I'm soon coming up on the four year mark, too. I haven't gained any back, and am currently at about the lowest weight and body fat I've ever been. But it's a contant struggle. Depressingly, everything in the article rings true.
Perhaps it's because I'm attempting to maintain at a bodyfat level which is on the low end for a woman my age, but in addition to the high levels of exercise and conscious eating, I'm always hungry. People talk about cravings and head hunger, but I'm HUNGRY. Does anyone else have this problem? But if I eat more, I get fatter.
3FC is my support structure. I didn't lose on an organized plan...so thank you all for being here
Meg -- Firstly, great article and just in time too not for my anniversary but because I am struggling lately. I even opened the book TFL this morning to get some motivation ...
Mel - I can't say that I am ALWAYS hungry but I'm hungry a LOT of the time. I think in your case it's because you workout so hard that your muscles just suck up those nutrients like a vacuum and within minutes you are hungry again...
I just took the tools I had learned over the years, all the diets I have ever heard of and incorporated a plan to suit MOI...Like Mel , 3FC is my support structure I don't think that I would have lost this last 20# if it weren't for this site and it's support. I had been struggling with that last 20# since DD birth 15 yrs ago .. 3FC is there ALL the time ANY time of day or night, it's a great venting, support, crying, place and last but not least it is FREE how cool is that ...
Hi All -
I'm back from the big trip to Costa Rica. Love this article.
Mel, I am ALWAYS hungry. YES!! That's half my problem, I do well for several days in a row but then get this feeling like I just want to be full. Sometimes I can get by with just one nice big healthy meal that includes healthy carbs and then maybe a yogurt and granola w/fruit dessert, then continue with a more restrictive diet. Other times my hunger takes over and I eat everything in sight, I'm left feeling all the awful feelings of self-loathing, etc. and the cycle continues for a few days or even weeks, I gain a few pounds, I get angry, I get back to basics, in a few weeks I tire of being hungry all the time and the cycle repeats.
Like Ilene, my plan supports MOI, aussie. However, I think Miriam Nelson writes in one of her books, in order to maintain your weight you must fly only slightly above your hunger or else your weight will take off...something like that anyway. I don't really LIKE being slightly hungry or on the verge of hunger all the time, I prefer to feel more satisfied. But when I try to eat to feeling satisfied, I cannot trust myself, I overeat & I do gain weight.
So, the answer? Well, there is no good answer to the problem. I'm not willing to raise my maintainence weight because I do not feel good over a certain point and since I carry all of my weight in my hips, I become disproportionate once I gain too much. Unfortunately, maintainence is *HARD* work, just like losing, without the benefits! The best thing I've learned is to forgive and forget and move on after a major setback. Sometimes I cut way back on carbs and cut out all sugar, and that gets me back on track. I am definitely a sweets person so I need to keep the sugar in check, it's so easy for me to use junk as a crutch. Maintainance is a balance of physical exercise, mental health and nutrition. No way around it. It's tough, the toughest battle of my life and I fear I'll be fighting this battle every day for the rest of my life. It hasn't gotten easier for me. I wish I could say it has, but that just isn't the case.
This article was very interesting to read, despite it's somewhat glum message. I still haven't reached my goal so I'm not at maintenance yet, but it's incredibly interesting to read about it (the little there is to read, that is). Feels like I will be better equipped to battle with maintenance, once I get there. I'm soaking up everything I can find and this forum is just so great, it's packed with knowledge from real people.
I think it's good to know that maintenance won't be easy, it prepares you for reality. Lots of people who lose weight think that losing weight is the most difficult part, and even though it IS tricky it's a finite thing. Maintenance goes on forever, on the other hand, and if you fail to realise that you'll soon have to go back to the weight loss phase again.
I'm curious about something with the article though. It states "on average, four years after starting to lose weight, people have gained at least three-quarters of it back." Now say one was coming upon year 3 and got pregnant. Would I need to start my 4 years again from the date I start losing the pregnancy weight, discount the time I was pregnant, or count that time but not the weight gain? LOL
Anne - you pretty much described my life. I'm the same way - do really well for a few days and then get so hungry (or just plain want to eat) and eat more than I planned. Repeat cycle. Maybe this is just the way maintenance is going to be for us??
I'm not hungry ALL the time, but I'm hungry a lot of the time and probably hungrier more often than most people. I'm not sure whether I'm hungry so often because I eat a lot less per meal than the average person (250 - 300 calories) or whether my brain is just wired differently than the average person and my 'full detector' never goes off. If I'm lucky, I've got two hours after I eat when I'm not thinking about food and wanting to eat again. But if it's a bad day, I'm just as hungry when I finish a meal as when I start, and I hate that feeling.
I read someplace that we should think of hunger on a scale of 1 through 10, with '1' as literally starving and '10' as Thanksgiving dinner stuffed. We 'chronic restrained eaters' are supposed to aim for somewhere in the 5 - 7 range most of the time - never getting too hungry and never feeling very full. Kind of a mild level of satisfaction.
