Encouragment in Maintenance
 

I realize Maintenance isn't visited often....Im nearing 2 yrs in maintenance....Im at goal....and below....today I weighed 133.4.....a lifetime low.....Im 5'9"....I will probably end up near 139..which is awesome......losing weight is amazing.....maintenance is the real goal.....
I can NEVER EVER return to eating the way I did

Hi Deborah,
Like you, I am nearing two years in maintenance, though I often feel like calling it pre-maintenance because I think I am still learning what it takes to keep weight from creeping up.

I hovered at slightly above goal for 3/4 of a year, but every time the scale would show a few pounds more, I felt like I was balancing on the edge of a knife - one slip away from a gaining trend.
I felt my problem was portion control, so to allieviate that, I implemented a new years resolution to slow down my eating habits (I've always wolfed my food). The result was that I dropped to below goal and am hovering right where I always wanted to be.
Now to fully ingrain the habit!

Goes to show that "maintenance" is not a passive state - your body changes and you need to be constantly vigilant in its needs and trends, grooming your habits and eating patterns - probably for the rest of your life ...

CShep......maintenance is NOT a passive state..you are SOOOO right....I weigh twice a week.....and I find I eat better when I am exercising....though I was off my exercise schedule for 2 weeks because I was sick....it didn't seem to affect my weight...BUT it affected my attitude.....

I am constantly needing to adjust...Im not complaining...REALLY...
I think maintenance is harder than weight loss..

Congratulations! Isn't it frustrating how our bodies are constantly changing on us?

I've often wondered if there isn't some way to make maintenance more "fun"--some kind of posting exercise. The threads on maintenance look so dull, sorry. Not like losing with all the celebrations and new stuff, just the same old, same old, got to be a way to jazz it up?! Currently I'm struggling with insomnia and drugs and other fun stuff, so weight is really on a back burner. But I'll think more on that when other things get ironed out a little more.

Many of us maintainers use the other threads to work on improving health by tweaking what, how and when we eat, and getting ideas for recipes, etc. This needs to be a way of life, you're never "done", so maintaining the status quo of one number is not our goal. The only active thread on here seems to be recording of weight, a result we do not have 100% daily control of as the daily fluctuations can be larger than our goal. I choose to work on what I do - what I put in my mouth, how much I move, reading new research, etc..

thanks for this thread. I agree- maintaining is not passive! I wish my body would stop changing too- but it does.
I don't post in the weighing thread- that is not my goal or my motivation and I felt that posting there was not right for me.

I do read lots of posts here, and I post on the CAD/CALP threads both for my accountability and to help others- also part of maintenance plan.

I like what deirdra said- I also choose.

Maintaining isn't for wimps!!!!

What weight....sz goals do you have for maintenance..


Im at a lifetime low.....due to meds Im taking for awhile...my goal is to stay between 137-142 for another yr...
To have great bloodwork...and to exercise 300 min a week for the next year

You really have to embrace this way of eating and see it as normal. The one thing I have found in maintenance is that there is nothing to strive for - no more weight loss, no smaller clothes or radical changes - its just all normal - I actually miss the thrill of trying on smaller clothes lol

Jo xxx

I don't find maintaining to be very difficult. I do what Deirdre does, pay attention to what I put in my mouth. For me that has become almost second nature.. The biggest changes for me this past year are intermittent fasting and a walking program. I now eat 2 meals a day, fast 16 hours a day and walk 10,000+ steps a day. I let my weight do what it is going to do, not stepping on the scale every day. If I saw my weight starting to go up consistently (not normal fluctuations) I would adjust my eating n some way, but beyond that I try to relax about all of this, tweak here and there if it seems to make sense, and not obsess.

Jean

I am actually looking forward to that coming to an end. I'm down 10 pant sizes in the past 2 years (2 inches per size). I'm just now starting to buy 'goal size' clothes that will remain in my wardrobe for more than a month or two. But who knows, when it is all over - perhaps I will miss that shrinking out of my clothes feeling.

Thanks for this thread. I'm close to goal, and have been thinking about the road beyond losing, a lot.

It's good to hear chat among those who have been on that road for some time.

I am fairly sure I won't be changing sizes much, either. Probably down to a 6 in jeans, but small tops will still fit me in ten pounds. There'll just be a little less belly under them.

It's still nice to grab an armful of size 8 dresses, and choose the one that looks the nicest, rather than the one that "makes me look the slimmest".

My weight loss is slow, so it will probably be at least several months before I join your esteemed group. It's good to see so many of you are sticking around this forum.

