As I draw closer and closer to goal (my vanity goal of 158), I have been wondering how I am going to keep the weight off. I know based on what I have read here that I will still have to count and weigh and measure - just as how I am doing now.

I am an exercise nut and I aim for 6hrs a week. My weight loss journey though has showed me that it is more about what I am eating and not necessarily how much I am working out that helps me to lose the weight.

My question is...does the balance shift somewhat when maintaining? Will exercise have more of an impact on my weight when I am maintaining or will the 80/20 rule still apply?

I'm curious what others have to say about this, but my opinion is that the principles stay the same. It still is about the calorie deficit whether you are maintaining or losing. However, controlling how close you get to your RMR might be easier with exercise if you are eating a certain amount of calories and do similar amounts of exercise.

The bottom line though is that you need to eat close to your RMR. You can't expect to eat well above RMR and exercise your way back to maintenance. Calories burned via exercise is so much harder to achieve than calories saved from eating less!

My view of this is that you have to decide for yourself how much you want to exercise in maintenance. I prefer to exercise 4 times a week instead of the 5-6 times I was exercising in weight loss. Perhaps that means my weight will increase, all else being equal (that is, I'm still tracking food intake), but it's a price I'm willing to pay to not have to work so long and hard at the gym, etc.

My experience has been that mostly it's the food--when food gets out of whack, my weight goes up fast. However, if food gets out of whack AND I don't exercise, it's like a Space Shuttle lift-off!

Hope that give you some idea.

ETA: Exercise is good just in itself--aside from weight control. Staying fit is what controls blood sugar, blood pressure, and stress, and it also increases bone mass. So it's a good thing.

Jay

Hmmm...interesting question. I honestly don't have an answer as I haven't been maintaining long enough to play with stuff like that. I personall picked an exercise routine and calorie level that I knew I could maintain. Now I'm just waiting for my weight to stabilize. So that means I won't be changing my exercise for maintenance. I do know that the type of food I eat plays a major role in my weight. Healthly clean food means a healthy non bloated non water retaining body. However, I also know that because of how much I exercise I can eat quite a bit more and maintain or lose. I really think it's just about what is right for you. If you love working out or want a few more cals in you're day then keep up the exercise. If you don't like it and only want to work out the minimal amount to see health benefits then structure your cals and food choices appropriately.

I hadn't heard of the 80/20 rule, but I assume it means 80% food and 20% exercise?

I think at least for me, food makes the biggest difference in whether I gain, lose, or maintain, regardless of how much I exercise. On the other hand, the more I exercise, the more motivated I am to eat well, and the less I exercise, the more I tend to eat junk, so there is a very strong relationship between exercise and my weight due to the food connection.

My plan in maintenance is to just keep on exactly as I am, but probably with fewer nut-case scenarios at the gym. I push myself pretty hard sometimes. There are times I want to and there are times I'm doing it purely to see a drop on the scale. It will be nice when those times are all purely because I want to.

I will continue exercising 5 days a week because that is what's routine for me. I go to the gym, I shower, I go to work. If I put a blip in there of one day where I didn't have to go, it would be all over. Exercising must be like brushing my teeth...must-do, part of the routine.

I have separated exercise from weight loss though, practically from the beginning. I exercise for my health, not my waist line. I saw a dramatic reduction in my BP, heart rate and blood sugar and I attribute it all entirely to exercise. Also, I'm pretty sure the weight piled on because I went from walking daily around campus to doing absolutely nothing for 10 years. I need to have learned from that or it will all have been for nothing.

Hi and CONGRATS CB
I have not been exercising anywhere close to what I had been in the first year of maintenance, which was the same as my loss faze, and what I am finding is that I really need to be super careful with all my bites licks and tastes. Stricter counting, that's for sure. Also fewer calories as I don't expend as much energy.

Thanks for all your comments guys. I am drawing closer and closer.......and am hoping that this time I can keep the weight off. I don't think I want to go through this weight loss thing again.