Maintaining Weight Loss

[Ksyrup]

A few of you who have been following the The Officialish FOFC Weight Loss Dynasty know that I have lost a good deal of weight during the past 12 weeks - I'm within about a pound of hitting my [initial] goal of 50 pounds (target weight of 175). I'm going to keep losing at least another 10, maybe 15 pounds or so, but as I near the "finish line" of my weight loss, I've started thinking about what will undoubtedly become the more difficult task - keeping it off.

This is the 4th time in the past 11 years that I will have lost at least 40-60 pounds, and the 3 previous times, I gained all, or at least a significant portion, of it back. I don't want to go back down that road again - if nothing else, my budget can't take it (I've got a new "fat man" box of clothes that replaces the "thin man" box I emptied (and am able to wear) a couple of weeks ago). So, I'm seeking advice from you guys about the best ways to transition from trying to lose weight to regulating my food intake in order to maintain my desired weight.

My fear is that I'm an "all or nothing" type eater. When I have no restrictions, I eat anything and everything, and often don't feel full after eating what most people would consider a huge amount of food. The flipside of this has allowed me to strictly control my eating so that I've lost so much weight in such a short period of time. While I haven't necessarily been counting calories, I'm fairly certain my daily caloric intake has rarely risen above 1000-1200 calories during my diet; I'm also equally certain that in one sitting, I used to eat about 3 times that many calories and not thought twice about it.

One positive I have going for me is that I have been consistently exercising at a gym 3 times a week, and that is going to continue even after I'm done losing weight. But I also suspect that I'll be eating out more often or eating home-cooked meals instead of the prepackaged meals I've largely been living on, and so I'm concerned that I'll either eat like a bird and continue to lose, or start to add back the things I haven't eaten in 3 months (I haven't had a single sweet or anything to drink outside of water, decaf hot tea, and skim milk) and get back into the old habits again. The latter has me worried that I'll continue to eat so little that I'll still be losing weight without really trying (actually, that's more my wife's concern than mine, but there's some merit to it).

So, what advice do you have for finding the happy medium? Or, should I stick with the strict diet, but just find a way to increase the portions to up my calorie intake?

I should add that I intend to get a physical at some point at the beginning of the year to see how I'm doing apart from being a lot thinner.

[Telle]

Well some good advice I once heard was "Never do anything to lose weight that you can't/won't do to keep it off." Unfortunately it's a little late for you to use that advice now..

I've personally been doing Weight Watchers and love it.. and their maintenance plan is identical to their weightloss plan but just increases the number of points you can eat. So you could try doing a homemade version of their plan.. basically figure out how many calories you should be eating in a week to maintain your weight. Set aside a chunk of those to be used on days when you eat out or just want a slice of chocolate cake or whatever, and then divide the rest up evenly amongst the days of the week. Also keep track of how many calories you burn working out (caloriesperhour.com is a great site for this) and for every hundred you burn, feel free to eat fifty calories. Then just count how many calories you eat (calorieking.com has nutritional info for pretty much everything you could think of) and stay within your predetermined limits.

Also, make sure that your daily diet includes at least 5 servings of fruits and veggies and 2-3 servings of dairy.

[Ksyrup]

It's not that I can't/won't continue to do what I'm doing in order to maintain my weight, it's that if I keep doing it, I'll likely continue to lose weight. And eventually, I'll need to add back in things I'm not eating now (occasional sweets, caffeine, restaurant food), because it's not reasonable to think I can stay this strict forever. And nor do I need to be, it's just that I'm a bit concerned that moderation is a huge issue for me.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

It's not that I can't/won't continue to do what I'm doing in order to maintain my weight, it's that if I keep doing it, I'll likely continue to lose weight. And eventually, I'll need to add back in things I'm not eating now (occasional sweets, caffeine, restaurant food), because it's not reasonable to think I can stay this strict forever. And nor do I need to be, it's just that I'm a bit concerned that moderation is a huge issue for me.

You don't need to eat any of that to get more than 1200 calories. To maintain 160-170 you should have 1800-2000 calories. That is quite easy to do while maintaining a healthy diet.

