How the heck are you keeping it off ?!?

[Daves_Not_Here]

This inquiry is directed to those who have successfully (1) lost a significant amount of weight, and (2) managed to keep it off over time.  The first part is pretty easy, the second part not so much.

If you have been successful at maintaining your target weight for more than a few months, could you please weigh in (yuk yuk) and clue in the rest of us knuckleheads as to how you have been doing it?  In particular, could you please share the key factors (diet, exercise, weight tracking, food logging, mental attitude, etc.) that you have found to be most important for your success?

(Tagging @Baltoscott, @Dominique, @AuroraKat, @SunsetRunner, @etvete, @EmjayH, and @tamado as it seems you have cracked the code, don't get a big head. Thanks to @shipo for his inspiring story and prompting this thread.  @WavyDavey doesn't count, he's going the other way, probably drives down the freeway backwards.  Apologies to anyone I missed!)

I believe that answering this question and successfully incorporating it in our lives would be one of the most beneficial and impactful outcomes we could hope to realize through our participation in this community.  So, no pressure!  Thanks!

[etvete]

I think the biggest thing for me is that it has to be a lifestyle change. If you are viewing it as a diet and exercise plan that you will use for x amount of time to lose weight then go back to your old life, it won't work. I did that in a way a few years back in that I lost about 100 lbs then had some health issues and it was easier to stop exercising and to eat pre-prepared food. As I have now found out, that made things worse. The exercise and good food makes the health issues more manageable and the lower weight is a wonderful bonus!

It also helps to continue to have a goal to work toward. I choose to work toward participating in a sprint triathlon each summer. In this way, I stay active throughout the year for a reason other than because I have to. Also it sounds pretty epic to say that I have completed more than one triathlon!

Food wise, my gym offers metabolic testing and body composition analysis for free so I get that done every 6 weeks. I then take the numbers that I get and do my best to stick to them without being obsessive and meticulous. I allow myself to eat a piece of candy if it fits into my calorie allowance for the day. I also don't count every thing I eat every day because on days when I am working out and I head into dinner with 1,000+ calories to eat. I have certain meals that I make that I know the count of and will finish my day not worrying about how much or little I ate as long as my belly is satisfied.

[WavyDavey]

Hey @Daves_Not_Here, I resemble that remark! 

My story began before this year of strength and weight gain. Last year I lost 30lbs, so now I'm actually just making up lost-weight ground, this time with muscle (and a little fat), instead of just fat.

This was done almost exclusively by exercise, as when I look at the food logs from that period it's hilarious how bad the diet was. HIIT training is really what did it, by (and you're going to hate this @Daves_Not_Here) by ramping up my metabolism. And that's in addition to metabolic effects from strength training.  It's like I have a different body this year. If I don't concentrate on eating enough, I start to lose weight quickly. And that's not what I want.

I'm a big advocate of HIIT because in two 15-20 minutes session per week, you can help bring about a big change in a few months.  I attribute it to taking my A1C from 8.5 to 5.1 in six months.  In fact, I went from diabetic to non-diabetic quicker than I went from non-diabetic to diabetic!

Besides that, I do walking ~ 6x/week, weights 4x/week, "grip" training 1x/week, and some standing meditation. My diet is a little better, but I won't be giving any nutritional lectures anytime soon.

[Baltoscott]

Boy, I hope the standard for calling maintenance successful is better than couple of months ...

Thanks for starting the thread, @Daves_Not_Here.  I'm interested in what maintainers are doing too.  My weight-loss target this year was initially about 30 lbs (I wanted to go from 202 to 169 -- because 170 is so much more than 169, right?).  That puts me in the upper end of the healthy BMI range which for me tops out at 174 lbs.  For the past three months I've maintained at about 159 - 160.  I will mention three "new for me" habits that hope will keep me between 160 and 170 lbs for life.

