Weight Maintenance Tactics

[tractorlegs]

For those of you who have made goal weight using Fitbit trackers, what is your tactic for maintaining weight? I'm ten short pounds away from my goal weight (see this thread) and I'm curious about successful maintenance. 

I was thinking about losing 5 extra pounds (going 5 pounds under my actual goal) to give myself a little bit of a cushion, and then resetting the Fitbit app to maintain that weight and just get used to eating the correct amount and continuing exercise. It won't be difficult - to maintain my goal weight would mean eating 2900 daily calories (yes, I'm tall lol) but I'm curious what tactics have worked for other Fitbit users.

TIA for your replies!

[AndyDandyPandy]

I've maintain by just exercising and being aware of calories really. The only way that I see how people gain weight again is because they abandoned the healthy life and went back to their old habit. They stopped being health conscious or simply don't care anymore because they reached a weight goal. They reward themselves with fatty foods and binge on it. Stopped exercising. Becomes sedentary. Some people think its black magic that makes you gain weight again but it's really you reverting back to your previous lifestyle. I don't believe in craps like starvation mode or having decreased bmr that magically makes you gain 5lbs of fat weekly for eating normally. The true answer is maintaining your healthy lifestyle more than maintaining weight. 

Good Luck.

[silverwalker]

I'm still newly arrived in the maintenance phase.  Rather than losing more than my goal, I have given myself a two pound window to maintain.  Knowing that two pounds can quickly become 20 if I revert to old habits I am concentrating on changing my self talk and my old habits.  I check my weight daily first thing in the morning and faithfully log it.  If I have eaten more than planned, I tell myself to own my behavior and consider it a learning opportunity.  I don't let myself be negative about the process.  I think it will be a life time of learning to care for myself.  

I dug out old pictures last night to remind me of how hard it was to find clothes that were stylish in the old days.  Even though I am far far from being a spring chicken I love stylish clothes and sometimes just go try on a bunch of stuff at the local high end thrift shop or outlet mall.  It has been so liberating to let all the big clothes go to be used by someone else.  So I actually have had to gradually build a whole new wardrobe.  But mostly I have had to learn to be gentle and loving toward myself.

[tractorlegs]

@AndyDandyPandy and @silverwalker, thanks for your excellent thoughts - - 

[A_Lurker]

Shouting out to @RubyH and @tamado - two people who recently reached their goal weights and are working on the maintenance stage of their weight loss.  I'm sure there are others, but they are the first two that came to mind.

[Dominique]

---

@tractorlegs wrote:

what is your tactic for maintaining weight?

---

My "tactic" is yo-yo dieting, but in a planned way

Like most people, I would like to be both leaner and more muscular. However, we know that in order to lose fat, one needs to be in a deficit, while the optimal condition for gaining muscle is being in a surplus. So merely maintaining is not optimal for either losing fat or gaining muscle. I’ve therefore started to alternate between "cutting"  and "bulking" phases. Right now, I’m bulking and I plan to continue until the end of the year, or when I reach 67-68 kg: 

My fluctuation range is relatively narrow (5 kg = 11 lbs) and as long as I still fit in the same pants, I’m not worried. If I no longer fit in the same T-shirts, I’ll be happy 

The lower end of the range (63 kg) is BMI 20.8 and the higher end (68 kg) BMI 22.5, so nothing to worry here either.

I find it easier to have a clear goal of either losing or gaining weight, rather than just maintaining.

[emili]

I have been at my goal weight for two years now. Because I have been logging food for a long time - I know how many calories per day work for me to maintain. But I also know that Friday and Saturday are my high calorie days. So I eat on the low scale Sunday through Thursday and have a good old time Friday and Saturday (of course within reason). I end up a pound or so higher on Monday and by Tuesday its gone (salt, water). I don't relax my good food habits or activity - I am vigilant so I don't have to go through the struggle ever again.