017
    6 years ago I lost 30 kilos (66 pounds). I have maintained this loss, except in December I gained 3 kilos (6.6 pounds) and decided I wanted to lose 11 kilos (24 pounds). I maintained this loss by doing lots of walking, using an exercise bike for an hour a day, and tracking my food everyday for the year after I lost weight. I read that for one year after you lose weight, your hunger levels are increased and your metabolism lowered. Also I weighed myself everyday, it really helped to keep me on track.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    Before anything else: Thank you for all the people who took the time to answer the OP's questions (no matter how long ago it was asked). Reading through this made me realize that I need to start working on some habits I've been neglecting. I've only been focusing on getting the weight off and not on what's going to happen after, which is where I've failed every single time (I just never realized that this is where I was failing).

    I'm still working on losing. I have about 20kg to go (depends on where my doctor says 'you're good now', but from our discussions, I fear the 20kg is the upper range of where she wants me) of the total 50kg I started out at and know that at the rate I'm going, it'll take me another 1-2 years to get there.

    I guess (from reading the above) the three points I need to work on in the coming months/year are:
    1. get more movement into my day (I started at a 1K step average last year and I'm up to 8K, but I want to diversify as I tend to get bored with 'same ol' same ol''. Starting September my commute will include a 7km bike ride, so I guess that's a start :smile: I'll be unemployed for about 1month this summer, so biking to community pool one town over - they have an Olympic size pool that's nearly always empty - or to the beach in the other direction and swimming is probably going to make it onto my list of past times. )
    2. Eat what I like but learn what an appropriate serving size looks like (tracking my food seems to be the way to go there :wink: . Slowly change eating habits to fit the necessary nutrients for my health. I'm working on getting a more varied and colorful way of eating without neglecting those lovely taste buds of mine. So far only the brussel sprouts were a bust. The other things I've tried are actually all yummy!).
    3. Do something about that annoying snacking habit. Dinner time arrives far too often with no calories left in my day because I was mindlessly snacking.

    Number 1 and 2 are on a good way. They're slowly entering the realm of 'habit' and are becoming second nature. I don't think about going on that lunch break walk anymore, I just do it (even if it's raining). I don't consciously have to think about logging my food anymore, I just do it. My serving sizes have become smaller without needing to double check on the kitchen scale (I do weigh out chips/peanuts and such because the serving sizes are just so pathetically small that it's easy to over do it. Even when I take far more than I should, I still weigh and log it.)

    Number 3 is going to be much harder for me as I need to develop boredom strategies. Keeping my hands busy in front of the TV is already a start, but doesn't always work (I'll talk myself into a snack with the excuse of: "well, I'll just have to wash my hands before I get back to my knitting). Not having snacks in my drawer at work helped there, but it's still far too easy to talk myself into a trip to the vending machine. I don't snack because I'm hungry. I snack because it's habit. It's a hard habit to change. Now that points one and two are slowly slipping into the realm of habit, I feel I'm ready to work on this third point.

    One last thing I learned from all the wonderful answers on this thread: Don't stop weighing myself. That's how a 20kg loss turned into 50kg to lose last time I managed to get any large amount of weight off.

    So again... thank you for the enlightning reading! It was just what I needed at my current time and place :smiley:

    Great post! (I was the OP)
  • youdoyou2016
    youdoyou2016 Posts: 393 Member
    Baconville wrote: »
    I use an old Nordic Track Ski Machine for an hour every morning Monday – Friday. It gives me a great workout in a short amount of time.

    Congratulations on your loss and maintenance. Also, I thought I was the only human left using a Nordic Track. Good to know there is at least one more out there! :wink:
  • agbmom556
    agbmom556 Posts: 694 Member
    Bump :)
  • sellis2844
    sellis2844 Posts: 1 Member
    How do we know what an appropriate # of calories is when we are ready to start “maintaining”???
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,421 Member
    sellis2844 wrote: »
    How do we know what an appropriate # of calories is when we are ready to start “maintaining”???

    If you've been losing weight and tracking calories you should have an idea.

    If not, put your stats into the Goals portion of this website and go from there.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,269 Member
    sellis2844 wrote: »
    How do we know what an appropriate # of calories is when we are ready to start “maintaining”???