[Ksyrup]

I should also say that I've been loosely following the ediets.com "modified Jenny Craig" plan, which essentially substitutes frozen entrees for the JC prepackaged food. One way to keep track of my calories would be to modify my meal plans for higher calorie intake, but I'm trying to ween myself off of dependency on the site for meal plans and such.

I have been keeping track of calories as I work out, and what I've learned is that those machines seem to be all over the place. I'll have to check out that site to see if there is a more accurate way to gauge calorie loss, because the wide swing in what the various machines tell me has left me less than informed.

[Telle]

Exactly.. you majorly cut back on your calories and cut out foods that you know you're not going to give up eating forever. You could have been doing the "moderation" thing all along.. just cut back your calories a moderate amount in order to lose a healthy 1-2 pounds a week and continue to include the ocasional indulgence but in smaller portions. So now you're worried that when you stop restricting yourself you're going to go hog wild whereas if you had gone with moderation all along it would be a more subtle change between weightloss mode and maintenance mode.

[lordscarlet]

I use http://www.fitday.com to keep track of calories and it works great for me. In particular, if you make a lot of the same things it can be a pain to enter all the data, but once it's there you don't have to enter it again.

[Telle]

The biggest thing is preplanning. Come up with a few different breakfasts that you like, and figure out the calories for them.. if the calories are too high then tweak them by using lower calorie items or smaller portions. Do the same for lunch and dinner. Look online for nutritional info for your favorite places to eat out and come up with options for what you can have. Then each night plan out what you're going to have the following day. Once you've done that for a week or two, you'll find that you eat a lot of the same things from day to day and the planning will be pretty much "cut and paste" plus some small changes.

[Ksyrup]

But there's no way I would have lost weight without completely cutting out the "occasional indulgence" and being as restrictive as I've been. Was not going to happen. That's what I've been trying to do on and off for years. The only way I lose weight is to cut it all out. Now I just have to figure out how to adapt to a happy medium. And I'd much rather be doing that from 165 pounds than 225.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by Telle

The biggest thing is preplanning. Come up with a few different breakfasts that you like, and figure out the calories for them.. if the calories are too high then tweak them by using lower calorie items or smaller portions. Do the same for lunch and dinner. Look online for nutritional info for your favorite places to eat out and come up with options for what you can have. Then each night plan out what you're going to have the following day. Once you've done that for a week or two, you'll find that you eat a lot of the same things from day to day and the planning will be pretty much "cut and paste" plus some small changes.

You should also be eating 5-6 smaller meals, rather than the traditional 3 larger meals. for 2000 calories have 5 400 calorie meals or something similar.

[cuervo72]

Hmm, I've been thinking about this myself, having gone from ~238 to ~183. Started a low-carb diet in April, and have stuck to it. I'm about at my goal (180), but really have really leveled off the past couple months. I've become more liberal (well, if having an occasional half-dozen tortilla chips is "liberal") with things recently, but am still basically no-carb. Not really sure how I want to transition to "regular" eating again, if at all, as I could easily see myself sliding back up the scale. So good luck, I'll be curious how it goes for you.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Telle

The biggest thing is preplanning. Come up with a few different breakfasts that you like, and figure out the calories for them.. if the calories are too high then tweak them by using lower calorie items or smaller portions. Do the same for lunch and dinner. Look online for nutritional info for your favorite places to eat out and come up with options for what you can have. Then each night plan out what you're going to have the following day. Once you've done that for a week or two, you'll find that you eat a lot of the same things from day to day and the planning will be pretty much "cut and paste" plus some small changes.

That's about what I'm doing now, but on a much smaller scale. I guess what I'll need to do is continue with my diet, but add food to it. At this point, my daily menu consists of:

Breakfast - 3/4 cup of cereal and skim milk or english muffin w/light spread of whipped cream cheese or packet of oatmeal/cream of wheat

Mid-day snack - 1 piece of fruit (usually a pear, or maybe 20 red grapes)

Lunch - Lean Cuisine meal, typically around 250 calories

Mid-Afternoon snack - Light n' Fit yogurt cup

Dinner - Either a Lean Cuisine or a piece of fish and a salad

After-Dinner Snack - Bag of 100 calorie popcorn, or 4 triskets, or 20 grapes

Go to sleep. Wake up. Repeat.

[Desnudo]

Picking up a sport or training for an event can be a good way to keep the weight off.

