Welcome to Maintainers Club this May where we celebrate the highs and lows of maintaining our target weights.
May is a kind of anniversary for me because I started this round of weight loss in May 2021. I think I’ve been maintaining for about two years now. It started well for me and I seemed to be maintaining with ease but over the last six months or so I’ve found it much more difficult. Fortunately the damage only amounts to about four pounds, but its four pounds I want rid of.
I’ll be away in our motor home the second half of this month, but can still keep in touch. Being away brings its own problems as we meet up with friends and a bit of drinking and partying goes on. Have you got holiday plans? If so tell us about them. Are you going to have a blow out and deal with any weight gain when you get back home, or have you got iron will? Have you got the answer to well meaning friends plying you with cake and drinks? I find that difficult I don’t like to appear like a party pooper or seem ungrateful.
I’m hoping you’ve had a brilliant month and are well within your target range. On the other hand if things haven't gone so well, we're all here to support and encourage. Looking forward to reading your news, thoughts and tips.
Written by
hjskev
Maintainer
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Looking forward to a positive month, though am starting it with a sore throat virus 😔. Hopefully will feel brighter in a few days. We are hosting a young Chinese student who's helping in the garden this week, so I have also been more active too, working alongside him. I have struggled so far this year to lose weight, but surprisingly it's dipped down again a little, so I am encouraged. Not counting calories this week. I will start again next week.
Sorry you're not feeling well Brumosa . Hosting a Chinese student sounds interesting. Can he cook? 😊 We went to China about 10 years ago and the food was amazing. Nothing like the Chineses food we get here, really tasty but healthy and not fattening at all. Well done on the dip.
The virus turned out to be Covid, with a high temperature for two days. I am almost back to normal health now, but not very energetic. We had to ask our guest to leave 2 days early. Fortunately he and my husband didn't catch it from me. Hopefully we are going camping next week, despite some showers forecast. Haven't been able to concentrate on my eating, but I think I am still healthy BMI, just a bit more than I am aiming for.
Glad you are feeling much better now. Hope the weather stays fine for your camping trip. I'll be going away in our motorhome next week too so fingers crossed for some sun. Enjoy your trip.🙂
Glad you are feeling better. Hopefully the energy levels are returning to normal as well. And camping sounds lovely! I hope you manage to enjoy it, even with the delightful weather.
Good luck with the gardening and hosting the Chinese student- does he like gardening??? I hope you aren't coming down with a full blown cold and its a brief episode
Hi hjskev, This is my first month of maintaining and so far I am doing pretty well. I did loose a lb last week but I am still within my 4lb range which I have set myself. It is hard to behave when you are socialising so I understand what you were saying. We are away this weekend but fortunately it is just me and hubby so I won't overdo it but we have 4 birthdays this month which will be harder to resist the party food and alcohol. 😊
Congratulations on reaching your target weight and welcome to the maintainers club. You're doing really well if you've managed to lose another pound too. Enjoy your break away with your hubby you deserve it.
Good luck with the birthday parties- I am sure any weight gain will be slight and brief
Fiadh79Maintainer13kg2023 September in reply to Momo53
Glad you are doing well! I keep trying to remind myself that it's ok for weight to fluctuate a bit, as long as you keep going. What a busy birthday month you have! Good luck with the balancing!
Hi hjskev,Thanks for hosting. I've been gaining for the last few months, but my BMI is still in the healthy range so hopefully that still qualifies me as a maintainer. I've been unwell since before Christmas, which has made everything a bit difficult . But I am finally feeling better, so have started running again, plus other activities, so am hoping I can turn everything around this month.
Hello lovefabric You definitely do still qualify as a maintainer and well done for staying a healthy bmi. I'm so glad you're feeling better and can get back to running. Let's hope the pounds just fall off now you're back to yourself.
