I was worried about maintenance....

John772016
John772016 Posts: 134 Member
in Success Stories
Just celebrated passing 4 years of successful maintenance after a 110lb loss from 2016-2017!
5 years of using MFP to a healthier version of what came before.

Before - Sedentary, Smoker, Obese, pre-diabetic & on 2 High Blood Pressure Medications
After - Not-sedentary, Non-Smoker, Not Obese, Not pre-diabetic, & on no meds.

I was asked at a funeral recently what was my secret....No secret - I track my calories, move more, watch my weight and adjust when I need to adjust.


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Replies

  • DeterminedFee201426
    DeterminedFee201426 Posts: 859 Member
    Wow! nice John, you did a full reversal! congrats on your better health and all the weightloss! that Is such a big change.
    Also maintaining for the long time. that is a huge achievement in itself also.
  • Janatki
    Janatki Posts: 730 Member
    Congratulations John... on losing & maintaining. Truly inspiring, thanks for posting.
  • BrightEyedAgain
    BrightEyedAgain Posts: 259 Member
    Wow, that is fabulous!!! And so encouraging that you've already maintained for four years. Way to go!! Thanks for sharing your story and photos.
  • Bluetail6
    Bluetail6 Posts: 2,985 Member
    This is very inspiring. I am 20 or so lbs. away from goal. What a great time to read your continuing success story!!😊
  • lynneburgess714
    lynneburgess714 Posts: 84 Member
    Congratulations John! Your post is truly inspiring, you have turned your health around completely and your maintenance for 4 years is fantastic. You are a testament to how hard work, consistency and perseverance pay off. It has made me want to keep going, it has taken me 2 years to lose 4stone 3lbs and I still have 49lbs to go to my goal. Thank you for sharing your success, I can do it!
  • ChrisRShaw
    ChrisRShaw Posts: 23 Member
    This is a great post. Just started maintenance after a 45 lb loss and can't quiet get the hang of it yet. Glad to see it can be done, I am planning on keeping logging and keep checking my weight as well, so glad to hear that that is working for you.
  • brenn24179
    brenn24179 Posts: 2,144 Member
    edited April 2021
    what a difference, logging calories, would like not to but it works so I keep doing it. Worth it, keeping the weight off. Gosh you could gain 20 lbs, wish someone would say that to me, someone did tell me you have lost enough now, so stay there, that felt good.


  • suzij27
    suzij27 Posts: 199 Member
    Thank you for sharing your story. It sounds like what you do in maintenance is similar to you did when you were losing weight? Is that the case? Are there any major differences between what you do now versus what you did? I’m interested in the mental aspects even more than what you eat and how you exercise. Thanks!
  • John772016
    John772016 Posts: 134 Member
    ChrisRShaw wrote: »
    This is a great post. Just started maintenance after a 45 lb loss and can't quiet get the hang of it yet. Glad to see it can be done, I am planning on keeping logging and keep checking my weight as well, so glad to hear that that is working for you.

    Thanks & best of luck @ChrisRShaw ; it took me a little while before I really started to get comfortable in maintenance, mostly due completely changing my exercise routine at the time. Once I got the hang of it though, its been pretty smooth.
  • John772016
    John772016 Posts: 134 Member
    suzij27 wrote: »
    Thank you for sharing your story. It sounds like what you do in maintenance is similar to you did when you were losing weight? Is that the case? Are there any major differences between what you do now versus what you did? I’m interested in the mental aspects even more than what you eat and how you exercise. Thanks!

    I think mentally the thing that finally worked for me was realizing I wasn't dieting, I was setting up my lifestyle to improve my health, so yes, quite similar.

    Food = basically worked with the RD to plan how I'd like to eat in maintenance then reduce calories from that to create a deficit while I was trying to lose weight. More aware of portion sizes and calories associated with my choices. e.g. I still eat pizza, I don't eat a pizza.
    I still log but more for interest in the data than need.

    Exercise = while I was losing weight the only exercise I was cleared to do was walk. Didn't start doing other exercise until maintenance which took a little while to get the calorie burn calculated accurately for me.
  • suzij27
    suzij27 Posts: 199 Member
    Thank you!

    Everyone’s path is different, but what you did is something that most people can. And inspiring to read. 😀
  • TakeTheLongWayHome
    TakeTheLongWayHome Posts: 816 Member
    Awesome work on the loss and maintenance. I’m about six months into maintenance and still getting the hang of it. It most definitely a lifestyle change, because if you slip back into your old habits, you will end up looking like your old self.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,225 Member
    You. Look. Fabulous. Healthier and more visible vitality with every year: That's about as close to "reverse aging" as a human can get. Good show!