But first a couple of habits I've had for a while, daily exercise and weigh ins.  I've been monitoring my weight through mostly daily weigh-ins for the past 20 years.  So I have fairly good weight data.  I've also recorded my bike mileage (my primary exercise) over the same time frame.  Since I got my fitbit in 2011, I have pretty good step data, though it is polluted to some extent by my bike mileage.  For me, the main purpose of a fitbit is monitor movement throughout the day -- it is sort of an anti-sitting monitor.  Looking at my weight records over the past 20 years, it seems like I motivate myself to really focus on weight loss as I get close to 200 lbs, and I can maintain for fairly long periods without too much focus at around 185 lbs, which puts me in the middle range of my overweight BMI range.  

Thinking about it, my daily weigh-ins and bike exercise probably have a lot to do with why I've been able to spend most of the past 20 years merely overweight rather than obese.  The bike riding is part of my commute to work and is just built into my lifestyle.  And the weigh ins are a concrete and fairly objective reminder of where I am before I go too far off the rails.

When I topped 200 lbs last year, I decided to try to lose the weight with maintenance in the healthy BMI range in mind.  For me, that meant building in some new habits that would automatically lead to fewer calories consumed.  Here are three.

The first habit was to eliminate some of the low-hanging fruit in my daily calorie consumption.  For me it turned out to be my beer/wine consumption.  I've stated elsewhere that I was up to a couple of drinks almost every night during the work week -- one when I got home from and another with dinner.  Weekends could be more.  That was probably 400 or more unnecessary calories/day.  So I took most of January booze free to kickstart my weight loss, and 90% of the time since I've maintained and every-other-day "rule."  On odd numbered days it is ok to drink, on even numbered days it isn't. It is an easy mindless default rule that takes one of my personal calorie hogs off the menu every other day.  And I don't see any reason why I wouldn't be able to maintain that approach long term.  (Beer/wine is my personal example of low-hanging fruit in a bad diet.  I enjoy it, and there was nothing particularly wrong with it, but it was a lot of extra calories and not much nutrition.  Other folks might find their low hanging fruit in a Starbucks habit, or chips, or sweets, or bread, or ...).

The second habit is limiting myself to three or four meals a day (no snacking!).   This one is sort of the old fashioned version of the currently popular practice of intermittent fasting.  It does two things -- it means I've got an excuse for turning down goodies that randomly pop up during the work day; it also makes me more conscious of what I'm eating because I only have to pay attention 3 or 4 times /day.  OK, for me it is always 4 times/day.  I tried 3, but it just didn't work with my schedule.  So an early breakfast (somewhere between 5 - 6:30 in the morning), and early lunch (somewhere between 11:30 and 12:30), and afternoon snack (around 4) and a late dinner (8 pm or so).  Nothing is off the menu, it just has to happen during those 4 time frames (including any alcohol or other caloric drinks).  To some extent the 3-4 meals approach automatically limits calories because you can only eat so much food in one sitting.  It also is helping me learn to trust my hunger response.  Since moving to this approach I tend to get hungry about 30-60 minutes before a meal, and I am actually full, but not pigged out, after each meal.  It's a nice feeling.

The third habit is something @etvete mentioned.  Have a new goal once you get to your goal weight.  

Losing weight is not easy by any means (it has been over 10 years since I was last in my healthy BMI range).  But once it started coming off this year it was exciting!  Most weekly weigh-ins were a new success and I was getting lots of positive reinforcement from friends in real life and here on fitbit. But weight maintenance is a different story.  In fact, if you become too focused on the number, once you are there only bad things can happen -- you either can't stop losing, or the gradual creep up comes back.  So like @WavyDavey I am focusing on strength training and body recomposition.  Over the next 3-6 months I'll try to gradually bulk up to 170 lbs by adding (mostly) muscle instead of fat.  Once I get there I'll go through another cutting phase back down to 160 lbs and I plan to rinse and repeat over the next several years -- always with a target to aim for on the horizon.  

Now that I am in the "bulking" phase of my third habit I've developed a bit of a conflict with my 4 meals/day habit because I just can't eat enough good food to gain weight in just 3 or 4 meals.  So for the bulking phase of habit #3, habit #2 will likely be 5 meals/day instead of 4  -- but I will still adhere to the principle of not eating outside the planned meals.

