Hey Mariet – sounds like you are doing just fine. I know what you mean about wanting the scales to read the right number, even if the clothes fit well. I’m trying to build in some wriggle room, which I managed to use up during our recent vacation. And if I’m honest, I was more comfortable nearer 8st than at 8.5st – hence the desire to get back there.

It’s good to see there are so many of us managing to stay around their target weight and so I guess, we can claim to be successfully maintaining. Long may it continue.

Hi fellow maintainers. Lovely to see your posts, Theodora and ClarinetCathy. All well here weight wise – around 1.8 kilo below my trigger for going back on BSD (ie 73 kilo). I am keeping to around 50g carbs a day, but now more flexible on calories and relaxing a bit re fruit, chickpeas etc – it is summer after all! I still weigh daily, and find that a G&T or a glass of wine has an instant impact, so remain v e r y cautious about alcohol.

That’s the “mechanics” of maintaining. The psychology is a bit different. Getting used to the new shape, feeling ready to buy clothes that fit (!) and drop the baggy look, and unfurling my wings. But there is quite a mental adjustment to make, particularly when the new weight has turned the clock back over 30 years . Or am I the only one??

Hi everyone
I’m still here too! Been maintaining for about 2 years…. my original goal was 63kg, got down to 56kg but my body obviously prefers the low 60’s as that is where I seem to have stabilised.

I still follow a strict Keto diet and fast regularly, mainly for the benefits of autophagy. I’m now 58, feel great, no illnesses and super fit. I’ll never go back to eating carbs especially sugar and starch.

Theo, you’re coming to Australia! Are you coming to Sydney? If so, I’d love to catch up with you guys and show you some sights whilst you’re here. Do you know your dates yet?

Everyone is doing so well in their own way, keep it up.
Cheers
Linda

Hi. This is my first day in maintenance – and to be honest I haven’t give much thought to how I’m going to handle it. First step will be to go back to the book and read what MM has to say.

I’m 5’3″ and 9st 1lb BMI 22.4 I’m not yet sure if that’s the ideal for me, but only once before (as an adult) have I not been overweight. After illness/stress I reached 9st 2 and felt slim, so picked that as a target weight. I now want to maintain tat for a while, before deciding whether or not to drop a little more.

Squidge – welcome to maintenance. Really good idea to take time to find out what your ideal weight on maintenance. How lovely to be down to 9st 2 and feeling slim again – and a lovely time of the year to hit maintenance.

Hello! How lovely to see you all! It’s been ages. I see that you are all very busy living your lives to the full! Good on you all, you all deserve it so much. 🙂
Much love
Kazzeexx

Thanks, Krysia.

Yes, it is a good timing. All those summer dresses, shorts and pretty tops I’ve bought over the years, kidding myself I’d one day look good in are now getting lots of use. Some are now a little too big, but the weather has got hot again, so loose clothes are ideal.

Hi everyone

I am also guilty of not posting enough on the maintenance forum although I constantly read everyones posts which keep me going.

Feb 2017 – I was 9st 6lb and did my 8 weeks of 800 calories with 20g carbs.
July 2017 – 8st 8lb
May 2018 – 8st 9lb

So I re checked my carbs (and started using my fitness pal app again to keep an eye on everything) and started weighing my food again to keep my calories down.
Today August 3rd I am 8st 4lb..😀…(I hover up and down a 1lb) BMI 21.4 and think most of this is down to how deep the message has sunk in about carbs and sugar and its negative affects on weight. We went to New york this summer and was horrified about how much Junk food I consumed, but found it easy to remember the BSD rules when I returned and my extra 3lbs I had gained dropped of within a week.
I will definitely stick to this diet as a way of life, and congratulate you all for also finding the strength to keep to the diet also. Although I state I try to keep my Carbs under 20g per day, more than often I do not, but try to keep them low.

Enjoy the rest of the summer everyone, and thank you all for keeping me going.

Well done, Gofourit!

Huge well done to both Squidge and Gofourit – impressive results.

Squidge – understand you are a pound under target now, which is no bad thing. You will hopefully find a balance soon and settle into maintenance without too many headaches.

Gofourit – those are impressive maintenance results – long may it continue.

Personally struggling a bit, trying to regain the balance and drop a few pounds to get back under target weight, but hopefully it will happen – well, I know it will, even if I have to go right back to basics with 800/20 again.

