What if you needed to lose weight for forever?

NovusDies
NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
What if there is no goal weight and to be healthy you needed to be in a deficit most days for the rest of your life?

The bathroom scale will never reward you with progress and thus never motivate you.

Any misery you put yourself through is how you will live your life. You can't count on being happy later so you might as well try to be happy today.

You only need to be in a some kind of a deficit. No other requirement is made of you that is not medically necessary.

How would you eat? Would you create a really large deficit even though a more manageable one will work? Would you deny yourself treats or the ability to eat more food on special occasions? What else would you do differently?

For this thought experiment you will need to set aside how you feel about your weight or how it makes you feel. This is obviously not suggested for people who may have a pressing medical concern that requires expedited weight loss.

If you set up a plan that you could live with forever you will certainly be able to live with it long enough to lose all the weight you need to lose. You will also have the advantage of easily modifying it to maintain your weight which will be for forever.

If you don't set up a plan that you believe you could live with forever the you don't really know if you can live with it long enough to get your weight off.

I have spent most of the last 2 years in a deficit. For me it is normal. I eat a lot of nutrient dense food and I eat a moderate amount of what some people think is unhealthy. I was in a maintenance/recomp period but with the closing of my gym I have decided to go back to losing. With all that is going on I am not that enthusiastic about losing. It was not what I had planned and I am not happy about losing a vacation I really needed. Yet, I can follow my weight loss procedure pretty easily. It is simple and easy because it feeds me well. I have probably 25 pounds left to lose and I am in no hurry to finish it. I imagine it will be nice to be done but I don't care when that happens. If I had to I could do this for several more years. Possibly forever.

Replies

  • fluffygoodas
    fluffygoodas Posts: 30 Member
    I could do it. When i dropped a good amount of my weight i had no goal. Still dont. No magic number. No aim. I just changed the way i ate, exercised more. Mindful eating. I did get and still am a little calorie obsessed as in thought about every piece of food as a number before i ate it. I have loosened quite a bit but maintained my weight loss for well over a year, maybe 2 yrs. While a few times i have not logged (on a vacation) or here and there, i pretty much live this life. I recently reevaluated y i was not seeing much loss since i generally eat under 1500 calories but i was clearly being lax with counting and i guess it was keeping me stable. I have rebooted being more strict, especially with the gym closed. My thing is i don't really deny myself anything, i eat what i like but if i know its high calorie, i eat only a little. I choose wisely and i left myself indulge in meals that aren't low calorie aka REGULAR food. Could i do this forever? Yes i think so. I can't imagine my brain allowing me to go back to eating the way i used to. I actually think my worry is, I don't want to drop as much weight now as i did before. I will look horrible. A reverse problem. So finding my balance for.....forever.
  • nighthawk584
    nighthawk584 Posts: 2,024 Member
    edited March 2020
    I admit, now that I am just a few lbs from my goal, I lightened up with the strictness I have had for nearly a year. But, I have not given up the constant "struggle/fight" with food. I simply love to eat and eat a lot! I don't think that will ever change, so I will most likely be on some kind of deficit forever. That's fine with me, as long as I don't just give up entirely. I can deal with 5-10 lb fluctuation from here on out. I still want to hit my ultimate goal and WILL at some point. The gym closing doesn't affect me. I have a home gym, thank God!
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,099 Member
    I think there is a certain place where the body WILL kick back. Not sure if it a body fat or an weight, maybe both. I think its very I individual. Past highest weight, diet quality, sleep, exercise, genetics, ect. Will decide that point.....
  • cupcakesandproteinshakes
    cupcakesandproteinshakes Posts: 1,186 Member
    I’ve been losing 10 then maintaining then losing 5 pounds then maintaining. Gone from high end normal bmi to low end.

    Definitely notice a difference at less than 19 bmi. Hunger levels much higher and food focussed. Training gets a drag. Cold all the time. Have to work hard. At bmi 24 it’s a breeze. Not food focussed eat and drink what I want within reason. Training much better and more energy. Sleep better.

    It’s a trade off. I like the leaner look. But life is easier when I’m a bit less lean. I’m working on building muscle in the long term hoping to find that sweet spot .
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,978 Member
    I feel like I’m kinda there now. I had bumped up from many months at 2030 to recomp at 2300 about a month ago and was already seeing results, even though it seems 2300 was about maintenance for me.

    Bam! Yoga studio closed, gym closed. I deliberately moved myself back down to 1900 to be in a larger deficit. I also vowed to turn my “move” ring three times a day. Many times it’s turned four, only once did I fall just stinkin’ short of three.

    It’s a conscious decision to be below to maintain health, maintain movement. Won’t lie, I’ve missed those extra 400 calories, but otoh life goes on, sun still shines, and I’m eking my supply of fresh fruit out a little longer.

    There actually has been a (unexpected) scale reward but that’s not what I’m looking for and won’t be cheesed off if it doesn’t budge for a while. Happiness? Not going in the other direction during all this because of deliberate choices I’ve made.

    And my usual tag line: I STILL marvel that I am the “same” person I was a year and a half ago, 61% heavier and a world away. (61% sounds amazing when you calculate it that way LOL)
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,978 Member
    peggy_polenta wrote: »
    i live every day like i have 10 pounds to lose.

    Hear, hear!!!!!! Well said @peggy_polenta .



  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,441 Member
    You're in full form @NovusDies

    Co-signing 👍
  • TakeTheLongWayHome
    TakeTheLongWayHome Posts: 816 Member
    I can definitely do it. I was off the rails, eating anything I wanted and had the body to prove it🙁 I finally made the decision to get healthy and pull my life together so I could be there and actually play with my young kids. I apologized to my wife for how I had let myself get to the point I had. Life is a journey😘
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    There's definitely a difference for me being at the higher end vs the lower end of weight especially if I am higher in muscle mass. I could probably go on forever if I was really stressed/anxious and not high in muscle (so low weight, higher fat %).
    When I have a good base, I'm really lean and low bodyfat I need a diet break every 6-8 weeks and I do feel hungry most of the time. I can deal with it (ignore it) but it's not always fun. I think when you get to the lower end and bodyfat is low things can change and a deficit is no longer as tolerable. Not sure if that is a consideration in this case.
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,099 Member
    I notice that it was mostly "seasoned" veterans who responded. I have had the rare experience of losing weight with no clue what I was doing. Then having to develop a lifestyle to maintain it. I then learned to be a fully flexible dieter, now have settled on an WOE that might allow me not to be an anal retentive SOB. I think after doing much learning, there is a natural spot where you will be with the way you live. So, while one can keep pushing in a downward direction, sometimes we have to temper our expectations. I am living proof that a weight set point does not exist. Though maintaining it can be painful. People ask me in the "real" world what I would suggest to lose weight. I tell them to learn what is in what they are eating. Then, let your diet and lifestyle decide your weight. It is a strange thing to say on a calorie counting app, but its my opinion.
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
    I would stuff myself with nonstarchy vegetables to try to bypass the feeling of deprivation.
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