I am glad that you are starting to feel better- even us long time maintainers have periods when we go outside our self imposed ranges and we still class ourselves as maintainers. Life impacts on our abilities to maintain as we normally do and sometimes we have to reassess where we are- that can mean adjusting our maintenance ranges or our routines (food and exercise) to help us maintain with the life changes. I am sure the weight gain was due to your health problems and now you are feeling better then the weight you have gained will fall off- good luck and welcome to the Maintainers Club
Thanks for hosting 😊 I have been awol from this group for a while so am making amends.
It is also my anniversary at the beginning of May - 3 years since I reached my target weight and started maintaining. I have never managed such a long time without yo-yoing back up. I have put on a few pounds and like you would like to get rid of them. But looking back over my records I seem to have been this weight (plus or minus) for quite a while now so maybe I will just have to accept it.
I have got into a bad habit of being careful what I eat during the week and eating and drinking too much of everything at weekends. I have been trying to even that out a bit.
We are away in Ireland visiting friends and relatives for the second half of May which will definitely be a challenge given their wonderful hospitality and refusal to take no for an answer. I will do my best 😊
Hi walkthisway Welcome back to the maintainers and congrats on your three years maintaining anniversary. What an inspiring achievement! It's my fear that I'll just end up putting all the weight back on. I've done that a lot of my life. So its great to know it can be done.
I've only been to Ireland once but I have fond memories of the food and the bars with live music. The Irish certainly know how to enjoy themselves. I'm sure you'll have a great time. It would be rude not to. 😀
Thanks hjskev This is my 3rd serious weight loss - the 2 others I just went back to eating all the same things and quantities. I had no idea maintenance needed a permanent lifestyle and eating habit change.
I am still learning and failing but I just cannot go back to carrying all that weight around. At the moment I am struggling with medication weight gain which is bouncing my weight up and down in an alarming fashion, I guess through water retention and loss, plus making me much hungrier than normal. I am trying not to take the scales too seriously or let them get me down.
The thing with losing my extra four pounds is, I know I can if I fast or go on a strict regime, but you can't live like that forever. Then when you go back to normal eating it all goes back on. I think I've lost sight of what normal eating is. I think my body doesn't know either. I've probably got a really mixed up metabolism and I don't know how to fix it. Your approach sounds sensible. I hope it all works out and you have a great time in Ireland. When it comes down to it, family and friends are the most important thing.
I’ve been told as well as scales you can also rely on how well your clothes fit- even if you’ve gained weight but your clothes are still comfortable then you’re ok.
It seems quite a few of us are away the back end of this month- looks like whoever is hosting June will be dealing with maintainers who are outside their range
Hello and thanks for hosting this month I hope you enjoy your time away. I have just come back from a cruise in the Norwegian Fjords and weighed myself this morning and I am over my range though not by much after having 3 courses for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day apart from the last full day when I had a dicky tummy I am back for 2 weeks then away again dog and mother sitting whilst my sister gets taken away for a few days to celebrate her 60th then the whole family is away for a long weekend to scatter dad's ashes and to remember him. We used to go on caravan holidays when we were young so we are having a caravan holiday in memory of dad I have 13 days to get back into range before I go away again and risk going outside again- though I will also be dog walking so that should help counterbalance the food and alcohol
We did a Norwegian Cruise a few years ago - on the Hurtigruten which goes up the coast from Bergen to Kirkenes on the Russian border and back. It was amazing - the scenery was incredible. Well done on just a modest gain after your holiday.
Enjoy your dog and mum sitting 😊 What a lovely way to remember your dad with a whole family caravan holiday ☺️ I am sure the dog walking will help get you back into your range.
Hi @RG07 It sounds like you had a lovely cruise in Norway. I'm quite jealous. Hopefully you can repair any damage done before you're off again. The dog walking and mum sitting should help.
Have fun celebrating your sisters 60th. I hope scattering your dad's ashes goes well . What a lovely way to celebrate his life with a caravan holiday. Hopefully it brings back lovely memories. Family stuff is so important, much more so than what you weigh. So enjoy.
Fiadh79Maintainer13kg2023 September in reply to RG07
Wow - I'm so jealous of your cruise! That is amazing!
