Need advice from successful maintainers :) please

pierinifitness · February 2019

Well, today I hit initial goal weight "officially" after hitting it once or twice "unofficially". For me, it's official if I weigh in at that amount at my official weigh-in - first thing in the morning.

So, my rookie advice in response to your question is to continue doing what you did to achieve your goal as if nothing's different other than tweaking calories to be eaten for maintenance rather than loss. That's my plan, not dropping my guard.

Lora2380 · February 2019

When you set out to loose weight you don’t always think of the “after care” or at least I didn’t. You work so hard to loose the weight and it doesn’t seem fair to have to be more vigilant about what goes in your mouth when your not getting the glory of seeing the weight go down on the scale or the nice comments, the buying new smaller clothing.

In my case I am not 20yrs old anymore and my metabolism isn’t what it used to be and I have come to the realization that I will have to be vigilant for life.

What keeps me going is the NSV’s, remembering how crappy I felt with the weight on, what my weight had kept me from accomplishing, how hard I worked and I have to remind myself that to go backwards now isn’t an option. It may me anoying to log or weigh daily, or seem tedious but it just has to become part of your routine. The time it used to take me to demolish a big bag of chips in the evening is the time I now use to log instead.

Once you reach your weight goals set other goals, tone up for a trip/wedding/summer, get a Fitbit and aim for your daily steps, try to cook a couple new healthy recipies this month. Just don’t stop once you hit weight. Focus on something else health wise to better yourself and work towards.

MelanieCN77 · February 2019

I'm going to be 2 years in maintenance next month, and for me I just have to log. I don't find it obsessive, it gives me the control I need to be able to make the best choices for myself over the long term. Something clicks in my brain when I veer off logging my food, like nobody's looking, now's your chance to eat the whole cake, kinda thing. Some day if I get that under control maybe I'll be able to stop tracking, but I've no intention of playing roulette with my weight now I am happy with it.

nxd10 · February 2019

I'm 59 and have been logging and maintaining 6 years. I don't obsess - it's kind of like brushing my teeth. I just log and, because I've changed my habits and am very attentive to how hungry I am, I rarely have to limit myself. A couple of things I do have to do:

- I get on the scale every morning. It keeps me honest. If I got on once a week or once a month, I'd obsess. I just do it. It goes up and down - that's okay. If it keeps going up, it's not.

- I try to walk every day. I'm not a gym bunny and I'm really busy. I walk up stairs instead of using the elevator. I walk to work. I have an apple watch that tells me to move every hour. I park far away from the store. If I don't walk I can't maintain.

- I don't drink calories. I drink water, tea, and seltzer. Or alcohol, frankly. But no milk, soda, or juice. It's not worth it. I do drink things for health reasons like kombucha or prune juice, but in small glasses.

- I like sweets, but I'm happy with a small amount. I have a 1/4 cup of ice cream fairly often with nuts. I have a piece of chocolate. I eat apples or dates or clementines. But just one - the calories are negligible. Same with bacon. Cuts the cravings, and I'm fine stopping with a little.

- Eat everything but watch portions. I had an awesome almond croissant the other day, but cut it in half (just that was 275 calories). I was full. If I had been hungry, I would have eaten the whole thing, but I just wasn't. I wanted the taste but that was fine. I eat ice cream - in small amounts. I have a cookie. Maybe two. Not a box. These are nothing in terms of calories, but I enjoy them.

- I HAVE to watch my carbs. If I'm not under 40% my weight will creep up. That's not low carb, but it does mean I have to work at adding protein to every meal.

I love to eat and I eat very well. I log everything. I eat anything I want. And when I'm not hungry I stop eating. That keeps me under 1300 on my calories (after exercise). That isn't a lot but I'm old enough that's what I have to do. If I'm hungry, I eat. It is so worth it.

AEC50 · February 2019

I've been in maintenance for a year and it's been a bit of a roller coaster

But, I'm trying something that I think will help me. I weigh myself each morning and record in my Libra app. I set my "goal weight" at my max maintenance weight (for me, that's 145). Because Libra shows you when you're expected to hit that based on trends, I can see in advance if I'm heading too far in that direction and can course correct before I actually get above my max preferred weight.

MikePfirrman · March 2019

I agree with the statement that weight loss happens in the kitchen but nearly 7 or 8 in 10 that go from obese to normal gain the weight back. The Natl Weight Loss Registry has tracked people that have once been obese and kept the weight off for over a year. One thing it found out is that most workout an hour a day.

They also weigh themselves nearly daily, many still track calories.

The biggest takeaway is they have changed their lifestyle and don't see weightloss as a diet. Others have mentioned changing habits. You have to change your habits that allow you to keep the weight off.

You don't just go from maintenance to 30 lbs over maintenance. It's a series of decisions (or lack of) that slowly gets you back into all of your older habits that made you heavy in the first place.

I'm 8 years into maintenance now and lost over 70 lbs and have kept it off. I likely eat as many calories as I did before losing the weight. For me, the difference has been I skip breakfast daily. Then I burn 600 to 1000 calories at lunch (this didn't happen overnight, I train really hard) and then eat a sensible lunch and dinner and still have calories to snack a bit at night. I eat around 2400 calories a day, sometimes more.

I choose a more active lifestyle and pick my battles of what is worth it to eat and what is not. I'm also following a diet of no gluten (I learned I'm highly sensitive to wheat) and no dairy because my wife is allergic. Admittedly, this eliminates 99% of the overly processed junk food.

Need advice from successful maintainers :) please

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