# Weight maintenance - tribulations!



## MaryPlain (Nov 10, 2012)

This seems a bit strange maybe in this forum, but I think that it belongs here rather than in the general forum because people hopefully will graduate from weight loss to maintenance!

I reached my target weight two weeks ago and unlike on previous occasions decided that I would try very hard to maintain. Previously I've tried to continue, lost too much weight, then given up and put a lot of weight back on.

So for the past two weeks I've not gone mad, I've increased my total insulin per day by on average 5 units (so that's about 50g carbs, ie 200 calories) to cover additions such as a banana, a fruit and nut bar, a packet of sunbites and the occasional dessert. I've eaten a few more nuts. I had worked out that I needed about 750 extra calories a day and I don't see how I would have exceeded that.

I have a fairly inactive job so I walk to and from the station and go for a 20 minute walk after lunch. In addition I make sure that every hour I get up and stretch my legs. This has not changed over the past two weeks.

The first week went well - my weight was almost identical at the end of the week to the beginning. This week I didn't think I'd done anything different and yet somehow managed to gain 3 lbs!

Now I certainly did NOT eat 10500 calories in excess - that would be 1500 calories a day too much. I'm passed the age where hormones affect my weight, and I don't feel as if I'm retaining water. 

It took two weeks to get rid of that last 3lbs so I'm not happy to see it again!

Any ideas? Now I don't know whether to go back to my weight loss plan for two weeks to get rid of the extra, or just to stick out my maintenance plan and hope this was a blip!


----------



## trophywench (Nov 10, 2012)

Well probably as your bod was used to managing on whatever, to suddenly add 50g carbs might have been stretching it quite a bit too far in one go, mate!

And your body says, I don't need these calories so I'll stash em away for later.  Bingo.

Think you should have gone for 10 or 15g, not 50!


----------



## MaryPlain (Nov 11, 2012)

trophywench said:


> Well probably as your bod was used to managing on whatever, to suddenly add 50g carbs might have been stretching it quite a bit too far in one go, mate!
> 
> And your body says, I don't need these calories so I'll stash em away for later.  Bingo.
> 
> Think you should have gone for 10 or 15g, not 50!



How different we are.  To me 50g is a very small amount indeed over the course of a day.  A banana, an apple, and a bag of Sunbites. It's not as if I was ultra-low carbing before - probably 100-120g on average, sometimes less, sometimes more.

I was losing weight at the rate of 1.5lbs a week before, so I needed to increase the calories quite a bit just to maintain. 

I don't really understand how this works though, so if you do, please explain it.


----------



## Northerner (Nov 11, 2012)

I think when you are near your optimum weight you can fluctuate by 1-3 pounds between weigh-ins quite easily - it happens to me all the time  I think it is when the figure starts growing to 5-6 pounds above optimum and stays there that things bear attention. What are you basing your optimum weight on? I've gained a stone a decade since I was 25, but don't really consider myself overweight and still have 'normal' BMI


----------



## lucy123 (Nov 12, 2012)

I agree with Alan Mary - 3lbs could be fluid!  a fluctuation of about 3lbs in either direction is to be expected.

Even though I still have a fair bit to lose it has took me a while to work out that this is how the body works. i used to panic when I did my weekly weigh and saw a gain but now I just get on with it. If I put on and i have been naughty I know its down to that - if I have been good I know its just my body behaving in its normal way.

Well done on the loss and staying around your goal though.


----------



## LeeLee (Nov 12, 2012)

You'd be amazed how much water the legs alone can hold.  My post-holiday weight gain was 9.5 lbs (with puffy ankles from the flight).  Lost 9 lbs the following week when the ankles had recovered.  Looking at your 4-weekly average weight will smooth out the weekly gains/losses.


----------



## MaryPlain (Nov 12, 2012)

Thank you all for your encouraging words.

Alan - no scientific way of arriving at my ideal weight, just a nice round number that I feel comfortable with. About 1 stone less than "overweight".  It's the weight at which my waist measurement is just over 33, which is less than half my height.

I have weighed less, but people commented that I looked ill, and I couldn't maintain it. 

I am cutting back just a little this week as I weighed myself in the morning so don't think it would all be fluid - I tend to lose fluid overnight - I can tell this because my ankles are slimmer in the morning and the belt I hang my pump on is very loose!

I'll let you know what happens next Saturday morning.


----------



## MaryPlain (Nov 17, 2012)

As promised, here is the update.

Nothing to report, I weigh pretty much what I weighed last week, which is disappointing as I have restricted my calorie intake again this week, pretty much to what I was eating while I was trying to lose weight.

However I definitely feel I am retaining some water at the moment for some reason: my ankles were decidedly swollen last night and hadn't completely gone down this morning. Seems odd as normally I only have this problem when it's warm.


----------



## MaryPlain (Nov 24, 2012)

Finally I have managed to shed that extra 3 lbs (plus a little bit). 

Hoping I can remain sensible and not return to binging, especially as I'm preparing for exams at the moment.


----------



## Northerner (Nov 24, 2012)

MaryPlain said:


> Finally I have managed to shed that extra 3 lbs (plus a little bit).
> 
> Hoping I can remain sensible and not return to binging, especially as I'm preparing for exams at the moment.



Well done Mary - be strong!  Hope the exams go well


----------

