Question for people in maintenance.

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leopard_barbie
leopard_barbie Posts: 279 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I read this in another thread (from user texastango, hope they don't mind me quoting):

"However, if you previously weighed 210 lbs..and had lost to 140 lbs...and wanted to maintain there....your BMR would likely be lower than what Harris Benedict would predict for you to maintain 140 lbs had you always been 140 lbs. That's because your brain, being the dieter, would have slowed your BMR down so that if you eat the correct amount of calories you'd still start to gain weight back to the 210 set point....Nasty isn't it?
Studies show this over and over again...people regain the weight. Even three years out they are still gaining...so when does your set point "Reset"? We don't know."

So my question to people who are successfully maintaining their goal weight is, are you find it difficult to maintain? What are your calorie intake/net calories like now?

Would be grateful for any input, am curious as to how this works in practice.

Thanks guys! :smile:

Replies

  • 1nsanity
    1nsanity Posts: 95 Member
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    bump
  • skinnylion
    skinnylion Posts: 213
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    There are a bunch of idiots out there who think fat people can't get skinny. I say **** that, don't worry about what they say, and pay attention to your OWN self and your OWN calories to make sure you reach success. Whoever says you can't do it is just planting negative seeds in your head. Tell yourself you can.
  • waldo56
    waldo56 Posts: 1,861 Member
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    For me the difficult part about maintaining is eating enough.

    I developed an exercise habit when losing that requires a monster food intake maintain.
  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
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    I lost 30 pounds using MFP and have been maintaining the loss for almost 4 months. I am not finding it too difficult to maintain. I have weened myself off of weekend logging and I have been able to still maintain, so that's positive for me (I don't want to be tied to my MFP app forever, your mileage may vary). I think people regain the weight because they just fall back into their previous habits. I have seen some of MFP friends meet their goal and think "YAY! END GAME!" Then they fall back into the same crappy habits they had before and start gaining. I don't think nature wants us to be fat and I don't think there is this big uphill struggle for the rest of our lives...I think humans just naturally fall into a rhythm they are comfortable with, for better or worse. Let's be honest, it is way easier to not care about what you eat and how much of it as opposed to keeping an eye on calories, protein, fiber, etc.

    Basically, you will never be overweight again if you choose not to. We all make decisions daily that affect our weight. I am by no means perfect every day and there are times (especially special events- weddings, parties, holidays) where I don't worry about calories. However, I always wake up the next day, ready to not be fat, ready to make the good choices again. When you roll that "cheat" day or meal into a weekend, then a week...that's what you need to avoid in the long run.

    Enough with my rambling!

    The details:
    I am maintaining at 145 pounds (am a 5'7" female)
    My current BMR (per MFP) is 1385. I eat 1730 a day to maintain (that's before exercise calories, which I do mostly eat)
  • leopard_barbie
    leopard_barbie Posts: 279 Member
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    Basically, you will never be overweight again if you choose not to.

    ^This^ is I think the key thing. I used to be 170-180lbs (never weighed myself in that time), went down to 134lb, gained a little bit back but I've maintained at 140lbs pretty solidly since that. I just didn't go back to eating as much as I ate before.

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