To think I can't maintain my weight loss

[Gr8days]

So since lockdown started last March, I said to myself that I would lose weight, get fit etc. I went from 14stone down to 10stone by October I'm 5ft7. All through Intermittent fasting. I relaxed my diet over November to end of January with Christmas etc getting in the way. I got on the scales yesterday and I'm up to 11st 4.

DH said not to worry, as you did look a bit too thin at 10st. However, I'm scared that I'm starting to undo all my hard work.

My jeans (DH bought me when I'd reach my target) are getting tighter and I feel more hungry, than I did when doing IF.

Should I try and lose the weight (get back to 10st) or should I just keep an eye on the scales and maintain around 11st by not allowing it to escalate any further?

@MiniCooperLover inch loss would be great!

Joe wicks is excellent to start on. We did. Graduated to fitness blender. Ouch

I need to stop eating before bed. I seem to pick at foods till I go to bed.

I'm the same, without I.f, I gain weight easily. I now prefer to do 3 mini fasts a week, of 700 calories. This feels more sustainable and I'm close to my goal. I don't want to fall off the wagon like I did at xmas! If I were you I'd do the same. But don't undo all your hard work by letting it slide. Summers coming and you'll want to feel great in your summer clothes.

@Gr8days

I need to stop eating before bed. I seem to pick at foods till I go to bed.

I'm the same... I've just started doing 16:8 again today and I am STARVING right now. Going to have a big glass of water and go to bed so I don't eat half a pack of biscuits

I lost 24lbs in lockdown 1 - I have maintained since October - gained at Xmas and lost it in January, but back to maintaining. I’d definitely go back to weight loss if I gained 1 stone as I’d feel that it could all pile back on. Maybe start calorie counting for a while again / dieting

I think I will just have to stay IF forever now. Lost 2 stone doing that during the week bmi 27 to 21 via IF and daily cardio. Am maintaining but fear if I go back to scoffing whatever I want as I was before I’ll just undo my good work!

The other thing I do which seems to help me maintain, if I know I've got an event coming up which will involve eating, drinking and being merry (and I do want to live a bit!), I will do an extra fast day, or 2, BEFORE said event.
That compensates for the additional calorie intake and also means I enjoy the occasion rather than any guilt trip, which, IMHO, can lead to a mental "throwing in the towel" frame of mind and lead to reverting to old habits.

I went from 14st 13 to 10st 3 at my lowest, average out at 10st 7/9 normally. i was 11st last time im looked. Im too scared to look again. My size 10 jeans are getting tighter. I dont want to be that big again. I didnt work my ass off to put it back on again but i cant get back in that head space and the furthest i walk currently is to the kettle.

I’m the same height as you and the lowest weight I’ve been in adulthood is 10 stone 8. I looked like a lollipop in all honesty looking back at the photos, I had no boobs or bum at all and was just totally flat from top to bottom. Felt amazing at the time but looking back at photos now, it doesn’t look natural.

Suppose it depends on your body shape, I’m an hourglass and at that weight I just lost my curves. 11 stone 6ish is about right for me, tbh I look good at 12 stone even though that’s slightly overweight for our height.

Same ! Went from 13 to 10
Then stayed a happy 11
Now I’m the fattest ever

How the hell to start again in lockdown
I know , eat , exercise , cut the wine
It’s hard

@Ruddyfedup

I went from 14st 13 to 10st 3 at my lowest, average out at 10st 7/9 normally. i was 11st last time im looked. Im too scared to look again. My size 10 jeans are getting tighter. I dont want to be that big again. I didnt work my ass off to put it back on again but i cant get back in that head space and the furthest i walk currently is to the kettle.

Sounds just like me! :)

@Darbs76

I lost 24lbs in lockdown 1 - I have maintained since October - gained at Xmas and lost it in January, but back to maintaining. I’d definitely go back to weight loss if I gained 1 stone as I’d feel that it could all pile back on. Maybe start calorie counting for a while again / dieting

Yes I've gone up nearly a stone and a half (3 pounds away) so probably is best that I go back to weight loss. Otherwise it could soon pile back on

I've found only rating from a plate, at a table, works well. Nothing from a bag plus you have to sit somewhere else and be mindful of what you are doing. Really helps.

@Royalbloo thats a good idea. Might try it.

You need to change your mind set. You’re not “dieting” go stay this size. There is a mid ground between dieting and eating what you want when you want. You need to eat in a healthy manner most of the time and within the amount you need for your lifestyle. That’s not dieting.

The issue with maintaining at this level is if you gain more, you start to think, well it’s only half a stone. Then you get used to that size, and then you think well it’s just another half a stone.

