Remaining consistent after weight loss
cdahl383
Posts: 726 Member
Getting back on track again after several months of eating poorly and missing the gym. I lost 32lbs last year and gained back about 18lbs. I find I have issues with staying consistent after losing weight. Losing weight isn't all that difficult for me. It seems after a while I lose interest in staying in shape, I go back to old habits of eating things that taste good in excess, skipping the gym and exercising, and the weight starts to creep back on. Before I let myself go too far, I rein myself back in and get back on track, only to do the same thing again 6 months later. I've battled this cycle for years.
Has anyone else experienced this? Any tips or tricks on how to stay consistent all the time and not fall off the wagon every 6-12 months?
Maybe I need to continue to set goals after I achieve my weight loss goal? It seems like goals/deadlines are effective for most people and for me in many cases.
Appreciate any thoughts or ideas. Thanks!
Has anyone else experienced this? Any tips or tricks on how to stay consistent all the time and not fall off the wagon every 6-12 months?
Maybe I need to continue to set goals after I achieve my weight loss goal? It seems like goals/deadlines are effective for most people and for me in many cases.
Appreciate any thoughts or ideas. Thanks!
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Replies
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Getting back on track again after several months of eating poorly and missing the gym. I lost 32lbs last year and gained back about 18lbs. I find I have issues with staying consistent after losing weight. Losing weight isn't all that difficult for me. It seems after a while I lose interest in staying in shape, I go back to old habits of eating things that taste good in excess, skipping the gym and exercising, and the weight starts to creep back on. Before I let myself go too far, I rein myself back in and get back on track, only to do the same thing again 6 months later. I've battled this cycle for years.
Has anyone else experienced this? Any tips or tricks on how to stay consistent all the time and not fall off the wagon every 6-12 months?
Maybe I need to continue to set goals after I achieve my weight loss goal? It seems like goals/deadlines are effective for most people and for me in many cases.
Appreciate any thoughts or ideas. Thanks!
You are spot on. Goals and challenges are what keeps it interesting. Try challenges like trying new recipes, better sleep, new classes or exercise, stair challenge, step challenge, more vegetables and fruit, better night routine, encouraging others, etc. Anything that promotes healthy lifestyle. Stir things up or you get bored. Hope this helps.1 -
You treat exercise as a job. But a job you understand is paid by maintaining your health and fitness. And just don't eat in excess. Enjoy the fun stuff, just realize that too much of it will put weight back on you.Getting back on track again after several months of eating poorly and missing the gym. I lost 32lbs last year and gained back about 18lbs. I find I have issues with staying consistent after losing weight. Losing weight isn't all that difficult for me. It seems after a while I lose interest in staying in shape, I go back to old habits of eating things that taste good in excess, skipping the gym and exercising, and the weight starts to creep back on. Before I let myself go too far, I rein myself back in and get back on track, only to do the same thing again 6 months later. I've battled this cycle for years.
Has anyone else experienced this? Any tips or tricks on how to stay consistent all the time and not fall off the wagon every 6-12 months?
Maybe I need to continue to set goals after I achieve my weight loss goal? It seems like goals/deadlines are effective for most people and for me in many cases.
Appreciate any thoughts or ideas. Thanks!
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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I keep counting calories when I reach maintenance. It simply doesn’t work for me to “trust my hunger cues.” I don’t love it but it’s fast when I go ahead and pre log my whole day in the morning or the night before.2
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Thanks for the ideas! I think that’s the problem. I stay on track for 6-9 months and then burn out and drop everything for 3-6 months. I’ll have to come up with some ideas when the burnout starts to set in.
Interesting way of looking at fitness as a job. Makes sense though. It takes a while to drop weight and gain weight. I agree, you can still enjoy tasty foods, just can’t go nuts for prolonged periods of time.
I’m the same way. The only way I’ve been able to successfully keep off the weight is to count calories. My eyeballing ability is terrible. I’m always way over if I don’t track. Maybe it’s just going to have to be part of my routine going forward. Not just for a few months, but all the time.0 -
My strategies for losing didn't put a lot of reliance on motivation, discipline or willpower. As an aging hippie hedonist, I'm not going to be able to do things that require strict permanent vigilance, self-discipline, self-denial, etc. It was more about experimenting to find a new set of routine eating and activity patterns that I could practice for a while (using my limited willpower/motivation), then continue almost on autopilot.
So: Relatively happy, easy habits. Fun exercise. Tasty food that's practical and affordable for me. Strategies to have treats and indulgences sometimes.
I've been up and down a few pounds in 7+ years of maintenance, but never yet out of the same jeans size.
I do exercise that I'd do even if it weren't good for me . . . and it's pretty much what I was doing for a dozen years while staying overweight/obese. I keep counting calories (most of the time). I refuse to shop for new clothes: All-new clothes was hands down the worst thing about losing weight in the first place. I have routine meals I enjoy and find filling. I calorie bank - eat a little under maintenance most days to indulge sometimes. I weigh myself every day, unless traveling, and record in my weight trending app. If my weight creeps up too much - those jeans heading toward snug - it's time to creep weight back down again (mainly by reducing the indulgences).
