Does it ever end?

smartin1450 · February 2020

I successfully lost about 30 lbs two years ago and have managed to keep it somewhat in check. I seem to have trouble eating at maintanence and gain a few lbs back here and there, then I count again and lose them. Are there people who learn to eat and don’t track that can maintain their weight? I feel like when I’m counting calories, especially when at a deficit, I think about food and eating way too much. I don’t know, it feels like and endless cycle.

George_of_the_Jungle · February 2020

A diet ends. A lifestyle change lasts.

Jericha1992 · February 2020

Honestly, I don't think it does, and that's okay.

I'm a little over 100 lbs lost right now, with mayyybe 15 more to go (I'm at a "healthy" BMI now and I'm just playing around with weight for vanity purposes at this point) and I've realized I need to treat my obesity like the chronic health condition it is. If I don't manage it, it will "flare up" and I will be obese again.

For me, I've spent the last 18 months trying to build sustainable habits that will allow me to continue logging, but also live my life without feeling super restricted.

But yeah, for me, I plan to continue logging indefinitely.

steveko89 · February 2020

"Maintenance" looks different for everyone. Some may find they learn their body and hunger cues well and can maintain fine without logging while others try, fail, and come back logging as you described. Personally, I don't see the downside in continuously tracking. Not only does it help manage my weight but contributes to ensuring I'm eating requisite to my aesthetic and performance-based objectives as well. I have seen continuous logging likened to monitoring a budget by others; it's something that I monitor as part of self-care and to the benefit of my overall wellness.

sijomial · February 2020

I don't need to track food to maintain or to lose a few pounds.

But I remain vigilant (I weigh daily to watch my trend weight) and act to correct an upwards drift before it gets out of hand, an upper intervention weight that I won't allow myself to stay above.
I have a natural rise and fall in my weight with the seasons as my exercise and activity changes and don't try to fight it - but I do contain it within reasonable bounds.

I do feel remaining conscious of my weight is never ending but mindful eating (I can't do intuitive eating without gaining) isn't a burden and the rewards are worth the effort. To me this is my normal my whole adult life, I just didn't always maintain at a good weight!

SuzySunshine99 · February 2020

Maintenance is a perfect word for it, because it implies that there will always be upkeep involved. If you own a car, you don't just change the oil once and decide that you're done with car maintenance forever...it's an on-going thing you have to do.

I am at the point where I don't have to log. I have a good sense of where I need to be calorie-wise to maintain, and I tend to do some rough math in my head to make sure I'm not going too much over. It has become pretty intuitive for me, but I know not everyone is the same.

Honestly, what also makes it easier is that I don't eat that much differently now than when I was losing weight...just a few hundred more calories a day. That's why I'm always skeptical of "named" diets with specific food plans. Are you going to eat like that the rest of your life? If not, I think it makes it harder to transition into maintenance.

I weigh myself on a regular basis, and if I see a trend upwards over the top of my maintenance range, I'll make adjustments as necessary.

amusedmonkey · February 2020

I'm maintaining, and no it doesn't end. I still track calories in maintenance every day, and I still think about food, but I feel this is better than not thinking about food because I will overeat consistently if I don't. People have this dream of dieting down and then just living a happy life eating normally without thinking about it. That's very rare, unfortunately, and that's one of the main reasons people regain.

Whether you keep tracking or find a way to eat at maintenance without tracking, you will always need to think about food and what your weight is doing. You need to make peace with that. Being aware and conscious is a new state you need to accept. Being oblivious and hyper relaxed is a state that works for maintaining a weight 30+ lbs higher than you want, so no going back to that. It does get easier once you accept your new reality, though. Not as easy as it used to be before dieting, but easier than it is now because fighting it is exhausting. These are some new mental challenges unique to maintenance.

Personally, maintenance for me looks more like a mini yoyo of a few lbs. It's more of a range than a single weight and I fluidly fluctuate based on my hunger and circumstances. This means I overeat sometimes. I'm okay with that as long as I'm not overeating consistently and things aren't getting out of hand.

kimny72 · February 2020

I had a conversation with a friend recently where they asked me how I stayed "slim" even though I ate the same stuff every one else does, and I told him I log my food and am mindful of calories. And his response was that he wouldn't want to do that, because he wouldn't want to always have to think about eating and what he ate, it was just supposed to be something you enjoyed.

I think it's kind of odd that we've reached a point where people feel that having to think about what you eat is too hard and takes the fun out of it. Eating and drinking is the main conscious act we do to literally keep ourselves alive. Humans have built their lives and communities around acquiring and consuming food & drink for forever. It is worth putting daily thought into!

I don't say this to judge the OP, because it seems to be the popular way to look at eating right now - that it should be effortless and enjoyable and require no thought. I think it's one of the challenges to maintenance, that people are always looking to end the need to think about it. For me, learning that it's actually normal to eat mindfully and put thought into your diet has been super important. I look at my logging and planning as self-care and data accumulation, just like keeping track of my money and saving. And I still enjoy my food! If someday I don't have to log anymore, that'd be great, but I'd still be being mindful, thinking about how much I'm eating, and planning my food, and I don't really think that's a bad thing

PAV8888 · February 2020

While @kimny72 is looking at it more philosophically, I will just deal more with the mechanics.

The implication of the OP was that the OP was re-gaining and losing several lbs at a time, which to me indicates a weight wave of several lbs at a time.

A potential source of excessive food ideation while in a deficit is often the size of the deficit itself. Minimizing the size of adjustments and attenuating the peeks and valleys of the wave may be of benefit to the OP.

I would suggest a weight trend application. Many of us use them and I think that, absent excess monthly hormonal weight variations, most of us consider a 2lb increase in our trend to be a good point to intervene.

