Thread 2 because we have reached our goal weights and we want to maintain not regain. We might be going cold turkey or titrating down or staying on!

[MargoLivebetter]

Can't believe we filled up a whole thread! Welcome to thread 2.

On a positive note to start us off, I've lost 1lb of the two that I gained from my autumnal apple crumble caper. Filling full of resolve and pleased to know I can gain a pound or two (which is of course completely normal) and then lose them again.

@FurForksSakeik the same, I originally set my goal at 8st 6 as this was mostly green on renpho (except subcutaneous fat) but I prefer to be below this to allow me for wiggle room at the weekend, holidays etc. i recently went up to 8st 9 post holiday and it was worrying. I'd missed a jab and once I was back on it settled nicely. I'm 5'1.

On the exercise front I used to be a runner and was always plagued with injuries meaning I'd be on and off and creating that yo-yo. Now that I strength train and do weights I don't have that. I can mostly manage anything despite injury and my body has improved massively with the extra muscle.

I am still learning maintenance despite doing it for 6 months. I haven't calorie counted in that time so no idea what my maintenance is but I usually eat lighter in the week and allow more at the weekends. I weigh daily so I can pick up when I'm going over. I'm not ready to come off the jabs but might have to when I start ADHD medication. My last pen is being delivered by Pharmulous in January (when I will have started ADHD medication) so it will be in the fridge in case I need it but also give me until January the following year in case I need to go back on it. Hubby also on it so I can donate my own to him if needed.

@ThisMustBeMyDream I think @FurForksSake has worded it brilliantly in the first line of her last post.
It would be so easy to blame a weight gain on tough periods of our lives but you won’t have to. Well done and hope the next few weeks are ok for you.

I’ve just picked up my ds12’s weights and done some upper body exercises. They are 3kg and probably 1kg too heavy for me. I’m so weak! I’m going to acquire my adjustable small dumbbells back from his room.

This was posted on the keep on exercising post in a discussion about consistency. I think it’s brilliant! It really brings home the “do it half arsed, just don’t not do it” motto.

There are various different upper body.

3kg will be challenging for a beginner for lateral raises but easier for a floor chest press.

I use a range of dumbells for upper body from 4kg (rotator cuff) to 20kg (bench press) or possibly even more for rows.

I use 5kg, but started at 2kg. I could go heavier for goblet squats and rows, but can still only manage 3kg for some upper body.

@ThisMustBeMyDream so sorry to read about the tough time you’re having. I hope this week and the coming months is much better for you all.
On the exercise thing, for me, I know the only thing that’s helping me with maintaining without any hassle is the weighted exercises I’m doing. Cardio always make me hungry but the weights have been perfect for me. It’s toned me up and it’s as if my body is replacing fat with muscle and I’m able to eat well and not feel like I’m starving and still not gain weight.

9.5 months without MJ and my weight day was on Saturday and I hit my lowest ever weight. BMI is now 22.9 and my subcutaneous fat is now fully green on my Renpho scale which is lovely to see.
I’m not trying to lose weight but I’ve never counted calories, just mindful and it just seems that with the weighted exercises I do, even with how well I eat, a few treats here and there, I’m still not eating all my maintenance calories so I’m so happy with that and won’t stop exercising as it’s just a lifestyle I enjoy now.

@ThisMustBeMyDream sorry I missed your stressful time. Well done for being able to have a healthy and positive outlook throughout. But if it gets hard, also remember to be kind to yourself. It’s very hard to be healthy when stressed because of the way our bodies often respond.

On exercise, it’s absolutely true that exercise really only accounts for less than 5% of weight loss, it’s mostly about food. Especially cardio. And steps per day is basically pointless apart from being good for you in terms of mobility.

Im a runner and have managed to be a fat runner for a long time! And trained for a marathon. It can make you hungrier, you need to fuel which means carbs, and most often people overestimate how much they burn. I never count the calories from exercise, in part because it’s almost impossible to know how much your body burns. Anything on a watch etc is just an estimate.

I agree that running makes you hungry but overall it does make you leaner. But yes its a tough act to balance (i used to be a runner).
like @Tohaveandtohold i also find that exercsing helps me shift the fat and gain muscle. Maybe im delulu but id like to think this is why my weight loss is slow!!!
also exercising is a good way to pass the time - on friday i went to yoga so i wouldnt scroll IG on the sofa wondering whether to order a pizza for myself when i did order a pizza for the kids… instead i went to yoga and had a healthy dinner and felt great. I think thats also one of the benefits of exercising: keeping me busy amd on the straight amd narrow! On friday i probably “saved” 1000cals (pizza + wine) let alone the calories i burned at yoga.

Oh God exercise is vital to being healthy! I was wasn’t dissing exercise. I still run and now do weights and I love it. It’s important for my mental health.

I think exercise helps with maintaining for so many reasons.

mental health
time filler
body composition

but a big one I think is how you see yourself mentally. I need to get fit and strong as much as I can so I can rewrite the story I tell myself of who I am.