[SunsetRunner]

Maintaining weight indeed is harder than losing it. My diet was a very significant lifestyle change. First, from the very beginning, I was aware that this was not a temporary inconvenience. Many people just can't wait to go back to their old habits and suffer trying to lose weight. With such mindset keeping it off is simply not possible. I changed everything. I still log my food however now calories are less important. More important are micro- and macronutrients. Also, logging allows me to store all great, mostly improvised, recipes 🙂 I joined a gym, continue to run and be active ( although during winter it's a bit harder, then the gym does miracles ). I almost don't eat out. No takeaways and no buffets. I adapted plant-based diet ( not veg-, I still eat dairy and meat, just lot less ) which actually forced me to eat lot more. At some point, my problem wasn't keeping it off but I couldn't "keeping it in" ( silly it sounds, you know what I mean ). I was losing weight heading towards being underweight. Finding the right balance is very difficult but possible.

[AuroraKat]

Thanks for tagging me, @Daves_Not_Here!

If I had to pick one thing that has helped me during maintenance it's having a goal other than the number on the scale and vanity. I discovered that I love running. Making healthy choices and maintaining a healthy weight is now more about improving my running than it is about simply keeping the weight off and looking good. During the active weight loss phase, tracking my progress was a big motivator. Now I get to track a different kind of progress, so my mind is still engaged and I get to look over all the fun stats at the end of each run. 

Having a fitness goal has also changed my attitude. Instead of thinking that I "have to" track my calories, avoid junk and exercise, I tell myself that I "get to" do it. This seemingly minor change has had a big impact. Yes, tracking calories can be tedious, but when I do, I get to make sure that I consume enough protein and carbs to fuel my runs and lean mass gain. I am fortunate to be able to eat wholesome and nutritious foods to help me achieve my goals. And, I get to go out and run, even when it's hard and all I want to do is stay in bed. This last bit was really driven home when I got an adductor injury after a particularly challenging trail race. I couldn't run for two weeks and I was miserable. It really made me appreciate my body and it's ability to run and exercise. 

As for specifics, here are some things that I find helpful during maintenance:

• Tracking calories - yes, eventually I want to transition to more intuitive eating, but for now I find tracking calories helps me not worry about overeating. There are some things I no longer weigh on a food scale, like low calorie veggies, but otherwise the food scale is still a big part of my life.
• Tracking my weight - I weigh in daily and keep track of my weight. At first, daily weigh-ins were a bit discouraging with all the ups and downs, but having months full of data has helped me see trends and learn more about how my body reacts to various foods, alcohol and hormonal fluctuations.
• Intermittent fasting - can't really say enough about this. When I travel or go out to a restaurant, I eat very lightly throughout the day and save up my calories for large family dinners or restaurant trips. I can indulge guilt-free and still stay within maintenance calories. 
• No food is off-limits - I get to eat anything I want. Just last weekend I had a whole pint of Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream for desert. That's more than 1k calories in one sitting. But, I had it, tracked my calories, and moved on. Indulging once in a while will not make you gain back all your weight. And, this brings me to my last point: 

Don't be afraid to live your life. You worked hard to lose weight, and for most of us keeping an eye on the scale and our food intake is something we'll have to do for the rest of our lives. Intuitive eating doesn't come naturally to everyone. However, you are still human and still have food-related cravings and desires. Let yourself have a nice big meal, a family feast or a trip where you just enjoy food without worrying about calories. To me, this has been super improtant. It gives me a mental break from constantly watching what I eat and tracking numbers. When all is said and done, I come back stronger than ever. After that pint of Ben and Jerry's, I didn't go on a binge. I simply went back to eating healthy, balanced meals. Knowing that I can indulge whenever I want has really taken the novelty out of junk food. I have it when I want it, but I find that most of the time I don't want it. For someone who used to binge and eat plenty of junk food, this is a huge mental victory. 

[EmjayH]

Umm I'm still in the process of losing lol. A ways off from maintaining. But that being said isn't accountability the deciding factor? Isn't that why we're logging our weights (loss or gain) in this community?. To hold ourselves accountable and keep us motivated.

we have a number of people that are maintaining very well in this community because even though they've lost the weight and are now just trying to live their lives at maintenance they still log week in and week out. They stay accountable and therefore have a reason to succeed. That's my thoughts anyways 🙈

[Mukluk4]

Once I got to a spot where I was happy, I moved on to a different goal; adding strength.

