I've been busy enough that I think I will be reducing my time on 3fc. I still wanted to check in with my maintenance progress just as a data point for any new maintainers.

For the last few months of my weight loss, I was at 1400 calories a day. When I got to maintenance, I raised my intake to 1500, and four weeks later (1/17/11) up to 1600. What's a little weird about the way I do things is that I've been carrying a calorie "debt" since Thanksgiving that I still plan to pay back, which is easier at 1600 calories a day than it was at 1400. But it will be a while until my actual intake is 1600 a day.

I had a few days over the holiday season when I went noticeably over planned calories, and I still permit myself to go over occasionally if I get hungry or just feel like it, but I "put it on my tab". For me, keeping track of overages and paying them back is a good way to avoid going overboard and stay on track.

I plan to raise my intake to 1700 calories a day on 2/14 and plan/hope to maintain in the low 140's at 1700 a day. We'll see how it goes.

Good luck to you. I enjoy reading the maintenance board so much as it tells me what to look forward to. I hope I will be as sane about increasing my calories as you seem to be.

Me too! It's something that scares me, a lot. I'm still a little ways away, but I'm not really sure where I want to start trying to maintain at this point...but it's creeping into my thoughts.

I like your "put it on my tab" idea....I almost never allow overages...but if I ever were to have a day where I did, this is something I could do that would allow me to feel like it is OK to do, once in a while (in a very long while!! haha).

Hey Oboegal! Thanks for checking in!

Jay

Thought it was time to post another update.

I'm nearly 8 weeks into maintenance, and, knock on wood, things seem to be going fairly smoothly. I've had a few mini-binges and one 24-hour period when I managed to eat about 3900 calories altogether, but I'm still estimating the calories for every morsel I put in my mouth and I still intend to pay it all off. Currently, my daily allocation is 1600 calories which I plan to raise to 1700 on Monday and stay there, but I'm going to try to average closer to 1400-1500 while I'm paying off my "calorie debt", which is currently about 8000.

That sounds like a lot, and it is, but here's another way to think about it: it's less than 100 calories a day for three months. It seems to me that people who aim for a calorie range could easily vary more than that over the span of months or years. Still, having the debt gives me incentive to rein things in until I pay it back, even if it takes me a while.

For me, having a daily budget and carrying over surpluses and deficits (I've rarely had a deficit, but I'm hoping that 1700 calories will be enough that I can sometimes "save up" for special occasions ahead of time) seems to be working out great. When I have had binges or near-binges, I've reacted with a mental "well, that was stupid" but without guilt or self-loathing; at least for now, the emotional component of eating doesn't seem to be an issue.

I have gotten better at figuring out which foods not to keep around the apartment. I seem to be OK with individually wrapped treats--I bought a bag of Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark Squares awhile back that I still have a few of. Oddly, perhaps, it seems that it's a bad idea for me to keep popcorn kernels around. I bought a hot air popper a few weeks ago because I thought plain popcorn would be a good snack, but apparently it's like rice cakes for me--I eat some popcorn, then I want to eat lots more popcorn, then I want to eat something else! (This is part of what happened in my epic binge.) I should probably give away my air popper.

I realize that I'm still a maintenance rookie, but I seem to be in the right headspace so far. One thing that I'm handling well is the idea that having the scale stay where it is is a good thing. I have some daily fluctuations and know how things tend to go on a 4-week cycle. I weigh daily, record weekly, and take stock of how things are going the Tuesday after TOM (which will be this Tuesday 2/15).

Hope everyone has a good Valentine's Day or successfully ignores it until it's over (take your pick).

Hi Oboegal....nice to read your post. I remember we entered maintenance at the same time. Knock on wood too...I am in a good headspace as well. I lost at 1400 calories too and right now I try to eat around 1600/1700 per day.

Most days I tend to eat way less than that and have a planned splurge on the weekend. For example, I noticed that my average for last week was only 1487 calories for 6 days. My splurge was on Friday and this morning I weighed in at 160 (my low). I am going to try and actually get my average up. It's hard sometimes though...I have this fear of overeating and regaining the weight but I am really trying......

Thanks for the reply, Slim CB, and I'm glad things are going well for you.

I'm kind of a math geek, and my best guess based on my calculations is that I should maintain or edge down at 1700 calories a day. I'm tempted to keep it less than that, but I figure it's very likely that I'll have to cut back as i get older (I'm 49 now), and I want to have somewhere to go.

I'm hoping that "paying back" my calorie debt will take me to 142-143 ish. After that, I expect that I'll do what you've been doing: aim for 1400-1500 most days and use the rest for social occasions.

Isn't math geekdom a requirement for playing oboe? I didn't pass that requirement myself. LOL! Apparently it isn't necessary for flute. That's an interesting technique you have there. They always talk about giving up certain foods and how much you could lose in a year if you did just that.