Keep maintaining everyone!

Good luck getting back on track, SunnyB

In some ways I think losing weight is easier than maintaining it. People like MM can devise a plan which ensures we’ll lose the weight and ‘all’ we have to do is follow it. Of course that isn’t always easy, and some find it harder than others, but it’s clear what we’re supposed to do.

There isn’t a precise diet which can be given to maintain the weight loss. We’ll all do varying amounts of exercise, have different lifestyles, metabolic rates and food preferences. Some will be happy to keep weighing and calculating, others (I’m one) don’t want to be bothered with that. Some will want to reintroduce small amounts of higher carb foods, others will continue to avoid them.

Have been reading your posts with interest. Started all this 8/08/17 at 12 stone (76kg) and have been very stable at 58.6kg with fluctuations down and back up until very recently. I had to take antibiotics about a month ago and since then my weight has been creeping up – I think my gut flora has taken a battering. Am taking acidophilus. . Still v low carb, but am going to cut back on calories for a bit to get back to the gold standard. I think eating later at night had crept back in. Loving life as a size 8, zero plans on going back to being fat. Xxx

Hi there, Jackie 🙂

Squidge, I wholeheartedly agree that maintenance is the bigger challenge! I see 3 variables
that we must consider, and we all eventually find the zone that suits our bodies…TDEE +
Carbs + IF. There are as many options as there are posters here, and you will certainly find
the one that makes perfect sense to you, for a lifetime 🙂 When to weigh? How often? 5:2?
We will be on this new journey with you!

Allie

How lovely to see this thread active again, and to hear everyone’s updates.

Sunny, yes – are doing a bit of globe-trotting atm, and thoroughly enjoying ourselves. And lucky you, going back to Turkey in the Autumn. Never been there, so maybe I should add it to our list……I know it won’t be long before you get your wriggle room back, maybe you already have?

Allie, maybe it’s time to persuade your Bearded One to retire (or like mine, at least semi-retire) so that you can have a few adventures together? Solo adventures may be fun, but not nearly as much as travelling together.

CC and Marie, I think our bodies finally settle on a weight they are comfortable with, so as long as it’s a weight that YOU are comfy with too, just go with the flow. I know you both look great.

Caron – Like you, I still weigh daily but seem to be very fortunate that alcohol doesn’t (within reason) doesn’t seem to impact too badly on my maintenance weight! Phew – lucky me! I do agree, that the new slimmer versions of ourselves does take a bit of mental adjustment. Even after 16 months of maintenance, I still do a mental (and often physical) twirl every time I catch my reflection in a mirror or window! (How vain is that?!) And, for someone who used to HATE clothes shopping with a vengeance, I now have so many new clothes I could never expect to wear them all – at least not this stupendous summer, when all I seem to have worn are shorts and vests!

Linda, yes we are coming to OZ, but only briefly, and only to Perth. We have been many times before, and have dozens of rellies, on my mother’s side, living there, and this time we are attempting to avoid them all so that we can have a proper holiday and not spend it all “visiting”. If we see one, we will be obliged to see them all!! However, my favourite cousin (only Oz rellie on father’s side) who actually grew up and went to school with me, now lives in Perth so we are stopping off to see her for a few days en route to NZ. So sorry, no meet-ups this time.

Squidge, welcome and well done on reaching target. I think it’s a good idea to settle where you are for a while, before deciding whether you want to drop any further. Just enjoy the new slim version of yourself – though if you are anything like me, the weight will continue to drop as you ease your way into maintenance. I reverse dieted and lost another 12 pounds, which took me a bit too low, and have now settled happily at approx. 7 or 8 lbs under target. I too am 5′ 3″ (5′ 4″ on good day 😉 ) and now, 16 months into maintenance, weigh 8st 3lbs.

Gofourit, sounds as though you have maintenance cracked. Well done.

Jackie, good to hear from you on here too – and I agree, I too am loving life, feeling fit and healthy and being comfortably UK size 6 / 8 (depending on make).

I do agree, however, that maintenance is far more difficult than actually losing, probably because it is infinite. When losing we all have a target to reach, so that is a finite goal. Once we get there, the rest of our lives stretch ahead of us, and we just have to keep on keeping on forever. The rewards,, however, are so wonderful and all we have to do to give us the motivation is to look back at old photos etc, and remember how much better and more confident we feel, and how much better and fitter we feel. It’s a no-brainer, and we all KNOW that this is us for life now!