I think you’ve done what most peoooe do. Is you’ve not changed your eating habits to a healthy diet to maintain, you’ve reached what you want to be then thought fuck it, I can now eat exactly as I did before. Not realising that that’s what made you overweight in the first place.

Maintenance is often the hardest part of any weight loss. Because you need to accept you can never go back to how you used to eat.

Absolutely bluntness. It’s not a diet it’s a permanent change.

I have accepted I will never eat breakfast again as have found IF 16/8 means I can stay 9st 12 and still eat nice food. Do an hours cardio each day now habit like cleaning teeth.

It’s so true
So so true
It’s no wonder many people have gained during this past year
We know the drill
And yet .....

You need to change your mind set. You’re not “dieting” go stay this size. There is a mid ground between dieting and eating what you want when you want. You need to eat in a healthy manner most of the time and within the amount you need for your lifestyle. That’s not dieting.

Definitely. I eat essentially normally but weigh carbs, make sure I eat well and think about how many snacks I’m eating. Plus exercise is a proper part of life.

Different things work for different people. It really doesn’t have to feel like you’re limiting yourself or you’re still on a diet.

The extra weight doesn't go on over night - just eating a couple of hundred extra calories a day than you need will see a pound or two go on in a month OP, that's why your weight is creeping up. You either address it now, lose the extra then maintain, or you keep gaining. Sorry, but it is as simple as that.
However you lose weight, low carb or calorie counting or IF, once it's off, you then need to work out how much you can eat to maintain, and stick to that amount.
Like I said upthread, losing it is the easy part. Then you have to get used to eating in a new way, which is enough to satisfy you, but never too much (like previously) to gain again. I don't consider that I am still on a diet, but I do know that I eat a lot less than some people, and I accept that. But, the crucial thing for me is that I eat enough to feel full, and no more. 3 meals a day, lots of healthy veg, complex carbs in moderation, lean protein. And no sugar. Cutting the sugar, processed foods and snacks was hard, but that and calorie counting got four stone off, and keeping to that (but with bigger portions now at meals) is how I maintain.

You have to accept that healthy eating and dieting are two separate things - the latter will get the weight off, the former will help you to maintain.

You can't go on a diet, then revert back to old habits - unless you want the old results.

[quote Gr8days]@Janaih Its stressing me too. I think I'll probably have to "diet" to stay this size.[/quote]
You don't have to 'diet' to maintain at all. You just have to be mindful for a while until what's actually normal and healthy for your body becomes instinctive. I've been where you are. My weight crept up slowly in my 20s and early 30s until in the year after my son was born when I piled on a lot of weight rapidly because I was eating through tiredness. I stopped drinking soft drinks and constantly eating sugary treats and lost the extra weight quite quickly. (I was still breastfeeding a lot back then, so it was rapid.)

Once I was slim, I completely let my guard down and went back to eating way, way too much sugar and drinking too much coke. Within 3 years I had managed to put on enough to give me a BMI of 30. (I honestly had no idea, I thought I was a bit overweight not obese.) I cut out all the sugar, got back in touch with my appetite rather than sugar cravings. Was back at a healthy weight BMI in 4-5 months. I was definitely worried about how I'd maintain that, knowing that I'd lost weight, then slipped back into old habits once before.

This time around though I completely changed my whole attitude to my body. I found my 'sport,' became athletically fit and my relationship with food changed to one where I eat to support my body. I still eat junk sometimes but I honestly truly prefer food that both tastes good and makes me feel energised and powerful. I don't diet but I do eat really, really well. I take much, much more joy and pleasure from food now that I'm fit than I ever did when I was overweight. I don't restrict, I eat what I want, it's just that once your body gets used to whole foods, healthy fats, lots of fruit and veg, your body just really, really wants those things.

Weighed this morning and I'm 11st 5.

I've also tried on my jeans and they won't zip or button :(

I would put those jeans away until you hit a weight where you think they’ll fit. It will just make you miserable.

What do you think you’ll do now?
I guess your options are to diet again then maintain at a lower weight or maybe you’d rather ditch the jeans on eBay and buy a larger size.

@PurpleDaisies I should put them away. But I have 1 pair of True Religion, 7 For all mankind and Levi's. DH bought me them when I'd lost the weight back in September/October.

I am thinking i'll have to diet as I don't want the weight to keep going on. Buying a larger size would be like accepting the gain. Plus it would do me no favours

If you want to loose weight and keep it off you need to change your whole life style.

All these fad diets may help you get the initial weight off but unless you keep the fad diet up forever it's not going to stay off and as some as you go back to your old way of eating it obviously going to go back on. Your better off changing your whole lifestyle , better, balanced diet and sustainable exercise practices that you can keep up forever.

But 11st at your height doesn't sound big. I wouldn't worry about the figures to much either , if you're happy with the way you look what does a number matter?