Is it really as simple as keep counting and weighing?

sofrances
sofrances Posts: 156 Member
edited June 2020 in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I'm experiencing a strange feeling. I feel like what I'm doing to lose weight (counting everything, weighing daily, a fair amount of exercise) is something that I can happily keep on doing forever if I have to. The inconvenience is very small, compared to the pay off. Currently I don't really feel hungry, for example (sometimes, but nothing unbearable). If it doesn't get any harder than this, then I think I can do it.

However, I'm not on maintenance yet - I still need to lose at least a stone and a half (which wouldn't get me to < 25 BMI, but gets me somewhere I can live with).

My question to those who have been in maintenance a while: is it really that as simple as "keep counting, keep weighing"? If I keep doing what I'm doing forever, will I be OK? Or are there hidden traps for the unwary?

It almost seems too good to be true, given how people seem to struggle. I'm worried this is just some sort of "calm before the storm" before my body and mind rebel somehow.
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Replies

  • sofrances
    sofrances Posts: 156 Member
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    It is anecdotally quite likely that after a substantial weight loss you will have an uptick in hunger and will view food as extremely desirable for a while.

    I think this is something I can live with if I know there is a light at the end of the tunnel - if the hunger will eventually reduce, or if I will get used to the it.
  • sofrances
    sofrances Posts: 156 Member
    Congrats on your progress and your habits!!!

    Personally, I would say it’s 3 things. Counting, weighing, and adjusting. The counting is the mechanism by which we’re balancing out calories in versus calories out. The weighing is the metric by which we are judging our success (obviously, really strong knowledge of water weight fluctuations super helpful here, to cut through the noise of the day-to-day up-and-downs). And the adjusting is the process that allows us to keep an eye on our weight, keep an eye on how we’re feeling, keep an eye on any life changes that are making our habits hard in the moment, and give us the freedom to tweak those habits in order to keep our progress (even in tough times that we’ll go through inevitably, which often result in weight gain).

    Part of Adjusting is pre-work. Right now, when things are going well and you’re hitting your calorie goals and exercise goals and it’s easy, can you sit down and make a simpler plan (think video-game Easy Mode) that you could pivot to when life throws you curveballs? Think death in the family, health emergency, loss of job, having to move, financial insecurity, etc. Think of how you can still achieve some mindfulness of your food, your movement, and your weight so that you don’t backslide when times get tough. Simplifying your healthy habits can help you keep them in times of crisis, which can be such a relief and a solid backbone for yourself (freeing you up to deal with the important stuff going down).

    For example, on perfect days, I try to hit 110 g of protein. It keeps me feeling full, it’s good for me, and I’m pretty solid about it. HOWEVER, when the pandemic hit and I was eating dried beans, rice, and frozen vegetables (and meat was in short supply, and I couldn’t get the protein bars I liked, and we ran out of canned tuna and chicken sausage), I adjusted my idea of success during this time. I simplified my eating habits from “hit average 2200 calories, weigh everything, 4 servings of fruit/veg a day, 110 G protein a day” to “hit average 2200 calories, weigh most things, a little fruit and veg a day.” I am still successfully and preventing a weight gain, but I redefined success and I’m so glad I did, otherwise I’d be beating myself up for “losing my habits” or “backsliding on my protein goals.”

    Adjusting means pre-planning, being flexible, and knowing the bare minimum healthy habits that you can fall back on during tough times, to keep you moving forward without overwhelming you.

    Really insightful, thanks @gallicinvasion.

    I have an "all or nothing" tendency which I definitely need to plan around.

    Also, a big worry for me is what happens if something stops me from exercising (e.g. injury). So I do have things to think about in terms of "curve balls".
  • brenn24179
    brenn24179 Posts: 2,144 Member
    yes count calories and log but but the problem for me is all the temptations around, not easy but worth it. It is just making yourself behave and not get carried away. So many people gain the weight back because it does take effort. I log and weigh every single day.
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    @knitski2002

    Mindful eating encourages you to be aware and present. Just tune into how your body feels. Trust your body and trust your brain. Let the real magic happen. Let the mind choose and get in touch with your body.
    Some minds will choose to eat mindfully anytime, all the time or while you're sleep walking. How do foods feel on the roof of your mouth. That's all fine and dandy if you can actually make some sense out of it.

    Mindfully eating gummy bears is a great experiment. I mindfully like them and could eat them 10 times a day. I can moderate myself with foods by measuring my portions.

    Emotional eating doesn't fix any kind of emotions. Self-soothing with food, there's not enough food in the world that can fill up all the empty places. I practice moderation and it's taken a long time to give myself permission to do that.

    I threw every dieting book with corresponding cookbook into the dumpster. I've rid myself of food rules and regulations cooked up by someone else with slick marketing tricks. I doubt those rules even work for them but dieting dogma sells books filled with miracle cures.
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    Agreed, tuckerrj. The premise of cheat meals and cheat days is just another way of saying that you have a permission slip to eat all the things you wouldn't normally eat. The very words imply that you are doing something wrong. I'm not married to my food so I don't need to cheat on it. ;)

    The foods you deprive yourself of....for days, weeks or months at a time will all come back to haunt your thoughts. If they didn't, there would be no such thing as rebound weight gain with friends.

  • MadisonMolly2017
    MadisonMolly2017 Posts: 10,875 Member
    I haven’t done cheat meals. I didn’t want to reactivate that old way of overeating. I realized early on that the only person I would be cheating was myself.
  • age_is_just_a_number
    age_is_just_a_number Posts: 630 Member
    Simple - not easy

    Someone said that to me once and it has stuck with me. It really is as simple as calories in vs calories out.
    Then there are all those other factors that come up that impact us in unexpected ways. Those factors, which so many other people above have articulated so well are what make it not easy.

    If you think it is easy right now, then ride that easy train for awhile and remember it later on to gain inspiration and motivation when all those other factors come up.