Keeping the weight off

dwilliamca · January 24

I am back again for round number 4. I'm about 6 months into it, and down about 45 lbs. Losing weight is not the hard part for me. Keeping it off is. I quit logging calories for one reason or another and little, by little put the weight back on. I have a healthy diet. That isn't my problem. I eat whole foods almost exclusively, eat mostly low carbs with lots of protein several small meals per day. For the most part, I try and keep that up, but slowly the carbs slip back in and the portions increase. I have found in order to lose weight I must stay at or below 1200 calories (that is calculated). I can eat maybe 1400 or 1500 to maintain, but over that and I'm in trouble. I do like sweets, but try to stick to low carb, sugar free choices. Do I have to just buck up and log calories until I die?

AnnPT77 · January 25

Maybe?

The choices would seem to be to keep logging calories, or find some other method for maintaining the eating patterns that keep you at the right calorie balance without logging.

For me, keeping on logging has been a good solution, but there are a variety of reasons that's so. At this point, it's an unusual day that takes me more than a very few minutes to log. For a woman who spent 30 years overweight to obese, that seems like a small time investment to stay at a healthy weight, and therefore keep the really huge quality of life benefits and health improvements that weight loss brought me. (I'm into year 9 of maintenance now, a few mild ups and downs, but all in a healthy range and the same jeans size.)

Logging isn't necessary for everyone, and it's very undesirable for some. For me, it seems easy and worth the effort, but a lot of circumstances and inclinations contribute to that being true for me. I think solutions for weight loss and maintenance are very individual, so I don't assume what works for me works for everyone. I wish I had good advice for you, but I kind of feel like we all have to run our own n=1 experiment, and figure out what works for us.

I tend to think weight yo-yos aren't a great idea, but in reality most people I know who've always been at a healthy weight do cycle up and down a few pounds. One non-logging option might be to commit to a maintenance range of some few pounds, log until you get to the lower end, stop logging, keep up the eating patterns to the extent you can, and firmly go back to logging and a calorie deficit when you hit the top of that range. Rinse and repeat.

I'm sure that's not the only possibility, but it is one. Good luck!

csplatt · January 28

You could move more at maintenance so you can increase those maintenance calories some!

dlramirez4home · January 28

I’m right there with AnnPT77. I’ve spent more than half my life overweight and battling it (I’m 62 now). This will be the last time I have to lose weight again. I reached my goal weight then changed it to another 10 pounds less. I’ve met that now too, and a little more. Charts still say I’m overweight but i don’t care. If I get down to what it says I should be I’ll look like skeleton or tweeker or something🤢. I’m down 45 lbs since mid June. This app was my pile of gold at the end of the rainbow so I plan on logging the rest of my life. I’m afraid NOT to. Yes, have been going to a healthy weight balance class for both learning and using it kind of like my “support group” even though that isn’t what it’s supposed to be. No, I don’t exercise much. Initially I did but I have heart problems, a pacemaker and my blood pressure drops dangerously low sometimes. Do when it all started being rebellious again while I was in literally couldn’t go more than 50 ft without having problems so I stopped. When it finally gets under control again I’ll start again. No, I don’t deny myself anything i want either. Since using this app I’m able to decide if I want whatever it is to “spend” my calories on it. Most of the time I realize I really don’t want it that bad. Now I CHOOSE what it want to do instead of feeling like I’m being forced in some way.
Good luck csplatt. I hope you find what works for you so you don’t have to keep feeling like you’re being punished by logging your food 😏!

Keeping the weight off

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