As I approach maintenance, I've been looking through the maintenance forum for wisdom and advice. There's tons of great info here, and I think I'm learning a lot from the stickies and other posts along the way.
Previously, I've maintained a 20 pound weight loss (from 200 to 180 pounds) for about 4 years, but that's about it for my experience with maintenance. This is going to be new territory for me, and I'm trying to mentally, physically, and emotionally prepare myself for what comes after the number on the scale stops moving down.
I realize that asking for your best maintenance advice is a very open-ended thing, but that's what I'm looking for - I think we all have different perspectives, and that everyone has something valuable to add to our strategies for successful maintenance.
Don't feel obligated to write an essay. I'm just as happy to see the one or two things that immediately spring to mind.
Whatever you are doing to lose weight, keep doing that.
For me, maintenance is just like losing with about 300 extra (healthy!) calories a day. I eat all the same foods, I still measure/use portion control, avoid fast food, look up nutritional info online before I hit a restaurant and try to eat on plan as much as possible.
I am working on losing pregnancy weight but heard some good advice on the Biggest Loser the other day (when they were doing the "Where are they now" episode). One of the past winners said that weightloss isn't a race where you get to your goal weight and then stop the race. You just start another one, you keep running!
When I maintained my weightloss pre-pregnancy for two years, I also continued healthy eating habits and exercising. But it was also important for me to continue to weigh myself and if I started to see the weight creep up, not bury my head in the sand but get back on track.
Couldn't agree more with what's been said and it was actually kind of hard for me to accept even though I knew it was the truth. However, once I really accepted that maintenance is no different than weight loss it's been pretty simple. I still count, measure and portion. I run 4xs a week and strength train 2xs a week and am always looking for ways to challenge myself through exercise and new recipies, always refining. Finding a plan for off plan days has been important for me too. Knowing how to handle restaurants and unplanned situations, "cheat meals", etc. has been key and something I'm still on and getting much better at. And always knowing that no matter how bad a day might go, just as with weight loss, as long as I'm back on plan immediately the damage will be minimal.
The maintenance transition was pretty overwhelming for me, but I'm getting the hang of it pretty quickly and feeling more and more confident that I can do this.
I think finding a system that works for you is really important. I got really caught up in feeling like I had to still be perfect all the time and the guilt really consumed me. But once I realized that as long as I'm on plan 85-90% of the time and keep ip my exercise AND keep my indulgence reasonable there us nothing to feel guilty about and nothing to be afraid of. I'm terrified of regain, but as long as I stick to MY plan I'm not going to fall off the preverbal wagon and go back to my old ways or regain 125 lbs over night. I couldnt be all or nothing during weight loss and I can't so it durning maintenance either.
I don't have any words of wisdom for you today, except that you'll find out how it's going to work for you when you start doing it.
I thought I knew how to work it, but as time went on, it turned out I didn't. That's because things don't stay the same--they are always changing, and in the meantime, we're getting older and our bodies are changing. What worked before may not work the same way now. So--one must keep an open mind and try different things. One person's happy maintenance will be another person's unbearable limitations, and vice versa.
The most important piece of advice I can think of?
Keep your desire to remain fit, trim, healthy and your absolute best - STRONG.
That desire is what keeps me doing what I do.
Desire. Very. Important. Aspect.
Other than that,
Yup, keep doing what you're doing!
For me, that's planning, planning, planning, tracking calories, chopping this, dicing that, saying yes to this, no to that, consistency, exercise, daily weighing (no sticking your head in the sand).
Luckily though, by the time you hit maintenance the good habits are pretty much ingrained in you and it just becomes part of who you are and what you. Automatic; habitual. In my case it's down right ritual.
Last edited by rockinrobin; 11-27-2010 at 04:18 PM.
I fully intend to keep counting calories for the rest of my life. My digital food scale is now considered an indispensible appliance. At the same time, I need to hear - from long-term success stories like you all - that this is what keeps you successful, day after day.
rockinrobin - I've honestly not considered the "desire" aspect in the long-term. I can tell I'm going to need to ponder over that for a while. I mean, I have definitely have the desire to NOT gain the weight back - after the hard work I've put in so far, and how good I feel now, I can't imagine going back to that. I can definitely use that desire as a motivational tool.
Jay - Thanks for the good luck wishes. Many people have said I'll work it out when I get there, but I'm a planner and a thinker and an over-analyzer, and that frightens me, to be honest. I know I'm going to have to learn to go wit the flow in some aspects of maintenance, and that is one of the things that worries me the most.
ncuneo - I've been around the boards and read a lot of your maintenance transistion threads. I've really appreciated your honesty and thoughts about what it's been like for you; it's been a realistic picture for me to see second-hand. Thanks!
Thanks again, and if any other maintainers have thoughts to share, feel free!
For me, maintenance is the same as the very end of my loss. That's when I stopped strictly counting calories and started eyeballing them. It's worked well for me, but like everyone else says, I pretty much do the same thing as when I was losing, except I eat 2100 calories instead of 1600.
The only difference is when I was losing, I weighed myself once every 2 weeks, so I could give myself time to see a change and not get discouraged. Now I weigh at least several times a week. If you maintain and don't weigh regularly, it's too easy to not realize you're gaining, or to remain in denial. That's why every time I hear myself thinking, "Man, I don't wanna know what I weigh after eating that!", I make myself go get on the scale and face the reality of it, so maybe I'll think next time.
So, do the same as when you were losing, and weigh a lot to keep yourself accountable is my advice!
7 months is my maintance length and I have found for me weighing (except when traveling) and recording (no excuse, can do this anytime, anywhere) daily is absolutely key. I am getting better at seeing my body's reactions to calories, carbs, hormonal cycle over a long period of time. This allows me to make better choices.
The isle of denial is a beckoning place and if I am not careful, I can get marooned there. Leading to much more weight to lose instead of small up bounces. Never again.
Your best advice
I'm just as happy to see the one or two things that immediately spring to mind. 