Those habits, plus the still-vivid visceral understanding of how much better my quality of life is a thin person instead of a class 1 obese person, have been working OK so far. Permanently? Who knows, but I hope so.0 -
Honey!!! “Has this happened to anyone else?” Look at the boards. They’re inundated with “I’m back, I regained” posts.
Golden words for me, from another, wiser user, which I have taken to heart:
Treat maintenance like you still have five pounds to lose4 -
I had kept to my happy weight for 8-9 years then health issues took hold and I gained some. Lost it and realized that the gain was because I stopped weighing myself and then didn't want to get on the scale because I didn't want to know the ugly truth.
For those "success" years I weighed regularly and paid attention to how my clothes fit. I only went back to strict food logging when I had a small (3lbs or so) gain that didn't go back down, then I went back to being strict about portion size and calories.
I could not live with the "still have 5 pounds to lose" but everyone has a strategy that works. At my age and height my calories are 1400 to maintain and 1200 to lose, nope not going to happen.
So just weigh regularly and if it works for you track your food, but if tracking becomes too much try to find a way to ease up as long as you don't gain over your "red line" weight.
I have very very modest goals that I stick to, so modest that I usually do more but not so daunting that it seems like a job. Of course I'm in my mid 70s and really really just want to be healthy and able to be independent and functionally strong, so far it's working.1 -
Great advice. It seems the overall theme here is accountability. If you don't weigh yourself and watch your food intake and make an effort to exercise a few times a week, the weight will naturally creep on as time goes on.
It sounds like the only way for me personally to keep the weight off is to just keep myself accountable all the time. Weighing in every week, tracking food or at least monitoring enough so I'm not pigging out and putting on 10lbs without noticing, and making a regular consistent effort to exercise.
Every time I stop tracking food and get lazy and stop exercising, I put the weight back on. Years ago I could get away with it since my metabolism was higher. I'm 41 now, so it seems I have less room for error than I did when I was younger.
I guess it all boils down to two options for me:
1.) Track food intake to some degree and maintain a regular exercise routine to maintain a healthy weight and physique...OR...
2.) Eat whatever I want and be lazy and maintain an unhealthy weight and poor physique.
I never seem to let myself go too far, but I never seem to achieve my goals either as I tend to peter out once I get to a decent weight. The real test will not be now, but when I get closer to my goal weight and start to get a little tired of the routine. That's when I'll need the extra discipline to stay on track. For now, I'll just continue doing what I've done in the past to drop weight as it's always worked for me. 1800-2200 calories a day, 25-30% protein, walking daily, drinking more water, and lifting weights 2-3 times a week for 30 minutes or so. Hopefully in 6 months I can come back to this thread for motivation if my discipline starts to wane.1 -
For me, personally, I don't actually have a hard time sticking to the habits that get me to a size/weight that I want to be, as long as all conditions stay the same. I don't do anything in weightloss that doesn't work for me--I love the exercises I do and through trial and error while losing I've found meals that work for me--so keeping that up isn't personally hard for me.
But as soon as something changes in my life (injury, becoming a parent, a big move), it messes with my habits or makes the habits no longer appropriate or effective and can lead to weight gain. What works for me, though, is to have (1) a signal that things have gone awry and (2) a willingness to reengage with the process of figuring out what works NOW (which can sometimes be quite different from what worked THEN). My consistency is in getting back on the horse, rather than a consistency of habits.
For me, my signal is not a number on the scale (though it could be for someone else), but a few items of clothes that I love, that aren't very stretchy, and that I'm motivated to keep fitting into. (Such as a couple pairs of shorts from when I originally lost weight in 2015 that I can't repurchase in another size because they are (apparently) woefully out of style.) Once these clothes items get too small, it's time to reevaluate my habits. I don't personally care much about the number on the scale - I very much care about these shorts and will be incredibly sad when they're too threadbare to wear. (The downfall of my particular approach is when the item is seasonal--luckily, I also have a pair of less-stretchy jeans that I like quite a bit.)2 -
Great advice. It seems the overall theme here is accountability. If you don't weigh yourself and watch your food intake and make an effort to exercise a few times a week, the weight will naturally creep on as time goes on.
It sounds like the only way for me personally to keep the weight off is to just keep myself accountable all the time. Weighing in every week, tracking food or at least monitoring enough so I'm not pigging out and putting on 10lbs without noticing, and making a regular consistent effort to exercise.
Every time I stop tracking food and get lazy and stop exercising, I put the weight back on. Years ago I could get away with it since my metabolism was higher. I'm 41 now, so it seems I have less room for error than I did when I was younger.
I guess it all boils down to two options for me:
1.) Track food intake to some degree and maintain a regular exercise routine to maintain a healthy weight and physique...OR...
