Why is so little attention given to maintenance?

dashagrr · September 2019

Over the years, I have found it easy to lose weight when I set out to do so, but I eventually regain it. I don't want to do this cycle anymore. I know if I could keep the motivation going, I can do this. I think I (and the other maintainers) could use more social support for long term success. This community is great, but even here, the "Goal: Maintaining Weight" is one of the least active boards. I am in several support groups on FB, I tried finding a support group for people that have reached their weight and maintaining, but no avail (maybe I am not using the right keywords? Is anyone aware of one?) There are tons of weight loss groups. Anyway, why there is so little social attention given to the maintenance stage, given how hard it is? Isn't the long term success rate only 5 to 20 %?

cmriverside · September 2019

I don't find it as hard as losing. I can eat a lot more.

I still log food and I still step on the body weight scale. For me those two things are non-negotiable. I've been at my maintenance weight for over ten years after losing 70+ pounds. When I stop logging food, I start putting on the weight, so it's just something I'm going to have to continue to do.

I've been on this site for all that time too, except for a few months here and there when I didn't log and/or got burned out on the forums. If I stay plugged in here I tend to keep it a priority. Seeing all these people trying and succeeding is a big factor.

Can you post in other peoples' threads and give help to those who struggle? It's a good way to stay plugged into the process.

I got rid of all my larger sized clothing, too. That is an important thing.

MikePTY · September 2019

I think there are plenty of active maintainers here. They may not specifically comment in this board, but they comment quite a bit around the different forums.

As for why there aren't a ton of resources out there to help with maintenance? Well mainly because it's not profitable. The weight loss and diet industry doesn't actually win if you succeed and keep your weight off. Rather they make money by having repeat customers. It is more profitable for people to keep losing the same weight over and over again than losing it once and keeping it off.

SummerSkier · September 2019

We are here

Read the stickied posts at the top for a start. I agree maintenance is really the most important part of the process

Jubee13 · September 2019

cmriverside wrote: »

I don't find it as hard as losing. I can eat a lot more.

I still log food and I still step on the body weight scale. For me those two things are non-negotiable. I've been at my maintenance weight for over ten years after losing 70+ pounds. When I stop logging food, I start putting on the weight, so it's just something I'm going to have to continue to do.

I've been on this site for all that time too, except for a few months here and there when I didn't log and/or got burned out on the forums. If I stay plugged in here I tend to keep it a priority. Seeing all these people trying and succeeding is a big factor.

Can you post in other peoples' threads and give help to those who struggle? It's a good way to stay plugged into the process.

I got rid of all my larger sized clothing, too. That is an important thing.

I have a question for you. When you say you log, do you weigh and measure everything? I’ve been maintaining for 5 months, and I still weigh everything to the gram. I’d really like to start estimating some things, but I’m not sure it’s a smart idea. I’m just so tired of dragging out that food scale!

cmriverside · September 2019

Jubee13 wrote: »

cmriverside wrote: »

I don't find it as hard as losing. I can eat a lot more.

I still log food and I still step on the body weight scale. For me those two things are non-negotiable. I've been at my maintenance weight for over ten years after losing 70+ pounds. When I stop logging food, I start putting on the weight, so it's just something I'm going to have to continue to do.

I've been on this site for all that time too, except for a few months here and there when I didn't log and/or got burned out on the forums. If I stay plugged in here I tend to keep it a priority. Seeing all these people trying and succeeding is a big factor.

Can you post in other peoples' threads and give help to those who struggle? It's a good way to stay plugged into the process.

I got rid of all my larger sized clothing, too. That is an important thing.

I have a question for you. When you say you log, do you weigh and measure everything? I’ve been maintaining for 5 months, and I still weigh everything to the gram. I’d really like to start estimating some things, but I’m not sure it’s a smart idea. I’m just so tired of dragging out that food scale!

I do use my food scale...I just leave it on the counter.