Hi Theo
That’s a shame, but never mind, Perth is lovely. You’ll love it.

Should you (or anyone else on this thread for that matter) ever make it to Sydney, let me know and I’d love to meet up and show you around. Sydney is so beautiful but for those from the UK, avoid January or February unless you like really hot, humid weather!!

I’m currently in Beijing in China seeing the sights and on Friday, get the bullet train to Xian to see the terracotta warriors. After 3 days there, back to Hong Kong for 2 nights, then home to Sydney. I’ve now retired and I’m making the most of it!

I have found it a tad more difficult to follow the diet over here than at home, so I’ve simply been fasting when I couldn’t find any suitable food.

Luckily, now we are staying in an Airbnb with a kitchen so we are buying food from the supermarket and cooking it ourselves, although I still reckon I’ve dropped a couple of kilos.

Keep going everyone, this way of eating is forever!
Cheers
Linda

I had hoped that maintenance would look like me finding a way of eating that would keep my weight constant, but it hasn’t worked out like that.
I find myself oscillating around my chosen end point, eating mostly according to plan and gaining a bit, and then fasting and doing a few 800 days to get back down.
It is not a problem but it is not how I envisaged this stage to work.

Jande, your experience sounds like mine. I can certainly not think of regularly eating to my TDEE. That would be around 1300cal but if I eat more than around 1000 a day I gain progressively, put on 3kg just watching to see where it would stabilise- it didn’t. This is following the principles, I have no desire to go back to a higher carb diet. I can live with it but it’s really not what I expected.

Hi Jande and Mariet! It’s good to hear from both of you. I didn’t know what to expect from maintenance either,
but I don’t think I had any preconceived notions on what it would look like. In order to lose weight consistently
over a 10 month period, I had to carefully carb count, keeping things to <20g per day. I no longer need to
weigh and measure food, but I still need to carb count. I’ve found that I can eat to my TDEE (@1500cal)
AS LONG AS I keep carbs to <35g per day. Anymore, and I see the evidence on the scale! How do you see
the carb question, long term? At 16 months into maintenance, it was THE ANSWER for me. I think we all
have our own individual tipping points, and we just need to discover, by trial and error, what that magical
number might be. 🙂

Best,

Allie

I have been doing a lot of thinking about the effect all the years of yo yo dieting has had on my metabolism and why the weight loss has been so slow for me when I compare the calories in v calories out of my daily routine. – Its a worry for me that my body is maintaining weight at around 2000 cals a day below what the apps say is my TDEE, what does that mean on cal intake if I am not physically active every day?

Dr Fung has some interesting ideas on his site about how fasting can change the body set point, which is the weight which the body tries to maintain itself at. And about how the body adapts to regular eating patterns, so OMAD is fine as a maintenance tool but not a good idea when you are trying to loose weight. I have ordered his book on fasting I don’t know if he goes into more detail in it than on his pod casts and web site. I guess it will be more like a manual for the routine he uses with clients. – It should be delivered by the end of this week so will let you know.

JGwen – this info is so interesting – and very important to us all. Since really mixing it up with days of ‘normal ‘ eating of 3 meals spread over quite a wide eating window then some 14/10, 16/8, 18/6 and some occasional 20/4 and 21/3s thrown in randomly – my metabolism had really revved up and I am losing weight with a higher calorie level than before.

Which is very slightly annoying as I would like the weight loss to slow down or even stall as I am now under 9st. But I am being super strict with the carbs and I know that I could go a lot higher with the calories – but I obviously subconsciously don’t want to and do actually want to lose a little more weight – so I should stop complaining.

Hi guys.
JGwen, I look forward to hearing what you make of the fasting book. I read it before Xmas so I could do with reminding myself! I really enjoy the way you report your research.
Krysia, you seem to be running like a well oiled, highly efficient machine! That gives me inspiration for sticking to the lower carbs! 🙂

Hi JGwen and KrysiaD. It was interesting reading your posts as I will now make sure I spread my meals out more. I just posted about not seeing any movement on my weight loss after losing 11lbs in wk1 then 3lbs in wk2. I am going to look into my macros too but spreading the meals might help. I would rather have an issue of needing to stop weight loss than struggling to lose. Thanks.

