Long time maintainers how do you do it

I have been at my current weight since Jan 2019. While it is not my desired weight, It is 55 pounds down from my high. There are 5 things that help me maintain this weight.

1. I engage in group therapy every week regarding weight loss. Having a forum in which to speak about my issues and even more importantly helping others who are struggling builds my ability to create habits that further my strength to eat in a way that maintains this weight.

2. I use meal replacements almost every day for at least one meal. That gives a big boost of protein and a feeling of satiation that lasts

3. I try to track calories and exercise in MFP. I have set up 6 daily meals. I record a missed meal as Fasting. I record my meds because I have some calories there in fish oil caps. I have several "My Foods" set up that reflect how I am feeling. Happy, In Control, Sad, etc.

4. I try to exercise most days. Pickleball, Walking, Gardening, Stretching, and Strength Training.

5. I try to use Visualizations just before I go to sleep. I am currently combining 2 visualizations in my meditation. I imagine what I want to look like and I imagine how satisfied I am with myself when I do not snack in the evening. These two visualizations feel like they are becoming a part of my sense of self which is how they are supposed to work. As time goes by I know I will begin using different visualizations to help with the aspects of my weight work I want to focus on.

Lost about 35-40 and have maintained that weight with a few pounds for several years. Here are a few takeaways.
At first I counted every calorie. I did this using the MFP tool for a couple of years, so much that I could sit down at almost any meal and estimate the calories without even going to a reference. Same with shopping for food. It's almost instinctual now.
I found that by staying within the calorie target, that the mix of carbs and proteins and so on naturally fell out. So I never focused a lot on that - although I do try to consume foods with bulk that tend to naturally reduce your appetite. The items that naturally fell out for me by counting calories are snack foods, candy, potatoes, fried foods and most importantly fast food and restaurant meals. If you are honest and thorough about your calorie count, you will by definition cut back on those things.
For me there was no particular item that I cut out completely. Ice cream? Sure, but instead of a whole bowl it's a couple of small scoops. French fries? Yes, but it's a small portion not a half plateful. Once you know the caloric content of any particular food it's easy to estimate the portion size to fit your calorie target.
If you do this long enough you will start to get a very good idea of your set point for maintenance and for weight loss. It is not sufficient to go to a table and assume you are the average. For me I discovered that my set point was lower than the average male; 2000 calories a day is maintenance for me, and about 1700 calories a day to reduce weight at around a pound a week.
Activity level is important too, but it can be a mixed blessing. Regular exercise (for me it's recumbent bike, light weight lifting and calisthenics 2-3 times a week, and do a weight check) works well to increase your metabolism overall, particularly if you are not very active otherwise.
I recently retired from a largely sedentary job as an engineer where I sat in front of a computer screen constantly, 10 hours a day. Now as a retiree I am a lot more active, some of it pretty strenuous, and on those days/weeks I forgo the regular exercise.

The mixed blessing of exercise is that while it increases your caloric burn rate, it will tend to boost your appetite too as the body seeks to replenish itself and build muscle. So it is a balancing act between exercise and caloric intake. This has probably been the biggest challenge in recent months as I moved away from my sedentary job.

88olds wrote: »

It is 100% derived from my willingness to go back to full on calorie counting and tracking when needed. It has worked every time I’ve done it. I have a red line now at 180 lbs and I keep it. Why? Unfortunately I’m not sure I can explain. It's who I am now. I don’t think tracking is a burden. I don’t think weight loss takes a huge amount of effort. It does take concentration and persistence. I look at what I’m doing as trying to live within some reasonable limits. Even if I’m not tracking I know how many calories are in the meals I make at home. My food scale never leaves the kitchen counter and I use it every day. I try to make good choices when out. I’m not very good at saying no. But I’m fairly good at compromise solutions. Even when I’m actively tracking I don’t look at what I’m doing as dieting. I’m just living my life. Sometimes I have to pay more attention to what I’m eating. If I don’t pay enough attention I tend to over do it. Look around, there are a lot of people in the same boat.

I've only been in maintenance since October of 22 (45 pounds lost), but I could not have said this better myself. All of it!

I have a scale at home, and one at work. When people at work see me weighing food, they often ask me "what diet I'm on." No diet--it's just what I do to stay at or near my goal weight (within my 5 pound window).

I get on the scale every morning. It keeps me focused on the goal. I also record the weight in a journal with a few comments about challenges or successes.

DayByDayGetStronger wrote: »

There is a great book I read called "Thin for Life". It gives great examples of how people maintained their weight loss over years. My best advice? Make MFP part of your life just like checking your email, voicemail, and bank balance, etc every day.

What I tell my patients who want to lose weight and maintain is this:
Think of tracking your intake and exercise is like tracking your checking account. Would you ever go to a store and swipe your debit card without ever knowing what your balance is to spend or what the price of the item your buying is? Eating without tracking is exactly this.

Who would ever go to Best Buy and just start writing a check for the prettiest washer and dryer or fanciest computer just because you were "hungry to have one"? Blind eating is just like blind spending.

Would any of us irresponsibly ask the question, "Hey when can I stop checking my balance at the bank? It's getting old seeing how much money I have or don't have every day . I just want to relax and spend freely and assume that I have unlimited funds available". Or how about, "Hey, I'm going on vacation for 2 weeks...can't I just blow a bunch of cash that I don't have and just worry about the overdraft fees later when I get home?"

I would hope not.

Your friendly Registered Dietitian

OMG! That is exactly how I think about money! It takes a great deal of discipline for me to respect my budget.....same goes for my food budget, it takes serious discipline. I've discovered that discipline is not a bad word, it just means: make a choice and do it. I'm 60 years old and we have money in the bank and I'm am the lightest I have ever been since I was 14 yrs old. Because I decided to do this, no tricks, no magic, just "I'm doing this"

I don’t buy bigger clothes! I weigh myself and watch how my clothing fits. If anything gets too snug.. time to work.