I've stopped tracking food intake and tend to step on the scale a couple times a week just to check out the BF%.  I can pretty much tell you my weight within 3-5 pounds on any given day and there usually aren't any surprises.  

[MagsOnTheBeach]

I've lost 65 lbs this year and have maintained my current weight for about 3 months.    I still need to lose 15 more lbs but right now I'm just focusing on self care - running, walking, trying new exercises as I am on this plateau.  I didn't go into this as a diet, I did it for a lifestyle change so I'm working on making my current weight contain the most lean muscle it can be with kettlebells and HIIT and I'm sure that will eventually lead to scale changing.    Every other time I tired to lose weight, I was dieting.  It was something I wanted to do to get to a number on the scale and then I was done.  Knowing I can never return to my old lifestyle is very helpful when looking at things long term.

[emili]

@Daves_Not_Here I wasn't tagged, so I am going to assume you assume I have always been this awesome :). I lost 65 pounds when I turned 43 - I am now 47 and weigh a few pounds less. You are right, losing it was no brainer. I got to a point in my life where I felt sad, bad, mad and figured the only thing I can control is me. So I lost it. Very quickly. The thing is, I didn't look up how to lose weight, or join clubs or drink miracle drinks- I just realized the things I ate were too big and too difficult for my body to properly process. I realized that for 40 years I ate what my brain said it wanted or needed and I paid zero attention to the rest of me. I flipped the switch. I fed my brain with other things- people, places, books, heated arguments on this sight, etc. I fed my body things that had nutritional value and low calories. And then I added exercise in - but not before I lost the first 50. And then I never looked back. I eat smart food, I don't over indulge (Friday and Saturday are the exceptions- I am a grazer when I drink.. but even my grazing is not wings and dough- its hard snacks) and I am a firm believer in routine. It takes time for an action to become behavior- my lifestyle is now my behavior. So here I am older than I have ever been (stop laughing at the word choice)- slimmer, healthier and miles happier.

I went from a 14 to a 4. I can run 5 miles, I can keep up with some of the guys in weight training and I am told I don't look my age- bliss. Also helps that I have never acted my age, but that's a different topic.

[Dominique]

@Daves_Not_Here, thanks for tagging me, and sorry for the late reply. I do qualify as someone who has 1) lost some weight since starting his fitness journey, and 2) managed to keep it off (now for 4+ years). However, I wouldn’t call the amount of weight I lost "significant" and therefore I play in a much minor league compared to the rest of you.

The range for normal weight at my height as per BMI is 56-75.5 kg. In my pre-Fitbit times, I weighed around 75 kg, +/- 2 kg, so I was only borderline overweight. I know BMI is often criticized, mostly by people who say it falsely labels athletic guys as overweight. All I can say is that with my body build (smaller bones/frame), there’s no way I’ll ever be able to add so much muscle (15+ kg from current level!) I would end up as athletic/muscular, but overweight per BMI. Check Floyd Mayweather (my height) at 66 kg, 9 kg below overweight boundary, does he look like a weakling to you?

Anyway, I dropped 10 kg (75 -> 65) / 22 lbs in the first five months (only got my Fitbit Aria after three months, so half of the initial loss is missing from the chart), primarily by morphing from very sedentary to very active (I became a step junkie, and started to pay attention to my diet much later). Since then, my weight has been fluctuating between 60 and 70 kg (BMI 19.8-23.1):

Over the years, I have updated my perception of what constitutes the right/ideal weight range for me: I now feel the upper limit should be 65 kg, not 70 kg. Or let’s say the upper limit is whatever weight where I could be at max. 15-16% body fat.

As to the key factors of success, I would say: 1) weighing everyday (so as to react quickly if the situation is getting out of control), 2) being active (currently averaging 18k steps per day over the past 4.5 years), 3) increased awareness of what I put into my mouth (soaking all the evidence-based content on nutrition I can get my hands on).

Regarding activity: I exercise for fitness and health, not weight management. Being able to eat more because of my activity level is a side benefit. I feel I get to eat a lot (2500-3000 calories) for a guy my age (56) and my size (135 lbs), but then I like eating .

