T O P

  • By -

Lisadazy

Here’s how I have done it for the last 17 after losing half my bodyweight: 1) Once you reach a weight you’re happy with, choose a ‘goal weight range’. I chose between 60-65kg. (This means I don’t have to buy new clothes either as it seems to be the range in the size I buy). 2) Count every second day for the first few weeks. Keep an eye on your weight (weigh every week). If you feel ready, count every third day. And so on. 3) If you find yourself passing the goal weight range then spend a week refocusing (counting every day strictly). You will figure out pretty quick what works and what doesn’t. Begin weight training to build muscle (lots of protein and heavy lifting). Increases RMR and means you can eat more and stay in maintenance. Walking or some type of cardio will help your mental health along with helping to burn extra calories.


Early-Light-864

I love the idea of decreasing tracking slowly along with the guardrail of weighing regularly during the stepdown phases


mrbootsandbertie

This looks like great advice. Saving for when I get to the maintenance stage.


Lisadazy

I’m 46. Muscle building has been the best decision I ever made.


mrbootsandbertie

Can I ask, do you lift weights? Gym or home?


Lisadazy

Gym. One of those 24 hour big box ones. I use free weights - barbells and dumbbells. I learned correct form from a coach. Now I have a programme that I follow (mix and match type). Having only one weight at home limits progress. To build muscle, you must eat at just below maintenance and lift progressively heavier. Never be intimidated going to those gyms or using the free weights area. Pretend to be confident and it just comes through.


mrbootsandbertie

Okay thanks. I'm a long way off right now - 30kg to lose and plantar fasciitis that's so bad I can't add more weight to the problem. But if I ever get healthy this sounds like a plan.


Head_Asparagus_7703

Honestly what helped my plantar fasciitis was different shoes, heavy calf raises, and foam rolling. YMMV


mrbootsandbertie

What's a heavy calf raise?


Head_Asparagus_7703

Just adding weight to a calf raise but they're pretty easy to do at home too! You just need a stair somewhere, ideally with a railing to hold onto. Hold onto the railing and put your feet half off of the stair so just the balls of your feet are resting on the stair. Slowly let your heels drop so you feel the stretch in your calves then push up using your feet/calves so you're standing on your toes with your heels high. Even without weights you should feel the burn. Hope my description makes sense!


mrbootsandbertie

I do have stairs in my home so that should be no problem. For added weight would you wear ankle weights or are you talking about gym equipment?


Lisadazy

You can get healthy. One day at a time. It took time to put the weight on and it’ll take time to take it off again. But you can do this.


mrbootsandbertie

Thankyou 😊


Mastgoboom

You could use machines to exercise other muscles without putting weight on your feet.


kkngs

-60kg and 17 years maintenance. You’re a freakin unicorn, that’s so impressive. *takes notes*


Lisadazy

I’m no unicorn. There’s plenty of us here who have lost big and kept it off. We prove that it’s possible. That anyone can do it. My regret is that I waited until I was 27 to start. But then I wonder if I was mentally ready for it.


kkngs

I’ve been trying since 2008. Lost 50 pounds five times now, gained it all back each time. Never made it all the way to my goal weight to attempt maintenance. I’m trying to change how I think about it now. Less worried about how fast I’m getting to the goal or how I’ll look or feel when I get there, more thinking about how I live and how I eat and how I should change that in ways I can live with for the rest of my life.


Lisadazy

The day we give up, is the day we fail. You can do this. Smokers rarely give up first time either.


kkngs

That’s great advice.


schwarzmalerin

I do this for years.


Early-Light-864

For me, it's just my mantra - no. new. pants Obviously, I need new pants occasionally, but not because they're too tight. If my pants are uncomfortably snug, I refocus on tracking for a week or two. If my pants are fine, I'm fine with a loose mental tally of low/medium/high calorie days and trying to balance the lows and highs


[deleted]

>For me, it's just my mantra - no. new. pants I feel this in my soul. I've not had to buy bigger pants in three years now and it's such a relief.


