is anyone out there 5'8" and maintaining at 141?
is anyone out there 5'8" and maintaining at 141?
i came in this forum a few pounds ago & felt so fat! LOL i still want to get down to 134, but i'm wondering if anyone 5'8" is purposely staying at 141.
also, i'm wondering if anyone knows when you start maintaining is it more likely that you'll gain 1st or lose 1st before you actually maintain.
anyone have any pointers for me?
I am 5'6" and maintaining at 135. I am VERY slowly working down to 130 with exercise only while eating calories to maintain 135. So far it is going very well.
I weigh myself each morning on rising. This is a change from the once per week I was doing when I was restricting my calories more and losing 1-2 pounds per week. My weight fluctuates between 134 and 137 now with most days at 135. The days I weigh in at 137 have been after a higher sodium intake than normal the day before. I think on my maintenance calories I went up a couple pounds the first couple weeks. I didn't eat more than I am eating now but just the increase of 300 calories per day to get me to a maintenance level after such a long time at 1200 calories per day had my body holding on to it I think. After a couple weeks though I started seeing 134 on the scale every couple days.
Since my goal is to eventually reach 130 but I am not trying to do it with further calorie restriction and only with added exercise it will be slower going. I did this on purpose to give myself maintenance practice and to see how my body would handle the 1550 calories I felt I was needing.
I feel totally comfortable with my calorie consumption now and feel confident I can keep the weight off. I have fully incorporated exercise into my daily routine and eat healthy foods that nourish my body and satiate my palate. I know that I will make my 130 goal and will at that point be able to maintain my weight forever more between 130 and 135 never to see anything above 135 again.
thanks terry!
i already weigh myself everyday. i was hoping to switch to once a week soon. i see the gains from the sodium too & they usually drop pretty quick.
i want to do the same as you! i want to lose the last of this with exercise. well, once i hit 141 again... that was an eating weekend!
Prior to beginning on maintenance I was weighing in just once a week. I know how to lose weight but keeping it off is where I have trouble. That is why accountability at this stage for me is important. I am still working thru the issues that got me to an obese state in the first place. For me that means that weaning off the controls of counting calories and weighing myself regularly will be a slow process.
me too! i am hoping to be able to stop counting & weighing myself soon, AND to just trust myself. i know that i need to keep exercising & eating good, but without counting, i am pretty sure i'll just start gaining.
i guess the only way to find out if i can do it is to stop. LOL but then, if i gain, i'll need to lose again. i guess it's worth it to find out, though.
before i used to have bad eating days all the time & never even think about it. now i know that if i have a bad eating day i'll have to make up for it. :D i really learned alot here!
maintaining is kind of scary though...
Scary is an understatement! LOL...So far I have managed as many as six consecutive days without weighing or counting. They were times when I was traveling to my daughter's for a long weekend or taking care of my mother-in-law at her house without a scale or my computer to log my meals on. I did ok but the six days at my mother-in-laws was quite difficult. I did maintain but I felt more stressed than when I can keep track of my eating. I don't mind the counting because I have created a nice easy to use spreadsheet for it that has a database of all my favorite foods. I am learning to trust myself. I have learned an incredible amount about myself. I think I will always need to hold myself accountable. I just need to keep going and know that it is not something I will ever get to give up. I must accept that I have a propensity toward overeating and stay vigilant.
OMG!!! you are soooooo like me! :D have you lost before and always gained it back AND more?
i swear this time i am NOT gaining it back! not even a pound!!! ok... so i'll gain a few & then lose them just to stay at my desired weight. :D
i don't want to count for the rest of my life, but if i have to, i will! i don't want to worry about the scale either, but... well, you know how that goes.
that's right! we both lost & now we are both responsible for what we do from now on!
I'm 5"5 ans was maintaining 140, but I had a lil slip up and gained 7 lbs so I'm back to tryin to lose.
When I first started trying to maintain I was still weighing myself every few days and I didn't gain then I stopped weighing myself and started pigging out and not drinking my water and I gained 7 lbs, :-(
Whatever you do stay on top of your weight, don't allow your efforts to be flushed down the drain.
Snow...I have lost many times and then gained back more...over the last 40 years it got really bad...now I am where I was in high school, svelt and healthy and very alive! I never had managed to lose and get to this weight before. I know I will not gain it back. It is a really good feeling! It is not will power as much as it is finally having grown and matured enough to be able to step outside my head and emotions long enough to hear the prattle of my brain and sort out what is valid and what is ego fears or past pain talking. I can now experience my emotions without becoming them and I can hear myself thinking and not get lost in my own thoughts.
All this makes managing maintenance so much less stressful...it makes all of life less stressful! I feel really clear headed now days and I think a great deal of that is healthy eating and regular exercise. I love my new life style and I don't want to go back to my old ways ever! I don't like feeling full and bloated anymore and I don't have the padding I once did on my back side so sitting for more than an hour is uncomfortable! It is hard to believe how far I have come!
Maintenance is really just about staying aware of myself each day. I know the scale and the counting are tools that help me stay on track. I don't feel obsessed with either one beyond knowing I still need to use them. There may come a time when I won't count calories, for longer periods of time than the six day maximum I have experienced so far, and I may go back to weighing in once a week again. I am not ready to do either of those now and it is really ok with me not to, since it still helps me and is not a burden. I know when I go to visit my daughter for a week this summer I won't weigh myself or count and I am confident it will be ok. I am pretty good and making good choices now even at restaurants.