[SunsetRunner]

Sorry for jumping in so late.....the past few days have been crazy. 

For me I think the biggest thing has been keeping a routine.  I get up at the same time every day -- even weekends -- and set aside specific times for exercise at least 5x/week.  I have found that when my routine gets messed up -- like it has this week -- it throws everything off balance for me.  I guess I'm just a creature of habit!!

As @AuroraKat mentioned, having a goal during maintenance helps a lot too.  I have been doing a lot of walking -- outside when weather permits -- and I use the MapMyWalk app to record distance, pace per mile, etc.  I've also been doing some of the free virtual races to help keep myself motivated.  Last week I finished the "Dublin Pub Crawl" in 7 days which was 30.3 miles.  Next week it's the virtual "Turkey Trot" which is 6.2 miles over the four days of Thanksgiving weekend.  It's just another way to stay motivated and have another support group out there.

Another thing that has helped me tremendously is meal prep.  I make all my lunches (and sometimes dinners) ahead of time so they are quick "grab and go" meals that I don't have to mess with preparing at the last minute.  They are either salads which I just pull out of the fridge or something that just gets microwaved and is ready in minutes.  This way I can also control calories.  When I make the meals, I use the recipe app in MFP so when I eat it I can easily log the calories.

I also weigh daily now to keep track of my weight (love TrendWeight!) and to keep things from getting out of control.  So far it has worked -- my TrendWeight has staying within 1 lb for the past couple of weeks even though there have been fluctuations in "actual' weight.

I hope all of this helps! 

[Daves_Not_Here]

All y’all -- I really appreciate your indulging us with your thoughtful responses.  Collectively, they represent more real-life wisdom on how to sustain impactful and life-enhancing change from those who are actually doing it than I’ve been able to glean from reading and observation over too many years.  

Here are summary results from my highly scientific Wisdom Crowdsourcing project:

	Measure Weight	Measure Body Fat	Track Eating	Aerobic Exercise	Strength Exercise	Lifestyle / Attitude	Athletic Goals
@etvete		1	0.5	1	1	1	1
@WavyDavey	1			1	1
@Baltoscott	1			1	1		1
@SunsetRunner	1		1	1	1	1
@AuroraKat	1		1	1		1	1
@EmjayH	1
@Mukluk4	0.5				1		1
@MagsOnTheBeach	0.5	1		1	1	1
@emili				1	1	1
@Dominique	1	1		1	1
@SunsetRunner	1			1		1	1
Totals	8	3	2.5	9	8	6	5

I tried to interpret each of the responses and put them in various pigeon holes based on emphasis and importance attached to various aspects of health, fitness and weight maintenance.  In some cases, I assigned a 50% value because the response seemed to acknowledge but place less emphasis on a certain factor.  In some cases, I read “between the lines” if it seemed someone valued something without explicitly stating it.  I’m sure I misread some folks as is my wont.

The most striking finding to me is it seems that most people are not logging their eating and able to eat intuitively.  On the other hand, daily weighing is prevalent and seems to provide the essential feedback to prevent a return to blimpage.  And I observe a balance between the importance of eating versus exercise, with a slight bias towards exercise.

My takeaways from @etvete are the importance of adopting a lifestyle, establishing athletic goals and to not be completely obsessive (although she has access to metabolic and body composition measurements).  I was surprised how often having an athletic goal was mentioned.  @WavyDavey seems to have one of the most rigorous activity regimens, is able to deemphasize food in spite proximity to diabetes, and struggles not to lose weight (?!)  I said he probably drives down the freeway in reverse.  That’s not fair - actually, he goes forward.  While upside down.  @Baltoscott reminds me of the importance of limiting snacking between meals and late at night.  20 solid years of bike-commuting seems like a powerful activity lever to drive weight change.  I’m jealous.  I can’t imagine what his VO2 max is.  I’m reminded by @SunsetRunner to plan to do everything I can to sustain changes as a lifestyle once I hit my goal weight.  While we’re at opposite ends of the spectrum on food choice, it seems we share the practice of eating out less and cooking whole foods.  

