I have been told by people who have lost weight and hit their goal that maintaining weight is harder than losing it. In fact I have heard this so often that I am apt to believe them. It is a fact that I am a LONG way away from my goal weight. I know I have a long road ahead. However, once I get there, I think I will be able to maintain. Let me explain:
I can hit a weight and bam I will stop dead right there. Pick a number and I may have to struggle like crazy to get there, but if I get there I bet I can stick. Losing weight for me is a bear, but I can maintain like a boss. (my 11 year old son says "like a boss" whenever he is confident he can do something, so I had to throw it in here lol).
This tells me something. Basically all the exercising I do and the smaller portions I eat is still not enough to lose weight . I am just burning what I am consuming and nothing more. It is frustrating but it is what it is. Now let me be clear, I am not writing this in a down spirited way. Not at all. In fact the sun is out and the weather is starting to warm. I do my exercises and I am feeling good both mentally and physically.
As with most things in life there are two ways to look at this. The cup half empty side of me is disappointed. See, in my mind I am already doing what I should do to lose weight. I already eat less than I used to. Heck, I am eating less than I want to. I already am staying away from bread and pasta. I stay away from all sweets (except for a little cake incident). I don't want to cut out anything else. I don't want to lower my amount of anything. I don't want to, but I will have to if I want to lose more weight.
Now, with the glass half full side of me, I say OK. If I have to bite the bullet for a while yet, I will. I can eat less. I don't want to, but I can. I can be a big boy and say I will do it until the weight comes off. I can do it until I hit my goal. Because now we all know when I get to my goal I will maintain. In fact, I will maintain like a boss.
What are your experiences on your journey? What do you think?
I'm going to be seeing a nutritional therapist this week to discuss something along this line - namely, why has my weight loss slowed to a crawl. I had a good week where I lost 2 pounds, but virtually since the beginning of the year, I've lost almost nothing. This is in spite of eating about 1500 calories a day, and exercising 2x a day, 6 days a week.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping she will give me information I can share with others in a similar spot! There has to be a reason!
My wife has been doing pretty good by cutting down on the carbs. Do you track/watch your carbs?
DeleteI am a boss at losing. Maintaining is the bear for me. I think this is because I like "crossing finish lines" When I am losing I am always crossing a finish line. When I am at goal weight I feel stagnant and antsy to race again. Does that make sense. For that reason I think for the past 3 years I have been a yo-yo dieter. I get to goal and then BAM I put 7 pounds on. Then I get to go into "diet" mode and lose the 7 pounds and get that high of succeeding. I have been in that vicious cycle for 3 years. I think I will blog about it! Anyway- I am so happy that once you get to goal you will be able to maintain.
ReplyDeleteYou know I think I am opposite, but this totally makes sense to me. Yes, you should blog it, I can tell you have given it some thought. Thanks for the comment.
DeleteI completely stopped consuming anything processed. I do not est anything that is boxed or in a can. I keep seeing post about weight watcher frozen food this or low calories box of yummy-ness that. I believe that's worse for you. I eat fresh veggies fresh fruit make my own hummus 100% whole wheat or whole grain bread. I never drink anything "diet" mainly water or ice tea. I think you get the drift... untill I cut out all the processed garbage food these weight loss Thugs push in our direction I was exactly where you are... ive lost 42 lbs since Oct. 15th by eating this way. Don't forget jogging, I do that daily too. :)
ReplyDeleteWell done on the 42 lbs. You lost and even ate some bread? Wow, I had been staying away from bread and pasta. I make it from scratch in our bread machine for the kids, but I try to stay away from it. I usually make all of our food at home-mainly from scratch like meatloaf etc. I need to jog. I like my elliptical, but as the weather gets better I will start walking/jogging.
DeleteLosing is going to get harder and harder as I get closer and closer to my goal weight. I know I can maintain my current weight because I did for three weeks with no problems. However, when I'm 64 pounds less and require less calories (2280 compared to 1500)to maintain my weight, I know it will be a challenge and one that I will be working on for the rest of my life:)
ReplyDeleteYes that is a big decrease in calories!
DeleteYep a life long struggle....but just think of all the blog posts we can write on it LOL!!!
Not much has changed from my "losing" days to my now "maintaining" days. That was what I could never seem to learn. In order to maintain, I have to keep doing what I did when I was losing weight. What makes it harder may be that you don't get much recognition for staying the same. My daughters do occasionally tell me that I'm doing great and I appreciate that. Yep, it definitely is worth it. :)
ReplyDeleteI never thought about that, no one goes around saying congrats on staying the same lol. Yes it is so nice to get a little appreciation.
