To worry about how to maintain weight loss?

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I've nearly reached my target weight after absolutely years of yoyo dieting, you name the diet and I've done it, but I've never been as committed and close to my target weight as I am now.
I've lost the weight with slimming world and i am well aware that many people do not agree with weight loss groups such as them but this time round it has really changed my mindset around food. If I'm honest with myself i definitely had food issues, i wouldn't quite call it binge eating but i had issues and i now think differently around food and i can turn it down if i don't need/want it but i can also enjoy the odd treat and then go back to eating healthy (before this eating anything unhealthy whilst being on a 'diet' would trigger me to quit because eating 1 chocolate bar had ruined everything 🙄)
Anyway to the point, I'm really worried about how to maintain my weight loss, i know how to overeat and put on weight and i know how to lose weight but i have no clue how to maintain.
I don't want to stick to SW forever, as much as the free foods are healthy foods that i will continue to eat anyway i would like more flexibility to eat things such as having more than one bread option a day if wanted too etc. I've thought about calculating my maintenance calories and calorie counting instead, or to just relax and try to eat 'normally' and try figure out a balance between eating healthy and having some treats.

Would appreciate any advice from others and what you do :)

I do it by staying with the group

I still go and weigh in every week.

Ive been target since September

Im pretty free and easy with my extras, I still choose healthy meals but I dont say no or feel guilty if cake is passing my way or the chocolates are being offered. So I go to group and weigh in. You have a 3lb leeway when target, I might gain for two weeks so then I pull it back for a week . Sometimes I drop to 3lb below target so then I will have a few more extras the next week to get me back to target. It takes a while to learn what you can and cant get away with. Like obviously a weekend takeaway isnt going to pile it on, but two over the weekend plus cakes every day might just be too much :)

Basically you carry on with the plan but add stuff you have avoided, like have the pepper sauce with the steak, have more then 2 slices of bread now and then, dont obsess over the dairy allowance. I still shop with SW in my mind, the cakes, crisps and chocolate are still not landing in the trolley, its still a trolley full of veg,salads, fruit and lean proteins

When I started at SW there was a lass who had been attending for TEN YEARS, yep ten years and I thought to myself "how sad" but I get it now. Shes kept the weight off for 10 years because she still follows the programme and going each week to weigh in keeps her on track. Those that yo yo are the ones who get to target and walk away from the support. I actually quite enjoy going, we are a fun close knit group and we cos its a small community we make friends and see each other outside

@suki1964 yeah that sounds exactly like how I'd like to do things once I'm at target. So much of the free food is just healthy food that I need to continue eating but I'd like to be able to enjoy the odd cake if I'm out in a cafe, the odd takeaway, the odd night of drinking etc. I think a few gains may come my way some weeks but then I can rein it in again hopefully 🤣
I do love going to group but it is a pain as I have to sort out childcare and stuff so I think I was thinking once I get to goal I can just come in once a month or something and everything will be fine but realistically I think I need to keep going weekly at least for a while!

Like you I love the food I eat now. Not that I was really awful before, bread and butter was my downfall - would rather eat that then a meal and often did. And huge bowls of pasta slathered in olive oil and cheese - lazy eating

Now its proper food, cooked without added fats and lots of veg - mindful eating. But the urge for a crisp butty breaks through now and then and its ok, as long as its not every day and its an extra not a meal replacement

During that hot spell we had, I treated myself to a couple of pints of cider - and I didnt syn it, just was mindful I had them and then during the week eased up a bit on the other extras I had been having.

The new book you get when you hit target sets out a few routes. For me as my weight loss was slow, its stick to the plan, an extra HEb a day and a couple of treat days ( or something like that ) so what I do is Saturdays is whatever is going - few drinks, nuts, curry or chinese, Sunday is a proper roast dinner with proper meat juice gravy and cauliflower cheese and yorkies - then back on weight loss plan for the rest of the week

I have to add, I do drink, so my "syns" have always been used on that. Ive only ever eaten free and speed food with the Healthy Extras so for me its very easy to gain if I go off the weight loss plan which is why I go weekly still and cant see that changing anytime soon. Other women who have hit target around the same time as me are finding once a month is working for them - we are all different. I just know if I don't have the accountability Ill be hoicking out my "fat clothes " and I so don't want to and if that means Im still going in 10 years then so be it. Im too old now to be putting the strain on my body that being overweight ( I was obese ) brings, I need to keep as healthy as I can moving forward

It's a total lifestyle change that is forever, if you want to maintain it forever. You can keep goingto weightwatchers of course, but you also need to learn and live it yourself on your own every day - the wonderful late Dr Mosely was a godsend in terms of teaching how to live that new lifestyle in order to keep it all off.

