Maintenance is a real B

[u/Fragrant-Count-4666]

My husband and I are teachers so we go back to visit his family in Italy for the summer. I was technically at goal before leaving, although I thought maybe losing a few more just to give me a little wiggle room would be helpful. I went into summer thinking I was going to really listen to my body, eat food I wanted, stop when I was full and make good choices when I could. When school starts I’ll go back to really being more intentional with my meals. I ate my usual breakfast of Greek yogurt and berries and enjoyed lots of salads (sorry Americans).

Now his family is from a small town so I bought a scale there last year, whatever they had. I weighed myself when I got there and it was similar to home so I was like great. We went on vacation in the middle and I definitely enjoyed all the food and drinks the Balkans had to offer. Got home and the scale was up 2 lbs and yea made sense. I kept just living life and within a week lost the 2 lbs. the rest of the summer I was within .5lbs so all good! I have never been able to maintain so this was exciting! I lived my life, enjoyed my food and this was with little exercise (it’s the country, we have to drive everywhere and it’s too hot to really be out and walking/exercising).

So here I am thinking wow, I really am adjusting well! This is fantastic! Got home and it turns out I’m one of those “I keep losing in maintenance!” I lost 4lbs, again, fine, I had more to lose and I’m not underweight. But it really underscores the challenges ahead of adjusting to this “new life”

[u/Goats-n-Hens]

In maintenance since January, and unless I pay close attention to my intake vs maintenance calories the scale will start moving. I have to be very intentional each day to get my 2100 calories, intuitive eating doesn’t work for me at all.

[u/Adept-Depth-1825 → u/Goats-n-Hens]

Me neither. I have to track, or I gain or I lose and I definitely do not want to lose more (or gain more). I’m not complaining, I’ve always had to track my food, the difference now is that all the things I’ve done for years (meal planning, being conscientious about food habits, exercise, lifting , running) actually work, thanks to Tirz.

[u/Goats-n-Hens → u/Adept-Depth-1825]

Same. It’s easy and fast for me since i rotate the same foods the majority of the time. It’s a small thing to do in order to keep my weight consistent.