I don't use it for every single item, like I don't weigh eggs or bread or individual sausages, bacon or things like lettuce, cucumber, celery or other low cal vegetables. For them I estimate. But I do use it for calorie dense things like portioning most raw meat, sauces, butter, peanut butter, cheese, avocado, corn, potatoes, fruit.

I have my favorite meals entered as saved Meals so I can just quickly adjust individual ingredients, like (for instance) I often make a homemade McMuffin and have roasted potato wedges for breakfast but I adjust the meats like bacon, sausage, ham, or the size of the potato or how much cheese I slice off the brick so I just adjust that part after it's added to the FOOD page. Takes just a few seconds. I also use the Recipe function if it's something I make a lot and don't change too much.

I just write stuff down on a piece of paper while I'm preparing it and work it into the FOOD page later.

snuff15ee · September 2019

I did the maintenance thing for 3-4 months with success. I built an Excel spreadsheet with all of my precise logged calories for the 5+ months I had been cutting, my estimated calories burned during exercise, and daily weight. Once I had a several months of data I was able to calculate my TDEE. Once I knew my TDEE I found it easy to maintain. I had been weighing food for so long during my cutting phase it was initially tough to finally "cut the cord" and step away from the scale, but I managed. I still log it in MFP so I have a record, but I guess the weights. I just try to make my plate look 40% protein, 40% fibrous carbs, and 20% starchy carbs and I stop eating once I'm satiated. If you are eating clean and exercising consistently you aren't going to start rapidly packing on fat. People fail at maintenance because they fall back into their old habits and start eat junk/processed food and sitting on the couch for 8+ hours a day.

I'm now attempting a lean bulk (eating 3500+ calories/day) so I'm back to counting calories, but once i reach my goal to gain 10 pounds I'll go back to my TLAR method. (That looks about right).

psychod787 · September 2019

Because losing weight is "sexy". Maintenance is a job!

spzjlb · September 2019

I’ve been maintaining for about 3 yrs but it’s simply more interesting to hang out in the other forums. Keeps my head in the game.

MadisonMolly2017 · September 2019

@dashagrr
I have wondered the same!

My hunch is that maintenance requires different solutions for each of us. One might use exercise, another eating less during the week & more on the weekend, etc.

I’d be happy to start a group with you to supports folks as they strategize & do mini-experiments to see what works best for them.

Let me know if that interests you.

💕Maddie

kimny72 · September 2019

Many of us who stick around answering people's questions are in fact in maintenance and will sometimes mention what we're doing in those responses. And I think the Most Helpful Posts thread pinned to the top of the maintenance forum is super helpful.

Personally, maintenance looks pretty much like when I was losing weight, and imho more people would succeed in maintenance if they made a concerted effort to lose the weight the same way they intend to maintain. I'm coming up soon on a 2000 day logging streak, I tend to eyeball or measure rather than weigh portions a little more than I used to but no one who knows me well could tell you when I stopped trying to lose and switched to maintenance.

Cahgetsfit · September 2019

Yeah maintenance can be quite hard. I tend to get a bit too lax with my eyeballing and end up slowly gaining weight. So I make sure I still weigh in (not every day, but like, once a week) and use the clothes-o-meter to see if things are getting a bit tight.

But as soon as I notice that I am a little bit fluffier than I want to be, I just spend a couple of weeks logging and drop again back to the "OK" range.

I find it very easy to overeat, so maintenance is a struggle. I'd love to get to a point where I don't need to log anymore, but yeah... the foods. they call me.

healingnurtrer · September 2019

Weight loss may seem more exciting, like a countdown to being finished. Maybe there's a way to make maintenance goals more exciting by making shorter goals- like maintaining 1 year- and then celebrating the milestone. I hope I'm on here maintaining someday

cupcakesandproteinshakes · September 2019

Maintenance can be dull because it’s just life carrying on. I was a yo yo dieter in my twenties. Life took over and then I had a child and gained a lot which I then could not lose. My health was not the priority until my daughter went to school. Then after a 40 pound loss I had a light bulb moment. I realised I could not maintain a healthy weight and eat like an idiot. If I eat like an idiot, I regain. And I always want to eat more than I can. For me maintenance is about saying no to second portions and yummy high cal foods most of the time. Not all of the time though cos sometimes you gotta have a bit of fun. That’s why it’s a bit dull. And also why I don’t post much here. But I read others posts a lot and they have helped, so thanks to those of you who do post.