2.) Eat whatever I want and be lazy and maintain an unhealthy weight and poor physique.
I never seem to let myself go too far, but I never seem to achieve my goals either as I tend to peter out once I get to a decent weight. The real test will not be now, but when I get closer to my goal weight and start to get a little tired of the routine. That's when I'll need the extra discipline to stay on track. For now, I'll just continue doing what I've done in the past to drop weight as it's always worked for me. 1800-2200 calories a day, 25-30% protein, walking daily, drinking more water, and lifting weights 2-3 times a week for 30 minutes or so. Hopefully in 6 months I can come back to this thread for motivation if my discipline starts to wane.
Exactly! I presume you brush your teeth regularly. It's not like we go to the dentist, get a clean bill of health and then stop brushing. Then we end up with multiple cavities or worse and then start brushing again.
Healthy diet and activity are the same. We take care of our health because we're adults and that's what we do. No outside "motivation" needed. Don't over think it. Make it habit and keep it simple.
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Has anyone else experienced this? Any tips or tricks on how to stay consistent all the time and not fall off the wagon every 6-12 months?
Has anyone NOT experienced this? Who wants to spend every waking hour thinking about what you eat. That's what it takes for me not to gain weight. As soon as I'm busy with something else, I start to over-eat.
My main technique is consistency. You really need to mostly eat at home where you can control it. I take my lunch to work every day. I try to exercise nearly daily (usually for under an hour). That's it!
And, I go astray regularly. I just keep coming back. The sooner you get back to taking care of yourself, the easier it is.2 -
Great advice. It seems the overall theme here is accountability. If you don't weigh yourself and watch your food intake and make an effort to exercise a few times a week, the weight will naturally creep on as time goes on.
It sounds like the only way for me personally to keep the weight off is to just keep myself accountable all the time. Weighing in every week, tracking food or at least monitoring enough so I'm not pigging out and putting on 10lbs without noticing, and making a regular consistent effort to exercise.
Every time I stop tracking food and get lazy and stop exercising, I put the weight back on. Years ago I could get away with it since my metabolism was higher. I'm 41 now, so it seems I have less room for error than I did when I was younger.
I guess it all boils down to two options for me:
1.) Track food intake to some degree and maintain a regular exercise routine to maintain a healthy weight and physique...OR...
2.) Eat whatever I want and be lazy and maintain an unhealthy weight and poor physique.
I never seem to let myself go too far, but I never seem to achieve my goals either as I tend to peter out once I get to a decent weight. The real test will not be now, but when I get closer to my goal weight and start to get a little tired of the routine. That's when I'll need the extra discipline to stay on track. For now, I'll just continue doing what I've done in the past to drop weight as it's always worked for me. 1800-2200 calories a day, 25-30% protein, walking daily, drinking more water, and lifting weights 2-3 times a week for 30 minutes or so. Hopefully in 6 months I can come back to this thread for motivation if my discipline starts to wane.
Exactly! I presume you brush your teeth regularly. It's not like we go to the dentist, get a clean bill of health and then stop brushing. Then we end up with multiple cavities or worse and then start brushing again.
Healthy diet and activity are the same. We take care of our health because we're adults and that's what we do. No outside "motivation" needed. Don't over think it. Make it habit and keep it simple.
Good way of putting it. Sometimes I miss the days when I was 17 years old and I ate everything in sight and still couldn't gain weight. Back then I actually wanted to gain weight because I was too skinny! Now I'm trying to lose it and keep it off haha! I guess I just have to face reality that if I don't make it part of my routine, I'm going to put the weight back on.1 -
Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »Has anyone else experienced this? Any tips or tricks on how to stay consistent all the time and not fall off the wagon every 6-12 months?
Has anyone NOT experienced this? Who wants to spend every waking hour thinking about what you eat. That's what it takes for me not to gain weight. As soon as I'm busy with something else, I start to over-eat.
My main technique is consistency. You really need to mostly eat at home where you can control it. I take my lunch to work every day. I try to exercise nearly daily (usually for under an hour). That's it!
And, I go astray regularly. I just keep coming back. The sooner you get back to taking care of yourself, the easier it is.
Over time I get tired of logging food and figure I can just eyeball things and be alright. That works for a few months. Then eventually I start slipping more snacks in, then maybe some liquid calories like juice, pop, beer, etc. Before you know it the weight starts to creep back on until I notice my pants fitting tighter.
I'd like to get back down below 200lbs again and then not allow myself to creep up past 210lbs. If I could stay around 185-195lbs most of the time and not breach 200lbs that would be pretty good. It used to be 215lbs was my "I better start doing something" weight. Now it's more like 230lbs. It just takes longer to get back to a healthy weight again when that happens.
I've been walking every day for the past few weeks and lifting weights in the basement 2-3 times a week along with tracking my calories. So far I'm down about 5lbs. I'd like to get back to 200lbs roughly by the end of the year. That's about 1.5lb per week. I can do it as long as I stay consistent. That's the tough part.2
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