What do you do when the diet’s over?

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marysue10
marysue10 Posts: 2
in Health and Weight Loss
I’ve been on a diet for nine months now. I’ve lost like 16 pounds. It's great, right. I’ve only got 2.6 pounds to go now. I'm really excited. The thing is, though, I’ve got down where I am now before, just before Easter, and then I went on two holidays, had exams/post exam celebrations (lots of take-aways, celebratory meals out and alcohol). I put on quite a bit of weight. It was over a 3 month period, but I put 7 pounds back on. So not masses, but enough. I eventually realised that I needed to stop and that was when I got onto myfitnesspal. So now I am losing the regained weight. I don’t want to do this again. But I have no idea how to come off a diet. I can’t really remember that well what I ate like nearly a year ago and I know that I can’t eat like that because I’m smaller now. I’ve also heard that your metabolism slows down when you diet, so I’m really worried about eating even moderate amounts and putting on masses of weight.

Last time, I sort of went, well I’m here now, I’ll have a pizza in celebration and then carry on living my life. That didn’t really work. I’m really feeling very happy with my weight now and I’m so ready for this to be over. I’m going to keep up my sporadic exercise and morning weigh-ins this time but do I keep counting calories? And how many calories should I be eating anyway? How do I find a happy rut of just being 108 lbs?

I’ve been on 900-1400 calories on a diet day. My target weight is 108 pounds (I’m five foot).

Any advice? Please, please help.

Replies

  • chubswonky
    chubswonky Posts: 195
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    Use the BMR calculator on here, figure that out and then eat that many calories. You'll maintain your weight.
  • brvanover
    brvanover Posts: 52
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    Don't look at it as a diet. It should be a lifestyle change. You should choose a way of eating that you can maintain, not quit when you get to the weight you want.
  • Jorra
    Jorra Posts: 3,338 Member
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    Use the BMR calculator on here, figure that out and then eat that many calories. You'll maintain your weight.

    Eating only your BMR will make you lose because you burn calories throughout your daily activities.

    Set MFP to "Maintenance" in your goal section. It will help you see how many calories you should eat to maintain your weight. Try continuing to count calories until you feel comfortable enough to eat without it. You'll get to know what you should and shouldn't eat.
  • bettertracie
    bettertracie Posts: 196 Member
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    You will always be on a DIET if that's how you choose to lose it...:( To be succesful at something you don't get to go back to being lazy about the ideals and processes that made you that way right!?

    FIND A NEW LIFESTYLE YO!!!!! :)

    We eat clean, healthy, and definately know when we've had too much!!!
  • bettertracie
    bettertracie Posts: 196 Member
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    And yes, keep tracking!! that will SOO help you stay where you want to be or at least point out the giant flag waving to why the scale is creeping back up... ;)
  • Cbandelier
    Cbandelier Posts: 217 Member
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    I am the same height/weight as you. It is hard to switch from "diet mode" to "real life". Not so much because of your food choices...it should be second nature by now. But personally I have gotten so used to the desire and satisfaction of losing. It is hard to give that up.

    But essentially all you have to do is set your goals on here to "maintain". Give yourself a range of weights rather than a single number. Keep logging your foods and activities. Stay under your goal but realize that you will need to go over sometimes, too, and that is ok. Say you go over by 100 calories. You would have to do that 35 times, technically speaking, to even gain 1 lb (true gain, not daily fluctuation/water weight). It is sort of amazing and liberating when you realize this.

    But you can't just go crazy and figure you are "off your diet" or else you will just gain back the weight you fought so hard to lose. Since you are so small anyway the amount of "extra" calories you have gained now are not as many as you may think.

    Good luck!
  • Brandicaloriecountess
    Brandicaloriecountess Posts: 2,126 Member
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    I don't plan to change or go "off" when I get to my goal. I plan to switch to maintenance calories and still think about what I eat and make healthy choices that are good for me.
  • KeriA
    KeriA Posts: 3,275 Member
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    You definitely should stay on MFP for at least 3 months until you can maintain your weight within a pound or 2 for that period. Once your body resets then it will help you maintain your new weight. You have to teach your body that this is your new weight and you are going to give it enough to maintain it. If you don't it will want to go to your old weight. It may even be a bit of a fight for these months to maintain. It is sort of the same as losing until your body resets this new weight as the one to stay at. Once your body decides this is your new weight it will do all in its power to help you maintain that weight but it can't deal with constant over eating or under eating. You need to teach yourself what amount of food and exercise keeps you at your new healthy weight. If you can do this and you feel comfortable doing it on your own then after a few months 3-5 you could try it on your own. If in trying to maintain you aren't successful your body staying at the same weight your body will try to get back to your orignal weight. Even if you lose more than a pound or 2 you will have trouble maintaining your new weight until you have successfully maintained within a few pounds one weight for 2-3 months. So I would say that last time you never took the time to learn how to maintain your weight and to give your body what it needed to help you. I think you probably overate for your new weight as well so you gained. Also need to gradually up your calories to maintenance level calories and lower your exercise to maintenance calories. You still need exercise but not necessarily at the level you have had to lose. You may want to slow up your los and easse into your goal weight.
  • ShannonWinger
    ShannonWinger Posts: 309 Member
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    "Don't look at it as a diet. It should be a lifestyle change. You should choose a way of eating that you can maintain, not quit when you get to the weight you want. "

    Ditto
  • nuttyfamily
    nuttyfamily Posts: 3,394 Member
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    I agree this is a lifestyle change not a diet. You are changing the way you eat to lose and will need to keep that up to maintain. You will be able to eat a little more but not a lot.

    Do what you always did before, you will be right back where you were at before.
  • Schwiggity
    Schwiggity Posts: 1,449 Member
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    Eat the same foods but more of them.
  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
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    It's not a diet. What you eat is your diet but it shouldn't be "a diet". Think of it as a lifestyle change. When it's a lifestyle change, you don't cut out certain foods, you just eat less of them (say, fast food only when you have to or when you ABSOLUTELY cannot resist the craving, vs. everyday or everytime it's convenient)... I still eat pizza, I still eat ice cream. I just make sure it's not often enough to affect my waistline. This way, when I'm done losing weight, I can just go into maintenance and know that even if I eat "bad foods", I still have some room before I gain weight - just limit your fat and sugar intake and stay within your calories and you should be fine.

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