Maintenance is challenging

At the start of maintenance, I remember feeling more anxious about it than I do now. (I'm in year 9+ at a healthy weight, after around 30 previous years of overweight/obesity.)

I had irrational fears that if I did something wrong, my weight would balloon, that regain would be like a freight train barreling top speed down the track. That's not how it works, IMO, IME.

Evidently you know about water retention effects. That's good. Don't let them worry you. If we didn't eat roughly a cumulative 3500 calorie surplus above maintenance calories, we don't gain a pound of fat. (7700 calories per kilo, if you measure in those units.) In fact, because of various physiological effects, eating a huge number of calories in a short time won't result in gaining that predicted amount of fat - some, maybe, but less than a pound per 3500 calories, most likely.

Generally, regain isn't quick. It's sneaky. It creeps on gradually over a period of time. If we keep an eye on the scale - not as a desperate compulsion, just as a series of periodic momentary snapshots of how strongly gravity attracts us to Earth, so we can see trends - we can catch and reverse any regain. Clothes fit is another backup hint.

If fat is creeping on, and we catch that and act, also not a big deal: Previously, we've amply demonstrated that we know how to lose weight when necessary. Losing 2 or 5 pounds of it is easier than losing a big bunch of it, so catching it quickly is helpful.

Also, losing a small amount IME can be quite painless, since there's no huge reason not to do it slowly . . . at least in my world view. In about the first four years of maintenance, I'd let my weight creep up to the point where my jeans were getting a little snug when I had the Winter long johns underneath. I planned for maybe a 200-250 calorie daily deficit, but let myself eat more now and then. Looking backwards, my actual effective average daily deficit was more like 100-150 calories. Yes, it took around a year to lose 10 or so pounds, but it was so easy I hardly noticed that it was happening. I'd do it that way again, if necessary. Sooo easy!

You can do this maintenance thing, and it's fine to experiment with different tactics. Just make up your mind to intervene reasonably quickly if you see the weight trend start creeping upward; and watch out for issues if you have any major change in eating style, exercise load, or daily life non-exercise activity level.

I predict that the more time of success you can string together, the more relaxed you'll feel about your ability to continue.

Best wishes for long term - ideally permanent - success!

Yeah.

Some people can get to Maintenance weight and then stop logging. A lot of people do it. After being at my Goal weight for the last 18ish years I know I need to log food. I've learned not to mess with my own success. There were a couple injuries and "experiments" in there which resulted in weight gain of a few pounds (like 10 or less) which I keep having to lose - again.

Personally I loathe stepping on the body weight scale. I also tend to under-eat my protein, calcium, and iron if I don't track it. I also like looking at the daily FOOD journal to see what needs to be tweaked. Did I eat four servings of whole fruit and/or vegetables? Did I get enough fiber? All are important to me and I'll go off the rails if I don't track my food - not just in calories but in general food and nutrition and exercise balance.

Ask me how I know that!