Can't Maintain Weight

Relax. You'll be at this for the rest of your life, so don't turn it into some kind of punishment that you endure for a short time and then revert right back to "the old ways." Find a calorie goal that isn't punitive. Add some pleasant movement -- doesn't have to be a formal workout. Walk, garden, bike ride. As your body gains fitness, you may want to add formal workouts. Lift heavier and heavier things.

And eat food you enjoy. Give it loads of time. When you reach a point that you're feeling fit and healthy, focus on a weight range and not a specific number.

Tlwozniak2019 wrote: »

I have not been able to maintain my weight since my teens...I can lose it, but an amount always comes back and I am on the "diet" again. Any suggestions?

I wish you'd been more specific. I'm concerned that you might be over-concerned about some effects that are very normal and to be expected, but I'm not sure.

Therefore, I want to underscore one thing @vivmom2014 said in her overall excellent post above, which was full of good advice: Maintenance is a weight range, not a single exact weight. Plan on that happening, then actively manage it.

When we lose weight, one of the first consequences is that our body depletes a bit of our glycogen stores. (Glycogen is one form in which our body stores energy for quicker access, loosely.) Glycogen is stored with water. Therefore, when our glycogen stores decrease, we drop some water weight.

That water weight will come back once we start eating at maintenance calories, so there'll probably be a quick jump on the scale of a pound or two, possibly a little more. It isn't body fat, so it's not worth fretting over. Water weight fluctuations are part of how a healthy body stays healthy, and it knows what it's doing, so we don't want to try to defeat that.

On top of that, many people eat a smaller volume of food when they cut calories, and food waste has weight until it leaves the body. A glass of water has zero calories, but a pint of it weighs about a pound in the glass, and a pound in my stomach until it becomes part of sweat, urine, exhaled moisture or whatever. Same with the water/fiber in an apple.

If we have a lower average amount of food in our digestive tract while dieting, that also shows up on the scale in a lighter average weight. That, too, can come back and add to a scale jump quickly when we go to maintenance calories. And it also isn't fat, so isn't worth fretting over.

When you lose weight, plan a maintenance range of maybe plus or minus 2-3 pounds around your goal weight - more, if you want. If you've noticed how much your scale weight can meaninglessly jump up and down from one day to the next, set the range a little wider than that.

When you lose, consider getting down to the bottom end of that range before increasing to maintenance calories. Expect a small scale jump within a day or two after you go to maintenance calories (though it could show up more slowly if you gradually increase calories in small increments). If you picked your range well, the scale jump will leave you inside your range.

Then, keep eating and being active in sensible way, averaging around your maintenance calorie needs, and keeping up your similar activity level. Keep an eye on the scale, but don't obsess.

If your weight gradually creeps up over the top end of your maintenance range, and stays there for more than a day or two, cut back a little on eating until it gradually creeps back down to the lower end of your maintenance range again. At that point, add back a little of what you cut out, but not all the way to the eating level that created the gain.

Keep going like that. That's maintenance, pretty much.

Hi Tlwozniak2019

I have been in the same team for long: either on a diet or gaining weight. I have also binged a lot because restricting way too much.

It is now some weeks I have decided to stop restricting, accepting myself and just maintaining my healthy weight without trying to be a super model ! I will be 40 this year so it's time.

I was very scared at first (I gained 2 kilos the first 2 months) but now it is 4 weeks that I stay between 67 & 68kg and I eat a lot. I also had only 2 small binge episodes in the last 4 weeks which is really great. Lots of healthy food but also joy foods. This is liberating.

I still have days where I find myself not beautiful enough, that my brains tries to have me restrict again but... no I know that is not a good idea.

If you'd like to we could support each other while we learn to love ourselves et be healthy ? Iam looking for a buddy when I feel like talking about this.

I am just going to agree with what everyone said. This is a long term lifetime thing. Most people can lose weight on a diet but regain their weight. The hard part is integrating healthy eating and activity into your life so you can maintain a weight that is healthy for you.

The research on maintenance says that while calorie restriction is the most important thing for losing weight, it's exercise that keeps it off. Like an hour or so of walking a day. That is a lot. You have to integrate into things - at least I do. Walking at lunch. Walking after dinner. Otherwise, no matter how little I eat, the weight will always creep back.

You have gotten great advice here.

I have done most of the things mentioned.

I verrrry slowly changed my eating habits. “Fooled my brain”

As I maintained year after year, I found I had really changed … don’t like being overly full…realized salty foods make me crave sweets…and boosts my mouth hunger …switched my 10K steps to glorious art-hikes in nature, which I love…realized what a normal serving is…began to “hear”my true hunger & which were absent the rest of my life…learned tons about macros/micros & the need for me to avoid processed foods due to an autoimmune disease…weighed every day “as data.”

If you had told me I’d maintain for almost 5 years when I began my maintenance journey 8-26-18, I would have cried tears of joy.

Other than my marriage & son, I’ve realized recently, that maintaining my weight & 10K steps daily are my Greatest Achievement. Yes, I had a couple of successful careers, but this was the thing I couldn’t seem to do: Maintain My Weight Loss.

One last thing, along the way, I realized how my being 70lbs over a normal weight & inactive for much of my life had negatively impacted my Loved Ones. This boosts my resolve if it ever wanes. They no longer have to worry about me.

You CAN do this. Take a multi-year, gradual approach. #NeverGiveUp