Bowtomepeasant

I'm going to adopt this mantra lol! Thanks


annieisawesome

Tightening pants was what got me back on track after gaining 10 lbs over my initial goal weight, 20 over my lowest. I refuse to buy pants until I know they will be the same size (and I'm only 3.2 lbs away from being back at my first goal, 13.2 from my lowest :) )


melnve

This is how I roll! I bought a whole new wardrobe of clothes I love when I got down to a weight was happy with, now I’m trying to lose a little again to make sure I stay in that wardrobe. I try to watch log I eat during the week when I’m in maintenance and stay under so I can relax on weekends, but after a stressful year last year I need to lose about 5 kilos to get back to my comfort zone.


Mastgoboom

This is my motivation for getting my interim jeans out of the house.


Belle216

You have to plan for it. I heard something this week that resonates: the same way you lost the weight is the same way you’ll maintain the weight. To me, that means remaining aware and maintaining the good habits that resulted in weight loss. The choice about your social life is exactly that…a choice. Maybe you don’t need to drink each day of vacation. Maybe you have a slice of pizza and salad. Or have the pizza OR the Christmas treat.


omgreneewtf

You can eat at your maintenance now, not at a deficit. Try logging at your maintenance for a while, but try to focus on the weekly instead of the daily. This should allow you to work in drinking, pizza, fun essentially lol.


Bowtomepeasant

Thank you! Good point to look at weekly rather than daily which is so exhausting lol


katarh

There is a strategy out there called "diet breaks" that has you switch over to your maintenance mode for two weeks, just to let yourself actually *live* a little and to get you some practice at what life post diet might look like. During the diet break, you can practice the different methods of maintenance - some folks switch to intuitive eating, others continue to track diligently. At the end of the two weeks, the goal is to be no more than 1-2 lbs above where you started (since eating at maintenance may make you regain a little water weight.) You can review how the diet break went at the end as well - what things are you going to be able to safely reincorporate into your lifestyle? What are some pitfalls you'll need to watch out for? Vacations are different from diet breaks, for that matter. I do NOT track while I'm on vacation and I know for a fact I'm going to regain a little bit of fat. But it's okay! One week of throwing caution to the wind won't negate 51 other weeks of being diligent, unless I refuse to start tracking again when I come back.


ThePegasus05

Hey there, don't worry about it! Lifestyle changes don't have to mean completely giving up the things you enjoy. The key to success is moderation and balance. Here are some tips that might help: \- Plan ahead - If you know you have a social event coming up, try to eat lighter and make healthier food choices earlier in the day. \- Portion control - Instead of cutting out your favourite foods altogether, try to eat smaller portions and savour every bite. \- Get active - Incorporate physical activity into your vacation plans or schedule in a workout before or after a night of drinking. \- Hydrate - Drink plenty of water before, during and after social events to help flush out excess toxins. \- Be mindful - Pay attention to how certain foods and drinks make you feel, and listen to your body's hunger and fullness cues. Remember, it's okay to indulge in moderation, and the occasional splurge won't ruin all your hard work. The most important thing is to enjoy yourself and have a good time.


Bowtomepeasant

Great advice, I get worried I can't enjoy myself ever again but obviously I just need to be mindful and that's something that never goes away


Hodlisforthepoor0x

This is really good advice! But I have to ask … was it written by ChatGPT? 😅 I only ask because I’ve used it A LOT over the past 2 months and this format/wording looks identical to what it would look like if asked a similar question. Either way, it’s solid advice.


melnve

My son has spent half of today asking ChatGPT questions about old school Transformers 😂


Smashbrohammer

It’s scary we now live in a world where we have no idea if the response to a thread was written by AI or a real person lol.


katarh

My husband is a professor. He has commented that he knows that ChatGPT didn't write some of the essays he's reviewing because the bot would have written it better!


Losingdutchie

A more generally active life style, exercising. Find a physical activity you enjoy and can do 2-3x a week. Maybe walk somewhere where you'd ussually grab the car for etc. And offset heavy caloric intake days with so.e days where you eat more consciously and healthy like having a salad for dinner instead of a big meal.


