The FastDay Forum

[Moogie]

I'm hoping to reach maintenance sometime this year (though I'm in no hurry to shift the last of this weight, I could probably do so more quickly if I really wanted to!), I was thinking about this prospect and wondering what helps everyone keep going, not just with fasting but maintaining weight in general?

When we're losing weight we have all our mini goals to celebrate - that kilo that came off, that half stone or stone, reaching a 'new' number on the scales, finding you fit a smaller size in clothes - so many things to spur us on and keep us motivated to lose the weight. These are all really positive things and make us feel good.

When it comes to maintenance it's all to easy to let things slide and end up putting on again - I'd like to think that we're all firm enough believers in fasting to find a method which fits our lives and keeps us in the right weight bracket, but without all our little achievements to encourage us, what positives are there to keep us going?

Perhaps it's just because I'm having a bit of a tough time in life at the moment (delays with the house move, very poorly cat who I love dearly and can't imagine losing but am facing that prospect every day, husband's job on the line...) I'm struggling to think of what positives there will be to look forward to when maintaining, besides the obvious things like still being able to fit smaller clothes, still seeing the same number on the scales.

Surely what keeps us going then are the potential negatives - fear of the numbers going up, not wanting to be bulging out of those lovely new clothes, not wanting to appear to be a failure.

What is there that's positive and can keep us on the straight and narrow? What do you do to celebrate and motivate your maintenance?

I suppose we could work out how much weight we might otherwise be gaining and celebrate each chunk we don't put back on? Regular rewards for ourselves ("I didn't gain anything this month so I'll treat myself to some jewellery" or maybe "I didn't gain anything, so I'll put some money in the pot towards something I'm saving for")? Accountability to our friends here to help us feel we've continued to be successful? It's nice to still feel like there's a 'goal' of sorts in mind, something to work towards.

Would it be helpful for me to work something into the tracker to congratulate maintainers? (yes, this could be tricky to set up, but I like challenge) - and what sort of things would make you feel good in this respect?

This is all stuff I hadn't given much thought to before, but as maintenance becomes ever nearer for me I realise just how many are now in the same boat and may need encouragement/motivation to keep going. I'm sure your suggestions can help motivate other maintainers too!

Thanks all

[carorees]

I hear you Moogie! I was thinking more or less the same thing this morning...what will keep me going when I don't even expect to see a new low on the scales from time to time?

Hopefully some old hands at mainteneering will emerge from their chateau to give us guidance!

No chance if the one legged @ballerina has opened the wine bottle

I'm a very new hand, having my first ever maintenance fast today.

But what I'm really excited about - and even have in my sig to help keep me on the right path - is getting into shape. So what I'm going to focus on is not maintenance at all, but activity. I have a new fitbit, I have a plan to start running (yes, so far it's only a plan ), I've started zumba classes. I'm psyched, and I hope I can stay that way.

Maintenance will just be a "given" - starting with 1 1/2 fast days a week and weighing after the second fast day, adjusting the fast days if necessary. As little thought put into it as possible.

So we shall see. I feel like I have two extra things going for me, the great support here on the forum, and the pride of having successfully gotten this far!

Hmm - this was on my mind today as well. I'm already feeling nervous about dropping back to 5:2 next week, don't have much more to lose (I will always be classed as overweight as I have a large frame!) and need to be slowing down the loss to be able to maintain but I don't have a clue how I'm going to do it

I'm looking to increase my fitness levels and tone up.
I'd set my target at 11 stones, lowered it to 10 10 and now it's 10 7, with one and a half pounds to go.
I've started on the treadmill again and bought a new exercise bike with the idea of doing HIT.
So my maintenance will be two pronged: get fitter and tone up a bit.
I have my challenges; first, a trip to the top of Moel fammau,
http://www.visitclwydianrange.co.uk/men ... oel-famau/
then round Cefni reservoir
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/LocationPh ... l#48687373
then some part of Anglesey coast path
https://sites.google.com/site/friendsof ... astalpath/

In addition, we want to get our bikes out of the shed and do some cycling.
So, no weight loss targets, but activity ones!

I only had about 20 lbs to lose and was so pleased to make my goal. I have been maintaining for about 4 months, and it was kind of weird at first. I did not want to do 6:1 because I had done 5:2, so I started on the 8 hour diet. Since 3 times a week is for weight loss, I opted for twice a week. Where it got kinda weird is that I continued to weigh daily and I sometimes found myself reacting to the scales going up and skipping a meal regardless of my plans. This I never did on 5:2 (and man, did the weight go up and down some days!), and why I started it then, I don't know. Anyway I lost a few more pounds. Then I went home to help my mom through her final illness. At that time I just delayed or did not eat breakfast. When I got back, I was 2 lbs over goal. That helped settle me and I have been doing the 8 hour diet 2 days a week since and staying on a even keel.