By that I mean I need to reprogramme my brain to see myself as a fit, active and slim person. I currently feel like a total fraud and an obese person on holiday in thin land. I feel a bit like my weight and slimness is stolen valour. I didn’t work hard enough to get here. I didn’t overcome myself without taking the medication route. I would never think about other people like that.

I feel like maintenance (after I’ve recovered from surgery) is my chance to become the person I look like. Someone who is slim but more importantly active and healthy.

I feel like if I can use exercise as a good part of my maintenance and future I will then make the food and drink choices that go alongside that. Fit and active people in my head naturally and intuitively make good choices and don’t eat giant pizzas and buckets of ice cream and sacks of Maltesers. They of course have meals off and treats, but they don’t make it their personality.

I find a lot of the narrative from people that have never taken or needed WLI is very shaming and it’s definitely impacted me.

I agree. Was just surprised that he dismissed it - said on podcast more important to spend time cooking whole foods. But it’s true cardio does make you more hungry, and there are plenty of overweight runners.

I’ve got into weight lifting, could even describe it as bodybuilding (but won’t be competing!!) i’m also fit in that I can run a 5km in 30 mins. My identity is now as a strong (ripped??) person.

i

Exercise is really important for health, I assume he means that exercise doesn't aid weight loss. It is more about calories in than calories out.
I only have to look at my mum she is 79 and took the stay at home to literal 5 years ago and now she is very immobile. As we age we must keep active.

Sarcopenia is to be fought off at all costs!

@Merlin23 that must be hard to witness. My parents are super active and i sometimes feel older than they are! It motivated me to be active.
I like the ida of being active/sporty as an identity. I really feel better in my body and about myself every time i exercise. I like to feel strong too, it makes me feel alive!

It is. We live too far away from her to really help.
We kept telling her to keep going out for walks, but she only went out to do her shopping.
After a hip replacement in October she still hasn't left the house. We feel useless as she won't be helped! The only thing i do is get her shopping delivered, but not sure if that is just adding to her not trying hard enough!

Yes - that’s what he said - he didn’t think it was important for weight loss.

@ThisMustBeMyDream you have had some challenging weeks but held the weight off. Well done

I barely exercise and have been keeping weight off since June so doing ok

@ThisMustBeMyDream what a rough time you have had recently. That sounds like a very heavy load to have carried and be carrying. Well done for staying in maintenance with all of that going on.

@FurForksSake good luck with your post surgery recovery. I hope that goes well and you get your wish for 2026!

Interesting posts about Omega 6. My understanding is that Omega 6 is found in seed oils and lots of nutrionists think we now consume too much fats from seed oils, which are always very highly processed too, and therefore we get too much Omega 6 and not enough Omega 3.

I think exercise is important but I don't think if you are overweight that exercise alone will make you lose weight. I think it can be part of the tool set that helps but ultimately what you are putting in your mouth is going to have the greatest impact. I exercise because I feel better for it and I also worry about getting weak as I age, so want to stay strong and mobile. However, I've always exercised and I've been a porker too, so it definitely didn't help me lose weight in the past.

I managed to do an upper body work out in my pyjamas with two water bottles. Had to be very careful of the hip but I managed it.

In other news, I’ve been meal planning for while the kids are off for Christmas, the idea being I can make sure we have easy and delicious meals and don’t order take aways.

I definitely feel more in control if I have planned things out. My list has got wraps, steak, stew, stir fry, curry, marry me chicken pasta, meatball lasagna and gyros on it. I save most of my budget for dinner and then we’ll have soup or nibble plates (gherkins / cold meat / cottage cheese / hard boiled eggs / pickles / carrot / cucumber / cheese / grapes / nuts) for lunches I think.

I’m definitely going to try and get everyone out for a thirty minute walk every day even if I am on crutches and have to sit down every ten. We will all drive each other mad otherwise!

Today is my first day in reduced dose. I was in 7.5, and dropped down to 5. Pretty sure I feel hungrier and less able to resist temptation, but that might be because I was expecting that.

I think I’m finding the transition to maintenance more tricky than I thought. It’s like if I’m losing know what to do, but not maintaining.

Delurking to join the Andrew Jenkinson appreciation here. I am about 1/2stone off my goal weight so have been lurking in hope of getting there soon and being able to join you all in maintenance.
I think he said, in his first book, that omega oils become part of cell walls. Omega-3 makes the walls nice and flexible where Omega-6 makes them more rigid and, therefore less permeable so chemical messengers and hormones are unable to get in and the cells become more resistant to them so the normal processes of metabolism function less well

I’ll have to re-read the first book. I keep on saying to DH, ask him x but really think will need to decide just on one question.

@FoxRedPuppy without wishing to undermine how you are feeling, I think that must be in your head, because by injecting you would have had more MJ in your system than you had the day before - iyswim! Let us know how it goes.

Waves @timidviper - glad you've delurked.

Love the planning @FurForksSake . Need to do some too!