rosiekin Member

I lost over 90lb by calorie counting, and have been maintaining my weight by doing the same since 2014/2015. I exercise regularly, occasionally pay lip service to macros BUT I'm now definitely a strong supporter of CICO.

I think it's totally understandable to have concerns over increasing calorie intake after weight loss. However, IMO, that's more a mental battle, because as others have said, it's actually quite easy to add in extra calories (healthily) without adding a lot of volume. If you truly do want to stop losing weight, you'll have…

I don’t run but I started walking during lockdown and I’ve lost pounds and inches. I’m now at the lower end of a healthy BMI which was not something I intentionally set out to achieve, having successfully maintained a slightly higher weight for about 5 years through daily logging and keeping within a weekly calorie goal.…

I always bank extra calories for the weekend, or to use if I'm going out for a higher calorie meal during the week. I usually try to have one day, more often than not a Monday, when I eat 500-600 calories under my maintenance calories, then 2 or 3 days when I eat 100-200 under. This gives me plenty in the bank for the…

Well done on your weight loss. My goal was 154. When I reached that, I added in 100 calories a day and weighed myself after a month. I'd lost weight so upped another 100 calories a day for the next month and lost again. I did this for 5 months in total during which time I'd painlessly dropped down to 139lbs. Although it…

I'm another person who now goes for a weekly calorie goal, not a daily one. I didn't do that consistently when losing my weight, or for the first few years of maintenance either, but I'm definitely glad that's how I do it now. More often than not, I eat more at the weekend, but having a weekly goal allows me to be much…

Well put... I like and agree with all 5 points :) .

Totally agree. When I first started dieting about 40 years ago, I went on a 1000 calorie a day diet and that was quite normal, well normal with the people I knew who were dieting at that time. I lost lots of weight multiple times, but I always put it back on. A decade or two down the line, things were changing and I was…

You've done it before so you can do it again... Good Luck.

I've been thinking about the OP's question since I read their post, and I actually found it quite difficult to think of one thing, until I started posting this reply, when all of a sudden I had a light bulb moment! Despite never being able to maintain my weight loss before, this time round, I've been fortunate enough to…

I agree with you... to a degree! I lost 5 stone in 10 months without exercising, and I ate 1600-1800 calories a day so I definitely wasn't on an extreme calorie cut. Prior to this, I had successfully lost lots of weight on numerous occasions, and had never exercised either. After losing the 5 stones in 2014, I felt more…

Luanneliabeth Re your post above... from what I read on MPF, having a 5lb window while in maintenance is perfectly OK. However, it's what you think that's important. If you're happy with a 5lb winter fluctuation, then go for it! Sounds fine to me.

Congratulations. I'm a long time maintainer as well, and that's something I honestly NEVER believed I would be able to say/type! I lost the bulk of my weight (about 5 stone) from January to November 2014, and a further stone over the next 6 months or so as I tried to find my maintenance calories. I maintained around that…

Speaking purely from a personal point of view, I believe I have an addictive personality but I’m on the fence about whether I believe food can be addictive. What I do know is, I often found it VERY difficult to moderate my intake of certain kind of foods and my weight yo-yoed for over 30 years. During periods of dieting…

I know I’m in the minority on MFP, but I haven’t weighed myself since April 2018. During my weight loss journey, I weighed monthly, and I kept that up during the first year of maintenance. For the next 3 years I weighed annually, stopping altogether in 2018. I am sometimes tempted to jump on the scales, especially like now…

I don’t weigh myself, preferring to put my faith in the maths and the mirror! To maintain my weight, I average 2050 calories a day and I log religiously. Over the last 6 years, there has only been one time when I’ve felt I’d put on a few pounds. I ignored it initially but I eventually addressed it at the start of Lockdown…

Once I had reached my goal weight (after 10 months of dieting which had resulted in a 5 stone weight loss), I decided to up my calories slowly. I increased by 100 calories a day, and did that for a month. As I was still losing, I increased another 100 calories a day the following month, and then did the same again and…

To me, these 3 sentences sums it up... you are healthy, active and proud, so why would you want to do anything to change that. You have found a way to successfully maintain your original weight loss so I would keep doing what you are doing and don't rock the boat. You are in within the healthy BMI range, and are happy, so…

Logging only takes a few minutes out of your day, and for me it’s so worth it. Most of the time I pre log the night before so I have an eating plan for the next day, or sometimes the next few days. Any adjustments/amendments in my pre logged diary takes very little time. Even on my busiest days, I always find time to log.…

Post pandemic, I ate out about 2-3 times a week, sometimes more, sometimes less. I've been maintaining my week since 2015, so in order for me to be able to eat higher calorie meals when I dined out, I had to reduce calories on the other days in order for my week to balance out. Since the pandemic, I have rarely eaten out…

As long as you like exercising as much, and it’s something you can keep up, go for it! Personally I don’t want to devote too much of my day to exercising, so I prefer to stick to roughly 2050 calories a day, averaged over the week, plus I average 10,000 steps over the week too. I’ve accepted that I’ll never be able eat…

I have been maintaining a 90lb weight loss since April 2015. I had been overweight/obese for most of the previous 35 years. I believe 2 things have been the key to my success this time. One, daily logging and two, giving up most foods with refined sugar. I appreciate the latter is not for everyone but it’s the best…

Like lots of others, I don't like the term cheat days. I definitely allow myself some days when I eat over my daily calories, but I balance that out by eating some days when I am under, so over the week, I am within my weekly allowance. This allows me to socialise with friends over a meal, and/or lets me enjoy some higher…

I didn't post on the original thread either but I've been a member since 2014. I have successfully maintained a 90lb weight loss since April 2015. I log every day and visit the forum most days. I have only recently started posting. I'm always surprised the maintaining weight forum is pretty quiet but everyone is like how I…

What works for me is logging and avoiding what I believe are my trigger foods. I have successfully been maintaining a 90lb weight loss since April 2015 and I never feel deprived as I still eat lots of foods that I enjoy like crisps and pizza, particularly pizza! In recent years I haven't weighed myself at all but I know…

I was obese most of my adult life... occasionally I'd get my weight down to a healthy weight before almost immediately putting all the weight back on again, each time adding a few extra pounds. In 2014, I was the heaviest I had ever been, and feeling unwell and unhappy, so I embarked on what has turned out to be my final…

You might only have been maintaining your weight for about 6 months, compared to my 6 years, BUT you are way ahead of me in attitude. A lot of what you say is what I aspire to as I may look like I have got my act together and maintaining my weight with little effort, but there is definitely still work to do on the inside.…

Well done Hayer1 for using Lockdown to make such positive changes in your life. I'm sure you're feeling lots better being 45lbs down, exercising regularly, and of course, making changes on the inside too. Keep up the good work. Maintenance can be hard but obviously possible, so just keep doing what you're doing and…

When I could hardly get out of bed or go down the stairs easily first thing in the morning because I was SO stiff, coupled with the GP telling me I had dangerously high cholesterol. Both were the final straw, after spending the majority of the past 30 years as obese, and I told myself enough is enough. I’m now over 6 stone…

I think I must be in the minority! When I was obese, I ate anything but a healthy diet and did no exercise. Other than eating a reasonably healthy lunch (only because I had 'witnesses' in a staffroom), I ate hundreds and hundreds of calories daily in sweets, biscuits and icecream. I rarely made myself a proper meal other…