I like the emphasis @AuroraKat places on viewing activity goals through a different mental lens of desire versus obligation.  She was the only one to mention intermittent fasting which is something I’ve been increasingly interested in.  Although I will admit, I like her intermittent binging recommendation more.  About once every two weeks, I go on an absolute food bender, and now I’ll no longer feel guilty.  I had not realized @EmjayH was still losing weight like me -- I agree with her that the gentle accountability and support this community provides are a great value, which I would not have thought 4 months ago.  @Mukluk4 is another one of those guys I’m jealous of that can maintain weight more intuitively and I’ll try to emulate replacing my current goal with another when I get there.  

@MagsOnTheBeachare in similar places in terms of the total amount of weight we need to lose and I need to make sure I also view the journey as a lifestyle change.  I know I should be adding intensity and resistance, which I’m totally up for except for (1) the intensity, and (2) the resistance.  It’s true I had not realized @emili had travelled this path as I had assumed she was an ethereal positive spirit whose weight does not register on earthly scales.  I’m finding tentative success in adopting routines that deliver the fountain of youth, both mentally and physically, and hope I can  achieve her serenity and goodwill.  What I take away from @Dominique is the example of his on-going mindfulness in tending to his weight, fitness and eating.  My mistake in the past was in watching only 1 of those 3.   @SG81 hit on all of the new habits I’m trying to adopt as routines -- a consistent morning routine, daily weighing, and food preparation to save time and hit my macronutrient targets.  It’s inspiring to see someone else who has actually done it long term!

[EmjayH]

I have an aria scale so I track both weight and body fat. Logging food is now a part of my lifestyle. I do it virtually without thinking now. I view cardio as a necessary evil lol. Some days I hate running yet others I love it. Weight training is a necessary exercise I enjoy. I love the changes that it is malking in my physical appearance. I have biceps 😋😋. As for strength goals. At the moment I'm working towards being able to run a full 5k comfortably. Also I want to be able to manage every posture in the bikram set. (Dunno how possible that'll be, those toe squats look almost impossible. But hey the journey is in the trying is it not?)

[SunsetRunner]

@Daves_Not_Here I find the reducing of food logging to be quite a natural thing to do if you want to be functioning like everyone else. Judging "by eye" not necessarily works out and I believe some people will go back to the logging as soon as the scale will show alarming numbers ( which also seems like the right thing to do ). Also, I do have athletic goals, if you count things like 10k run early next year and some improvement in general via fitness training. Last time I measured my body fat a long time ago ( 3 months maybe? ). It was 14.8% back then and I can easily say it's less - no need to measure something you can see by eye 🙂

I wouldn't say keeping it off is difficult but rather sticking with some acceptable range without going beyond it ( over or under ). I still log my food and sometimes deliberately I overeat just to stop losing weight. Since my last response I created an account on the TrendWeight and from the analysis, it looks like I'm still in my weight-loss ( 0.1kg a week ). It's true from what I observe ( and from what my wife observes reminding me to eat more, but that's beyond my physical capacity ) and I'm getting a bit anxious about it. I started my journey being obese. Now I'm heading towards being underweight which isn't my goal at all. Moreover, I feel like I keep eating and eating ( it's not an overstatement to say I'm eating all the time ). My breakfast alone breached 600kcal ( 200-300 during a weight-loss diet ) not mentioning other meals consumed during the day. Such breakfast for me ( height 5'1, weight: 50.7kg, I'm a short man ) is a huge amount of energy. According to Fitbit tracking ( and in here I'm pretty sure estimates are slightly off ) and still I observe my weight declining. TrendWeight sadly didn't import that much and got limited just to last 2 weeks. Fitbit graph, however, has all the data and the trend curve became bit alarming. I wanted to stop on 53kg and stick around this number but I went way under:

