Attention: Those who are maintaining!

Blonde Logic

Yes. You can.
Katie brought up a good quation on another thread, and I thouht I would put it here too, to get a wider response...

Just wondering, those of you that have been maintaining for a good period of time....can you give us some info please...

How easy do you find it now to maintain? Is it a hellish effort, or does it come naturally now?

And what do you do to keep youselves on track and keep yourselves from regaining the weight? Do you have regimented exercise routines, or just watch what you eat, and stay more active? Do you find it a struggle, or had your body adapted and you now have a natural sense of what and how much to eat? And do you still indulge now and again in the delights that got us in to this mess in the first place?

Thanks!!! It will be great to hear how you are managing it, as I suspect that is the harder part of this whole scheme!!! And well done!! :)
 
Hello I am a Maintainer in Training. You can read my posts in the maintenance section all about my maintenance...

To answer your questions.

How easy do you find it now to maintain?
Easy, heck no. But it is doable. To maintain my weight I have to do the exact same things I did to lose the weight. For me it is healthy eating plus exercise everday, with a few hundred extra more calories added into my day now that I am in maintenance.

Is it a hellish effort, or does it come naturally now? Both, somedays it is hellish, other days are so easy and natural. It is just like brushing your teeth everyday, you just have to do it and make the best choices you can because their is temptations everywhere..


And what do you do to keep yourselves on track and keep yourselves from regaining the weight?

I must be AWARE at all times with my eating habits...

Do you have regimented exercise routines, or just watch what you eat, and stay more active? Both I work out religiously for 1.5 hrs everyday, plus I watch what I eat the majority of the time and yes I am very active.

Do you find it a struggle, or had your body adapted and you now have a natural sense of what and how much to eat? Somedays I struggle, I was a binge eater, but my binges are becoming less and less. I eat on plan 80 % of the time and 20 % of the time I let my hair down..

And do you still indulge now and again in the delights that got us in to this mess in the first place?
I still induldge, but being I am a calorie counter, no food was ever off limits, I just plan for it and work it into my days. Sure I eat some things that are not the greatest for me and were not PLANNED, but moderation is key. I also find the more I exercise, the more I can eat, so thats a win-win. Just because one makes it to maintenance, it doesn't give you eating privledges to eat whatever and whenever, no sir ri, if you do that, your weight will pile back on faster than you lost it!

This is my maintenance as I am living it... Hope it helps
 
Thanks for posting that it was very interesting, although not in maintenance it is nice to know what is coming, although I always knew, its calories vs calories out whatever way you do it.:)
 
Yup ladylite,
It sure is calories in vs calories out... Your doing great, pretty quick you will be known as litelady instead!
 
Thanks for that. I was just curious, even beyond the RTM phase, as in real life, say 2 -3 years down the road! That gives me a good look into how you are dealing with it and it sound like alot of work, but fuled by common sense really. I have always felt going in to this, the liosing is the easy part - the keeping it off is the difficult part. And never thought for a minute we could just go back to whatever and whenever! Just nice to know you can have a little freedom, balanced with a little regimentation, and keep it off.

I just didn;t want to thinki I was going to have to drink 4-5 litres everyday for the rest of my life!!! :D

Thanks for your input!! And, WELL DONE!! :)
 
Your welcome Blonde Logic,
Exactly you must stick with something you can do for a lifetime, if you can do that, you shouldn't have any problem maintaining your losses.
 
How easy do you find it now to maintain? Is it a hellish effort, or does it come naturally now?

95% of the time it comes naturally now. The other 5%, I have to think about it....really concentrate. About 2% of the 5% :D I get really grumpy as I feel that I shouldn't have to concentrate on it anymore and beat myself up big time, not for eating, but for having to think about it. So it's good really, as those times are few and far between now :clap:
And what do you do to keep youselves on track and keep yourselves from regaining the weight?
I do weigh daily, but mainly because I like too. I still get the thrill of seeing the low numbers. It reminds me to keep up the work. Not long after reaching goal, the compliments stop and people forget you were ever overweight in the first place. You have to do it totally for you. My maintenance stuff is not discussed with anyone (except on here), so it really does become a very personal, almost secret journey.
Do you have regimented exercise routines,
Not really, but I do love walking. I try not to do anything to keep the weight down. My aim is to do things that make me feel well and the weight will take care of itself.

I did join the gym for a year or so after getting to goal, and I'm pleased I did, but I wanted to make my life 'more natural', IYKWIM.

Do you find it a struggle, or had your body adapted and you now have a natural sense of what and how much to eat?
Yes!! I know what I can and can't do. I know what effects my body. What makes me feel hungry, how to stop a binge, all my levels on the hunger scale, false hunger, what makes me want to turn to food and how I can work through it. Rather anal :D

And do you still indulge now and again in the delights that got us in to this mess in the first place?
I do indulge now and again, but my 'delights' are now different. I no longer long for the 'beige' foods. I am just as happy with something more healthy. Sometimes I want chocs and crisps, often I'd rather have a bowl of veg with some gravy. There is no good foods and bads foods really anymore. I find that most of the time, I want the foods that nourish my body, other times I don't. It's always my choice.

It's taken me a long time to get to this point. Lots of work on the old head:eek:
 
Thanks BL for asking this one .... really helpful.

And cheers to everyone for your replies they're (mental) food for thought! :)
 
YOUR WELCOME, HOPE IT HELPS.
 
How easy do you find it now to maintain? Is it a hellish effort, or does it come naturally now?

Some weeks it is easy, and seems natural. Other weeks it's really really hard work! I've been maintaining for nearly 2 years now (in April). I do have lapses and am currently working my way out of a binging cycle I got myself into, but I know it's not forever and I think I'm always going to have to be 'aware', just not as 'obsessed' as I was when I was obese!

And what do you do to keep youselves on track and keep yourselves from regaining the weight? Do you have regimented exercise routines, or just watch what you eat, and stay more active? Do you find it a struggle, or had your body adapted and you now have a natural sense of what and how much to eat? And do you still indulge now and again in the delights that got us in to this mess in the first place?

I cycle to and from work every day, go to 1 or 2 yoga classes a week and try to do a practice once a week, and will be starting running when the nights get lighter. This is not really about maintaining my weight, well, it is a bit I suppose. I am addicted to Ashtanga yoga and I feel so much better about my body since I've been doing it. I think that exercise for me is more about changing the focus, from what my body looks like to 'what can my body do'. No one was more surprised than me when it cycled 250 miles across India in 5 days to raise money for charity!

As far as the eating thing is concerned, I just try not to binge, and to eat more or less what my body wants, and to stop when I'm full. I do still eat takeaways and chocolate and crisps, just not as often as i used to, and when I eat those foods, I don't eat as much of them as I used to.

Thanks!!! It will be great to hear how you are managing it, as I suspect that is the harder part of this whole scheme!!! And well done!! :)

You're welcome! Please believe me when i say, if I can do this, anyone can!
 
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