When I'm eating normally, I never feel 'full' past a level of 7 but often feel hunger at a 2 or 3 level. It's always a struggle to try to keep my hunger level under control without overeating. But it's absolutely essential because hunger is my number one trigger for binging! I've successfully dealt with most of my emotional triggers for eating over the past four years and feel like those are pretty much under control. But genuine physical hunger still is my toughest maintenance battle. Every day is a tightrope walk between eating enough to keep from going off the deep end but not eating so much that I gain.
Without a doubt, 3FC is my support structure too. There isn't anyone in my Real Life who struggles with the issues that we do and sadly, I can hardly think of anyone in my world who's lost weight and kept it off. I'd truly think that I was without all of you telling me that things are just the same way with you. Perhaps that makes us all but it's a nice place to be!
Right, I'm not exactly sure why after several days of hunger level 5, I'll go for an 8 or 9! If I can satisfy myself with one meal, and eat only healthy choices, I'm usually fine. If I screw up and stuff myself with junk, it's often disasterous!! Today I'm starting back on my very low carb plan that I used to lose the weight initially, over 2 years ago. I've been off/on the sugar wagon and I need to cut it out completely and get rid of my cravings for several weeks. I know myself, and I just cannot have "a little" when it comes to sugar/white carbs. I don't know why, I just know it to be true.
I weighed in this morning at 123, doesn't sound like much to some, but it is when I carry half my weight in my butt & I'm not a tall person!!!!!!! So my goal is 114, but my first mini-goal is to get down to 118. I'll update my ticker if I can ever figure it out. Once I reach my weight goal, I'm taking pictures and I'm posting them. I've REALLY had it. But today I'm only looking forward, not back. I've done this before, so I can & will do it again.
Anne, I love reading your posts because we're so much alike (except for the weight - I'd kill to be where you are! )
I'm exactly like you with sugar - it's poison to me and I just can't have 'a little'. I honestly do believe in moderation in most things diet-related but sugar just isn't one of them. Like you, I've been at this long enough to know how MY body reacts to sugar and it sure ain't pretty.
Good attitude that we're only looking forward and not back! I'm going to be right there with you this week, totally focused on losing back to my comfortable maintenance weight. We CAN do this!
Yes, now I know why I come to 3FC, I just feel so normal/crazy when I'm here and read others posts that ring like I've written them myself . Sugar is lethal for me also I just want to go to bed or eat more and I often opt for sleeping because it keeps me away from the food... I often sleep ... If there is another thing that I have learned at 3FC and maintainers is to never look back and that your next healthy meal is only 2 hours away...
I have to join in the "hunger" talk... I can figure it out for myself! Start with genetics. My family eats tons of starches and lots of meat. My father's side are all 5 foot 1 and round like balls. With most of the weight in the abs and boobs. My mother's side are a bit taller 5 foot 3 or so, eat carbs and carry it everywhere and have layers of fat on their abs just hanging down there so that it is hard to figure out if those are boobs or flab from abs. My sister was round ball with her girth entering room well before her. My family eats and eats and eats.
I was only picky eater. I basically did not want to eat. I could live on one meal a day without ever being hungry and I actually was so underweight that I was treated in the hospital with pills when I was 8, 10 and 12 y.o. to improve my appetite... I would only eat what I like and it was mashed potatoes with pickles (no milk or sour cream, just butter to mash) and sometimes with chicken drumstick without skin. That is if I was in the mood to eat. At 15 i had my first ulcer. At 16 I was hospitalized whe next ulcer got infected and went into intestines. At 21 beeing pregnant I weighted less that I am weighting now. I am slimmest, tallest person in my whole family now... I have to use padded bra as my boobs just basically went away after nursing my 3 kids and exercise. But I am the hungriest person in my family...
I wonder how come that out of person who did not want to eat anything I turned into monster who will eat everything in sight! Like I have to hide food from myself! I just finished my granola bar (which is my snack after having breakfast) and I am dreaming now for the next meal already. I like starches, sweets and meat, I do not want to eat non-starchy veggies and fruits...
So I have my theory that when you get overweight, your stomack gets used to its size and afterwards you end up being hungry all the time. I sometimes look at my little daughter who is a copy of myself - she can eat half of chocolate chip cookie and leave the rest of it saying she is full - where are those days! I do remember doing the same, why can't it stay???? I guess we can all benefit from hunger management study during years of maintenance.
The only good thing is that recently I met one of the friends whom I did not see for a year - her exact words were:"look, I did not see during last year and you did not gain weight!" I only wish not gaining comes with some kind of hunger control.
Interesting Article About Maintenance
.. 3FC is there ALL the time ANY time of day or night, it's a great venting, support, crying, place and last but not least it is FREE how cool is that ... 
how was your trip to Costa Rica? Do tell!!
at Almostheaven!
There isn't anyone in my Real Life who struggles with the issues that we do and sadly, I can hardly think of anyone in my world who's lost weight and kept it off. I'd truly think that I was 
without all of you telling me that things are just the same way with you. Perhaps that makes us all 