[MalcPow]

Originally Posted by Desnudo

Picking up a sport or training for an event can be a good way to keep the weight off.

I'll take this a step further. My old boss was much the same way with weight and I was around to see him go through the roundtrip of big loss and big gain, and then to see him lose it again. The second time around he decided that in order to continue to be healthy he needed to set a new goal that wasn't weight-focused but had weight control as sort of secondary effect of "being healthy." I'm not really sure this was a clear realization at the time, but basically he started running with me on lunch breaks and sort of fell into the idea of training for a 10k that our office had committed to being a small sponsor of. He wasn't much of a runner at first but he brought the same discipline that enabled him to lose the weight to trying to set goals and progress. Obivously I wouldn't be telling this if it didn't have a happy ending, but that was almost two years ago and he's got his sights set on a marathon in 07. He eats sweets and drinks soda, and even though I don't think he's allowed any of his bad habits to come back in an excessive way, I know he doesn't have the same ultra-rigid focus on diet that he was subjecting himself to when he lost all that weight.

I really think that's the answer though. You've lost the weight. Now you need to set a new goal that's about accomplishing something else. Focus on working out longer, riding or jogging further, and shifting the focus from the scale to some other metric of success. Running can be a fantastic way to do that. [/end infomercial voice]

[Ksyrup]

I intend to gradually increase my workouts. And more significantly, to add weight training as a big part of my workouts. When I did Atkins a few years back, I lost quite a bit of muscle mass, and this time around certainly didn't help, either, so I've got some serious upper body work to do. I've never lifted weights or enjoyed the idea, but I'll have to get used to it.

I started my workouts by running early on, getting up to about 3.5 miles at a time, but eventually I started having issues with my right knee to the point that I had to switch to a low impact workout. Now I'm doing 45 minutes on an elliptical machine and burning (allegedly) around 700-800 calories a workout, with no knee (or other) problems.

[Ryche]

My wife just lost a pretty good amount of weight she basically counts her calorie intake and expenditures, trying to keep them even. Basically that's what it comes down to, don't consume more calories than you burn. She uses this site religiously in keeping track: http://www.calorie-count.com

Seems to be working for her, although admittedly she's at about the same stage as you, going from loss to stabilization.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I intend to gradually increase my workouts. And more significantly, to add weight training as a big part of my workouts. When I did Atkins a few years back, I lost quite a bit of muscle mass, and this time around certainly didn't help, either, so I've got some serious upper body work to do. I've never lifted weights or enjoyed the idea, but I'll have to get used to it.

Rather than doing 3-days of weight training, you might consider a daily push-up regimen. Calisthenics like push-ups (and dips and squats) will burn off a ton more calories than weight training when done daily, and you can gain arguably just as much muscle mass and tone (plus you can do it at home for free).

[ice4277]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I intend to gradually increase my workouts. And more significantly, to add weight training as a big part of my workouts. When I did Atkins a few years back, I lost quite a bit of muscle mass, and this time around certainly didn't help, either, so I've got some serious upper body work to do. I've never lifted weights or enjoyed the idea, but I'll have to get used to it.

I started my workouts by running early on, getting up to about 3.5 miles at a time, but eventually I started having issues with my right knee to the point that I had to switch to a low impact workout. Now I'm doing 45 minutes on an elliptical machine and burning (allegedly) around 700-800 calories a workout, with no knee (or other) problems.

I dropped from 240 to about 160 over a year and a half. I've been pretty close to maintaining that weight for the last 2 years or so, today I'm at about 164. Like you, I also restricted my calorie intake to around 1000-1200 calories per day. After reaching my target weight, I gradually increased the amount of food I would eat, while still trying to hit the gym (for mostly cardio) about 5 times a week. My metabolism took a little while to pick back up, but once I started lifting more regularly, it was not a problem to eat around 2100-2200 calories a day and maintain my weight. In the last couple months though, I've been working a lot of extra hours with a crazy schedule, and have found it more difficult to get to the gym.

Anyways, I think its important to continue lifting, even if you don't like it. Long-term, that will help you keep the weight off moreso than if you just were doing cardio, at least in my experience.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

Rather than doing 3-days of weight training, you might consider a daily push-up regimen. Calisthenics like push-ups (and dips and squats) will burn off a ton more calories than weight training when done daily, and you can gain arguably just as much muscle mass and tone (plus you can do it at home for free).