LivingtheLeanDream · September 2019

I have to say I check in with the maintaining weight board just as regularly as the other ones. I'm also in long term maintenance and actively participate in all the forums, as others have said its the maintainers that can shed light on a lot of questions in the other boards. There are the maintenance groups on here which people are active in - I've found that also a great help to me personally. Maybe you just haven't found the 'group' for you yet

RovP6 · September 2019

It is a bizarre scenario isn't it, especially when you consider that maintenance calories should be where you spend the majority of your time. General recommendation is to spend 1-1.5 times as long in a maintenance period as you spend in a deficit. I think many people regain weight when moving from a deficit to maintenenace because they think "wahay, diet over" and go wild, adding too many calories too quickly post deficit. Unless your metabolism is super adaptive most people can get away with adding may 10-15% onto their deficit calories when transitioning to maintenance. Instead, people whack an immediate 500 calories per day on and their metabolism can't cope. Remember that when you're in a deficit your body is effectvely in a state where it is looking to store any available calories for future use, just in case you decide to restrict again. Adding, at most, a couple of hundred calories will allow your metabolism to start adapting to a new set point without storing excessive fat for later use.

The other aspect is the fact that maintenance feels like it's not a goal and people like to have something to aim for. Aiming to stay where you are is not a suitably motivating goal for many so for them it feels wrong.

I've been pretty much maintaining for the last 3 years and am happy to be here.

dlmciver · September 2019

Bump

neugebauer52 · September 2019

I would say because about 10 % of the world's population carries their ideal weight - and therefore is on "maintenance". The rest is just about starving to death or........ (which includes me!)

StargazerB · September 2019

I've been maintaining for about 2.5 years. I've had some small gains and drops over that time. Feel free to add me for support.

susanpiper57 · September 2019

I lost baby weight from my first using MFP, and then maintained for a couple of years, got pregnant again, and then I lost baby weight from my second baby (just turned 1

) using MFP. I typically still log most days, but am not as strict during maintenance, and work in treats. I weigh myself regularly to keep an eye on things, and if I swing more than a few pounds up, which is normal fluctuation for me, then I buckle down for a couple of weeks and log more strictly. I also am a runner, so I found an exercise that I enjoy and do regularly. It's just a matter of finding what combination works for you, your lifestyle, and your body. There are things that I used to do like binge drink and eat while watching college football in my 20's that are no longer in my lifestyle, but I think moderation is important for me, because cookies.

AnnPT77 · September 2019

I'm going to question the premise, a little.

Another term (synonym) for "maintenance" is "living a healthy life". There are quite a few books, blogs, and other resources about living a healthy life.

In my personal life, the support group for that is other healthy-eating active people. I meet them at the gym, the rowing club, activity-oriented events, even farmers markets.

Some of those people were once obese, like me. Some have always been at a healthy weight. Either way, we're all striving for pretty much the same things, now. (IME, many of the always-healthy-weight people struggle with the same things as us formerly-fat, they just have more practice and confidence at it. But it seems common for formerly-fat people to think it's all just magically automatic for the always-thin. Maybe it is, for some, dunno.)

But I guess living a healthy life is also a low percentage of success activity, so maybe it's still an issue.

Regardless, it's IMO still important to keep reading and thinking about good-health strategies, and to associate with other healthy, active people (whether they were previously fat, or not).

Like others have said, I rarely post in the Maintaining Weight forum, unless to answer a question. I mostly post in the other areas, attempting to help newer folks.

I don't really know what I would post here, so I mostly don't.

Why is so little attention given to maintenance?

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