DeleteI think my problem is...during my weight loss I kick butt for 3 weeks, and then start getting a bit lax here and there. And I stay the same for a while. Then I get ticked and I decide to tighten the reigns and get going again. Maintain.... I hear its hard, but I cant wait to get there!!!
ReplyDeleteYes, that is me exactly!! I work, lose, get comfy, stall, repeat. Yeah, I want to try maintain mode for a change!!
DeleteI suck at loosing weight, so I better be better at maintaining or it will all be worth nothing! And I can't have that.
ReplyDeleteRight, can't have that at all!
DeleteI'm a bit dumbfounded by this topic because I sort of can't believe that maintaining will be THAT hard. I guess I'll know when I get there. I just go with the flow I guess.
ReplyDeleteWell they all tell me maintaining is hard. You are doing so good at losing, I am sure you will do good at maintaining.
DeleteHi Paul- thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting. This is my first visit to yours and I'll be checking in often to see how you're doing.
ReplyDeleteLike you - I have a way to go to maintenance, but in the past I have lost down to where I want to be and maintained for awhile. Then slowly first, and more rapidly as time went on - regained. Both are hard, but totally worth it. May we soon be back at the maintenance struggle!
Hi Leslie, thanks so much for stopping by and for the comment. I cannot agree more hoping we will soon be at the maintaining part. I am getting tired of the losing part lol!
DeleteI'm pretty sure I'm screwed for the rest of my life in the difficult aspect, whether losing or maintaining. But hey...at least when it's difficult at my goal weight I'll look good while doing it! ;)
ReplyDeleteHey now that's the spirit. I love it! lol
DeleteI think maintaining is harder once you actually hit your goal because of the mindset you are in once you get there. I've been there and done that. Usually you get more lax with things and that weight can creep back on faster than you realize but because you've lost it before you think it's no big thing and you can lose it again but you're back in that rut of "I'll start tomorrow". In the beginning you're on it but then you gain a pound here, lose it there, gain 5 here, lose 1 there, etc. It's an ongoing struggle that differs from getting to that goal in the first place. Don't get me wrong, getting there is hard too but you are striving for that goal and you sort of see it as an end but maintaining goes on forever... there is no end, it's for life. That in itself can be daunting and you're going to go up and down.... it's inevitable but striving to keep it within reason will become a lifetime job whereas your ultimate goal, however unattainable or attainable it may be, has an end in site. I'm probably not explaining it well but hopefully it makes some sense:-) It's a plateau Paul, just fight through it and you will begin losing again:-) You can shake things up by added more protein, less carbs, more exercise, different exercise, more fruits/veggies, maybe try juices here and there in place of a meal..... Just keep at it no matter what!
ReplyDeleteNo, I think you explained it really well and this does make sense to me. I think they will find out it is a genetic thing for us. I really believe many "naturally" thin people don't have this hard of a time just going through every day life. Thanks for taking the time to comment as that helps not just me, but the many that will read this!
DeleteI'm about 75 pounds from my goal. I've lost 70 so far and I'm already thinking about maintenance. I have been gleaning info from my friends who are on maintenance now. I know for me, I will need to have something to shoot for, like actually rowing in the Senior Games. That is a dream of mine! So I'm looking forward to putting my efforts into healthy activities! Can't wait!!
ReplyDeleteStay focused!
Well Joy losing 70 pounds is a huge feat and you should be very proud of that!!
DeleteYou've done great, Paul, but I do understand your frustrations! For sure! I have stayed almost the same for a very long time, however, I have gotten smaller. Right now that's not enough for me. I have a few problems: one thing is that I get into food ruts. I find that if I vary my food, I do better on the scale. Even exercise - varying what/when you do it, helps. Are you measuring yourself? Are you eating ENOUGH? When I went to WW's, that was my issue. I "dieted" so well, that I didn't eat enough for what my body needed and for what my exercise needed. And eating enough is important to keep your metabolism burning well (I have Calorimeter testing at the clinic that I go to). Eating enough protein is very important and watching carbs (which you're already doing). And for me - sticktoitiveness!I seem to get derailed easily. Ugh. Sometimes though maintaining is good practice for the real maintenance!
ReplyDeleteAll the best!
Dawn
I agree. I am concentrating on lowering carbs and eating more protein. It is just hard because I so love my carbs lol. Thanks so much for stopping by!!
Deletei think you can do it tooo!! but i get it...maintaining is hard. all the work and none of the "glory" cuz you dont have that great number to greet you on weigh in day.
ReplyDeleteExactly...it gets old...but I'm not going back to my old ways! Thanks for your support.
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