Hi
I worked hard to lose 145lbs. I was happy and healthy. Lately the pounds are beginning to creep on - despite a good maintenance plan. I have gained 4lbs. I know it doesn't sound a lot, but it's the inciduous way it is creeping on. Is this normal at this stage? I maintained within 2 lbs for 6 months, and it has only been the last month that my weight seems to be rising. I want to get a grip and stop this now, before I'm 20lbs, 30lbs or 145 lbs heavier again. Advice and help would e greatly appreciated.

Our bodies are constantly adapting to what we do with them. If we maintain a routine for a long time the body adapts. I think you may be experiencing a shift in your metabolism. You need to tweak things a bit is all - I think.

For me, calorie cycling works well. I eat 1400 cals for 3 consecutive days and then about 2000 for the 4th day. Repeat. Repeat. Not sure what I'll do if this stops working. But there are always people willing to share their experiences on 3FC and I'm confident I'll always find a next step that works for me.

Dagmar

Starbrite, I think so many of us can relate to the title of your post. There really is a feeling of "terror" that all our hard work will be magically undone, but logically, that won't happen.

I am just dipping my toe in maintenance waters. I am certainly no expert at this, so take my advice w/ a grain of salt. But I second Mudpie's advice about calorie cycling. I lost all my weight that way, and I've used it while trying to figure out my maintenance calories and have consistently seen losses. Oddly enough, this week, I did not cycle my calories as much as I normally do, and I saw a 1.8 lb. gain. (The two may be completely unrelated. I ate a lot last night and the physical food is still in my body & may be showing up on the scale).

So, I would give that a try and see what happens.

I agree with Dagmar - don't panic, just tweak things a bit and see what happens.

You could try:

* cutting back on carbs
* introducing a new form of exercise - that always shakes things up a bit for me
* adding more cardio, either by extending your current cardio sessions a bit, or adding in a brisk walk every day
* calorie cycling - FWIW, I have been calorie cycling since about 2005 and it's still working for me. I exercise at varying intensities and vary my calorie levels throughout the week and this seems to keep my body guessing, as well as preventing burning out on exercise.

How many calories a day are you eating ? How many calories were you eating when you were losing ? Maybe you have upped your calories too much.

Some good suggestions have already been made. Has anything changed in your routine in the last month or two? Are you under more stress at work, in your personal life? Are you sleeping differently? Sometimes seemingly unrelated things can cause our bodies hormones to make us hold onto extra pounds.

Do you exercise, and what do you do for exercise? As Dagmar and RedPanda said, maybe your body has adapted to your exercise and you should try something different. I'm not saying you should exercise more, just differently.

I don't know what type of food plan you follow. Have you allowed yourself to have more "treats" lately even in they fit into your plan? (e.g. I count calories. If I allowed 200 of my 1500 calories to be wine each day, my body would be different than if I ate 200 calories of veggies & nuts.) It could also be that your body has gotten "used" to what you're eating and changing things up would help. Try eating more protein, more veggies instead of fruits, etc. - just change things up a bit.

I don't calorie cycle but I think that's a good suggestion too! Let us know how things are going.

I also maintained for about 6 months before the creep started, HOWEVER that's when my binging got really bad. Do you have any issues with that or are there areas where extra cals are creeping in?

What's your exercise like? Is it time to change it up? Over time we burn less cals doing the same activity, so even though you may not be eating any differently you may need to change your activity to continue to stay at maintenance levels.

And as it's already been mentioned our body's are just constantly changing.

One last thought, has the types of food changed? I know when I eat less cleanly I get into trouble, even if my calories are the same. I know they say a calorie is a calorie, but it's just not for me.

Thanks for the super helpful responses. I need to sit down and re-evaluate whats going on. Today I am down nearly 2lbs - totally random and inexplicable.
I slipped a disc in December and felt the creep begin after that, so certainly shaking the exercise up will help.
Thank you all - I really value the support I get here

I think the most important thing is that you are aware of the change and you are taking stock of the situation. Complacency, however one wants to define that term, will lead back to obesity. I think our fat cells, which split and then multiply when fat, have more in common with cancer cells than other cells, say bone or hair. Those who are reduced have a much harder time staying slim than those who have not lost in part due to extra fat cells. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that eternal vigilance will be required.

Journaling our food intake and weighing are two tools we have in assessing our condition. Tom Naughton on his website along with kplods on 3FC have valuable insights on the difference betweeen coorelative and causative data. Keep us posted.