Sustainable weight loss plan

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parveensamplay
parveensamplay Posts: 16 Member
edited May 2020 in Motivation and Support
How do you make a weight loss plan sustainable?

I’m struggling to lose about 45 pounds. I do really well for a few months and then fall off the wagon and gain it all back.

I only ever lose about 1-2 pounds a week if I stick to a 1300 cal diet with excercise.

To lose say 45 pounds at an average rate of about 4 pounds a month would take me just over 11 months.

What if I were to stick to a plan for 3 weeks and have 1 week off, and eat at a maintenance level? Not sure what that would be. Would that work better in the long run.

What have others tried to make it sustainable?

Replies

  • Katmary71
    Katmary71 Posts: 6,713 Member
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    The only way to find out if it works would be to log everything you eat/burn and see what happens. For me I started with one thing at a time at first, cut back what I ate, started working out a little, eventually stalled out and had to re-evaluate. I came back to My Fitness Pal very determined and weighed and logged everything and started working out daily. Diet I'm still tweaking and I've been calorie counting since Jan 2019. Honestly the best thing I can recommend is to start somewhere and see how it goes, the time will pass anyway and you'll have made some effort versus none. I lost roughly 1lb a week too the last 55lbs and I worked out daily as well, frustrating but it's off now and down 100lbs total. I still don't have a permanent plan, one thing I've learned the last couple years is things are always being switched around and improved upon or changed because of surroundings. Perfect example is quarantine, can't get all my usual foods so I'm having to be creative. I normally do weights and cardio a few times a week at the gym then alternated with home workouts and switched to doing most of my exercise through YouTube videos and have tried a little of everything to keep it interesting, then I injured my calves, and now I'm doing chair cardio mostly with upper arms to stay in shape while my legs heal. If I'd been super-rigid I'd be eating cookies and sitting on my rear end once my plan was out-the-window, instead I'm trying everything I can to keep going and hold it together while keeping it semi-fun! Best of luck to you, you can do this!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,741 Member
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    Different people find different things sustainable. Eating at a deficit 3 weeks and maintaining for one would be fine, if you like doing it that way.

    Another alternative would be just to lose quite slowly (don't try for > 1 pound a week, accept less) to make it easier. If you treat weight loss as a time to experiment and learn how to eat permanently, to stay at a healthy weight, that can be a good approach, rather than thinking of it as "a diet" that ends. What is a sustainable set of habits (eating, exercise) that will lead you to a healthy weight and keep you there?

    If you currently try to lose 1-2 pounds a week, but give up after a short period of time, a slower weight loss rate and routine you can actually easily stick with will get you to goal weight faster than the yo-yo kind of approach, which tends to lead nowhere much.

    I didn't do anything fancy, just a calorie defict for a little less than a year, enough food to keep me happy and energetic, making choices I actually enjoy eating, being active in enjoyable ways; and that's how I've stayed at a healthy weight for 4+ years since, too (except no more deficit unless I get uncomfortably above my maintenance weight range ;) ).

    Best wishes!
  • hipari
    hipari Posts: 1,367 Member
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    1-2lbs per week is a big loss, you shouldn't aim for anything more than that. If you're currently struggling to stick to a routine, aiming for a little bit less might be a good idea to give you consistency.

    The 3 weeks deficit, 1 week maintenance routine would work just fine, if your total burn vs intake for the month is still on a deficit.

    You seem to be concerned about falling off the wagon and yo-yoing. You need to find a plan that doesn't feel like a plan. You have to be able to say out loud, honestly, that you are working on permanent lifestyle and eating habit changes. The changes you're making can't be a diet or only happening for a temporary period of time. If you catch yourself trying to convince yourself things like "I'll stay on track now and enjoy the chocolate once I hit my goal", you're going in a bad direction. Learn to incorporate that chocolate (or whatever your thing is) into your eating habits and calorie budget now.
  • MidlifeCrisisFitness
    MidlifeCrisisFitness Posts: 1,106 Member
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    I like a 1/2 pound per week with changing my lifestyle. No need to stop dieting at the end. Just live eat and train.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    IMHO the biggest thing to fix is regaining when you fall off the wagon.
    No matter how slow or fast you lose if you can't learn to maintain your good work will keep getting undone.

    Your "normal" really has to become weight maintenance, not weight regain.
  • 88olds
    88olds Posts: 4,483 Member
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    parveensamplay wrote: »
    How do you make a weight loss plan sustainable?

    I’m struggling to lose about 45 pounds. I do really well for a few months and then fall off the wagon and gain it all back.

    I only ever lose about 1-2 pounds a week if I stick to a 1300 cal diet with excercise.

    To lose say 45 pounds at an average rate of about 4 pounds a month would take me just over 11 months.

    What if I were to stick to a plan for 3 weeks and have 1 week off, and eat at a maintenance level? Not sure what that would be. Would that work better in the long run.

    What have others tried to make it sustainable?

    Be careful how you talk to yourself. If your goal is sustainability, get rid of the phrase “only...lose.” And although you don’t say so, you seem to be suggesting that 11 months is a long time. But if you lose 45 lbs and keep it gone, eventually it will not matter how long it took. You don’t say when you started, but it looks like you have significant time in already without much progress.

    The diet need for speed seems to be directly tied to how umpleansnt we find living with our plans. Lasting significant weight loss has 2 parts- eating in a calorie deficit and living with it. There’s a widespread tendency to go all in on the deficit and try to beat ourselves into living with it. When we’re just trying to suffer through our program its perfectly reasonable to want to get to goal weight as fast as we can. We want to end our suffering. This is the essence of the on/off diet cycle.

    What is your maintenance number? Starting with that, and considering what you like to eat and how you want to live, can you find some modest changes that get you to a calorie deficit? Can some of your favorites be modified? Can high calorie choices be included by portion control?

    Try this, at one point I looked at my plan and did this exercise, completing this sentence, “I can see myself sticking with this long term if ___________.” What sort of plan do you see yourself actually living with as opposed to suffering through? What ever it is, do that. The best plan is one we will actually follow.

    I worked week to week. What I needed was a net deficit at the end of the week. I don’t see a plan that calls for hitting the same calorie target every day as livable. If you see yourself sticking to a plan that gets you a net deficit at the end of the month, try it.

    Last thing- its all a big experiment in problem solving. Don’t kick yourself if you struggle to find solutions to problems. You know that saying about “experience is the best teacher?” Its true. Actually, in this experience is the only teacher. Trial and error takes time. Keep identifying and working to solve the problems you encounter. Never quit. You can do this.
  • parveensamplay
    parveensamplay Posts: 16 Member
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    I think you’ve hit the nail on the head there. I need to address the weight regain part and convert it to maintenance. This is where I keep falling down. Need to think hard about a strategy for this. Maybe the 3 weeks on and 1 week maintenance will help address this.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
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    I wrote up a thought experiment thread that may or may not be helpful:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10790230/what-if-you-needed-to-lose-weight-for-forever

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