I try to remind myself: if you want a different life, you have to live a different life.

I try to eat whole, unprocessed foods M-F, then relax a bit on the weekends. Same with snacks. Stick to fruit or maybe a handful of nuts or some cheese during the week. Having a bit of cake once a week at work or in a cafe shouldn't have a big impact. It's when it becomes a daily treat that it can put you over your calories.

Find regular exercise you enjoy. Don't have junk food in the house. Buy the best quality food you can afford. I'd rather spend £4 on some olive oil crisps once a week than on a diet coke and a pack of empty calorie cereal bars.

Spend time with similar minded people. Fill your time with stimulating hobbies (Duolingo is free and you can do it 5 minutes a day).

I lost 5 stone during Covid, have since lost another stone, and have kept it off since.

Weight yourself once every 2 weeks and if you put on 1kg just be a bit more strict again.

@suki1964 pasta and cheese is one of my favourite dishes. When I weigh out 30g cheese now I realise just how much I was eating beforehand 🙈

@YouJustDoYou that's what I'm reminding myself is that it is a lifestyle change that is forever. I will never be able to go back to the way I used to eat and nor do I want too but bad habits have a way of sneaking in and I need to make sure it doesn't happen.

@MattDamon I haven't actually done any exercise to be fair, aside from walking between 10-15k steps a day. It might be a good hobby to get into to keep me on track.

Make simple changes…plan meals, control your portions, take note of protein and nutrient dense foods, build in treats/don’t stop eating chocolate or whatever your vice is (unless it’s hard drugs, stop that), understand your relationship with food outside of WW as that entire premise is built on you losing weight, gaining it and going back to give them more money. That last bit is importantly, no food is “bad”, you can eat anything but you can’t eat everything, it’s all about balance.

If you’re worried about weight, weight yourself everyday for a week at the same time then take the average. It can change so much over a day let alone day to day.

That said, ignore weight and focus on what’s important like how happy you feel, do you feel more energised, how you look etc. Keep in mind you have to actually live your life so sticking to regimes and diets has actually been your problem in the past.

Never lose sight of your progress either, you might settle at a “natural” weight that’s a bit more than you are now but always remind yourself of how well you’ve down.

Its so scary when I now look at what a "normal portion" compared to what I used to consume

I used to kid myself it was healthy - pasta and olive oil? HAF or what? Lol. Only I dont think anyone other then elite athletes really need to eat the amount I could swallow. Seriously Id easily swallow half a packet ( 250gr dried weight ) and throw in a garlic baguette along side

Now however its around the 100gr, and I pack in the veg - spinach, peppers, mushrooms, rocket, onions etc and its rare that I can eat it all

I was the original veg dodger, but I have forced myself to add veg ( or fruit ) to every meal and its working. I actually find myself looking for veg. Even if Im having scrambled eggs, Ill make up some sort of salad to go alongside - peppers , tomatoes, onions, pickles, its working. Slowly. but then all changes have to become second nature and sustainable long term - as in forever

That was the hardest change, but now it feels to be the most sustainable

I'm also doing slimming world for the millionth time! I think the only way you could maintain is if you stick to the plan and keep going to group, although I can see how easy it would be to go rogue! I have another 3 stone to lose (already lost 2) so don't think I'll be a target member for a long while yet! 😅 well done on your weight loss

I recently lost about 20kg and I'm adjusting to maintenance. I didn't do SW or anything like that.

The most important thing I'm trying to remind myself is that a small gain isn't the end of the world. It doesn't mean I'm going to put it all back on. But it is stressful. I'm also struggling with the thought of having to be obsessed with what I eat for the next 4 decades (after that if I want gin and ice cream for breakfast every day I'll have it).

So I've experimented I guess with different elements of eating now and seeing what happens. I am a few kg more than I was at my lowest but I'm happy where I am. I feel like the most important thing is sticking with weekly weigh-ins (just at home) so that I can refocus if I have a gain.

Your maintenance calories are unlikely to be that much more than your weightloss calories. 500 at the very most really, unless youve maintained a higher then recommended deficit. Eat about the same as you are at your target weight using slimming world, and add an extra couple small snacks. Protein bar and yogurt maybe. Or, stay the same for the most part, and allow yourself some wiggle room eating out with others more often etc. Whatever works for you!

Maintaining weightloss isn't going to be/feel that much different to actually pursuing weightloss. What you've had to do are lifelong changes.

Be wary of using the maintenance calculators online, every body is different. You might need more or less than they suggest. I pack weight on if I eat the "maintenance" suggested by calculators online. You can get it measured properly though, i think BUPA do it.