I would suggest to the OP an even earlier intervention point for a while, maybe even at as little as 1.5lbs; but, with a very small deficit, one of the order of -250, or even less!

The idea is to start managing caloric intake and expenditure closer to neutral as opposed to allowing larger ups and downs.

It could well be an n=1, but I did find that after an extensive period at close to parity my natural inclination absent external stimuli was to continue at that level as opposed to continuing to seek extra food. Absent external stimuli being a big one--and not always true, of course!

In brief: I feel that the OP may be allowing larger swings than ideal and over-correcting in compensation.

I think that slowing down the pendulum swings could be beneficial in encouraging energy balance, and energy balance, of course, would result in level maintenance.

I am definitely of the camp where I have no expectation that I will maintain my weight without some form of ongoing weight management.

So when ongoing management proves to be easier than expected it comes as a pleasant surprise. If it proves to be a bit hard(er).. well then it is as expected! I mean if it was a no-brainer, then I am certain that a good percentage of the almost one in two middle aged adults who are obese... wouldn't be!

This doesn't mean that I don't *try* to make things as EASY as I can!

whmscll · February 2020

I'm in maintenance and no it doesn't end. I stopped tracking and gained 5 lbs within just a few months, so I'm logging, weighing and eating at a deficit again to lose them. I would dearly love to eat anything I wanted whenever I wanted and not have to think about it; which is what I was able to do (and maintain a slim figure) until I turned about 40. Those days are over for me, and they ain't comin' back.

paperpudding · February 2020

If I am reading OP correctly - sure, maitenance doesnt end but what you want to end is this yo yo dieting thing re gaining, having to lose back to goal again and again.

Can you clarify this OP - as I think the answers to ending maitanance vs ending yo you dieting are bit different.

smartin1450 · February 2020

For me, it is just the yo-yo portion of this. I have never gained back a significant amount. It has been 5-6 lbs at most and I’ve always been able to get back on track and lose it. I find when I’m counting, especially at maintanence, I have more calories and I start filling them with bad things, then bad habits start again and I stop counting all together. I think I’m just having a bad day and frustrated with the process. I know what I need to do and I’ll get back to doing it.

fdlewenstein · February 2020

smartin1450 wrote: »

For me, it is just the yo-yo portion of this. I have never gained back a significant amount. It has been 5-6 lbs at most and I’ve always been able to get back on track and lose it. I find when I’m counting, especially at maintanence, I have more calories and I start filling them with bad things, then bad habits start again and I stop counting all together. I think I’m just having a bad day and frustrated with the process. I know what I need to do and I’ll get back to doing it.

We all get frustrated and have bad days! Sometimes we just need to vent a little (or a lot). You have the right attitude. Know what you have to do and get back to doing it. Chalk this up to a learning experience.

PAV8888 · February 2020

smartin1450 wrote: »

For me, it is just the yo-yo portion of this. I have never gained back a significant amount. It has been 5-6 lbs at most and I’ve always been able to get back on track and lose it......then bad habits start again and I stop counting all together. ..... I know what I need to do and I’ll get back to doing it.

Maybe it is not the right time to bring this up because you're obviously working through frustration while doing the right thing and fighting!

So, at a later point of time, when you're feeling up to it, consider the following in any which random order and see if any of it is worth considering and applying to your own unique situation!

--weight does go up and down naturally, and there exists hormonal water retention and bloat. This part is normal. Is some of your yo-yo related to that? While the previous is normal, feeling that you're on a yo-yo is not. Mainly because yo-yo seems to imply larger up and downs than you would be comfortable with, which means that you should consider intervening sooner than you have been. May I take the opportunity, once again, to suggest a weight trend application if you're not using one already?

--If thinking of food as good and bad makes you stop trying when you fall into "bad habits", then this division is not serving you well! Whether the Calories come from carrots or fried Mars bars, they are still Calories and you can, and should, choose to manage them if you're taking in to many! Especially when some food choices mean that a couple of bites can amount to several hundred Cals!

--you know what you need to do and get back to doing it. ok, I hear you when you say that you do, but I also fear that by not making things easy on yourself you're increasing the chance of frustration, postponement, and ultimately failure. Are you making it as easy as possible to be eating in the right DIRECTION to eventually get to your goals? Easy to apply small deficit? Regulating (portioning/reducing the consumption of) certain foods as opposed to blanket swearing off of them forever?

cherys · February 2020

I think what might end is the 'will this ever end?' mindset. When I was slim, which I was until my mid-forties, I never consciously dieted or watched my weight but I would instinctively choose the most healthy food in a restaurant. I'd ask for green salad instead of a starter and fruit salad at dessert. It never occurred to me that I was dieting. I just loved healthy food and didn't like stuffing my face or that over-fed feeling. I often skipped meals because I was preoccupied with work. I'd eat very lightly before a big social occasion. After Christmas Day I'd be out of the house on long hikes not sitting in front of TV with the chocolates on my lap. In those days none of that felt like any effort or deprivation. These days, having got into bad habits of comfort eating and laziness, it does. But I hope after a while it becomes second nature again.

bearly63 · February 2020

@kimny72
Very well said. I agee with this. It so easy to go "through the motions" of everyday life without thinking about why, what and how. That is one thing MFP and the process is helping me with is really thinking about what I am eating, why I am eating it and making choices to reach goals. I am not in maintenance yet suspect that I will not be changing my daily routine....it will just be with more calories to work with. I need to work on this in other areas of my life....

Maxxitt · February 2020

My maintenance calorie requirements have gone down a lot, and I need to be constantly mindful of eating less than I might be naturally inclined to.

Does it ever end?

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