Maintaining is Scary

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tiffanyleilarsen
tiffanyleilarsen Posts: 43 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I'm 5'2" and female. I started at 215. April 7th will be my one year anniversary. I have lost 87lbs. My goal was 129 and I'm 125-128 (it varies a lot day to day). So I beat my goal. I am trying now to transition into maintenance. But it's terrifying. I'm scared to weight more as I'm trying to figure out my new calories, but most of all I'm scared to not be allowed to loose weight anymore. I'm scared to not have a goal any more. I'm scared to not have anything to work toward. Has anyone else felt this way? I've always thought that when I got this far I'd feel elated, but I don't. All I want to do is set my goal lower so I can keep going down and keep having a goal in life. But that's not healthy for me. Please tell me that I'm not the only one who knows they do better with a life goal.

Replies

  • xbowhunter
    xbowhunter Posts: 985 Member
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    Congratulations! that's an incredible loss. :)

    Maintenance for me is super easy. I just adjusted my calories to maintenance and kept and a close eye on the scale and adjust as needed.

  • tiffanyleilarsen
    tiffanyleilarsen Posts: 43 Member
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    springlering62 wrote: »
    Your post sounds exactly like one I posted.

    I’ve been in maintenance nearly four years now.

    You’ll be fine. Continue logging and tracking. I’ll never “not” do that because I know how easily I would regain if I quit. I don’t mind, though. The habits are there, and I like to keep tabs on protein anyway.

    One word of experience from myself, though. I’ve continued (even increased) exercise and movement in maintenance. My weight has gone up. At first it freaked me out but then I realized I was wearing the same clothes as my lowest weight. What was increasing was muscle, and muscle weighs more than fat.

    Best way I can explain it is, body seemed to turn its focus inward, towards reshuffling and improving my parts, one at a time. It’s still happening, this far into maintenance. Right now it’s my thighs. They’ve suddenly thinned out and have visible muscle delineation.

    Still waiting for the tummy ring of extra skin, though. That’s why God gave us humans Lycra. 🤷🏻‍♀️

    Best advice I ever got on MFP was treat maintenance like you’ve still got five pounds to lose.

    Do that and you’ll be golden. I can have a massive splurge one night, or eat during a trip, return to plan and be just fine.

    You e learned great habits. Just keep implementing them, and crack down if your weight truly creeps up. I don’t ever want to be one of the “back again after I lost and regained 100” crowd.

    Thank you, this makes it less scary.

  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,458 Member
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    mtaratoot wrote: »
    Also, don't feel like a failure if your scale goes up. It will. Then down. Then up and down and down and up. Maintenance, some say, is gaining and losing the same five or so pounds over and over and over. So worry not - you still get to lose! You'll just have times you gain too. It's hard to get used to, but if you stick to it, you can do it. If you quit... Then you know what will happen.

    Truth
  • CrazyMermaid1
    CrazyMermaid1 Posts: 340 Member
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    I’m glad you’re posting here. You’re not alone and you’re right - the new mindset to maintain takes a different skill set. For me, I had to replace the motivation that kept me losing with motivation that keeps me maintaining. That will look different for each person.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,154 Member
    edited April 5
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    Oops, replied on wrong thread. Sorry!
  • akm0615
    akm0615 Posts: 29 Member
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    Oh man, this conversation hit so close to my heart. I was there, I felt it.

    It was all these amazing peeps that got me back on track. Check it out if you have the time.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10810041/at-goal-weight-no-fireworks/p1

    Maintenance was very scary. But, I realized what was scary was not having a clear direction. Yes, all the comments above are very true. Maintenance requires a different thought process. My maintenance approach after the help from this community, I started to focus on recomposition instead of weight loss. Initially it was hard, then slowly but steadily the magic started to happen. I'm still not perfect. I don't have it all dialed in. But, I know what my goals are. My maintenance goals instead of weight loss goal.

    I did gain about 10 lbs since, but still wear same clothing I did when I weighed less. Strength training is magical. Recomposition results take time but, You never have to worry about what next, just pick up the next higher weight and keep moving forward.

    @tiffanyleilarsen So happy for you for all that you've accomplished, I know how diligent you had to be to get here. Stay close to this community, they can get us all through a lot!
  • michealmoore2176
    michealmoore2176 Posts: 14 Member
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    Hello, It will be a pleasure to connect and share thoughts on diet and weight loss; I am interested in meeting and making friends. Perhaps we could be good friends if you don't mind. Thank you

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