Pushups are the route I've been taking, with an occasional round of sets with dumbells (curls, shoulder presses, lateral raises, bent rows, "shrugs", pullovers - lots of good stuff here: http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html , helped me look up the names ). But more often than not pushups. I've gone from being able to do probably only a dozen to 35-40, depending on how much I push it (can do more if I split it up into sets...). Didn't take much to build that up either, so I'd definitely recommend them if you don't have space, equipment, or time for much else.

I'd love to do dips too, if I had something to do them on.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

I'd love to do dips too, if I had something to do them on.

I am "lucky" enough that my tiny kitchen allows me to dips between the counters.

Lifeline USA makes some great, affordable home workout equipment, and a couple of their products allow you to dips at home. Check out the 'product instructions' for their Jungle Gym to get a feel for how it works.

http://www.lifelineusa.com/products....&productid=113

Lifeline really makes great stuff, and I'd definitely recommend them to anybody who finds the whole hassle (and cost) of the 'gym experience' enough to kill their motivation. I use a couple of their products on a daily basis, and have had terrific results while saving a ton of time and money. Do I sound like an infomercial?

[DolphinFan1]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

A few of you who have been following the The Officialish FOFC Weight Loss Dynasty know that I have lost a good deal of weight during the past 12 weeks - I'm within about a pound of hitting my [initial] goal of 50 pounds (target weight of 175). I'm going to keep losing at least another 10, maybe 15 pounds or so, but as I near the "finish line" of my weight loss, I've started thinking about what will undoubtedly become the more difficult task - keeping it off.

This is the 4th time in the past 11 years that I will have lost at least 40-60 pounds, and the 3 previous times, I gained all, or at least a significant portion, of it back. I don't want to go back down that road again - if nothing else, my budget can't take it (I've got a new "fat man" box of clothes that replaces the "thin man" box I emptied (and am able to wear) a couple of weeks ago). So, I'm seeking advice from you guys about the best ways to transition from trying to lose weight to regulating my food intake in order to maintain my desired weight.

My fear is that I'm an "all or nothing" type eater. When I have no restrictions, I eat anything and everything, and often don't feel full after eating what most people would consider a huge amount of food. The flipside of this has allowed me to strictly control my eating so that I've lost so much weight in such a short period of time. While I haven't necessarily been counting calories, I'm fairly certain my daily caloric intake has rarely risen above 1000-1200 calories during my diet; I'm also equally certain that in one sitting, I used to eat about 3 times that many calories and not thought twice about it.

One positive I have going for me is that I have been consistently exercising at a gym 3 times a week, and that is going to continue even after I'm done losing weight. But I also suspect that I'll be eating out more often or eating home-cooked meals instead of the prepackaged meals I've largely been living on, and so I'm concerned that I'll either eat like a bird and continue to lose, or start to add back the things I haven't eaten in 3 months (I haven't had a single sweet or anything to drink outside of water, decaf hot tea, and skim milk) and get back into the old habits again. The latter has me worried that I'll continue to eat so little that I'll still be losing weight without really trying (actually, that's more my wife's concern than mine, but there's some merit to it).

So, what advice do you have for finding the happy medium? Or, should I stick with the strict diet, but just find a way to increase the portions to up my calorie intake?

I should add that I intend to get a physical at some point at the beginning of the year to see how I'm doing apart from being a lot thinner.

I've posted my thoughts on the other dynasty page. But here is what I have done. I have lost 30 pounds in 12 months going organic. I eat almost whatever I want. Including sweets. I just bake them myself with organic sugar and stuff. The key is to drink lots of water and eat a big breakfast with fruits. This gets the body's metabolism going in the morning to burn more calories. I've tried this and it works. You also have to realize that the food companies don't want you to eat less and lose weight. Then they won't sell more food. So they put additives in the food to make you hungrier. I'll stop there or this could become a book. But you get the idea. If not, PM me and I'll email you with much more info.

[Ksyrup]

Thanks for the ideas. We'll see how things go.

[rkmsuf]

stop eating so much fatso!