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  #1   ^
Old Thu, Mar-08-18, 03:29
zoogirl's Avatar
zoogirl zoogirl is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,910
 
Plan: atkins 20
Stats: 127.6/111/110 Female 5' 2"
BF:
Progress: 94%
Location: Canada
Default Set Yourself Up....

Morning group, I have chatted about this in my Journal, but I am not getting a lot of feedback...so, here is my issue, and to be honest I wonder if anyone else has experienced this during maintenance...

I worked hard to get to goal weight, and I chose that goal weight because that is where I feel my best. I went a few pounds under for a buffer. I generally try to keep my NC to 20 sometime a bit lower rarely over, I have experimented with adding maintenance foods, but over all I'm pretty happy with my meal plan the way it is. 3 squares a day, not always a snack, but I do plan for that 3PM "bad time"

M is hard, being in weight loss mode is easier, if you know what I mean, make no mistake losing weight is hard, but staying here is really hard. So, I feel like I sometimes "set myself up" by purposely gaining a bit of weight, so that I can lose it again...crazy right??? My big concern is that this is basically yo yoing...and I gotta tell ya, I have been there, done that.

I'd love to hear from any other maintenance folk, and hear your opinion, or maybe I should just go check in to the nearest, you know...Facility...someplace where they deal with these type of "head issues"

Have a positive day, stop by my Journal sometime, I love company. ttys
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  #2   ^
Old Fri, Mar-09-18, 10:16
jessdamess's Avatar
jessdamess jessdamess is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 4,904
 
Plan: Keto
Stats: 252/172/165 Female 69.25 inches
BF:
Progress: 92%
Location: Northeast TN
Default

Bumping this for you.

My deal is different. I get to goal and then I have a hard time figuring out what level of eating it takes to maintain. I get lazy and don't log my food. And since my satiety signals are still messed up. I eat way too much before I feel full, then I slowly gain weight. Then I have to go back to logging and lose 15lb by cutting my intake way down. It's a miserable snails pace and being hungry all the time.

It stinks. But it's real.

For a great many, it's always going to be a yo-yo, regardless of the personal why. We get where we want, eventually we get bored or lazy or tired of vigilance and we creep back up. We reach a point that too high for us to tolerate, and then we have to inch back down. It's always a see-saw for people like me. A balancing act over time.
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  #3   ^
Old Fri, Mar-09-18, 10:42
Ms Arielle's Avatar
Ms Arielle Ms Arielle is online now
Senior Member
Posts: 19,177
 
Plan: atkins, carnivore 2023
Stats: 200/211/163 Female 5'8"
BF:
Progress: -30%
Location: Massachusetts
Default

Dr Atkins talks about not letting more than 5 pounds creep on, then get it gone. SOunds like you are on track with that.

IMHO maintenance is the HARDEST to maintain. I stayed at 203-208 for a VERY LONG TIME. Life was consistent. No kick ups to change the statis quo.

You have managed this stage very well IMO. You know what to do if you want to stay a little closer to goal.
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  #4   ^
Old Sat, Mar-10-18, 15:36
Kristine's Avatar
Kristine Kristine is offline
Forum Moderator
Posts: 25,581
 
Plan: Primal/P:E
Stats: 171/146/150 Female 5'7"
BF:
Progress: 119%
Location: Southern Ontario, Canada
Default

Hi. I can't really relate to the idea of gaining on purpose, but for me it's more like getting just plain burned out on having to be careful about every damn morsel going into my mouth. Other life circumstances certainly contribute to this - shift work, finances, social events, holidays, other health problems, etc. And of course, since the rest of the world is completely screwed up about food, we're ALWAYS swimming upstream.

Losing the weight initially is sort of like moving into a fantastic new home. But then maintenance is like keeping it clean. You still like your home, but it's not so romantic wiping the toilet and mopping the floors. Yet it has to be done, or else your nice new home turns back into the one you left and didn't like.

