Am I maintaining the right way?

lykewoahxjean

lykewoahxjean

New member
Hey there. :)

Last year, I lost around 70 pounds, and the past few months have been all about keeping the weight off.

So far, it's worked, and I haven't gained any of my weight back, but I just want to make sure that the way I'm going about maintaining my weight is healthy.

I work out 5 days a week, every weekday. During the week, I'll eat around 1,400-1,500 calories a day.

Then, when the weekend comes, I kind of go overboard. Those are the days that I kind of eat however I like, and whatever weight I gain during the weekend, I lose during the week, and then some.

I fluctuate between 142-147 pounds.

Now, so far things have been great.

I haven't permanently gained back any of my weight.

And just so you know, I've actually been really happy with the way that I've been doing things.

I haven't had any trouble sticking to my strict diet during the week, because I know that I'll be able to eat however I please during the weekend.

So, is this healthy? Thanks. :)
 
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Sounds like your M-F daily routine is great. re: Proper balance lifestyle of better eating and good exercise tasks. Well balanced - like many folks recommend. But on the weekends, it sounds like you "binge" eat. If you must "binge eat" (like watching a good Movie on large screen TV), may I suggest filling the void with lots of "clear water" and low carb veggies. Like celery, raw carrots, raw onions, and other low carb green foods. In a perfect world, one should eat 3 small meals and 3 large snacks (every 2.5-3 hours apart) each day. From a carbs / calories perspective, each food intake sitting should be balanced as well. If binge eating, do try to "fill the need" with low calories rabbit food (sort of speaking). Works for me...

Hope this helps...

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Thanks for the response!

It's not really binging, since I'm not constantly eating. It's just that the meals I eat aren't really healthy.

Like, Saturday is the day where I really don't watch my calories.

For instance, last Saturday, I baked cupcakes for my family, and ate a few throughout the day. I also had A sub from Quiznos that night for dinner.

I really didn't count anything, I just ate how I wanted.

However, on those days, I usually drink a lot more water.

I had like 4 bottles last Saturday, on top of the water that I was drinking with each meal.

I'm just wondering, if I keep eating this way during the weekend, even though I'm not gaining any weight back, could it possibly hurt me in the long run?
 
Hiya. Just jumping out of lurkdom here.

Quick bio. Lost 112lbs and have maintained at goal weight for over 3.5 years. Have spent the majority of my life dieting and making huge mistakes with trying to maintain. This time I reckon I may have just cracked it :D

lykewoahxjean said:
I'm just wondering, if I keep eating this way during the weekend, even though I'm not gaining any weight back, could it possibly hurt me in the long run?
Click to expand...

Probably wouldn't hurt you, but, do you want to do this forever? Is it sustainable. I do believe that too many people approach maintenance like a diet, rather than like the new beginning and a chance to get it right. I've done that in the past because I never considered another way was possible.

There was a few things I sort of missed. One, the new lifestyle people talk about. D'oh. Two, getting out of the dieting mindset and into a natural and hopefully healthy way of eating. Always eating appropriately. To me that means enjoying my food, but remembering that I'm eating to live, not living to eat.

I've tried this 'dieting during the week and eating at weekends' thing, in the past and failed in the end. This time I realised that I hadn't sorted out the problem.

The problem isn't really the weight. The problem is just the symptom of not eating correctly.

Now I eat moderately 7 days a week. I don't always eat the top superfoods. I live. I enjoy my food. Most of the time I'm eating healthily. Sometimes I don't. It's no big deal. It's all about balance.

What I don't do, is diet any more. I've done that. I've lost the weight. If I need to diet it means I haven't learnt how to maintain my weight.

You could say that you question is 'is it okay to bash my head against a brick wall, as long as I put some cream and a bandaid on every few days'. It's not really the answer.

Hope that makes sense. I've wasted so much of my life chasing pounds. Hope you don't do the same thing.
 
I have no idea whether have two cheat days will hurt you in the long run, however, if you are able to maintain your weight like this and are happy about it, then stick with it.

If I had two cheat days, I'd gain weight, and feel horrible about myself. I try to work out on Saturdays and Sundays if I have time, then give myself at least a cheat MEAL. Or if I feel like going out and having a few drinks, that normally replaces my cheat meal for the week [except Superbowl Sunday--there was too much food and drinks for me not to cheat, ha]. Some weeks I lose, some I maintain, and it's been that way for three years.

If it works for you, keep at it. Just don't eat too many of those cupcakes! :)
 
If it's working for you and you're happy, I don't see a problem with it at all to be honest.

I've done it before where I eat a bit stricter on weekdays and really loosen up on weekends and it was no psychological detriment. During the week when I'm working it's much easier to be regimented with my nutrition. In fact, never do I feel regimented b/c I always eat foods I enjoy. But my calories are more regimented during the week to an extent where I can loosen up a good bit on the weekends.

If that's your general plan, have at it if you ask me. Different things will sit differently with different folks for a multitude of reasons.

And healthfulness of the plan has more to do with food selection and balance than it does weekday vs. weekend mindset.
 
Tooty Flooty said:
Hiya. Just jumping out of lurkdom here.

Quick bio. Lost 112lbs and have maintained at goal weight for over 3.5 years. Have spent the majority of my life dieting and making huge mistakes with trying to maintain. This time I reckon I may have just cracked it :D



Probably wouldn't hurt you, but, do you want to do this forever? Is it sustainable. I do believe that too many people approach maintenance like a diet, rather than like the new beginning and a chance to get it right. I've done that in the past because I never considered another way was possible.

There was a few things I sort of missed. One, the new lifestyle people talk about. D'oh. Two, getting out of the dieting mindset and into a natural and hopefully healthy way of eating. Always eating appropriately. To me that means enjoying my food, but remembering that I'm eating to live, not living to eat.

I've tried this 'dieting during the week and eating at weekends' thing, in the past and failed in the end. This time I realised that I hadn't sorted out the problem.

The problem isn't really the weight. The problem is just the symptom of not eating correctly.

Now I eat moderately 7 days a week. I don't always eat the top superfoods. I live. I enjoy my food. Most of the time I'm eating healthily. Sometimes I don't. It's no big deal. It's all about balance.

What I don't do, is diet any more. I've done that. I've lost the weight. If I need to diet it means I haven't learnt how to maintain my weight.

You could say that you question is 'is it okay to bash my head against a brick wall, as long as I put some cream and a bandaid on every few days'. It's not really the answer.

Hope that makes sense. I've wasted so much of my life chasing pounds. Hope you don't do the same thing.
Click to expand...


Thank you so much for your response. I'm really glad you took the time to post that, actually. Because, really, what you said made perfect sense to me. :)

I don't think that the "diet" part of it was what was really difficult for me.

In fact, I love knowing that I'm doing something good for myself by sticking to a strict routine.

I think the only thing that was bugging me about this plan, was that I'd work so hard during the week so that I could eat badly during the weekend.

When the weekend finally rolled around, I was completely destroying all that I had done during the week.

I just kind of hate seeing my hard work go to waste, because, really, I don't believe that all of that food is worth it.

I've decided to stop eating so badly during the weekends, and try to start maintaining my weight a different way.

Again, thanks for the response! :)





At Shep03 and Steve: Thanks for your responses. :)

I agree with a cheat day, but I'm starting to think that I was starting to rely on those cheat days too much.

Thanks!
 
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