Sounds like you have a really busy month coming up as well. I hope you have a lovely time with your family for all of it, and that scattering your dad's ashes goes well. 💐
Thank you. I agree it’s been very hectic and it’s going to continue until the middle of June at least! Just waiting for do. Awaiting to arrive this afternoon to find out where my leak is so not sure how long that will take to get sorted
Fiadh79Maintainer13kg2023 September in reply to RG07
Hi all, i was maintaining, took eye off the scales just weighed in today at +3lbs after 3 months... not horrendous but another 1lb will take me out of healthy bmi and above my maintainence range, therefore aim to reduce back to where I was 3 months ago... aiming to lose 3lbs over the next 3 weeks.... doable and proud of myself for owing it before I went any higher....I do need to stay focused and weigh in monthly, from that point of view I could do better. I know maintaining is for life! My past yo yo history has taught me that. I guess that's why we are all here!
I have been there several times in the past- got too cocky that I could do without calorie counting and was proven wrong 3 times. Now I’ve had to admit that I have no sense of self control when it comes to food portions😂
Well done for owning the gain. Its the first step towards dealing with it. Yes we are probably all here because we have yo yoed in the past. I know I have. That's the beauty of this forum, we can share our highs and lows. Good luck with getting back on track, although its not really luck that will do the job, more likely some real will power. 😀
Hi hjskev, I am new to the maintainer club.I was invited to join at my last weight in!
Bit of background, I have lost 2 stone in total since I started the weight loss adventure. When I joined this forum, I had already lost a stone but wanted to lose another stone. So my start weight when I joined was 10 stone 6. I have gone down to 9 stone 5. Felt this was little too hard to keep so settled at 9 stone 8. Since then, July 2023, I have retired and have not stopped since. Holidays, socialising, out meeting friends, old and new.
Now I am 9:11 and can not get rid of those extra 3 lbs. I am in the healthy BMI range for my height and I am 5lb under my max weight for my height. Ideally would like that to be 7lbs under. So I am still trying to lose weight, I use a food diary and always have done, I walk every day with my dog, so hopefully I will get to the elusive 9:8 soon.
Looking forward to reading how everyone else manages their daily life and occasional struggles!
Hi Pollyw Welcome to the maintainers club. You've done really well with your weight loss. We're more or less at the same point. I would like to get back down to 9st 7lbs but am floundering around 9st 12lbs. I'm retired too and find all the socialising plays havoc with all my good intentions. You've reminded me that I have to get back to my food diary. I've let it slide lately. i use myfitnesspal for that. What do you use? All the best for getting back to 9st 8lbs soon.
It’s taken me almost the 9 months since I retired to realise that this is my life now. So I need to start adjusting accordingly, and not live like it’s one long holiday. By that I mean enjoying myself whilst also being mindful. Easier said than done ☺️
I just use my IPhone for the steps and mileage etc. I am no good with tech so that’s about as much as I can cope with.
Fiadh79Maintainer13kg2023 September in reply to Pollyw
Welcome! I'm fairly new as well. I know that gain is frustrating but it is only small. I'm surenif you persevere it will come back off.
Welcome to Maintainers 😊 You sound like you have a chosen a good weight to aim for. Those last few pounds are always a bit elusive - I have 4lbs I would like to get rid of 😂 For me, I seem to be quite comfortable with the extra 4lbs. Although I would like them gone there just isn’t the drive I had when I was losing.
I am at the limit of what I will allow myself to gain though and then the old drive tends to kick back in enough to help me maintain. At least that’s what I have relied for the last 3 years ☺️ I have also relied on staying accountable by continuing to take part in the Weekly Weigh in.
Good luck - it takes a while to get into a routine.
Its been a while since Ive checked in with the Maintainers club .Nice to catch up.