So keeping it off isn't my problem. Keeping it on on the other hand is. I reached my desired weight in the first week of September and since then I lost over 2kg more. I'm thinking if focusing on logging isn't a culprit here as it might be I under-log calories intake and in fact, I consume a lot less than I think. People who ceased logging after reaching desired weight are more likely to listen to how their bodies respond to food. After all, feeling hungry, feeling stuffed etc. - these are natural signals which people used to respond without tracking their food for hundreds/thousands of years. And it did work ( for most I believe 🙂 )! I'm thinking if such a detailed tracking is the right way to go right now. I have my tracking method and I've been logging my food since I started my weight-loss process. It became a habit and something so natural that I feel weird when I forget to log anything. To emphasize how weird it became let me picture myself cooking a dish and forgetting to measure one ingredient. I can dig it out of the pan quickly just to measure and log it and then put it back. So I'm trying to make it little less crucial for me to log the food. Still, I want to log the food because it goes very handy if the improvised meal comes really good and such log is very useful if I want to cook the same dish again ( I tend to improvise a lot in the kitchen ). But I'm not really sure how much I am supposed to eat to stop losing my weight. I'm curious if there are any other people struggling with a similar problem ( that could be actually another topic on the forum ).

[Daves_Not_Here]

@SunsetRunner - regarding stopping losing weight, I just had a crazy idea (this is completely half-baked, a person with any common sense or maturity would not put it out on the public internet without giving it proper consideration.   I will now proceed to put it out there without giving it proper consideration).  Could you adjust your macro-nutrients?

In other words, let's say to lose weight, you reduced processed carbs and he weight came off easily.  Maybe that's your lever?  You could try slowly adding those back in and see what happens -- maybe a daily Krispy Kreme is just the trick.

How cool would that be?

[SunsetRunner]

@Daves_Not_Here, in fact, I didn't reduce carbs. I didn't go on a low-carb diet. I was always more fond of the balanced way of eating considering that our bodies need all the macronutrients. Now I consume more carbs due to switching to a plant-based diet ( it's harder to obtain proteins, not too hard to obtain fats and incredibly easy to find carbs. From my log, yesterday I consumed 339g of carbs ( 76g of sugar, no any added sugars ), 71g of protein and 81g of fat. Total of 2313kcal. This means that my whole BMR ( according to one of calculators 1278.99 ) is pretty much covered just by carbs. Usually, I consume 2000 to 2500 kcal. These numbers, of course, are estimates and they rely on food database entries but I think they show an overall picture. On days of workout numbers are shifted more towards proteins rather than carbs ( however still plants containing lots of protein usually contain lots of carbs too ). However, you may be right. I may need to grab a doughnut from time to time ( do we actually even have Krispy Kreme in the UK? 😉  ). It may be my mistake that I try to bring very complex machinery which is a human body down to the raw numbers and formulas.

[MagsOnTheBeach]

I do have athletic goals but not traditional ones. When I started in January , half a mile took 30 minutes to walk. I completed c25k recently  and now I run one 2-3 times a week. I work on speed and distance. I run the same route so I try to get one house further each time. I don't have plans to compete in a 5k, I enjoy competing against myself.  As for tracking, i do when my weight loss stalls or goes in the wrong direction. But not daily, daily I  mentally check off food groups I need to monitor: 2 dairy, 2 fruit, 1 nut, 2 servings lean protein, 1 to 2 grains.

[exhile]

---

@MagsOnTheBeach wrote:

 half a mile took 30 minutes to walk. now I run one 2-3 times a week. I work on speed and distance. I run the same route so I try to get one house further each time. 

---

Your situation is similar to mine where I started off doing 2km in 30 minutes. 7 months later, I can now do 3.5km in the same amount of time. Speed & distance is a gradual improvement.

[Baltoscott]

@Daves_Not_Here — I don’t know if food logging is a viable maintenance habit, but I have been doing it since I started losing in January. It is definitely a good weight loss habit. At some point I committed to doing it for a year so I could get good data on my calories in and out both during weight loss and maintenance.  But now that I’ve started a body recomp goal, I may do it longer.  In any event, MFP says I’ve now logged 319 days in a row.  

Given that food logging, or avoiding or emphasizing a food category, seem to be the most popular and effective weight-loss strategies (usually with added exercise), it is interesting that few of the maintainers (so far) have emphasized those strategies for maintenance. @SunsetRunner, who focuses on a plant based diet and still tracks food a lot, may be the exception on the thread so far.