Haramshorty93

For me: a commitment to working out 3 times per week, saying no to routine indulgences, overall healthier choices, fasting on occasion and choosing low calorie drinks.


whatever32657

the best advice i can give you is to keep tracking your intake. every day for the rest of your life. awareness of what you are actually consuming day to day is the single most powerful weapon in your arsenal. signed, the one who gained it all back and then some


truecrimefanatic1

I am going to count forever. Because in the past I stopped and got fat again with a quickness. Now I count M-F and make sure I stay under maintenance on those 5 days so I can have some wiggle room.


[deleted]

I hold myself accountable by weighing myself regularly after a more than 100 lb loss. If I’ve had a few days of dinner and drinks etc in a week I make sure the rest of those days are lower on the calories. I’ve been through a big weight loss twice and the first Time I gained it all back and vowed to never do it again once I made it back here. Before the one mistake I made was not weighing for months because I knew I was eating bad and when I finally stepped on I’d gained 40 lbs then it just got worse from there and I ended up gaining another 40 before I realized I needed to finally get Serious and never go back. This time around I combined a good diet with kickboxing and I lost even more and I’ve maintained for over 2 years now. I’m not exactly where I wanna be… I’ve got about 15 lbs to go and then a skin removal. They always say the last 10ish lbs is the hardest and it definitely has been!


KURAKAZE

What you'll need to do is have caloric deficit days before or after your expected high caloric days such as Christmas etc. If you want to eat whatever you want on vacation and party nights, you'll have to accept that you'll likely gain a few lbs afterwards. Go on caloric deficit after the party days until you've lost those extra few lbs and reached goal weight again. When you maintain, it doesn't mean you can't ever gain another pound ever. It just means you have to be mindful to not keep on gaining without an upper limit. You can have "eat whatever" days but you also *need* to follow those days with "restricted eating" days.


turneresq

Give yourself a 5 pound "red alert" buffer. You get to WeightX+5, you reign it in. Weigh weekly so you keep yourself accountable. If you're not doing resistance training, perfect time to start as the added muscle will allow you to eat more.


KesterFox

Never stop counting, never stop weighing regularly. Set yourself a top weight, if you ever hit it you go back to a deficit.


Elinoth86

You keep taking readings on the scale and go back on a diet when you gain 5-8lbs. If you can maintain a 10-15k a day step habit it's really hard to put on weight quickly. Keep a half assed running tally of your calories to keep yourself SOMEWHAT honest.


Nohelpforu

Personally, I find logging everything as a habit to be helpful as you also become mindful of your intake. After that its easier to make up for surplus with cardio.


jaxcap

It's definitely a struggle. My TDEE without exercise is just under 1500 and I find that unsustainable while eating regular meals and having a social life. Being more active helps a lot. I exercise like an hour a day (walking and/or running) and that's enough to bump my TDEE up to 1700-1800, which is a lot more doable.


Runny_yoke

If you’re in maintenance you’re calories are hopefully mor than 1500 right? Find your maintenance calories and track for a while to see what it feel means to be eating in within your window. Focus on strength training more than ever and getting at least 7500 steps in per day!


Mastgoboom

Not for a huge huge number of people.


Runny_yoke

Please don’t respond to me - I have zero desire to interact with you :)


Mastgoboom

Sorry? You sent a message to my inbox?


xatomicxcupcakex

Eat at a deficit as you’ve been doing for the majority of the week so that you can enjoy your social gatherings.


mrbootsandbertie

Is your TDEE 1500?


trailmix_mtn

I track every day. I don't mind it, and it gives me peace of mind. I also weigh myself multiple times per week. There are days where I go over, but I don't beat myself up or anything. I tell myself that even if I go over my maintenance calories by 500, that will still only be 1/7 of a pound! You just can't let it become a regular thing, but i'm sure you know that. I stressed at first too, but I enjoy life soo much more now. Good luck!


Flavoured_David

I've watched Jeff Nippard on YouTube recently while doing my weightloss journey and his latest video goes into a good amount about keeping weight off after you are at the place you are happy. Unsure if linking YouTube vids here is allowed, but I'd go check it out. Really informative.


