Height: 5 ft 8.5" athlete who can give a punch & certainly take one too! :)
Maintaining but thinking to lose a few more....
I have been maintaining for 6 months now and holding between 145-150. Today I weighed in at 142, but now I decided I want to lose a few more pounds and get to 140 and stay there instead!!! Is this normal? I will be going on holiday for several weeks and I do not want to restrict my foods TOTALLY while on vacation, so I feel if I weigh a bit less before I go, I feel it will be ok if I GAIN a bit on my holiday and this way I won't beat myself up over it if I do gain. Can anybody else relate to my thinking? I go on holiday but once a year and I work so hard at my job that I think I deserve to SPLURGE on food and drinks once a year..., so I am thinking if I go 5 pounds lower before I leave, I will not feel guilty for any gains when I return.... Make sense to any of you?
Why not? I work with a guy who does this all the time before travel and also before the holidays. If it is just a weight loss pad against vacation, personally, I'd probably wait until I got back because a lot of people do enough extra walking and such on vacation to offset the extra calories and come back nearly where they started.
Of course it is also normal to decide that you want to lose a couple more pounds, or for that matter to be happy a couple pounds up. Maintenance is such a bad word, because it is still about ups and downs, just much smaller ups and downs.
Makes perfect sense to me. Odds are that you'll probably feel so good about yourself at 140 that when you get back from holiday, you'll want to lose the holiday pounds to get back there.
Just my own opinion here... and contrary to the others so far...
Yes, when on vacation one does want to have a good time. But if what you are thinking is several weeks of overeating and indulging, I'd say maybe rethink that. It can be really, really hard to get back on a sensible eating plan after that much time running wild.
Sure--if you want to lose a couple more pounds before you go, why not? But if I were in your position, I'd be thinking of eating moderately most of the time, and then splurging now and then on a sumptuous dinner or special brunch or a party. I'd also be thinking of how to continue my exercise/physical activity.
I don't think of maintaining as something I can just forget about because of a special event. I think of it as how I live, and then work from there.
I agree with Jay. I think it's ok to have a few treats on vacation, but if you let yourself "run wild" as she said, for several weeks, this could be asking for a lot of added weight, not just 1 or 2. Also, do you work out? When I go on vacation or travel for work, it is harder for me to find food OP, but if I can get my usual exercise in it sort of buffers any food mistakes I make. A few indulgences, though, are ok in my book.
Changing what weight you decide to stay at is also ok. "Maintenance" is a continually evolving state. Who knows, you might get to 140 and decide you liked maintaining at 145-150 better. But I think a lot of people here play around with their maintenance weight.
Height: 5 ft 8.5" athlete who can give a punch & certainly take one too! :)
Thank you ladies :-)
I will roll with my brilliant idea... And Jay, I will not be INDULDGING in every meal nor drinking heavily, I gain weight very easily, so it will be from time to time over the few weeks, not daily PIGOUTS! I will still workout DAILY as that has been my lifestyle for 28 years. Plus activities like volleyball will keep me active and walking to and from site seeing. I will induldge in moderation of course, and eat healthy when I can.
Thanks for the reminder though, believe you me it is always in my mind how many calories this is going to set me back... I am ALWAYS aware, and begin to panic when the scale rises in the wrong direction.... so I am on top of my game at all times. Maintainers have to be, otherwise you will be right back to where you started if your not careful. I am not home free just because I am in maintenance, heck no maintenance is even more thought than losing was...
My goal which I reached March 16 was 127 but I have so been enjoying my exercise and healthy food that as of today I am down to 117 and close to my secret wish goal of 115 ( which I weighed in my twenties).
I am losing about a lb a month now which feels right.
I have one treat meal a week ( after which I always seem to put on a lb since I normally eat a very low salt diet but that lb is gone in a couple of days) and apart from that I stick with the same calories and food that I ate when losing. My exercising though is increasing as I get stronger. I am focusing more on putting on muscle and increasing my cardio speed.
I think its fine to let your own body and intuitive sense guide you.
Mind you I have not had to deal with any major vacations yet. When I go to visit my daughter in Montreal I take my own food and we eat out only very occasionally.
But as many have said Maintenance is a life style change for all time!
Maintaining but thinking to lose a few more....
