Here we go again....advice on maintaining?

[SunsetRunner]

I did the classical 'losing the weight and then piling it back on'. Feeling porky and summer is around the corner 😞 Motivated to make a change! Goal for this summer is to get back under 70! 

The way I lost weight in the first place was to count calories in, and for fitbit to track calories out. This worked well for me, however, I don't want to keep tracking forever and ever. My maintenance 'plan' last time around was to weigh myself regularly, and should the scales ever show '70' I'd go back to tracking calories for a bit, in order to inspire mindfulness. 

Well this didn't work! I'd have a period of good food and company, which made me "scared' to weigh myself...so I didn't, and the weight crept on.

Any advice on how to maintain? I'm happy with my plan to get to my goal, I just need to feel like I'll be able to keep it off once it is gone! 

Looking at my weight graph I guess 75 is the weight where I really feel like I need to do something about the situation 🙂

[Dominique]

How tall are you, and on what ground have you decided going back under 70 is a must? A 5-7 kg fluctuation band doesn’t sound extreme to me.

[SunsetRunner]

@SunsetRunner I don't like the term "maintaining weight". It just puts so much pressure on a person. Here's a short story that was written by my experience:

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... 🙂 One thing I learnt about maintaining weight is not trying to maintain it. If you make everything revolving around your weight that's not gonna work. Weight loss process taught me a lot about food but not only. I learned about my weaknesses ( like cashews - leave a 1kg bag of raw cashews in front of me... yeah... was there, not there ). It's been a while ago ( little over 2 years ago ). When I lost enough weight I've been wondering the same thing - how to maintain. I even posted probably some questions here, too. Now I see it as a trap. It makes you fear that all the weight will be back. I found out I've been controlling my food and activity level even more than when I tried to shed a few kilos. Instead of maintaining, I kept losing because it was easier than trying to keep my target weight. After a few months, my views started changing. I gained 2-3kg and I noticed that I felt and looked a lot better. This made me rethink the whole "maintenance" process. Instead of maintaining I let my body speak. I use all the knowledge I learned two years ago and when I cook or eat out ( I don't avoid eating out, I'm just more careful what I eat ) I can roughly estimate whether I'm overeating or not and what my food contains. I work out, do sports, got a bit addicted to bouldering and rock climbing etc. I do however use MyFitnessPal and log food but it's mostly out of the habit. I just like to see how many days in a row I've been logging and sometimes I just log an apple not to lose a streak 😄 But for sure, I do not try to maintain.

Why do I say all of this? Well, there is one conclusion that may be an answer to your question. I don't maintain my weight. I maintain my lifestyle. Lot easier, lot funnier and it works long term 🙂 Change your habits. Make them your new normal and there is a chance your body will fit in. And like @Dominique said - don't go crazy about small weight fluctuations.

[SunsetRunner]

Hi @Dominique ,

I think it makes quite a big difference on me, about 2 clothes sizes! It takes me from feeling happy in my skin to my knees creaking

I naturally fluctuate about 2 kgs, which is why I set my goal at 68. I’m 174cm, 35, female

[SunsetRunner]

Cheers @SunsetRunner 🙂 I totally see where you are coming from! 

Ive always eaten a decent diet - just too much (and drink 🤭). Generally get loads of exercise, tho old injuries sometimes flare up. 

Its so so easy not to have that extra beer, or helping of whatever when you are tracking stuff, but indulge once or twice too much in a week when you are not. I guess I need to learn to say ‘enough’ even when I’m not guilted by logging 

[WavyDavey]

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@SunsetRunner wrote:

The way I lost weight in the first place was to count calories in, and for fitbit to track calories out. This worked well for me, however, I don't want to keep tracking forever and ever. My maintenance 'plan' last time around was to weigh myself regularly, and should the scales ever show '70' I'd go back to tracking calories for a bit, in order to inspire mindfulness. 

Well this didn't work! I'd have a period of good food and company, which made me "scared' to weigh myself...so I didn't, and the weight crept on.

Any advice on how to maintain? I'm happy with my plan to get to my goal, I just need to feel like I'll be able to keep it off once it is gone! 

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I realize you don't want to log forever, but I think you should go back to it whenever things go backwards. Also, I bet you stopped logging the food during the "good food and company" time? It's very easy to overeat in those situations, and lose track about how much we're overeating if we stop logging. Whenever we deviate from our normal diet is the exact time that food logging becomes so valuable.

Long term, if you don't want to do food logging, you have to be pretty strict about keeping a consistent diet. Over time, it gets more intuitive.