Gained weight after 5 years of maintenance

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ordinary1111
ordinary1111 Posts: 7 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I recently gained back 15lbs after 6 years of maintaining around 170lbs (30yo Woman 5'10", was ~210 for about 10 years) and am finding it very difficult to get back to 170. I've been upping my exercise and adding more fiber and protein to my diet, but the weight doesn't seem to budge.

Has anyone else had experience with this? Any help is much appreciated.

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  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
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    Did you increase your exercise before or after you noticed the weight gain? If you started exercising first, and then saw the scale go up, then some of what you're seeing is likely water fluctuation that can come with a new exercise routine. However, it's probably not 15 pounds of water...that would be a lot.

    I agree that the best thing to do is go back to weighing and logging all your food, or tighten up your logging if you are already doing that. Some people find that they need to keep logging in maintenance, and some don't, but it's a good tool to use if you're outside your maintenance range and want the scale to move down.

    You lost the weight once, so you are absolutely able to do it again. You got this.
  • Jrpwgr
    Jrpwgr Posts: 44 Member
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    Absolutely, our calorie needs shrink as we get older. You're 30 now. That's different than 24. Figure out your new maintenance calories for age 30, and take into account if you also have exercise differences than when you were 24.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    ordinary1111 wrote: »
    I recently gained back 15lbs after 6 years of maintaining around 170lbs (30yo Woman 5'10", was ~210 for about 10 years) and am finding it very difficult to get back to 170. I've been upping my exercise and adding more fiber and protein to my diet, but the weight doesn't seem to budge.

    Has anyone else had experience with this? Any help is much appreciated.

    Adding more fiber and protein - to the level of eating you were already doing?
    Or replacing some of what you were eating?

    Could be a big difference there.

    Or have you totally changed your diet like so many do - so you have no firm knowledge of how much you were eating that caused the weight gain?

    And how fast was that weight gain - that can help explain what it was?
    Too fast and it wasn't fat only, if at all.
    Where is it showing up, typical belly first if that's your spot, or other normal spot, or not discernible right now?
  • FitPhillygirl
    FitPhillygirl Posts: 7,124 Member
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    I would just set your goal to lose .5lbs a week and eat the amount that Mfp recommends until you are where you would like to be at.
  • 88olds
    88olds Posts: 4,467 Member
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    Upping your exercise- from what, to what, and why?

    You start a food diary?

    My experience is that exercise is way overrated as a weight loss strategy. Can work when we’re young.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    So you are now 185, up from 170, in what period of time?
  • geltner1
    geltner1 Posts: 85 Member
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    I would set your calories on MFP to lose one half pound per week and start logging and measuring. You'll be so relieved to lose the new unwanted pounds.
  • ordinary1111
    ordinary1111 Posts: 7 Member
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    @lorrpb @heybales am now 185 from 170 over 6 months. The reason for my gain? I stopped exercising the 3-4x a week I'd been doing for years (to maintain) and started eating more junk food. I've now adjusted my food intake to focus primarily on protein and fiber.

    It shows up mostly on my abdomen (belly and waist), in addition to an all-over thickening.

    @nxd10 why do you think you just started losing now?

    Thanks everyone!

  • MerryMavis1
    MerryMavis1 Posts: 73 Member
    edited April 2018
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    I'm also a 5 year maintainer-our weight will still fluctuate in maintenance, the trick is to not let it get over the set maintenance range that you've established. It's fairly easy to correct a 3lb uptick. Not so easy to correct a 20lb one though-it's hard to relearn the patience that you need for the weight loss phase :p The good news is you've done this before and can do it again. You just have to get your mindset in the right place and then make the necessary adjustments to get back to your target weight range.

    Since you've cut out exercise you need to adjust your calorie intake down to compensate. Re-run your numbers without exercise factored in and then adjust your food/calorie intake accordingly.

    Also-you should be adjusting your calories first, macros/fiber a distant second. Protein and fiber are great, but eating more of them won't cause weight loss without the calorie deficit you need to hit your weight targets.
  • hroderick
    hroderick Posts: 756 Member
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    good job on planning a come back. now follow through
  • ordinary1111
    ordinary1111 Posts: 7 Member
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    @wenrob @MerryMavis1 I have restructured my macros to be at a 500-700cal/day deficit, and my intake is primarily composed of protein and fiber. I've started exercising again, and also intermittently fast (16:8) with a day off from counting on the weekend.

    @lorrpb thanks! sometimes it feels endless. it feels like we should be able to get to a certain weight and stay there, like a level in a video game.
  • wenrob
    wenrob Posts: 125 Member
    edited April 2018
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    ordinary1111 wrote: »
    @wenrob @MerryMavis1 I have restructured my macros to be at a 500-700cal/day deficit, and my intake is primarily composed of protein and fiber. I've started exercising again, and also intermittently fast (16:8) with a day off from counting on the weekend.

    @lorrpb thanks! sometimes it feels endless. it feels like we should be able to get to a certain weight and stay there, like a level in a video game.

    How long have you been in deficit? Are you weighing and measuring your food? When you say you’re taking a day off of logging are you also taking the day off from your deficit? By how much?
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    ordinary1111 wrote: »
    @wenrob @MerryMavis1 I have restructured my macros to be at a 500-700cal/day deficit, and my intake is primarily composed of protein and fiber. I've started exercising again, and also intermittently fast (16:8) with a day off from counting on the weekend.

    @lorrpb thanks! sometimes it feels endless. it feels like we should be able to get to a certain weight and stay there, like a level in a video game.

    Yes, I do feel like it is never ending,
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
    edited April 2018
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    So you know why you gained, you stopped exercising. It was that exercise that kept you at maintenance. To lose you either start exercising again or you cut some calories so you are in deficit.

    I'm about to reach 5 years of being at goal, it still takes being vigilent with calorie intake and keeping active, there is no end but I'm prepared to always work to keep at this weight but it feels and looks good on me imo.

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