    I made a post about that over in the maintenance forum. It's still the basic advice I'd give, and others made some great additions in the replies, too.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10638211/how-to-find-your-maintenance-calorie-level
  • JoySwift1
    JoySwift1 Posts: 6 Member
    so glad I've found your forum
    I am now just reached my goal weight. Since I started I have lost 3 stone which is a real achievement. I have gone down 2 sizes. I would like advice on how to keep this weight without becoming obsessive. I am scared of regaining the weight!!
  • cygarza80
    cygarza80 Posts: 14 Member
    I, too need help. I know it's been a month since I went back on my journey, and I want to know how to maintain mine. I started at 234 lbs, then being a woman who still goes through "time of the month", I pretty much ended the month of July with a 4 lb. gain. I am starting to learn to watch my portions, drink lots of water, and I recently added exercise to my journey (before I couldn't because of my hectic work schedule). I too need answers; how are you maintaining your goals? What do you do when you get distracted by life outside your goals? What do you do when you hit a plateau?
  • Dawnie44410
    Dawnie44410 Posts: 6 Member
    Maintaining has always been a problem for me. For many years I have been a yo yo dieter. Never put on heaps of weight but enough to feel uncomfortable and keep a size or two bigger set of clothes tucked away in my wardrobe. I am an active person. Have had a fit bit for a couple of years and am paranoid about getting my 10,000 steps each day as a minimum. A friend introduced me to MFP recently. I love it. It is helping me to get back on track. Great advice on this forum, It is obvious to me tracking regularly is the only way I will be able to do it. MFP makes it so much easier to do. Love the break down of food and it helps make healthier choices. Thank you so much.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,284 Member
    sunrise611 wrote: »
    I agree that weighing yourself daily -- at the same time every day, preferably first thing in the morning -- is one of the keys to success.

    Yes I know you said this back in February but only just read the thread - i disagree with this.

    Have only ever weighed weekly both during my weight loss phase and since being in maitenance.

    I dont think any particular way of weighing is a key to success - whatever works for each individual.

    Maintained for nearly 5 years now.

    In answer to OP - what works for me is keeping on counting and using MFP- but doing so now in a loose approximate way that is easy to sustain long term but is enough to keep me on track and accountable

  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    cygarza80 wrote: »
    I, too need help. I know it's been a month since I went back on my journey, and I want to know how to maintain mine. I started at 234 lbs, then being a woman who still goes through "time of the month", I pretty much ended the month of July with a 4 lb. gain. I am starting to learn to watch my portions, drink lots of water, and I recently added exercise to my journey (before I couldn't because of my hectic work schedule). I too need answers; how are you maintaining your goals? What do you do when you get distracted by life outside your goals? What do you do when you hit a plateau?

    @cygarza80 Sounds like you need help with getting started and logging. You posted in a thread about "maintenance" which means staying the same weight once you've reached your goal, which I assume would be your long-term goal.

    I suggest going to the Getting Started forum, and the General Weight Loss forum, and reading the "Announcement" topics in them called "Most Helpful Posts". These posts are invaluable and I've returned to them many times in my 3 years here.

    I'll add that your "weight loss journey" does need to keep eventual maintenance in mind. One thing the successful people in here recommend is losing weight at a sustainable rate, not crash-dieting (which can lead to bingeing the weight back).

    The smaller your weekly weight loss, the easier the calorie limit is to stick to for the long haul. Plus, the closer it is to eating your maintenance calories, and learning habits that you can stick to for life.

    Best wishes.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,159 Member
    In my case nearly 4 years ago cold turkey I just stopped eating any food or drink containing added sugar and or any forms of any grains and keeping gross carbs around 50 grams daily for 2000-3000 daily.

    While this WOE is helping long term health issues I did lose 50 pounds that hasn't returned for the past 3 years eating the same way.

    There are many ways to maintain but it can take a while to find the best way of eating I found personally.

  • helen_goldthorpe
    helen_goldthorpe Posts: 340 Member
    I started back in 2004 at 260lb. I'm currently 178 and in that whole time I don't think I've been above 190 or so. My lowest was about 155 but I realised that 180ish was my "comfortable" maintenance point so I've been there or thereabouts since about 2012.

    How? Big lifestyle change in that my first priority has always been getting fitter. Weight loss was a side effect. I started as a runner and became a cyclist (the switch is part of the reason my maintenance weight is now a bit heavier, I think) and training means that if I eat sensibly I don't need to worry too much.

    I didn't calorie count/log at all until earlier this year when I hit about 190 and decided to try to get a bit lighter to see how it impacted my performance. So while I'm currently using mfp (and it's working), I only seem to need that level of precision at a lower weight or if I take time off training for some reason.