I have been at or close to my target weight for over a year and a half now, but my body still hasn’t settled into its new weight. I came back from a 3 week road trip through northern Canada mostly eating at truck stops and hotel dining rooms. Burgers, etc.and I came back 6 pounds heavier.
Meanwhile, my wife who has been 110 pounds for the last 40 years, ate like a horse, bacon and eggs every morning, huge sandwiches at lunch, and a big fry up every supper, and she didn’t gain an ounce. Not totally fair because she generally eats a very healthy diet, but you get the idea.
I would love to have my body settle into a natural weight without me having to think about what I eat beyond the usual Med. diet parameters.

Hi Jande9 – hope you enjoyed your Canadian trip, despite the weight gain. Sorry, but it’s important to realise that this is a way of life now, there is no going back to eating as we did before and not gaining weight. After all, it was eating as we used to, which was the cause of us needing to lose weight in the first place, so we can’t expect to return to it and not suffer the same results. So, I’m thinking it’s not so much that your body hasn’t settled at it’s new weight, as you perhaps have unrealistic expectations of being able to return to old eating patterns but still maintain at the new weight – ‘fraid that’s just won’t happen, sorry if that seems a bit blunt.

However, you have the tools to see off those gained pounds and I’m sure with a little vigilance, you will be back at target weight quick-smart.

Hi Jande9, I feel your frustration but am glad for SunnyB’s response as it’s definitely something I needed reminding of. So true that we are in the situation because of our eating habits, it’s just life that some people do not suffer the weight issues dispite eating anything and everything.
We see it so many times when people lose weight with whichever method they use, reach their target and some time later they are back to the original weight or more. They will say diets don’t work, but of course, if you revert to eating the way that caused you to gain weight in the first place, then the results will be the same when going back to that way of eating.
I am having several celebrations for my 50th, I will limit where I can as don’t want to totally ruin what I have done so far but will also enjoy my celebrations knowing I have this tool to come back to.

Hi Jande9
I am afraid I have to second everything SunnyB has stated in her reply to you.
I have had 3 vacations this year each where I gained approx. 3lb. I know now that my body will lose this extra weight when I return home and eat following the basic principles of the BSD diet. This is something that is a way of life for me now and realising that I cannot eat what i want, when I want will inevitably be pat of life.

I understand your feelings about your wife not gaining weight, sadly we are all different. I have a friend whom consumes a chocolate bar and a bag of crisps every morning for breakfast, and still smokes. She goes to the gym and is stick thin. I struggle to get through to her that just because she is thin on the outside does not guarantee what her internal organs now look and work.

The good news is I am positive that you are now able to lose the extra 6lbs in a matter of a few weeks with the knowledge you have gained by following this diet. It feels to me like I now have a reset button available in my mind and know what to do. This is probably what I will do after every vacation where I know I haven’t been able to eat the foods which I eat during regular day.

Good Luck and let us know how long it takes you to reset.

Hi Jande9, I fully understand your feelings about the difference between your wifes metabolism and your own. – For most of my adult life I was overweight, yo yo dieting with a carb heavy diet, but being physically active, and then following an injury I piled the weight on. – Thanks to the BSD I have successfully returned to my “normal” weight and am enjoying life but I would like to get to a lower “body set point”.
Dr Fung makes some interesting statements about the differences between the effect on the hormone regulation systems of calorie restricted, time restricted eating to loose weight and fasting. You may find this podcasts and IDM website worth reading if you want to explore this topic further yourself. I can see the logic of his theories, but at present feel like to moving over to fasting to reverse the effect on my metabolism of all the years of cal counting, is as big a step as going low carb was given I was raised in the traditional eating patterns of Yorkshire.
I have come to the conclusion that there is nothing for it but to take that step but am putting it off until work gets less stressful in a couple of weeks time.

Just wanted to post here that on 30th Aug, I think I can comfortably say I will have been maintaining close enough to my final target weight for a whole year, to claim it. It doesn’t seem possible, but there it is. I admit, I am still trying to build in some wriggle room again, following a gain taking me two pounds over target whilst we were away last time, but I’m currently a smidge under target weight, so am reasonably content. Although I am planning to hit the restart button and do some full on 800/20 days and some extended overnight fasts, so that I can have back the wriggle room I was enjoying before. Lost 3lb of the 7lb I gained on vacation of almost four months, just by extending overnight fasts and broadly limiting carbs, but now I think it’s time to get serious for a couple of weeks and see what can be achieved.

