How do you conquer the fear of gaining?

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Replies

  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,088 Member
    SabAteNine wrote: »
    First, congratulations on your loss. That's a hell of a number off the scale!

    Second, I get the fear. It used to numb my brain when approaching maintenance. What if I gain? Everyone's witnessing a small bump in weight when they up their calories, what if I can't handle that?

    So I gradually increased my calories. Slowly. Losing still. Losing another 5 comfortable lbs which would give me margin, while weight lifting.

    And then my own personal solution to breach the mental barrier was to.. gain weight on purpose! Planned. Slow bulk. I'm doing it now and I have put around 8.5 lbs since this summer. Of course, fat gain is quite minimal, I'm doing it with the specific purpose of putting on muscle mass while weight training. But I wake up and tell myself to trust the process, stick to the plan, keep watching the trend, and get up there to another +3 lbs. And in the mirror there is someone looking back who is definitely more fit than she was 6 months ago, and it shows.

    So I weigh in daily, I take the gain, I plan for more, and it repaired my relationship with the scale. I trust that I'll be able to cut after this - been there before, so what can go wrong, really? The body is an incredible machine. The mind as well - trust in them both!

    Doing the same. Still hard to see that bf come back.
  • Rabbit91476
    Rabbit91476 Posts: 41 Member
    I added 2-300 calories a day until I found my maintenance. Was surprised how many calories I got back. Was dropping 2#/ a week at 1800 cal. Maintenance was around 2700. I had learn to eat more. 5 8 160# male
  • krael65
    krael65 Posts: 306 Member
    I don't want to regain the weight I lost. I don't view it as fear of regaining (passive), as much as determination to not regain (active). Therefore, I take an active role in my maintenance. I choose to continue to weigh myself and track my food daily, just like I did while I was losing. I take breaks for vacations and some holidays where I don't log, but overall I remain consistent and aware so that my weight doesn't get out of control again.

    The longer I let it go (i.e., stop logging & weighing), the easier it is for me to fall back into old habits and the weight to creep back on. This has happened to me in the past, but I'm determined to maintain my loss this time.
  • nooie19
    nooie19 Posts: 153 Member
    jrwms714 wrote: »
    I second the idea of a trending app. I use Happy Scale and it really helps. I am four years into maintenance and I want to add that the fear of regaining is something that is really intense at first, but as time goes on and your mind and body adjust to the fact that maintenance is, as someone said, having a range and bouncing around in it, and going back to loss calories when you go over that range, then the fear diminishes. For me, I want it still there, tucked somewhere in the back of my mind, so that I never feel like:"Well, I'm done and I'm thin and I don't ever have to worry again." That leads to a slippery slope. I bring that fear out again when I have gone over my range and have stayed at that weight for a week or more. Then I use that fear to bring me up short, have me look at what is going on honestly, curb my calories, work out more, and go back to where I need to be. So maybe fear is more about knowing what the reality could be if you allow it? Not sure. But, for me, it's always good to have to it somewhere where I can call it up, look at it, face it, and move on to healthier stuff.

    First, thanks to whoever first recommended Happy Scale. I just got the app and I absolutely love it. And I set it up to sync automatically from the MFP weigh ins. Seeing the green and red visuals helps me to know I’m still on track despite a few added pounds over the holidays.

    Second, thanks for the insights quoted above. I’m still working on my “all or nothing” mentality. Either I’m fairly obsessive about my weight or I’ve got my head buried in the sand. You are right that my weigh ins keep me from putting my head in the sand again.

    Last, thanks very much for this thread. It helps to know I am not alone with the anxiety.
  • rhiawiz57
    rhiawiz57 Posts: 906 Member
    edited January 2019
    my dad still logs on MFP every single day even though he has now been at maintenance for 8 years. he says it is his reassurance that he will never regain the 50 lbs he lost after he retired. seeing is believing - it has worked for him. and, i've regained half the weight i lost in 2017, and I stopped logging daily. so, i know that is only 2 data points, but they are real! congrats on your weight loss and i think if you keep up with MFP logging (at least most days) and Happy Scale, you'll conquer your mental demons in addition to your physical ones.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,257 Member
    Great news brother!

    I spend a good deal of time with reinforcing behaviors and speaking with like minded people.

    A continual go to for me is Jocko Willink's podcast:

    http://jockopodcast.com/

    I listen to this daily:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdTMDpizis8
  • garystrickland357
    garystrickland357 Posts: 598 Member
    @CSARdiver Thanks!
  • fiddletime
    fiddletime Posts: 1,862 Member
    I have gained 3 years in a row, around 7 #, during the holidays. It’s always because I stopped logging. 4 years ago I gained back 15 pounds- also because I stopped logging after a one meal overage that ended up lasting a few months.

    You have the tools to lose weight, but you will have slip ups. What I’ve learned over the past 4 years is that the sooner I get back on here and log and contribute, the less weight I’ll gain and the sooner I’ll get it off.