[Snoofie]

I reached my goal weight four weeks ago and (obviously) am now in the six-week maintenance process. I thought it would be easy as pie.

....I was wrong. This maintenance thing (the whole process of trying to figure out how many points I can actually have in a day and still maintain my weight) is kicking my *** like I never would have imagined.

The first week, I increased my points by 6, to a total of 35 points a day. I gained 3.4 pounds, which obviously put me over the 2-pound limit. Well, crap. So then I dropped back to 29 points for the second week, to try and lose the weight I'd gained. At my week 2 weigh-in, I had lost 1.8 pounds, which put me right at the threshold (I was only .4 pounds away from the two-pound limit.) Week 3, I tried increasing my points to 32, which I figured would be better because it was halfway between my original number and the six-point increase I'd done the first week.

Well, that resulted in my gaining 2.4 pounds last week.

I am not impressed. At all. I talked to my leader after my meeting last week, but even though she was very helpful, I just...I don't get it. I am *very* active (it's not unusual for me, in the run of a typical day's workout, to earn 10 Activity Points), so I *know* that I should be able to consume more than 29 points a day and still maintain. I mean, that's what I was eating while I was *losing* weight, so there is NO WAY I should be eating that amount in order to maintain. And like my leader said, it seems like I should be able to eat more than 32 points a day as well, since I am so active.

I have absolutely no idea what to do. I mean, for fourteen months, I lost weight -- steadily -- by eating 29 points a day AND all 49 weekly points. So why is it that now that I'm trying to tweak my points a little bit, I seem to be packing the weight back on? I am so pissed off, you have no idea. It was easier to LOSE the weight than it is to do this!

I really hate this. And I never thought I'd say this -- because it's something I never even THOUGHT while I was losing the weight -- but I am so tempted to give up.

[wickedlady]

Hang in there!! Your body is probably really confused right now. Just curious, how are you adding points? Meaning, are you eating a greater quantity of stuff you're already used to eating? Or have you added in things you normally don't eat?

[Snoofie]

I haven't added in anything new. I've been eating the same stuff, just a little bit more. The only thing I've really changed -- and I am beginning to wonder if this is the culprit -- is that I've been adding some new stuff into my workout. I'm wondering if the extra "weight" is a result of added muscle mass.

I really have no idea. *L* I'm just really confused.

[hle82]

Maintenance is hard....harder than losing, imo. I had a lot of difficulty adjusting to maintenance points. So I just never did. I kept eating at the same # of pts I always did, except I'd have a tad more splurge days. Not sure if this is really a healthy way of transitioning into a lifestyle change but I did that for 4 years and kept the weight off. (It wasn't until this past year that I regained past my goal weight and am working hard on losing again)

Also, I hated the pressure of maintaining at a # so I chose my WW goal weight to be the highest for my height. I maintained 12-15lbs under that weight and it was really nice to know I had a big buffer with WW.

[Snoofie]

Originally Posted by hle82

Maintenance is hard....harder than losing, imo. I had a lot of difficulty adjusting to maintenance points. So I just never did. I kept eating at the same # of pts I always did, except I'd have a tad more splurge days. Not sure if this is really a healthy way of transitioning into a lifestyle change but I did that for 4 years and kept the weight off. (It wasn't until this past year that I regained past my goal weight and am working hard on losing again).

...I really like this idea! Honestly. It's a complete pain in the *** to try and fool around with points like this, and it's quite obviously not working for me, so maybe I'll try this method. OK, so as you say, maybe it's not the "healthy" way, but you know, I'm eating a thousand times better now than I did before I started losing weight, and I never gave up my "splurge days" anyway, so I should totally be able to swing that method of doing it.

Originally Posted by hle82

Also, I hated the pressure of maintaining at a # so I chose my WW goal weight to be the highest for my height. I maintained 12-15lbs under that weight and it was really nice to know I had a big buffer with WW.

I also like this idea. Now, the goal weight I'm currently at is actually above and beyond what WW terms "healthy" for my weight (you probably already realized that, anyway, by looking at my tracker). My doctor provided me with a note that informed WW that she was satisfied with 140 as a goal weight (with the knowledge that, at some point, I may try to actively get down to where WW says I "should" be.) But at the moment...I mean, holy ****, I'm having a hard enough time maintaining at 140, I can't even *imagine* what I'd have to do to maintain at 125!

[hle82]

Good luck! I made some 'rules' of limitation... like M-F, during the work-week, I had to eat within points. Then weekends were more 'loose' but not an all-out bingefest either, just that I didn't necessarily have to count points which gave me a nice WW break. This worked well bc after the weekend, the scale would be up but then would come down by the end of the week again. It was a give/take of moderation for me. Eat well within the week, splurge on the weekend.

I seldom met any other Lifetimers at the local meetings and never felt at ease with the leaders enough to discuss maintenance. So I just took it upon myself to do what I thought would work for me. Luckily it did...for awhile anyway! But as you can see since I'm back here posting & trying to re-lose weight.. it can be a slippery slope after enough time has passed!

I'm only an 1" taller than you, so I def understand how you feel about weight at this height!! What type of body frame do you have? If you continue to build up muscles, the scale might not dip lower but you can still lose lots of inches.

[Snoofie]

I'm large-framed, so I can carry a bit of extra weight without it being noticeable. I mean, I'm 140 now (well, okay, 144 at the moment...eeep!) but I don't look like I weigh much over 125. Which is why my doctor was more than comfortable allowing me to have a goal weight of 140. Plus, all my measurements were good (hip-to-waist ratio, body fat %, etc.)

My weigh-in is tomorrow and I have to admit that I am sorely tempted to skip it because I *know* that, yet again, I'm over the two-pound limit (and as a matter of fact, I even think I've gained since last week, although it's a tiny gain.) Part of me knows I shouldn't skip, but a HUGE part of me wants to, because I'm almost *ashamed* that this is happening. It never happened before, not even when I was actively trying my hardest to lose the weight. Yeah, I had gains, but never two weeks in a row.

This is getting me down in a major way, mostly because as I said...it's never happened before. And I don't understand why it's happening now. I'm still making good choices, still working out (if anything, working out MORE now than I ever did) and this is still happening? It sucks.

[Aahbean]

Maintenance and goal are still in the land of "Far, Far Away" for me, but my SIL lost 110 lbs in a little over a year, 4 years ago. I remember her struggling and while this may or may not work (again, this is far from expert help) she ended up counting calories and still keeping within her points. On the WW old plan (this isn't my first rodeo with WW and I should be 12 pounds by now) 1 point was 50 calories so it was pretty easy to figure out the daily calories. You can figure that 29 points on the old plan was 1450 calories. Maybe looking at it in calories instead of points is the way to go for a little while. Try keeping track of the calories and off to the side of wherever you write it down, make a note of the points plus value. She said that she finally figured out that even though the majority of what she ate was salad, a cherry tomato was 15 calories and they all count in the end. While WW doesn't count most fruit and veggies, they still have calories. She is now a WW weigh in chick (I can't remember what they are actually called) and said that sometimes people get crazy with the "free" fruit and lose track of the fact that you should be within the daily guidelines. Its just a suggestion and whether you use it or not, I hope you figure it out. I'd be pulling out my freakin' hair....and my leaders too

[electrongirl]

I have recently got to goal and am struggling too. I just can't seem to get a handle on it.

I would love to be here to support you and vice versa!!!