How about you Snow?
terry, i guess i feel pretty confident. i don't make the right choices though, like at restaurants & parties, etc. i always eat way too much, but i think that now i can at least make up for it the next day or 2, whatever it takes.
i do eat alot better now on most days, and i really am enjoying fresh fruits & veges. i never used to eat them!
i guess i could just continue eating good & exercising while just adding a little more calories each week. then if i gain any weight, i'll deal with it right away before it gets to be too much.
how do you maintain? do you allow 5 pounds over? and then just go back down?
morton, maybe i'll go check that group out. :D it sounds like i might belong there.
ama, LOL that sounds like me! i'll probably be always going up & down, so i'll have to set a limit & keep a close eye on my weight.
thanks for the replies!
I maintain bying staying within my calorie allowance for my weight and exercise level. I add a bit of extra exercise to help now with taking the last few pounds off slowly.
I started watching my weight daily just a couple weeks ago. I needed to see just how much it was fluctuating from day to day so that I would know how much room I had. I seem to have about a three pound swing range.
For me this process has taken a lot longer than just this last fifteen months when I started resticting my calories. I started five years ago with cutting fast foods and junk out of my diet. Two years it took to get to where I didn't eat or crave fast foods and ice cream (I had major ice cream attacks for years). During that time I began to incorporate exercise into my daily routine. That part was really the easiest for me to adjust to. I feel really good when I exercise and I really didn't like missing it even for a day after only a couple weeks of doing it.
I continued to refine my eating habits so that my body was getting the nutrients it needed from my food. I wanted to be able to eliminate supplements as well. One of my motivating factors were the health issues that both my husband and I had. We needed to get his blood pressure and cholesterol levels down. That took a while but it worked. In the process of doing that I was eating good healthy foods but I was eating too much of them. It wasn't until March of last year that I was ready to commit to restricting my calories in order to truly get healthy myself.
I do have times when I will eat things that are not on my usual diet but I try to stay within my calorie limits. I allow one meal a week to eat whatever I like but lately the discomfort I feel after words has taken the fun out of many of the foods I once enjoyed like ice cream. Now having chicken or turkey with the skin on it is a big deal and mashed potatoes made with a bit of butter is a big treat. Don't get me wrong...I love food and I enjoy eating very much still! I have just learned to enjoy smaller amounts by experiencing every bite fully. The first bite is the most enjoyable. After that point I am still enjoying it but with deminishing returns.
yeah, a 3 pound swing sounds alot better than 5! i'm gonna try to do that instead. i hope it works!
i'll weigh myself everyday & see how it goes. i DO still eat junk food though, so i need to be really careful about how much of that i eat.
LOL thanks! i forgot to take my blood pressure pill! i'm taking it now.
i guess i'm doing good... i'm up 3 pounds though. we went on a trip this weekend & there was a birthday party yesterday, so i guess only up 3 pounds is great. :D
i'm being really good today & hoping to be back down at least 1 pound tomorrow. i haven't exercised much since thursday either. :( that would probably help.
I've been maintaining for a few months now. Counting calories and logging got on my nerves but I was afraid to just let go. I joined an exercise challenge on CC and now count exercise minutes. That pushes me to work out everyday. I also weigh everyday and log the weight on CC. Since I generally make healthy food choices, just sometimes have too much healthy food, that seems to be keeping me in line. But this system isn't working for slowly losing the last 5 pounds. I'm afraid I'll have to go back to counting and restricting to drop those pounds and I'm just not that motivated at the moment.
don't worry, phox! you'll lose them last 5 pounds! :D it's the same with me. everyone says how great i look, but i just know i need to be under 140 and STAY there.
actually, toning will help, i'm sure. :D i'm starting that now, AND i might gain weight from it, but i don't care. it'll be worth it. especially at my age... 50 LOL
i gotta worry about my bones, i guess...
Original Post by snowfence:
is anyone out there 5'8" and maintaining at 141?
i came in this forum a few pounds ago & felt so fat! LOL i still want to get down to 134, but i'm wondering if anyone 5'8" is purposely staying at 141.
also, i'm wondering if anyone knows when you start maintaining is it more likely that you'll gain 1st or lose 1st before you actually maintain.
anyone have any pointers for me?
I don't know how big your bone structure is, but I don't know if trying to lose weight at 5'8" and 141 lbs is a good idea. I'm 5'9" and 139 lbs, and I can see my collarbones and my ribs....
i have a small frame though... and a big tummy.
Yes, sounds like we're about the same--I'm 5'8" and am maintaining at around 142-145, after losing about 30 pounds. I weight myself daily--otherwise the weight seems to slowly creep back on. Plus, I'm trying a new approach this time by setting 145 as my "do or die" weight, where I go back into high "discipline mode" if I reach or pass it. I'd LOVE to be around 135, but I think 140-142 is more realistic for me to maintain over the long haul.
I’ve made the same compromise. I’m 5’10” and am maintaining at 150. I’ve gotten as low as 146 but always pop back up to 148/150. 150 is the red line and when I go over, I start logging every bite. That seems to get me back on track. I would love to maintain at 145 but I don’t think that will happen. I'm also trying to maintain muscle and tone. Can I really bulk up at 58? I do a lot more pilates and yoga than weights because I enjoy pilates and yoga.
hey toot! LOL that's exactly the same as me!!! right down to rather weighing 135!!! :D we're probably both up this weekend though...
i'd have to "sneak" any more weight off though, because everyone keeps telling me how skinny i am. i know i'm not, but i'll keep them happy for now...
sure phox! you can bulk up! :D it takes time, that's all.