Hope everyone else on this thread is still managing to maintain successfully – KOKO everyone.

That’s excellent SunnyB. You’ve got this sussed! And that is reassuring to know.

Well done SunnyB. You should feel very proud of yourself. You now now how to control your weight and have great will power. The help you give to others on several other threads is very admirable, and i for one would like to thank you for your helpful posts.
Long may you keep the carbs at bay.

i am sure there are maintainers out there, who like I struggle and and get annoyed with themselves every now and then for the odd piece of (or chunk)naughty loaded carb, which managed to force itself past their willpower gate, however most of us on here now (I hope) have found a place we have settled at, and try to keep at.

Keep it up everyone

Hi SunnyB,
The extra pounds are already gone with a couple of weeks of 800 days, and I am now back to my usual Med way of eating.
I never had any intention of reverting to my old eating patterns but I was quite shocked at how fast the extra pounds went on. All those fat cells are just lying in wait, ready to scoop up any passing glucose.
Jan

Excellent news re: despatching the extra pounds, Jan. We have the tools at our disposal to resolve these small gains rapidly and not allow things to slip backwards. Really pleased that you are back on track and were not tempted to return to old eating patterns. You are right, it’s sobering how easily the pounds slip back on, bring home how essential it is to stay vigilant in the long term, even if we allow ourselves a little latitude occasionally.

Well done and keep on keeping on with successful maintenance.

I have just started a new thread as I have decided I need to do something about my slow drift into old bad habits. So the line has been drawn and I will be updating you all with how it is going, but for what it’s worth, this is all part of the rich tapestry that is my new maintenance life, and I do not regard it as a failure, rather a new success story 😀

A question for all you maintainers

I know that I’m post menopause however, I have (over the past 2 or 3 months) noticed more hair on my hairbrush and clothes that I’d like.
Has anyone else noticed hairless. I can’t say that it is due to going to low on carbs (still trying to shift extra few holiday pounds).

Or, any views on supplements etc to help stop it.

Thanks

Hi Gofouritgirl, I have had the same issue and had been going to the doctors for the last two years. I kept getting told it was normal as you get older and menopause etc. Blood tests showed nothing. I couldn’t go on HRT as three cases of breast cancer in the family. This year I went to a trichologist who looked at my hair. She asked me to push GP for certain blood tests before going for supplements because she said that if there is a deficiency, they won’t work for my hair. Also, they are expensive so wanted to find out the actual problem. GP were reluctant to do all the tests but after pushing and saying that I didn’t want to become bald before something was done, they did all the tests. I now have a referral to a dermatologist and they are waiting to hear back from an endocrinologist too.
Hope this helps x
I would suggest starting at the doctors.

Gofouritgirl, can you tell us how many grams of protein per day that you are eating? I had a hair loss problem
many years ago, so I was very careful this time around with the BSD. No problem at all for the past 26 months
though. I’m post menapausal, too 🙂

Thinking Thin

Wow sounds like your covering everything where tests are concerned. I will be very interested in hearing from you please with any future developments. Good Luck and Thank You for your reply.

Out of curiosity did you go through menopause early?

Alliecat

I aim for 60g protein, Fat 51g,and Carbs I try on most days to stick to 20g

I too cannot take HRT and am struggling.

Hi Gofouritgirl, I started menopause symptoms when I was about 40 and then only had one period a year from 47 – I’m 50 this month. I’m going to send the blood test results to the trichologist as my dermatology appointment is in April 2019!!! I’ll see if I get a cancellation or if I can go through my work’s private health scheme. I will let you know. Just been watching You Tube videos for thinning hair concealers as I am going on holiday in 10 days – hence starting this diet a few weeks ago. If it’s not the weight bugging me it’s my thinning hair, lol. Do let me know if you find any solutions x

I’ve heard that rapid weight loss can cause hair to fall out, but it stops when your body gets used to the new regime. I don’t know if it’s true.

