So I recently got back in the pool after 1040 weeks of rest(20 years). When I swam in college I was a middle distance swimmer and like a lot of mid/distance guys worrying about my weight was never an issue. At 6'5" i weighed a whoping 139 freshman year and 160 senior year. 12 months into my hieatus I weighed in at 215lb where I have been +/- 10lbs ever since. When I got back in to the pool 9 weeks ago I weighed 223lbs. I have never considered myself vein however the tire around my waist partially covered by my board shorts was a little embarrassing. After some gentle coaxing by my coach I bought a jammer and started a diet. I believe his words were something like, "we have one rule and that's guys have to wear drag suits or jammers, but in your case he would wave the rule until I shed 30lbs". That's how I remember it anyhow!
I set a goal of 190lbs which equates to a BMI of 18.5 and ~11% body fat. I looked around for something that would enable me to manage what I ate and how much I ate and was recommended MyFitnessPal. I have used the app religiously and have so far lost 27lbs and hope to hit my target before Christmas. Now that I am nearing my target I am worried about moving from weight loss to weight maintenance. Does anyone have any suggestions on transitioning from Weight loss to weight management and how to stay motivated. I plan on being competitive again with my swimming but want to keep the weight off but not drop to an unhealthy weight. Any help is appreciated.
Congrats on losing the weight.
Similar story, with a little difference. I got in the water and started swimming consistently. Gradual longer workouts and harder workouts. The weight came off. No diet, no maintenance. I eat what I want.
You can do it. Its discipline and consistency.
(Sorry for the length.)
I never ballooned in weight. It just sort of snuck up on me over a period of 25 years or so. I'm sure that's true for many people. The pounds came on slow. They are likely to go off slow.
These days my target weight is typically anything under 180. At the moment I'm around 184-186. If I can get under 180 and stay there, I'll try to lose maybe another five pounds.
I'm doing two things as I try to trim weight.
trim out some small, quantitative bits of food
increase my workout regimen in some small, quantitative way
They might deserve some further explanation. I'm trying to make changes to my diet and exercise I can stick to, and which seem almost "free." (I also weigh myself no more than once a week (typically the first day I ride to work in a week). Doing more than that can be depressing, as your weight is bound to fluctuate a bit)
I drink three or four cups of half-caf coffee with cream and sugar at work. I typically use a bit less than a tsp of sugar and two mini-moos. I reduced the sugar by a bit so it's closer to 1/2 tsp and cut out one mini-moo. That's about 15cal/cup or 60 cal/day. And I basically didn't notice the difference after a day or two. (Coffee itself was an earlier replacement for soda. I've cut back to no more than one can a week, often none.)
I also like yogurt, the high-protein greek stuff with fruit at the bottom (like Chobani). I typically eat one or two a day. Rather than stir it all up, I scoop the yogurt and take some of the fruit. It's still sweet enough for me, but I wind up leaving most of the fruit at the bottom of the cup. Again, probably 15-20 calories saved, almost without realizing it.
I generally workout three to five times per week with a mix of swimming and cycling. I'm trying to get into a routine of more like four to six times per week, and toss in a few sit-ups and some stretch cord work. For weight loss needs, I suspect it almost doesn't matter how much extra I do, only that I do just a bit more. I think having two exercises helps. If I'm unmotivated to swim but the weather is nice, I'll gladly ride my bike to work, which gives me a couple hours of aerobic work. I log it all in my FLOG, so at the end of the month it's easy to count the number of workouts I completed. I don't care if I swam 1500 or 5000 yards, or rode 25 or 125 miles. Each workout is just +1. That way it requires much less of my overtaxed neuron. I live in a state which tends to have a meteorological winter, so it's easy to "hibernate" during the winter months. That's a challenge I hope to face and conquer this winter.
S
You can set My Fitness Pal to a maintenance mode and just keep logging things, if you want. Maybe start logging every other day and see how you maintain weight that way, then phase it out.
The other thing to remember is not to judge just by weight. I've lost weight, but have now regained some but as muscle - so I'm actually thinner than I was before.
Fatman here --- I am always losing or gaining pounds. I really need to do a lifestyle change. My wife can eat that greek yogurt & a salad for dinner, so I know how it works. I just need to DO IT !!
Oz, that's the thing. If you are used to steak, potatoes and a glass of wine with dinner, suddenly switching whole hog to rabbit food will probably be challenging and have a fairly high chance of failure. Granted, losing weight initially is slower if you change habits in small ways, but those changes are more likely to stick I think.
Now that I am nearing my target I am worried about moving from weight loss to weight maintenance.
That is appropriate - all the truly obese people I know have at some point, gotten their weight down, then gained that weight (plus more!) back within 2 or 3 years.
So, you're almost finished with the short and easy part of weight control - now you're in for the long, hard haul. It may sound flippant referring to what you've done so far as "short" and "easy," but I'm serious - people fail in the maintenence, not in the weight loss.
I would suggest holding off on losing the last bit for your goal - the holiday season could start a rebound and right now stabilizing your weight for a few weeks could be better than losing another pound or two.
How much you weigh in 5 weeks? No importance at all. None.
How much will you weigh in 5 years?
Next year, you could try losing maybe a pound every two weeks until you get very close to your goal - then a pound a month. Surprisingly, you won't find that a lot easier than losing the 3 or 4 pounds a week that you have been doing. What it will give you that losing faster won't is training for maintaining your weight.
Losing 3 pounds a weeks isn't at all like maintaining a low weight, but 1/2 pound a week is. Also, for me, it is a lot easier to keep motivated while I'm losing weight - even if that weight loss is only a pound a month.
I lost 9 pounds in 2011. I lost 7 pounds between January and the end of October. I'm in my holiday weight loss moratorium right now, then I plan to lose another 3 or 4 pounds next year. Even with this "continental drift" weight loss pace, I expect the danger period to be the first 2 or 3 years after I make my goal.
BTW - I'm a medical scientist (uh... sort of), but I've found the weight loss medical literature to be utter trash. Most of the studies are for 10 weeks to 6 months. That isn't really weight loss, IMO, just playing games with your weight.
"Long term" studies are for one year. WTF? That is like a 50 yard "endurance swim."
The literature is geared towards weight loss docs. Basically its "How to make tons of money keeping phat suckahs happy enough that they'll be back in a few years." This is closer to consumer fraud than it is to medicine.
this is a great topic right before Christmas, when I have already gained those 2-4lbs (I refuse to step on a scale).
I just might start the Xmas diet before the Holidays this year.
Thanks for the encouragement!
we have a great saying in Germany. It's FDH = friss die Haelfte. Which means, eat half of everything.
It definitely works!
Britt. Great advice and something I have tried following. Thanks to everyone for the support.
Oz, that's the thing. If you are used to steak, potatoes and a glass of wine with dinner, suddenly switching
The biggest misconception is that you have to give up steak potatoes and Napa to loose body fat. Just avoid sugar and limit intake of fat and starch to what you burn . Eat all the steak you want just don't pig out or avoid raw vegetables
The yoghurt that you replace the healthy steak with can have over20 gram of sugar
