Maintenance fail.

First of all, congrats on your success! Regarding your question, remember, maintenance isn't a free-for-all-eat-whatever-you-want situation. You ARE still aiming to see a number on the scale -- it's just the same number week after week. I'm in maintenance now, and I still take my calorie limit pretty seriously - it's just higher than it used to be. Given that you've probably been depriving yourself for a long time, there's nothing wrong with overdoing it for a few days, but try getting yourself back into the "calorie counting" mindset until you have a better intuition for exactly how much you should be eating on a given day.

I can relate. Today was the first time I stepped on the scale since September! Turns out I gained 10 pounds, which is more than half of the total weight I had lost since I signed up for MFP. I had really slacked off logging calories, but I'm back on the logging wagon.

I have some races coming up and I hope the training helps.

ok, you thought that one day you'd magically be able to eat whatever you wanted. Well, this is a lifestyle change, and you're never going to be able to eat like you did before. It's a proven fact, also, that is takes at least a year for your body to reset itself to adjust to your new weight, so the new goal is to keep at your weight for a year, and you're still going to have to weigh and measure and count every calorie, and work out all the time.

But it's worth it, you know it is. Don't sabotage yourself. Work your treats into your daily calorie intake, and work out so you can even eat more.

Good luck.

I am 6lbs away and not going to lie- I AM SCARED OF MAINTENANCE MODE- I have focused so much on losing that when it comes to Maintaining- it seems harder then losing! Suggestions welcome :flowerforyou:

I'm interested in this as well. I hit my goal in Nov and had no problem keeping the weight steady through mid Jan since I was doing a marathon and all the training. But I only run one full a year and several 1/2 marathons throughout the year. So my weekly long runs dropped from 20 miles to around 12 or so. My body is definitely adjusting and I see a pound or two sneak up and then work it back down. This has been my downfall in weight loss in the past. I get where I want to be and then I blow it. I don't want that to happen this time. I like the idea of setting new goals. The Boston Marathon is my major one but that is WAY down the road. Looking forward to hearing how others deal with maintenance. Great topic!

aaaaah! a year?! oh man. It's been one really tough week. Apparently I can't have Mexican food two nights in a row

ok, you thought that one day you'd magically be able to eat whatever you wanted. Well, this is a lifestyle change, and you're never going to be able to eat like you did before. It's a proven fact, also, that is takes at least a year for your body to reset itself to adjust to your new weight, so the new goal is to keep at your weight for a year, and you're still going to have to weigh and measure and count every calorie, and work out all the time.

But it's worth it, you know it is. Don't sabotage yourself. Work your treats into your daily calorie intake, and work out so you can even eat more.

Good luck.

I am 6lbs away and not going to lie- I AM SCARED OF MAINTENANCE MODE- I have focused so much on losing that when it comes to Maintaining- it seems harder then losing! Suggestions welcome :flowerforyou:

1. have a weight range. people fluctuate on a day to day basis and it will make you crazy.

2. expect a 1-3 pound gain from extra food in your stomach/digestive tract

3. plan for treats/eating out/ holidays /celebrations --it will always help to pre-plan whether you follow it exactly or not

4. do not skimp on exercise once you're at goal

5. monitor your weight and adjust as soon as you're out of your weight window--small ups and downs are normal but the key word is "ups and downs" ...if you're seeing only UPS then you need to do something.

6. switch it up--eat new foods, do new workouts, stay focused and excited about maintaining your new body!

I haven't gone through this myself, but I've actually watched people I care about go through this.

I think it's ok to go wild and crazy the first week of maintenance. Celebrate. Get it out of your system.

But now it's time to get serious again. Maintenance is a whole other ball game. It's a whole other mind set. And it's just like starting from day one. All over again. You have a new set of circumstances that you have to get used to and adapt to.

That being said. I would expect a small gain once maintenance starts. But I would also think that it would go away again shortly once your body gets used to the new calorie level.

Just my thoughts.

Hey guys...so you know that story of someone who loses weight and focuses so well and suddenly they balloon up again?

I fear this story is ALMOST mine...I'm in to maintenance by just over a week and feeling like I've lost so much strength in willpower as to what I put in my mouth. Without the goal of seeing a number on a scale, I find it so difficult to make good choices. Example: I ate an entire pizza today. Not at once, but still. I know that's a bad choice, but I feel that I've lost my motivation and I'm afraid if I stay on this path I will balloon back up again.

Thereby, does anyone have any suggestions to maintenance? I'm trying to log and it's affirming my beliefs that I'm doing a lot of things wrong. Advice is so welcome; I can handle the harsh truth. Thanks!

Harsh truth: maintenance is usually a failure for many because they RESTRICTED or ABSTAINED from foods they tend to enjoy.
So is pizza something you gave up while trying to lose weight?



A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

You have have to reset your goals to 0 pounds and MFP will give you a new base calorie allotment.

I have maintained for eleven months. I kept losing the first two weeks in maintenance while trying to tweak my calories. (I didn't know about MFP until December, 2011 and it has taken all the guess work out of the equation!) I have a five pound range that I am comfortable with 125-130. Once I go over my "scream" weight (130) I go back to the losing weight mode of 1200 calories plus my exercise calories. I weigh myself several times a week just to see where the trajectory is headed. And I continue to exercise for good health.

I find it's difficult to stay motivated so I set physical strength and body composition goals. For one year I have been working towards doing one unassisted chin-up. I'm only half way there but I keep trying! LOL The past few months I've been working on reducing my body fat percentage. There are all kinds of things you can aspire to once you reach goal. The key is to keep aspiring.

Having a range is a good idea in maintenance- mine is 117 to 122 so 5lb.. Over Xmas I was towards the higher end but now I'm back in the middle.

I gained 1.5 lb the first week I maintained and freaked out- then over the following few weeks I lost 4lb! Your body takes a while to adjust. Also what MFP suggests might not be the case. I still lose weight on 1600 like it suggests and maintain on 1700/1800 plus exercise cals.

It also really helps to have new goals- ive cut down on all the huge amounts of cardio i used to do when losing weight in favour of a lifting programme so I can improve my overall physique without losing any more weight as such.