You have to find ways of making things quick, easy and fairly painless... whether you're talking about keeping your house clean, or maintaining your weight loss.
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  #5   ^
Old Sat, Mar-10-18, 18:12
Grav Grav is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,469
 
Plan: Banting
Stats: 302/187/187 Male 175cm
BF:
Progress: 100%
Location: New Zealand
Default

I was able to successfully maintain my goal weight last year for about 9 months before I started letting a few things back into the diet, thinking I might be OK to do so. Over the next 3 months I gained 12lb; guess that wasn't such a good idea after all. So I hit the reset button 2 months ago and have just lost the last of those 12lb again this week.

I like to look back on my experience like this: whatever I eat, I'm eating for a target weight. If I deviate then then deviation counts and so my target weight climbs and the body responds accordingly. But if I stick to eating for my target weight, I can both reach and stay at that weight. Effectively, eating for weight loss and maintenance are the same thing.

The only question then is, can you sustain the weight loss diet once in maintenance? If not, then perhaps the target weight was too low to begin with? For the change to be able to stick, sustainability is everything.
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  #6   ^
Old Sun, Mar-11-18, 08:40
Enomarb Enomarb is offline
MAINTAINING ON CALP
Posts: 4,838
 
Plan: CALP/CAHHP
Stats: 180/125/150 Female 65 in
BF:
Progress: 183%
Location: usa
Default

hi-
Thanks for posting this- we need more discussions on maintaining. It's different from losing- and there's a lot less support here.

I agree with Kristine- I don't do it on purpose but in the 15 years of LC I have gained back 10 or so pounds. I have to be honest and admit that I was a lot stricter when losing. I added back some foods that I had pretty much eliminated (like alcoholic beverages and most sugar) and gained a bit, then changed some medications and gained a bit. I have never lost that weight- it's like my body reset at a higher weight. I have maintained this weight for about 8-9 years so I think I have it now.
I have a fear that one day this will just "stop working" and that I will gain and not lose. So I do watch my eating and weight on a daily basis. It is so easy for me to go down that slippery slope of eating more and more carbs. I don't feel that I am in control of my body- it is mysterious to me how it all works. But LC changed my life- and I'm sticking with it.
In an answer to you, maybe posting and talking about it will help you get a handle on this and be able to focus on the maintaining skill set as opposed to the losing weight skills you have down.

E
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  #7   ^
Old Sun, Mar-11-18, 09:41
Just Jo's Avatar
Just Jo Just Jo is offline
A'72 Lifer Hard Core
Posts: 15,566
 
Plan: A'72 Induction Lifer + IF
Stats: 265/114/130 Female 5'4"
BF:Not so much now!
Progress: 112%
Location: South Central New Mexico
Default

Hiya, ZG!
Quote:
M is hard, being in weight loss mode is easier, if you know what I mean, make no mistake losing weight is hard, but staying here is really hard. So, I feel like I sometimes "set myself up" by purposely gaining a bit of weight, so that I can lose it again...crazy right??? My big concern is that this is basically yo yoing...and I gotta tell ya, I have been there, done that.
I think what also makes maintenance harder than weight loss is that we don't get the accolades from those around us like we were getting in "weight loss" mode.

Someone on here a good while back mentioned that when she reached her desired goal weight, she changed it to a bit lower so that she was always in "weight loss" mode mentally even though she was completely happy with her weight.

She was "faking" herself out basically to continue staying vigilant... If Imma not mistaken, those were her words too!

Maintenance really hasn't been that difficult for me since I know I'll go kickin' and screamin' into my 60s, 70s and beyond in the best health possible!