So what have my goals switched to-
a) maintaining my weight - and trying some of the great recipes I've found on this forum and elsewhere.
b) feeding my fitbit, increasing my physical activity.
c) other stuff that has nothing to do with either - life is made of so many facets that now I can enjoy those things and focus what I want when and where. Does that make sense?

Sorry to hear that you're having such a rough time at the moment, for some reason life likes to give us hard time every so often. I believe in a ying yang type of effect which means the we have to have the bad times in order to truly appreciate the good times. I hope you get to enjoy those really good times soon.

For me maintaining is a whole new wonderful challenge, just as losing weight takes time and effort to assess what works best for us, so does keeping our weight stable. I still fast once a week just having an evening meal for the health benifits, but don't count calories unless my weight has increased. With how fasting has reprogramed my appetite this hasn't been a problem, I didn't even gain over Christmas.

I also think its important to set new goals, especially if they are health and fitness related. I treated myself to a pedometer last week to encourage myself to do at least 10,000 steps each day as my next challenge is doing the Long Mynd walk this spring.

You have done so well on your fasting journey so far, both in terms of weight loss and all the fantastic work you do on this site. Wishing you lots of continued success.

Dee

This forum is the most helpful thing that keeps me going. The thought of putting the weight back on after all the hard work and my clothes getting a little tight around the waist spurs me on to keep going too.

I agree with coffeetime - this forum definitely helps keep me going!

I found it hard when I reached my target last August as it is strange not to have a weight loss goal, but I am used to it now.

I am also still motivated by the sheer joy of feeling slim and being able to buy nice clothes.

I realized this morning that I've spent as much time, maybe slightly more, maintaining as I have losing now.

The things that keep me going are thinking about the health benefits and how much happier I feel now. More energetic and fit too. I'm with pennyforthem with new exercise targets to reach for me in the the hiit group.

I love the feeling of fitting in my clothes comfortably and not squeezing in to too small ones because I'm in denial that I actually need the next size up!

I don't ever want to go back to how I was before and I truly believe with this WOL it is very hard to do so. Even when I have put on a pound or two, I know I can lose it again with a couple of fasts ( maybe a couple of weeks) and then I'm back to my goal weight.

:heart: No chance if the one legged @ballerina has opened the wine bottle

What keeps me going? Well, I would be distraught to start growing out of all my lovely new clothes, I would feel such a failure and be embarrassed to be seen to be piling it all on again. That's about it apart from the fact that I feel so well and would hate to return to slothfulness and lethargy, goodness, that WOULD be a backward step. Not a lot of reason to keep doing it but all very compelling and the most important one of all, WHY would I stop doing what, now, comes naturally? This is the way I live and I love it.

Ballerina x

As a new mainteneer, I'm not really sure what will keep me going - but boy am I feeling determined!

This has always been the stumbling block for me. This isn't the first method of weight loss that I have had success with, but I am hoping it will be the first I manage to maintain for a lifetime.

Moogie, the progress tracker is important - I think that the "checking-in" part is key for me. So any enhancements you can make to the Maintenance side of that would be really useful.

This forum is by far the most powerful support, I think, in maintaining. Hearing about others journeys and being able to share joys and troubles is like a big security blanket for me moving forward.

Cheers!

I never thought that I would get to post as a mainteneer, it took me so long to get here. These are the things that will keep me going:
Wearing favourite old clothes
Enjoying the feeling of being really hungry and appreciating the taste of food more
Enjoying lighter meals
making more adventurous meals with strong flavours and previously seldom used ingredients
Feeling lighter
I just need to work on my jelly belly, arms and thighs now.

Maintaining has been a challenge for me before, I've lost weight only to put it all back on and more (you all know the story)

I started 5:2 with the aim of using it to maintain - I've since lost a couple more pounds, I put them back on over Xmas and lost them again. So am I maintaining? guess in the grand scheme of things I am

My tactics were to

1. Continue with 5:2 and increase my TDEE if I start losing weight below my target
2. Stay active, not obsessively so but to tone and maintain fitness
3. Weigh myself every day
4. Only eat when I'm hungry
5. Remember I'm maintaining, not wanting to lose

Point 3 back fired a bit because I weighed myself after Xmas and had gained a couple of pounds so I went into a blind panic - or may be it was a good thing because I'm back on track?

Eating when im hungry is difficult to stick to - once you've reached your target you feel you can relax a bit and I know that ive not been as strict with my fasts but then I don't need to be because ... this leads me to point 5 - I'm maintaining, I don't need to be so strict, I can afford to eat more than my TDEE one day because I know I will have a deficit the next

What's unclear to me is whether in reality I will find I will need to reduce my TDEE with time to maintain; I've read a few entries and some stuff on the web that implies that but I'm not worried about that just yet. I need to recover from my current surgery with minimal gain, get a fee more months maintainable under my belt before I think of what's next

I think it's going to be personal and each one of us will find our own way and best of all is we have this wonderful forum to share and inspire and motivate each other to keep at it

After all, it's not a diet, its a way of life