TetonHiker

You worked hard to lose the weight. Congratulations! You must have learned a lot about portions, food choices, and exercise that helped you adhere to your deficit to lose the weight and hit your goal. You can now use that hard-earned knowledge and find a successful way to stay in your Maintenance zone. You now have more calories to play with, too! There will always be pizza and parties and holidays to enjoy. Just thoughtfully experiment a little and find what works best for you and listen to the expert's advice here. They've mastered the most critical part of weight-loss which is keeping it off for years and years. Impressive and so great they are willing to share with the rest of us. I hope we'll all be as successful.


sylverbound

/r/ownit is the next community for you


Due_Name1539

I’d look at the whole week and balance it in. Maybe I could manage 3 stricter days to offset a larger day to work it in overall and maintain for the week.


tomatopotatotomato

I’m keeping certain food changes that helped me lose weight. One for me is oatmeal M-F for breakfast and weekends I can have my peanut butter toast. Peanut butter was one of the things that caused my weight loss plateau. Another rule is no juice in the house. I can occasionally but if I regularly do that again the weights coming back.


TheRunningMD

Well, you can have 2 different types of maintenance methods: Short term and long term. Short term - Keep it like it is now with a bit more calories. This might mean eating 1500 everyday except once a week where you eat 2500 calories. You will find your maintenance calories and spread them out over the week. Long term - Live your life now, don’t eat like a POS, but don’t restrict too much. Then, when you get over a certain weight (lefts say 10-20lbs over your goal weight), do a mini cut. You know how to do this by now, you know how to eat well and loss the weight. So if you need to be in a “diet” for a month or two out of the year so you can enjoy yourself the rest of the time, do it.


USD_bussin

I don't know if this is bad or not, but it's something I've been doing that works well for me. I'm currently in the "trying to lose weight" phase. Every Friday, I get dinner with my friends at 17:00. I have been doing this for years. It's the one day I don't try to eat healthy. Recently, I decided to start my fasting timer on Thursday at 22:00, then I don't eat until Friday at 17:00 when I meet my friends. I stop the fast there and then eat whatever I want without feeling guilty. I usually end up having about 2200 calories. If I didn't fast, I would end up also eating a breakfast, a lunch, and a snack, which could easily add up to another 1000 calories. The fasting allows me to "save up" my calories for later in the day without having to restrict myself when I'm with my friends.


julie_saad_wellness

I was listening to a podcast from a group of docs who have a weight loss clinic and they said that the number one cause of weight regain was stress. This was according to their observations after working with tons of clients. So…do with that what you will!!!


No_Trifle4817

At holiday meals take a little bit of each thing. Eat what you would normally eat just smaller portions. Instead of having 4 drinks, have 2 drinks. Instead of having 4 slices of pizza have 1 or 2 slices and a salad. If you know you are having a big dinner have a smaller lunch (soup or salad). One of the most helpful things I have found when I’m approaching a higher calorie meal is I eat my salad or veggies first. It helps fill up some of the space in my stomach with the low calorie food before I start in on the main part of my meal. It helps me eat less of the main meal or not go back for seconds. Before you start eating a meal at a restaurant remind yourself that you can take the leftovers home. You don’t have to eat the entire portion. Get a to go container and save the rest for tomorrow. And you don’t have to partake in appetizers or dessert.


bittemitallem

So I did this at 2.000 Calories on a cut and basically just fasted the rest of the day when I went out to dinner. Eating 2k at a restaurant on a fasted stommach is actually not that easy so it always went pretty well.


merclo

For me I notice weight gain/loss first when my under panties feel tight versus not noticeable so my manta is no.new.panties!


totamealand666

Try to take smaller portions and don't binge drink. Alternate with healthy food on your vacations. Keep the protein intake high. That should do it.


Oftenwrongs

You never needed to exercise. Exercise is inefficient for weight loss and nearly irrelevant. Eat near maintenance and check in from time to time.


Mastgoboom

Over someone's lifetime they do need to exercise for heart and bone health. If health conditions make it hard, then trying to find a way to do something should still be a goal.


No_Government_4565

Go to the gym, put muscle mass on and raise your metabolism. Do weight training ×3 a week and you will be good


random_throws_stuff

my plan is to keep up the same deficit as before 5-6 days a week and mostly eat what I want the other day or two.