Hi again. Things are going fine, but my sleep schedule has been wacky and it has affected my eating. A couple of times I've gotten hungry in the middle of the night when I'd ordinarily be sleeping, borrow calories from the next day, then get hungry at the end of the day and eat more than planned. I've allowed my calorie debt to creep up to 8900, which I still feel I can pay back without too much difficulty, but it will be easier after my schedule regulates somewhat.

The good news is that I think I'm walking the healthy, narrow path along which going over my calories does not cause guilt trips and self-flagellation, but still triggers enough annoyance not to let the deviations become the norm.

Anyway, I plan to have my calorie debt down to 5000 by March 15 and "paid off" by April 12 (my next two four-week checkpoints). With 1700 calories a day to work with, there's no reason I shouldn't be able to do that. You heard it here first.

Seems like a lot of people are struggling--hugs and goodthoughts to everyone who needs them.

Happy March!

I was pleased to weigh in at 144 today. Most days lately my morning weight has been around 146, which I suspected was mainly because of water retention and eating relatively late in the day. I am still hoping that my "official" March 15 weigh-in will be down another pound or two. (I'm not really concerned about a variation of a pound or two, but I'd like to establish whether I will maintain or gain at 1700 calories.)

While it's way too early to declare victory (and I understand that the battle will never be completely over), I seem to be one of those people for whom the transition into maintenance has been pretty smooth. I'm going to continue to "pay down" my calorie debt and keep walking six times a week. This summer, I might consider whether to adding some strength and flexibility exercises (I think I "should", for some value of "should", but it's a change I'd want to make during a less busy time). I also might consider whether to try to take off a couple more pounds or just be happy to stay where I am.

I'm not sure if my weight is redistributing at all. There's a cardigan I bought a couple of months ago that I recall being snug then which has an inch or two to spare now.

Overall, I think the amount of time and effort I spend thinking about food is healthy. My biggest challenge lately has been waking up in the middle of the night and being hungry, but that seems to be improving. I think I've been a little too heavy on the carbs lately, so I'm going to try to really keep a lid on them for a couple of days because that seems to help reduce hunger between meals/snacks.

I expect to check in on March 15; perhaps before then, perhaps not. Meanwhile, take care.

Sorry to bump this just to say that I'm going to sign off 3fc for a while.

Everything is fine--just getting weary of the whole-foods-or-bust drumbeat. Today I was tempted to post a tirade, and it just isn't worth the drama.

Take care, all.

Ok, so I'm guilty of this, HOWEVER, I do have some processed stuff (some of it's just too good) but in general I try to eat clean. It's a personal decision for me and I've read a lot about, still no expert by any means, but yes I do engcourage it often. But it's always just a suggestion, as everything is here on 3FC and I've always tried, or think I have tried, to be respectful of others decisions to eat in whatever way they feel is sustainable for them.

Interestingly enough, the first 70 lbs I lost was from Nutrisystem, and then a whole slue of processed stuff. After I had my son I went back to the processed stuff and it wasn't until I got closer to maintenance, maybe within the last 20 lbs of my weight loss, that I really started learning about the benefits and that is probably due to seeing it mentioned here. For me it isn't just about the weight benefits, although I will say when I eat clean my weight behaves more consistantly and I can eat more, but it just about general health and the benefits I see in other aspects of my body.

Anyway, I'm not sure what my point it, but I think it more that we all should be respectful of other decisions on how they want to eat, but there is nothing wrong with other suggesting a different way, isn't that what 3fc is all about?

I've found that being moderate in everything is my ideal situation. I eat whole foods and processed foods (mostly when I'm totally exhausted and don't have the energy to spend an hour cooking dinner). I use stevia as a sweetener (it's supposed to be made from plant leaves thus "natural" but sugar is also made from a plant so who knows?).

And I drink a whole lot of diet cola. This is the one really consistent "garbage" item in my diet and I'm aware of it every time I drink one.

I'm finding that the processed foods tend to make me hungrier and the whole foods satiate me. I'm quite sure (paranoid that I am) that processed food manufacturers put additives in them to stimulate appetite (and thus make you buy more and eat more of their food).

But there still is a (smaller) place for them in my diet. I will always eat a bit of chocolate now and then. Ditto drinking tea. I guess part of it depends on what your definition of 'whole" and "processed" are, yes?

The diet cola has to go though.

Dagmar

I hear you on that, oboegal. I don't usually post what I eat because I do eat a lot of processed things like deli meats or packaged goods and frozen meals, and also a lot of diet cola and coke zero (is this where your tirade was going to be? - I noticed your post there and felt the same!). I just am not a cook and although I try, I work full-time and have two little kids so a lot of my meals are grab and go. And hey, it's clearly working for me! So just know there are others of us here!