I live this quote every day:

Being Overweight is Hard, Losing Weight is Hard, Keeping the Weight OFF is Hard ~ Choose your Hard!
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  #8   ^
Old Mon, Mar-12-18, 09:24
jessdamess's Avatar
jessdamess jessdamess is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 4,904
 
Plan: Keto
Stats: 252/172/165 Female 69.25 inches
BF:
Progress: 92%
Location: Northeast TN
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kristine
Hi. I can't really relate to the idea of gaining on purpose, but for me it's more like getting just plain burned out on having to be careful about every damn morsel going into my mouth.
You have to find ways of making things quick, easy and fairly painless... whether you're talking about keeping your house clean, or maintaining your weight loss.


yep.
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  #9   ^
Old Mon, Mar-12-18, 11:42
zoogirl's Avatar
zoogirl zoogirl is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,910
 
Plan: atkins 20
Stats: 127.6/111/110 Female 5' 2"
BF:
Progress: 94%
Location: Canada
Default

Wow, so interesting ideas here, at least I don't feel like I'm the only one that has dealt with this type of issue. No, I don't think I do it on purpose, I think it is an unconscious thing that happens.

I particularly like Christine's take on this. I do believe my goal weight is fine, it really is where I feel my best. I will admit I have always had body image issues. Those on the forum know that this is not "my first rodeo" I swear I have been on every diet imaginable...I worked for WW for a time after reaching goal with them, working for them helped keep me on track, because people were looking at me and expecting me to be perfect...it eventually wore me down. The one thing I will say about WW, they are the most successful weight loss program ($$$$) for one reason, people fail, and they do it all over again....

I'm done failing, and I won't do it over again.

Have a positive day, ttys
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  #10   ^
Old Wed, Mar-28-18, 07:38
JEY100's Avatar
JEY100 JEY100 is online now
Posts: 13,370
 
Plan: P:E/DDF
Stats: 225/150/169 Female 5' 9"
BF:45%/28%/25%
Progress: 134%
Location: NC
Default

Stumbled upon a new Woo post with her strategies for Long-term successful maintenance (or not in the case of JM). Not a tirade this time, but some cold hard truth and balanced advice. For me, dropping the obsession with food diary entries is indeed the first thing to go, and it results in weight gain. I let wine, nuts and large amounts of cheese creep back into my eating when I don’t enter the amounts. And it is hard to get restarted with this diary...breakfast is usually recorded, then rest of day is hit or miss. Data Rules.

http://itsthewooo.blogspot.com/2018...tency-with.html

Last edited by JEY100 : Wed, Mar-28-18 at 10:20.
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  #11   ^
Old Wed, Mar-28-18, 08:04
cotonpal's Avatar
cotonpal cotonpal is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 5,283
 
Plan: very low carb real food
Stats: 245/125/135 Female 62
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: Vermont
Default

Good Article. I don't read Woo because I find her ranting disturbing but this article is free of rants and, from my experience, spot on. I log my food every day paying attention mostly to my carb count. I've given up daily weighing or even weekly weighing because it does lead to pointless emotional ups and downs for me. I've been telling myself that as long as my clothing still fits then I'm doing OK. I track my walking for the same reason. Tracking it serves as a motivation for me to go out and walk even on those days that I am feeling lazy. Amazing, here I am agreeing with Woo without wishing she would not be so insulting to others. It is possible to be hard hitting and honest without getting personally insulting. She's done it well here, IMHO.

I am one of those people who finds maintenance easy. I attribute it to my absolute belief that it is essential for my continued health. Why choose sickness when by simply eating the right foods you can be healthy?

Jean
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  #12   ^
Old Wed, Mar-28-18, 08:53
teaser's Avatar
teaser teaser is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 15,075
 
Plan: mostly milkfat
Stats: 190/152.4/154 Male 67inches
BF:
Progress: 104%
Location: Ontario
Default

I'm a bit of a broken record on Jimmy Moore. For a year he reported measuring out his food daily, tracking protein and carbs as grams and keeping them in a certain range, and maintaining a certain fat percentage. Of course this means that calories are kept at a certain level as well, it's just not put in terms of calories. He also measured blood ketones and glucose daily. I don't know that these last are necessary for everybody--but even if keeping ketones just so isn't necessary for success with the approach he takes, I wonder if it didn't have a value for keeping him focused.