Happy anniversary and May is my anniversary too, 2 years since i got back down to my target weight . In that 2 years Ive managed to keep to within range allowing for plenty of ups and downs though recently its been more ups and Im now 1.2kgs heavier than my target 2 years ago. However thats still within my generous 5kg range
I still use myfitnesspal (other apps are available!) and weigh in every week - it tells me exactly why Ive gained as I now very rarely go under my weekly calorie goal - not massively over but enough I guess that it will eventually show on the scales. I used to counterbalance days I went over such as weekends with days under during the week so I need to get back to doing that.
Im not sure it impacts as very few calories burned in the gym but since the start of the year Ive reduced from 3 gym sessions a week to 2 . I am doing a morning online class instead which is more pilates/yoga based ,more relaxing but will hardly burn any calories at all.
So Ive started going for a walk in the afternoon now the weather allows - - nothing too serious just down into the village shops and back but hoping all those steps add up
Welcome back Ironqueen Well done on continuing with the calorie counting on myfitnesspal. It maybe my downfall that I've let that slide. And well done for still being in your range after two years maintaining. I used to do the counterbalancing thing too. I need to get back to that. I have this idea that if you let the extra pounds hang about for too long they become much more difficult to get rid of. Probably ridiculous, but that's how it seems. Sounds like you've got maintaining sorted. 👍
Thanks , I think it could depend on where those extra pounds are hanging At the start I thought , Ive got this now, Im back down to my target weight why not try and lose a bit more and get rid of the 'muffin top' round my middle. I did lose more weight but none moved from my middle it came off my neck which didnt look good - very ageing - so I was happy to put the weight back on again. Im just destined to be 'squeezable'
This is my first month as an official maintainer.Like the idea of weekly weigh in. My day was Friday, so having not weighed last week think I will carry on and do the weekly weigh in. I also walk twice daily with my dog. Think its more her helping me now!
I wasn't around the beginning of the month. I've been quite unwell. Not ill enough to be off work (almost wish I was) but ill enough to be utterly wiped by everything.
I've not been doing too well with my weight stuff. But I've sort of realised that I think I was trying to do too much. Continue w9th what I knew wormed to get my weight down, but also be a bit looser with it as I don't need to be as strict, reduce UPFs, add in this exercise when I get 15 free seconds, etc. It was all getting a bit much for me.
So I'm sticking with what I know works. I'm going to keep going with the exercise I've been doing for over a year and that makes me feel good and I love it - running, aerial hoop and yoga (and that is quite a lot anyway). And food wise I made a few changes to reduce UPFs, which I'll stick with as I like them and it is better for me. But then I'm not going to worry about the other UPFs in my diet. I'll just continue to make my plans and reflect on them if they don't work out. I had a big weekend which involved a lot of alcohol and pudding, but apart from that I've stuck to my plan pretty well since the middle of last week. So I'm hoping that when I come to weigh myself on Friday I'll have lost some of my gain.
And the pluses are, despite the gain, my clothes all fit really well, I feel good and I'm persevering!
Sticking with what works for you is sensible. Do you mind me asking what UPFs are?
Fiadh79Maintainer13kg2023 September in reply to Pollyw
Ultra processed foods. I do believe they aren't good for me but my priority right now is maintaining my weight. Having too many things going on in my brain isn't helping with anything so I'll put that aside for now.
Hi Fiadh79 Thanks for logging in. Sorry you've not been feeling well. Sticking with what works for you is a good idea. I don't think every strategy works for every body. We're all so different. Personally I go with high fibre, which suits me, but a lot of others on here go for low carb which I know from past experience makes me feel ill. I like the idea of doing what makes you feel good and if it makes you feel good its easier to stick with it. I try to avoid UPFs too but it is pretty difficult to cut them out completely. I hope your strategy works for you and you find you've lost your gains. Fingers crossed for Friday weigh in. 👍😀
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I am back for 2 weeks then away again dog and mother sitting whilst my sister gets taken away for a few days to celebrate her 60th then the whole family is away for a long weekend to scatter dad's ashes and to remember him. We used to go on caravan holidays when we were young so we are having a caravan holiday in memory of dad
A quick thank you and here's to 2024
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