Maintaining weight loss

[pfrench]

I did the BSD for 3 months in 2016 and lost 2 and a half stone.

It's all back on + more.

I don't want to spend my life weighing every carrot I eat, but am I right in thinking that in order to maintain a weight loss for any amount of time (or forever), I'm going to have to 'obsess' about food also forever?

I use the word obsess because that's how I feel about it. I suppose 'be highly observant' would also apply. Weighing everything and counting everything doesn't work well for my mental health.

I can only really answer for myself, but I'm afraid for me the answer is that I think in order not to become overweight again I am going to have to be mindful of my eating and follow some kind of rules/plan for the forseeable. For me this doesn't mean 'obsessing' or weighing everything as following the 5:2 plan taught me good habits and also I pretty much know my portion sizes and calorie limits. I do still use a food diary/tracking tool though, just to keep me on track - I find this reassuring as I can see that if I am slightly 'off plan' one day I can easily make it back over the course of the week without needing to do anything drastic.

My eating plan which I follow the majority of the time is below (I give myself Christmas and holidays off and just eat whatever) - I don't find this overly restrictive but it does mean I have to have some restraint and discipline, e.g. I only ever eat at mealtimes, never snacking. I don't worry too much about 'blips' on a particular day, just try and average out at the right level over the course of the week. I weigh myself every so often and if I've put on more than a few llbs I go back to full 5:2 until back at target weight. Would something like this work for you, or do you think it would lead to constant vigilance and intrusive thoughts around food? I guess the holy grail of diet maintenance is something you can follow without really thinking about it at all, I am not quite there yet!

-Monday (normally, can swap this to another day if need be): 500 cal fast day
-Tuesday -Thursday: sensible, healthy eating (following 5:2 'rules' e.g. no snacking between meals, no alcohol) usually ending up at around 90% of TDEE
-Friday: light eating only in the day followed by a takeaway or more 'treaty' evening meal, keeping roughly to within TDEE
-Saturday: whatever I fancy, usually ends up at TDEE + 500-1000 calories
-Sunday: sensible -ish eating, keeping roughly to within TDEE

Hi, thanks for your response. How you manage your diet sounds great for you, but that's the sort of thing that would make me spend every waking moment thinking about food!

What I'd do in an ideal world is eat 3 meals a day, no snacking, puddings/obviously sweet stuff only every so often. And for that to keep me at a reasonable weight that feels good. I don't feel the need to look a certain way, I just want to feel confident about my body - which I've failed to manage at 'every' size.

Hi pfrench, I remember you from our BSD threads!

I've maintained (not entirely by choice) for about a year now and I would put it down to: regular vigorous, muscle building exercise, keeping the carbs low (ish) as in still not having bread, pasta, potato, rice, breakfast cereal, or lots of fruit- but in reality I probably have 1-2 portions a week, and generally following the med diet. Some days I graze terribly- I think this habit is what's standing in the way of my losing more weight, because my food generally is good. --

as a rule, I have a list of 'allowed foods' that I pretty much eat freely and don't weigh/measure- this only works though if you eat when you're hungry and stop when you're full, and in order to really trust my body that it's genuinely hungry I need to keep away from starchy carbs, grains and sugar because they tell lies . I am strongly considering removing full fat dairy from my list of allowed foods though, simply because I do eat a lot of yogurt and cheese and have started losing that natural satiety 'off switch' for it.

Please do pop back to the thread if you want, it's thread 15 now if you're searching for it. Lots of new starters but also maintainers with good advice for you

Blood sugar diet and Fast800 thread 15 www.mumsnet.com/Talk/fasting_diet/3593022-blood-sugar-diet-and-fast800-thread-15

Ah yes, I remember you too.

I've flirted with the idea of doing the BSD again, but then I remember it didn't work for me after about 12 weeks when I started running properly again. My take away from the experience was that I need to eat very little to actually feel not hungry.

I probably just need to stick to three meals and reduce the size of them by half. Menopause isn't helping the situation.

I have definitely found now that I've lost weight (I'm now bmi 21/22) my running is, not suffering as such, but it's more of a delicate balancing act to get the proper nutrition and also fuel my training. It's fine if I want to plod along at a comfortable pace with a longer run at weekends, however if I want to do sprint training or anything above about 10k I need to actually plan my diet rigidly for the day before and after or I will end up in the fridge!

I never do 800 calories any more though, and I'm maintaining well. I suppose it depends what you want to achieve. The BSD principles are still
A good basis for a lifestyle that supports your exercise goals and your weightloss goals.