Anyone else like support for maintaining?

[cinnamongreyhound]

I have recently lost 5st5 over 10 months using reduced calories and mfp as well as starting the c25k and now running regularly.

I am on the mfp support thread and the ladies there are lovely but I feel a bit guilty posting about maintaining when so many of them have large amounts to lose. I was hoping to find some others who are in the same position as well as keeping up with how my mfpers are doing. Still logging on mfp and have maintained between 60.5 and 61.5kg for the last month.

well done for your weight loss - what is mfp?

Mfp is my fitness pal, it's a website/phone app that allows you to easily count calories, monitor calories burned and get support from others. It has a good database of food so most things are there already with ther calorie amounts. You put in height, weight, activity levels and the amount you want to lose per week and it sets you a daily calorie allowance.

Hi greyhound, I lost 3 stone in 6 months and have maintained at approx 59 kilos for the last month or so. I find it hard to get away from the sad about no loss this week mentality and keep set on the maintaining track.
It's hard not to let the odd treat creep back in, and then feel guilty about it!

Hello. I still need to loose weight but I know how difficult it is to maintain weight because in the past I've lost 10 kg and later, slowly, gained 11!!! This time around I'm loosing slowly, it is much harder but I hope not to repeat my previous experience with gaining everything back + 1 more kg! I'm happy to support you as I know how hard it is to maintain. I still believe, although it is very hard, it's still easier to loose weight in comparison with maintaining the achieved weight. I too easily go back to the wrong foods as I get fed up thinking what I'm going to have next and having healthy food for long period of time. Still, let's try our best to keep going :)

Well done on your loss Cinnamon I'm also trying to maintain but I really struggle, I like wine and I like sugar.....I run too, I am not doing 5:2 fasting as a way of maintaining - I lose no weight while doing it but if I can maintain then that's a big bonus.

Me!
Yes please

Hi TellMeLater, I love sugar too especially at totm! I don't drink alcohol so that really helps me with calories. Some of the ladies on mfp are doing the 5:2 diet along with mfp to lose weight too. I have upped my calories to 1540 which is supposed to give me a weightloss of 1/2 a week but I go a bit over a couple of days a week and so far have maintained (including increases and curtains points of the month then back down). What's your story?

Welcome RatherBeOnThePiste! I was thinking it was just me for a while glad to see a few more join me :). How much have you lost? What are you doing to maintain at the moment? And how long since you got to your goal?

I lost just over 4 stone, doing all sorts of things, but mostly by seeing it as a long haul thing, and just keeping going. My original goal was to be in the 9s, I am 5ft8, I got there last Christmas. Possibly that was too low, so now my aim is to maintain between 10 and 10:7. The weight is creeping on again so at the mo I'm trying to lose half a stone

But you know I think the losing weight part was the easy part, I think maintaining is the real challenge, so bless you for this thread

I have lost nearly 2 stone since January through mfp. I have tried to stop calorie counting and maintaining by going low carb and now by 5:2. Have regained about 4lbs in 3 months, hopefully I can find a way to get my weight to stabilise soon.

I think with loosing weight you have an end point and you are working towards a target plus you have the reward of the weekly weightloss. I have increased my calories to less than mfp suggested for maintenance to see what happened. I'm still logging at the moment, I guess that's my safety net! I do go over more than I was when losing but that's partly so that I know it's ok to have a bad day and still be ok to keep it in perspective. You have to have what you like or you'll never last but I think for me the positive about calorie counting is that I can balance a treat out with a lighter meal at some point during the day and my appetite is much smaller than it ever has been which helps a lot!!

I had a sickness bug last week and lost 2.5Kg in 3 days now everyone is telling me I'm too thin. Aaarrgghh you jut can't win!!

Funny how everyone has an opinion on your weight once you've lost some :(

Hope you're feeling better. Yep people have pretty strong opinions on thinness - always feels like there's a little bit of the competitive green eyed monster around.

You know the familiar saying "Please God If You Can't Make Me Thin, Make My Friends Fat!"

Don't feel guilty about posting about maintaining on the other thread! You are our poster girl :) Of course we understand if you want to find some friends in the same position, and I'll come and join you here once I hit goal (it'll be a while though ;) )

Hello!

I'll join you!

Since May 2011 I have lost over 5 stone and am now about 9 stone 4, a size 8-10 and I'd like to stay this way! I am currently trying to maintain by watching my calories and carb intake. No matter how many diets there are out there, I truly believe that it all comes down to one thing... calories! And they're fairly simple to keep track of!

Anyway - well done on all the losses so far. I have been at goal for around 3 or so weeks now - I still do a double take when I see myself in a mirror. And constantly fret about stacking it back on again!

I'm getting used to how I look now ShIneOncrazydiamond! It does take a while, sounds like our weight loss and size are pretty similar. I am very used to lower calories so now I feel like I can have more treats on top of my lower calorie diet. Now I'm at target I am actually weighing myself less and have so far maintained for just over 2 months.

Thanks jchocchip, I just don't want it to seem like I'm saying nah nah nah nah nah I've done it and you haven't. But I like being on that thread to support others and I think some issues are still the same :)

That's what dh always says TellMeLater, he said I've always been the fat one and now I'm actually thinner than a lot of my friends and they don't like it. I like to think better of people that they are genuinely concerned! It's just that I'm not majorly skinny I just have a small frame that has almost always been covered in a lot of blubber!

I've hurt my foot so can't run which I'm gutted about but really not hungry either (guess that's the lack of activity!). I am hopping most of the time so I will soon have a massive right leg!