    Great idea to take a picture each year, in maintenance, too! (Wish I'd done that. 😉)
  • Sailor555
    Sailor555 Posts: 45 Member
    Seriously inspiring, seeing and hearing about your progress. I'm still "recovering" from a month+ lapse in keeping on the program, and am all fired up about just resuming the daily count and keeping my exercise up, to lose again. Maintenance feels a long, long way off but if I do achieve it I know from others how hard that stage can be. Thank you for sharing this and giving us aspirants hope that it can be managed. Best of luck as you go forward.
  • Rockstar_JILL
    Rockstar_JILL Posts: 514 Member
    Awesome work!! I am working on the maintenance part myself. I have 120 pounds off and I am kinda using trial and error right now. I eat alot, but am very active. I am still losing very small amounts.
  • kcd394
    kcd394 Posts: 397 Member
    I worry too about the maintainence level at the end but still have 25 ish pounds to go or more. I have managed to maintain at a plateau of 176-178 ish the last 4 whole months with variable attention to logging and motivation so that makes me feel like when i reach my goal I can get the hang of maintainence. Anyway glad to finally have things moving again sub 176. My recent success has been driving down the BMI from obese to overweight. :-) happy for your continued success and thanks for sharing!
  • charmmeth
    charmmeth Posts: 936 Member
    For those who are concerned about maintenance (who include myself) there are lots of helpful threads in the maintenance forum. Over the last seven years I have I lost over 30lbs (2014-15), then maintained for a while, then gained over 30 lbs (2017-20) and lost over 30lbs again (2020-21). This time I'd like to stop the gain/lose cycle and stay where I am. I think the trick is going to be logging and staying active, but also taking action when - or before - my weight gets to the top of my maintenance range intead of waiting for another 20 lbs until I am verging on what for me, according to bmi, is obese.
  • John772016
    John772016 Posts: 134 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    You. Look. Fabulous. Healthier and more visible vitality with every year: That's about as close to "reverse aging" as a human can get. Good show!

    Great idea to take a picture each year, in maintenance, too! (Wish I'd done that. 😉)

    Thanks @AnnPT77 !
    Started unintentionally. My sister was visiting my Mom and texted me. I replied with a photo saying 'in the gym celebrating 1 year of maintenance tell Mom I'll give her a call this afternoon.'
    Mom replied with, 'You should smile'
    So, became a yearly thing, but with a smile, lol.


  • ginamyrmel
    ginamyrmel Posts: 70 Member
    Fantastic work, John. I really appreciate the pictures. I've lost 53 pounds since July of 2020. I still have 29 pounds to go and have been feeling a little discouraged as weight loss is going very slowly and although I haven't lost hundreds, I still have a lot of loose skin. I've been walking for exercise and just realized I'm free to go to our gym today as it's 2 weeks past my second COVID vaccination date! OK - now I feel less discouraged. I talked myself out of it. Thanks for being today's motivation.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,458 Member
    John772016 wrote: »
    ManlyMutt wrote: »
    This is very inspiring.. I've been reading a lot about metabolic damage from losing weight and worried I'll never be able to increase my calories once I reach maintenance calories. I'm currently 260 and on 1400-1500 calories a day. Losing weight fast but seeing you losing 110 in a year makes me feel safer in my choice.

    Closer to 14-15 months @ManlyMutt
    Not knowing your stats but I'd caution you against dropping too severely, too rapidly.

    When I started I cut calories drastically, dropped weight quickly and was miserable.
    My Dr. & my Cardiologist recommended that I start working with a Registered Dietitian about 8 weeks or so in.
    She immediately upped my calories and slowed down my loss to a sustainable level.
    My RD (and MFP) helped me realize I was looking for a long term lifestyle change and that would be my true success.

    Best of luck to you!

    This was exactly my experience. My first visit to my RD was about eight weeks on, too, and she told me “whoa, slow it down there!”

    She’s also the one who referred me to MFP.

    @John772016 wonderful job and thanks for sharing. I’m only a little over a year into maintenance. Someone asked me why I work so hard and I answered “I’m still running from fat?” It means a lot to hear from people who are still successfully maintaining.

    @ManlyMutt strongly suggest you get an appointment with an RD. It was a pivotal thing for me. I did it through my gym at the time and it wasn’t expensive. Your health insurance or employer may even cover it.

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