I’m sorry about the hair loss, ladies! Sixty grams of protein a day is plenty, gofouritgirl, so that can’t be the
problem. Wish I could help!

Allie

Thinking Thin, It is awful that you have to wait until April 19…Ill keep my fingers crossed for you that you find an appointment comes up earlier. In the meantime I’ll keep searching google and hope the loss slows down. I have so far read about a few people having success taking biotin, I will look further into this.
Good Luck

Alliecat
Thanks for checking for me. I should really double check my protein levels. I regularly check my Carbs but not so much with my protein.

Natalie

Thank you for your reply. This sounds good news and will be happy if this works for me also. I am blonde so my hairs show up on most things I wear and my husband and daughter are constantly remove them from the back of my clothes.
I have shoulder length hair and am thinking of having it cut a bit shorter.

Hi GofouritGIRL. You are not alone in experiencing hairloss. I started to get quite worried by it between April and June this year after losing 3 stone to get within my healthy BMI. Quite upsetting. When I reviewed my eating (I keep a log now and again on SparkPeople) I found that my protein levels were too low – around 30g some days. I now keep a much closer eye on protein and aim for 70g a day. Hair loss has stopped and fingers crossed for regrowth! Same thing happened when I was pregnant, so hoping for the best.

Hi Folks – hair loss has been a reported issue whilst on the BSD and there was a thread about it a while back. It is something I too suffered from, but it seems to have balanced out again and there have been new hairs growing through for a while now. Unfortunately I can’t offer any constructive advice, as things settled before I could decide the best course of action. It certainly sound like you have a particularly bad issue GofouritG1RL and it may be that the problem is not related to the BSD in your case, so given your situation I think you are wise to seek professional advice. Hope you get some joy re: your appointment soon.

Yes, I have seen people have success with biotin and also nioxin.
It is true that rapid weight loss can cause hair loss but as I was having trouble before, I knew it wasn’t just that. Also, low fat/fat free doesn’t help – which I was doing with slimming world, as certain vitamins which are needed for hair growth are fat soluble. I will keep an eye on my protein in the meantime to see if that helps – thanks for that Caronl.

Hi Caroni

I am pleased your hair started to grow back, it is quite scary when I see long hairs on my tops and I think …How long did that take to grow? I am definitely going to scrutinise my protein intake.

Hi SunnyB

It sounds like a lot of ladies recover from this but think you may be right in that I should go and get a few blood checks with my GP..I can hear him from here
Are you dieting?
Are you eating enough?
Are you stressed?
Are you anxious?

LOL..He doesn’t like me asking for a specific test i.e. Thyroid. He said far too many people come in and tell him what they want done rather than wait to be diagnosed by him which I don’t mind along as I get what I went in for ; )

I just found this thread and am so pleased. I did a round of 8weeks800cals in April this year and it was very successful. I lost shedload of weight (didn’t weight myself but that’s now changed and I’m 64.9kgs and hopefully going down). Had a big summer holiday which food wise was on the button (mostly) but alcohol wise not so much. I dont jnow about weight gain but the BP has risen again and that is my raison etre on this diet. So I have decided to fast 2 days a week and eat very well the rest of the time. FOUR days in and all is well (with a kg less weight too).

Reading your posts is very inspiring – the time frames involved in your maintenance make me feel as though this is a doable way of eating and many of you cinfurmed my own experience of tastes having changed dramatically over just a short time. So I hope I can join this thread and share your wisdom and experiences.

Trundlebug

Welcome Trundlebug. I’m so pleased that you have found our maintainers’ thread, and that you are having such success with this WOE. Your onward plan sounds like a good one – are you talking about total fasts for 2 days a week, or reduced calorie fasts?

I’ve been in maintenance for 17 months, during which time I have had several extended holidays, loads of guests staying (my home is commonly referred to as Hotel Theodora) and been out for dinner at least twice a week every week during that time. My weight has fluctuated by only +/- 3lbs during that time. I am shortly embarking on an extended trip to Oz and NZ, taking in UAE on our return, so I will attempt to lose 2 or 3 extra pounds during the next 3 weeks before I leave, to give me a bit of leeway, but am hoping that not too much damage will be done, as I return just in time to attend a wedding weekend in mid-December, Immediately followed by Christmas! This WOE is definitely sustainable, so go for it – welcome to our happy tribe.