So many come here with barely any hope in their hearts, just willing to give this a try, after so much failure. Seeing what the results of sticking with it look like is huge for them!

Love reading the posts!!!!

I stick around the lowcarbers forum for a variety of reasons:

a) I love forums
b) I am in this for the health reasons and I find the studies and links posted and discussed here are priceless.
c) I am constantly re-inspired by other peoples weight loss journeys and successes
d) recipes, food ideas, info on sweeteners (I still use them and am on the fence about breaking that habit) - all good

As I mentioned before, I find maintenance to be an active and conscious excersise (probably since I am fairly new at it), so I still need a community like this one!

I need to hear the voices of those who have stayed true...who have maintained through the years....that's the secret of success over time...losing isn't the gaol...maintaining is

Not having a good handle on this was what led to my initial re-gain. I lost my direction. I am planning to quit weighing frequently when I get one or two sizes above my goal. I need to learn how to be normal even before I get there.

hi-
I'm still here too. I need this for accountability, support and - very important for me- BELONGING to a community of people who understand/inspire/support/educate.

For me, the times I gained back weight I had stopped weighing myself. Like an ostrich I stuck my head in the sand!

I never quite made goal. I wanted to be a size 12 at around 63kg but being below 70 and a size 14 is way better than being fat. I was 68.9 this morning, which is better than 69.8, where I was stuck for a while. I even crossed the dreaded 70kg line but moving house was such hard work that I came back from the brink. It's great to have such an accurate scale. I can't persuade myself it's wrong any more.
Now the summer is coming, I'd love to lose a little more.
I guess I need to lose the wine and the chocolate, although I did manage to have them in small quantities during my initial losing phase. I can't quite work out what I'm really doing differently now. One thing is that I used to bring my own food to work and although the cafeteria where I eat now serves healthy food I wonder if I'm not eating too much starchy veg (like parnsips). Sounds silly but I eat large portions of veg with my meat or fish and I guess that can be quite a few carbs.
Anyway, the bottom line is, I'm not quitting. I'm going to keep on trucking. If I ever need to buy larger clothes I'll stay home till I can get back into the ones I have! LoL.

Hi. I'm a maintainer by default, as I can't seem to lose no matter what I do. :lol:

Recently I've been concentrating on raising my body temperature, which is always low from so many years of weight-loss wars. I'm interested in CAD as a method for doing this. Currently I'm eating LCHF+IF+throwing in a refeed day maybe once every 4 days. I think it takes a long time to un-do the metabolic damage I've done. Maybe once a day (after eating) my body temp rises as high as 97 F.

Anyway, I'm here, too.

Hi, there! I am less than 5 pounds to goal now. Hope to be join you all as a maintainer soon. :)

Congrats Renee!!!

Day 1 of maintenance is was a success. Weight: 209 yesterday and it was 209 today. :) :thup: :thup:

Rinse and repeat.

In tracking my daily variations, I find that I average a 3-4 lb. spread (119-123lbs.) on any given day. I find that kind of info invaluable for maintenance - if I were to start consistently going over (or under) those weights I figure I would need to change something ...

Welcome to the rinse and re ... I mean Maintenance Club!

I am a new maintainer ...going on 3 months...it's going good. I am very carb sensitive so I am VLC, even in maintenance. I feel really good and now can't imagine eating any other way. This is it for life. There's no going back to the way I used to eat or the low calorie/low fat yo-yo dieting. Low carb eating was made for me & I am sticking with it as a way of life.

I reached my 2 year anniversary 04.04.16.....I am actually lower than goal. I am sz 02 most of the time ....some sz 0....
We have 2 seasons here ...summer and NOT summer...when I switched out my clothes..last NOT summer, I found some were too big....in my current summer clothes..I fit all my clothes....

I am going through a health concern.....my doctor is totally pleased with my lifestyle scores are amazing...bp...cholesterol...weight.....every other value!!!!

He has been so sweet to say...my lifestyle isn't the problem..Ive even conquered some genetics...heart disease...
lung cancer...hbp....type2 Diabetes.....
there are things beyond lifestyle...:)

Deborah, that is fantastic! If you can maintain that well for two years, you can maintain forever.

I continue L/C....my weight and fitness level is beyond my age

Weight loss for me is so slow now that I guess I must be in maintenance.
I can't quite believe how far I have come in 12 months and am slightly apprehensive that the wight loss will reverse.
So I keep weighing and tracking daily as a means to stay on top of things but all the tracking/data recording, though interesting, is also hard work (some people might think obsessive).
I really would like to stop but I get the impression from reading this forum that doing so greatly increases the chances of gaining weight again.