If I could maintain easily, I wouldn't be at 3FC.

Maintaining is easier than losing! Can't wait to maintain...almost there!

I've pretty much always heard the opposite around here. I'd love it if it were easier, though!

I found weightloss to be a BREEZE compared to maintaining. It took a lot of dedication and work to lose, but I also was very focused on the task. That's quite a mindset to have to maintain for life, though. I do hope for you that you find it just as easy to maintain as it is to lose, but that was not my experience. Sometimes I would gain weight and know why and have to find it somewhere within myself to lose it. Sometimes I had no idea why I gained weight so it was trial and error to lose it. I used to have no problem making this the priority in my life and that's why I think I was successful. 7 years later I think I'm doing great, but it has been far from easy.

I can eat MORE calories and exercise LESS while maintaining. How could this NOT be easier than losing

perhaps because, we aren't as focused on eating and exercising the way we are when we are actively losing weight. little slip ups of eating slightly more, or exercising a bit less are less noticed. then the weight creeps up.

also, some people may have unrealistic expectations that the scale should stay the same all the time. but it's normal to fluctuate within a certain number of pounds. varies with the person how much. 2, 5, 10lbs.

Now HERE's where I believe the problem lies. I read too many times about how people gained 3 lbs following dinner out with some friends...as if it were 3 lbs of FAT!

That's why I think it's IMPORTANT that we establish a LIFE LONG eating pattern while we are losing weight. This way, the transition into maintenance will not be a shockingly different way of life. It should virtually be the same with the exception a few more calories eaten, and less exercise performed. I LOVE the way I eat. Gourmet all the way for me....I have no reason to want to change this. I allow myself my favorite fatty foods one meal per week...soooo...no need to binge/gorge on that type of food in maintenance. I will EASILY transition with diet...and exercise, well, I run 19 miles/week....running 9-12/week to maintain will hardly be difficult.

I think it's important to look at your calories as a weekly effort...not a daily one. If you eat more than you KNOW you should have...just cut back during the week...in the end it's your weekly calories that count.

THIS DOES NOT HAVE TO BE PAINFUL...

WE MUST LEARN TO LOSE THE "ALL OR NOTHING" ATTITUDE...

THIS IS ABOUT "MODERATION" NOT "DENIAL" NOR "OBSESSION"...I absolutely refuse to think about food this much in maintenance...if I don't know portion sizes and the difference between high quality whole foods and crap by the time I get to maintenance...I probably need to get my head examined, buy a couple of cheeseburgers and call it a day... (just kiddin on the cheeseburgers..lol!)

This does not work for me. I eat more yes but I pretty much work out at the same level as I did when I was losing....

Everyone is different though and this might work for you joyfulloser.

At the end of the day its calories in vs calories out. To lose weight, calories out must be less than calories in. To maintain, calories in must equal calories out....

I would still count your calories, especially because the aderall is making you lose your appetite. You may be eating too little and your metabolism may be slowing down.

I think the experience of maintenance is a lot like the experience of having a baby or getting married. While we're waiting for the baby or wedding (or maintenance) to come, we plan and imagine what life will be like afterwards. But until it actually happens -- until we live it day to day, week after week, for the rest of our lives -- we just don't know what the reality is!

I certainly can understand why someone who is in the weight loss phase would think that losing is easier than maintaining. It makes logical sense, after all! But the sad reality is that many more people are successful at weight loss than at maintenance. And that most people who lose weight will regain it. No one who reaches their goal ever thinks they'll regain the weight, but almost everyone does. I think that speaks for itself about the challenges of maintenance.

So to anyone still in the weight loss phase, please wait until you get to your goal and spend a year or so there (or five or ten) before you decide which is harder. Maybe maintenance will be easier than losing for you -- I hope so! -- but perhaps at that point you'll have a better understanding of why so many maintainers say this is indeed the harder challenge.

I think Meg just spoke to this point, but I'll see if I can explain... at least from my experience. Yes, in maintenance I got to eat more. And then after a couple of years, I let myself eat even a little more, and started gaining weight. I never just eliminated all my good habits and go back to life before weight loss (although in stress, that does happen more and I care less about what I put in my mouth).

The reality of my situation is that most of the time I only eat a few hundred calories over maintenance calories. But do the math: 250*7 = 1750 calories extra/week. That's a half-pound of weight gain a week... and 26 pounds a year. I gained 17 pounds last year, so I wasn't even much more than 200 calories/day on average over maintenance.

That's why maintenance is hard for me. I basically have been eating just a little bit more and gained back 50 pounds in 3 years. (Actually many days are like that, some are under maintenance and more than a handful are probably way more calories than I should ever have).

I think this is why Meg says give maintenance a year or two, and then see what it's like for you. My story is just one. We are all different.

This is all very interesting. Thanks for posting your personal experiences! It sounds scary when I think, "most people don't maintain"...this is scary TRUTH!

That said, I have maintained for many years...actually, most of my 44 yrs of life. However, over the years, there have been times in which I gained more than I'd like to. I've narrowed down the problem to this: ALL or NOTHING attitude. That's been a "killer" for most people I know as well.

I've learned so much from others experiences here at 3FC and appreciate all the different experiences and points of view.

I believe it is better to make a "plan" on how to succeed rather than just wait and "see what happens". Someone wise once said, "plan to succeed or you plan to fail".

Hmmmm...this gives me a great idea for a new thread. "What's your 'plan' once you reach maintenance?"

That's a good idea and one that persons in weight loss mode should really do. When I was close to my goal I decided that my plan would be to increase my calories and keep the exercise the same. And it has been working so far. Should my life circumstances change where I will not get to work out as much as I do, the plan will have to change again. That's the reason, this is a lifetime journey....not a sprint or a race....

I am maintaining pretty easily too!


Sadly I am maintining at 288, and am not attempting to maintain, but hey, it's better than gaining!!

I like this plan!!! I love running so much...I'd easily run an extra couple of miles for an extra slice of carrot cake!

My plan is to increase my calories to 1900-2000 cals/day and decrease my running from 19 miles/week (5m, 5,m 4m, 5m) to 12 miles/week (4 miles x 3 days). I'll see how this works, but if I've gotta move anything, I'll start with increasing my running.