What do you wish you had known about maintaining?

My advice is to weigh weekly, exercise daily, and know what step you are going to take if your weight slips out of your goal range. Set a trigger point at which you will cut calories if your weight goes too high. Commit to taking that action even if you think it might be a little extra water retention. Better to take action and then discover that you didn't need to than to begin making excuses.

Almost 5yrs on maintenance here.

1. Keep weighing yourself at least weekly
2. Gradually increase your calories until you reach the balance point where you do not gain or lose
3. Diet in anticipation of trips or big events not after them. Its just easier and less depressing. Think of it like having a savings account rather than a credit card.
4. Remember treats are still treats they are not supposed to be eaten every day and they will still make you want more of the bad stuff if you eat them regularly.
5. Get moving or keep moving. You cannot cut back on your physical activity because you are at goal. The number one predictor of long term success is whether or not you remain active.
6. Be prepared to have an extended diet again about once a year. Mine is usually in March. When you have lost most of your padding you cannot entirely depend on the ability to lose before hand and sometimes you have to diet to make up for it.

Great post to start Op-it shows that your head is in the right place (so many people hit their goal weight and then think they're 'done').

Going on 4 years of maintenance here:

-realize that there will be a transition period between the weight loss phase, and then maintenance. This lasted around 6 months for me and during that time I adjusted my goal weight, I played around with my calorie intake and then I figured out what new goals I wanted to work towards. Also note that your body may continue to change shape for a while, even after you've stopped losing weight. I'm sure there's some sort of scientific reasoning behind this, but it just seems like things are getting settled in lol.

-it's totally normal to struggle with the mental adjustment that comes from leaving the weight loss phase, and then going into the maintenance phase. It can be challenging to switch from having all of the incentives that come with weight loss, to then realizing 'this is it?' Be kind to yourself and also patient

-like others have said-have a maintenance range, not a set weight. As you know, your weight can fluctuate due to all sorts of things, not actual fat related. My maintenance window is around 5lbs. If I go over that, and the weight stays constant for more than a few days, then I know it's time to tighten things up. I think I've only had that happen twice so far though, because I run a pretty tight ship over here lol.

-come up with your maintenance strategies/checks n' balances. These will vary between people but mine are daily weigh-ins, IF and then weekly calorie cycling vs daily calorie focus. Do some experimenting and see what works best for you!

-make new goals!! This is a biggie and will vary between people. It could be fitness goals, expanding your food horizons, a new hobby or sport you want to start etc.

And lastly-a big congrats for making it to this point, very glad you're joining us

crzycatlady1 wrote: »

(snip)
-it's totally normal to struggle with the mental adjustment that comes from leaving the weight loss phase, and then going into the maintenance phase. It can be challenging to switch from having all of the incentives that come with weight loss, to then realizing 'this is it?' Be kind to yourself and also patient

This has been my struggle. Maintaining is, for me, harder than losing, because the motivation is so different. When I was losing, I had a goal, and I knew what to do to meet that goal, and seeing regular signs of improvement made the process sort of fun for me. I ran a VERY tight ship during my primary "cutting" phase, because I wanted it, and I pretty much always wanted it more than I wanted that pie, or the couch. LOL! Putting on a pair of pants that fit again, or that one day that I looked in the mirror and noticed this amazing curve of my arm. Wearing a new bathing suit and seeing that people were looking at me differently than they had the year before. That stuff kept me really focused.

You really don't have that when you're maintaining, and the excitement of hitting goal wears off really fast. I'm small enough that my "maintenance" calories are still kind of strict, and so I still FEEL like I'm working hard. But now - it often feels like I'm working hard for nothing. Obviously that's not true, but I really didn't struggle with staying "on the wagon" when I was cutting, and now, I struggle. A lot.

I don't have any advice, though. I think it takes time to get the hang of that new routine and get your mind around it, and I just haven't, yet. I'm 6 months into "maintenance" and truly, I've fluctuated an awful lot during that period. I can't seem to stay in my goal range very long, and I get so frustrated. The number on the scale is weirdly more frustrating to me NOW than it was while I was cutting, probably for the same reason. When I was actively losing, I could see my results in places that had nothing to do with my weigh-in so a week when I didn't lose didn't get me down too much. But in maintenance, I'm not having those "NSV"s so it's ALL about the scale. And the scale is not my friend.

/allaboutme