For a full year, this worked, Jimmy lost weight. After the year, he spent that time at the Perfect Health resort that Woo mentions. Also in podcasts after that, I heard him telling people again and again, that while he was glad he did the experiment, being as concerned with every little bit of food that went into his mouth, weighing, taking ketones and blood glucose daily, etc., seemed to him a bit orthorexic. Whatever else it was, it seemed to have worked. If you look at what some type 1 diabetics do to control their blood glucose--if Dr. Bernstein were not type 1 diabetic, his fascination with his blood glucose would be weird, maybe some sort of obsessive compulsive disorder. For him it's life-saving. If somebody counts every scrap of food and gram of carbs and protein and doesn't need to--that might be orthorexic. Doing it only because you need to, even against your natural instinct, is different, that's a corrective measure. People may still act like you're being weird, and that's a problem, lack of support can make things more difficult.
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  #13   ^
Old Wed, Mar-28-18, 17:50
Enomarb Enomarb is offline
MAINTAINING ON CALP
Posts: 4,838
 
Plan: CALP/CAHHP
Stats: 180/125/150 Female 65 in
BF:
Progress: 183%
Location: usa
Default

hi-
thanks for the link to the article. I find that daily weighing is very important to me- but reporting my weights to other (like on this site) is not good for me. I use the daily scale as a check-in to see where I am. Little fluctuations are just that- I'm looking for trends. This is a YMMV issue.
I agree with the analysis of how carb creep can happen - I know that happened to me.
E
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  #14   ^
Old Thu, Apr-19-18, 04:42
SilverEm SilverEm is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,081
 
Plan: LC RPAH/FailSafe
Stats: 137/136/136 Female 67"
BF:
Progress: 100%
Location: Maintenance since 2001
Smile

Thanks very much for the thread topic!

A few thoughts that come to mind this morning.

I, too, find maintenance to be ongoing yo-yoing.

And:

I, too, find these necessary:

Food tracking, not allowing PFC or portion creep, and enough water, exercise, as well as the right supplements.

Perhaps most of all, nurturing the frame of reference of putting my health first.

For me, this means:

- keeping up on reading things about biochemistry, as best I can, endocrine disruptors, environmental toxins, neurotransmitters, endorphins, supplements, etc.

- connecting with others who are quite keen on LC living and understanding the science of health

If I fall off, I have to muster up that "pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again".

Best wishes, all.
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  #15   ^
Old Thu, Apr-19-18, 06:28
PilotGal PilotGal is offline
Registered Member
Posts: 36,355
 
Plan: KetoCarnivore
Stats: 206.6/178/160 Female 5'7
BF:awesome
Progress: 61%
Location: USA
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by cotonpal
I've given up daily weighing or even weekly weighing because it does lead to pointless emotional ups and downs for me. I've been telling myself that as long as my clothing still fits then I'm doing OK.
I have hardwood floors and my scale reads a different number, every single time I get on it... so weighing doesn't work in this house.
BUT... my clothing does work. I wear a perfect size 10 pant, down from a perfect size 16 pant..... those pants tell me if i'm eating too much...

also, i do a lot of yoga. stretching has been key to my success.. if I'm stiff and sore, i'll eat to comfort myself. If I feel great after a good stretching session, the rest of the day will be a good one...

and i know i can't eat a lot of carbs.. my body will expand. I'm not into expansion... I like being lean. calories? just a chinese word I've seen around.

but my success in maintaining is to just keep eating the way I do, and be mindful of stuff I should not eat regularly.. I live in a modern world and I have modern friends.. we go out to eat and socialize over food. I have learned that all that filler on my plate will make me ill.. so I try to work with restaurants about keeping fillers off my plate and maybe expanding the vegetables or adding bacon to the plate.. Most restaurants accomodate my requests.

but, as long as I live in the modern world, I am going to continue to socialize with my friends over meals.. and just be mindful of what will make me ill, within hours of ingestion....

*just be mindful.
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