Hi, can I join please? :) I lost 5 stone between November last year and June this year and I'm now maintaining. I did WW to lose the weight and kept tracking to try and maintain but found that I just kept losing, so I've stopped tracking for the last 6 weeks and have tried to really loosen up about my eating and now I'm maintaining at 8st 10lbs pretty much exactly every week. Today as an experiment I tracked what I ate (I did it all this evening so it didn't affect my choices during the day if you see what I mean) and found I'd had 50 ProPoints, or 1818 kcal in old money. MFP tells me (I've discovered today!) that I should have 1730 kcal daily to maintain, so it looks like I've more or less found a natural balance. For now, anyway!

Hi Kaloobear!! That's fab loss and quick too! I've lost similar over a longer time. It's good that you've found an equilibrium. Its hard to get out of the mindset of losing and eat a bit more. How are you finding others react to your weightloss?

How is everyone doing? I'm fed up now with my broken foot and it's coming up to totm but despite eating more I haven't gain anything so far. Do you think the emotional eating ever goes? I fight it more than I ever have and don't have loads in the house so can't eat the volumes I used to but as soon as something goes wrong I reach for food!

Hi can i join you. I used MFP to lose 34lbs since Jan, I've been at the same weight since July but would like to lose another half stone but seem to have just hit a mental wall. I've also been diagnosed with Gall Stones, which I've been told could have been caused by the weight loss despite losing at 1-2lbs a week! My feelings of joy at being my lowest for 10yrs+ post two DDs have now been overshaded by the health issues. I need to stay positive now to avoid overeating it all back on again.

Ive also gone back to work after years maternity leave so sitting on my bum all day instead of walking lots with buggy worried how I'm going to maintain my fitness.

cinnamon I don't think it goes away I think you just work harder to be mindful of what you eating. If after distracting myself for half hr I still really want something I have it but then make myself compensate by exercising off those calories. It's hard though when I'm tired and life gets demanding. Can you swim or cycle whilst your foot heals, or do stuff like sitting on a chair but doing static punches. I use shred DVD at least once a week.

Hi Cinnamon I've been on the MFP thread in the past but not posted for a while despite still logging on MFP.

I've now reached a weight I'm happy with (8st7 and a size 10) but am still logging and have also set myself workout targets of at least 3 workouts a week, as I'd still like to tone up a bit more and am also actually enjoying my exercise classes at the moment. It allows me to eat back any exercise cals if I need to and I think is a good way to maintain.

I've decided to carry on weighing myself once a week to check I stay at my current weight. I can imagine I might get bored of logging after a while, but at the moment I quite like the reassurance, and while maintaining it's allowing me 1530 cals before exercise, and I always earn at least 300ish from exercise a day too, so not hard to stick to (in theory!).

One other thing I'm going to try to do is to keep off the vino as much as possible, as that's where the trouble starts for me! I can put away quite a few cals in wine on a Friday night, which then leads to extra snacking, but the real issue is my recovery eating the next day and the impact it has on exercising the following day. Going to aim to stick at 1 glass on a Friday and Saturday evening ONLY...(watch this space on that one though!).

Don't think I've ever not been trying to lose weight so it requires a bit of a change of mindset.

Jeez - sorry for such a long ramble

Cinnamon I find most people compliment me on looking good the first time they see me and then the next time they say in a concerned way, 'you haven't lost any more weight have you?' It drives me crazy as I deliberately stopped losing months ago, and am quite happy where I am! I think it says more about the general insecurity people have about their own weight than anything else.

My strategy for maintaining is to weigh myself every morning and if the scales move up by a pound or so over the course of a week (bearing in mind weight fluctuates a fair amount day to day) then I do a few days of MFP at about 1700 kcal. Other than that I'm not watching what I eat at all, and loving it!

Hi pinkcustard, I recognise your name :). Not rambling at all, it's grey to hear other people's thoughts. I've been overweight most of my adult life and a bit chunk of my childhood so this is all new to me and I'd like to stay!

Kaloobear, it does annoy me too and it's always with a sharp in take of breath!! Sounds like a good plan to me. I can't eat as much as I used to so I think that helps with self regulation. A bit worried as I am now not running due to broken foot so exercise is well down. Haven't been able to walk until today.

I'm similar everyone has been very complimentry on me losing weight but when I say I'd like to lose a bit more to get my BMI to 25 I get ooh don't lose any more heaven forbid if I actually lost another 2stone to get to the healthy BMI of 23! I think just get used to you being a certain size, I've always been the "cuddly" one in our family and now I'm not so :)

I was annoyed with myself yesterday I'd been v.healthy all day despite travelling for work, I chose a fruit salad instead of a chocolate bar at the train station. But then I missed my arvo snack, took DD1 swimming straight from school ended up being late home with baby too and was so hungry &tired I just stuffed my face whilst trying to pull an unplanned tea together with baby on my hip grissling. In that half hour hickcup I must have had 600c+ grrr that's when I get annoyed with myself so must plan ahead more to not have that sugar dip that makes me feel like its impossible to wait 20mins for food but NEED IT NOW :o

Hope your foot isn't going to take too long to heal, I hurt my back 4yrs ago and put weight on quite quickly as I find it hard to eat less especially when I'm not releasing exercise endomorphins.

Ooh something else which I find really helpful in maintaining is that I use a Fitbit - which is essentially a fancy pedometer but it links to a website and also to MFP and monitors activity levels and therefore calorie expenditure more accurately than MFP alone (which I find overestimates exercise cals quite badly). So basically it tells me exactly how many cals I've used each day, which gives me a good guide as to how many I can eat! It also makes exercise more rewarding