Sustaining your weight

Chab_H0are
Chab_H0are Posts: 1 Member
in Motivation and Support
I am loving being more healthy and I can see the pounds dropping off. I wanted to get some advice on how you sustain your weight and don’t keep loosing weight? When I get to my goal weight I don’t want to yo-yo up and down so would appreciate advice!

Replies

  • hipari
    hipari Posts: 1,367 Member
    There’s a whole forum section for maintaining weight here. I haven’t been there much because I still have a lot to lose, but you’ll probably find great tips and resources there.
  • 88olds
    88olds Posts: 4,522 Member
    Do you keep a food diary?

    There was a point after making goal weight that I had to make a deliberate effort to eat a bit more. But the reason I ask about the food diary is because the question then becomes, how much more? Because I was tracking, I could get a number. The process remained the same- hit the number. It was a little odd thinking in terms of more not less.

    And BTW, I kept on tracking for 5 years. I know that may sound unappealing, but the potential to regain a significant amount is real. If you draw red lines for yourself be prepared to back them with action.
  • gallicinvasion
    gallicinvasion Posts: 1,015 Member
    The two main habits that are most important in maintaining your weight are 1. Tracking your food (in MFP, in a journal, however you like to do it) and 2. Weighing yourself regularly.

    With these two tools, you can 1. Make sure your average calorie intake is around your maintenance level, and 2. Monitor your average weight trend (if it goes above your maintenance range, then it’s time to take a slight deficit in your calories and lose weight slowly til you’re back in your range).

    So as you approach your goal weight, you should 1. get an estimate of what your maintenance calories are (if you track daily calories and weight loss now, you can use your own data to find your maintenance level.) 2. Decide on an acceptable maintenance range (mine is 124 lbs to 129 lbs). And 3. Decide how often you will weigh yourself.

    Tracking my food is something I will do forever. I see the benefits and it’s an easy and quick habit for me, so it’s not a heavy lift 😂 I’ve kept 100 lbs off for 7 months so far, but there are people who maintain for their whole lives by keeping up the habits that they learned during their weight loss phase.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 33,784 Member
    gallicinvasion wrote: »
    The two main habits that are most important in maintaining your weight are 1. Tracking your food (in MFP, in a journal, however you like to do it) and 2. Weighing yourself regularly.

    With these two tools, you can 1. Make sure your average calorie intake is around your maintenance level, and 2. Monitor your average weight trend (if it goes above your maintenance range, then it’s time to take a slight deficit in your calories and lose weight slowly til you’re back in your range).

    So as you approach your goal weight, you should 1. get an estimate of what your maintenance calories are (if you track daily calories and weight loss now, you can use your own data to find your maintenance level.) 2. Decide on an acceptable maintenance range (mine is 124 lbs to 129 lbs). And 3. Decide how often you will weigh yourself.

    Tracking my food is something I will do forever. I see the benefits and it’s an easy and quick habit for me, so it’s not a heavy lift 😂 I’ve kept 100 lbs off for 7 months so far, but there are people who maintain for their whole lives by keeping up the habits that they learned during their weight loss phase.

    This (and pretty much all the posts above) are good advice. (I'm in year 4+ of maintaining a healthy weight, after losing from obese to healthy, BTW.)

    Here's a post from the maintenance area of the forum that may be helpful in figuring out your maintenance calories:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10638211/how-to-find-your-maintenance-calorie-level/p1

    There's lots of good info in the maintenance forum topic, and you can ask questions there and possibly get the attention of more long-term maintainers.
  • gallicinvasion
    gallicinvasion Posts: 1,015 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    gallicinvasion wrote: »
    The two main habits that are most important in maintaining your weight are 1. Tracking your food (in MFP, in a journal, however you like to do it) and 2. Weighing yourself regularly.

    With these two tools, you can 1. Make sure your average calorie intake is around your maintenance level, and 2. Monitor your average weight trend (if it goes above your maintenance range, then it’s time to take a slight deficit in your calories and lose weight slowly til you’re back in your range).

    So as you approach your goal weight, you should 1. get an estimate of what your maintenance calories are (if you track daily calories and weight loss now, you can use your own data to find your maintenance level.) 2. Decide on an acceptable maintenance range (mine is 124 lbs to 129 lbs). And 3. Decide how often you will weigh yourself.

    Tracking my food is something I will do forever. I see the benefits and it’s an easy and quick habit for me, so it’s not a heavy lift 😂 I’ve kept 100 lbs off for 7 months so far, but there are people who maintain for their whole lives by keeping up the habits that they learned during their weight loss phase.

    This (and pretty much all the posts above) are good advice. (I'm in year 4+ of maintaining a healthy weight, after losing from obese to healthy, BTW.)

    Here's a post from the maintenance area of the forum that may be helpful in figuring out your maintenance calories:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10638211/how-to-find-your-maintenance-calorie-level/p1

    There's lots of good info in the maintenance forum topic, and you can ask questions there and possibly get the attention of more long-term maintainers.

    Listen to everything AnnPT77 says; she’s a powerhouse on the forums and a very inspirational long-term maintainer!

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