I took a break from losing weight to experiment with maintenance. I'm wondering where to go from here.

Hello fellow losers!

TLTR : After losing more than 20 lbs, I felt the need to pause it and try maintaining for three weeks. I now feel invigorated and I’m reflecting on how to move forward to keep losing weight, but especially to implement a more active and supportive healthy lifestyle. I’d love to read your own experience on the subject.

29 F . 5’2” . SW : 157 lbs . CW : 133.4 lbs . 1st GW : 127 lbs.

P.S. : English is not my first language.

The story behind this post

On January 2nd, after weighing my heaviest ever at 157 lbs, I decided that it was enough and that I had to do something about my weight. Even though my main motivation to lose weight was my insecurities towards my overweight body, I’m also in the process of searching for a sustainable healthy lifestyle. My eating habits were all over the place and my exercice routine pretty much non existent.

Since then, I’ve lost more than 20 lbs by eating around 1200 calories/day, resulting in a loss of +/- 1lb/week. During the weight loss, plateaus were easily explainable by water retention from the occasional restaurant food or my menstrual cycle. I felt successful and proud of myself for having so much discipline with my eating habits. I was still struggling with integrating exercice regularly.

At around 136 lbs, I started to plateau without the usual reasons aforementioned. I knew that by losing weight I lowered my TDEE, so my maximum calorie deficit got smaller, and therefore my weight loss slowed down. While understanding that, it became harder to stay motivated. Add the stress and loneliness of 3 months of social isolation in fear of COVID-19, and I found myself completely exhausted.

3 weeks ago, after losing a little more weight and being extra careful regarding COVID-19, I gladly accepted my parents invitation to come spend some time with them. Knowing I wouldn’t be in total control of my food (and honestly I was happy about it because of the exhaustion), I figured it could be a good time to test maintenance.

While keeping up with writing in my food diary and drinking tons of water, I stopped counting calories and tracked my weight only once or twice a week instead of everyday. I asked my dad to center most meals around veggies and meat and I portioned my own plates. Since I have an undeniable sweet tooth and my mom and I share a love for baking dessert, I still indulged in small sweet portions +/- twice a week. Also, since my parents are themselves active and retired in a smaller city surrounded by nature, I was active everyday by walking, hiking or swimming with them. FYI, I've been working full time from home since social isolation and have kept doing it most of the last 3 weeks.

The results of my 3 weeks maintenance trial

Now I feel so much better! It’s like I was experiencing diet fatigue or something! My weight has been consistent, fluctuating between 132,4 and 134,6 lbs. It didn't really feel like I had to work hard to maintain, contrary to the weight loss. I felt more energetic, more motivated, and less stressed. Also, it seems like it gave my eyes time to catch up with reality, because I can finally see how much smaller my belly is now!

I also realized what I’ve been missing during my weight loss : support. I’m quite independent and I’m used to take care of myself. Therefore, I didn’t really talked about my process or reached out for help. It was such a relief to be able to lean on my parents for a while.

I'm back home now, and I want to find a way to implement a more active lifestyle (during and after social isolation) where I could also get the support I need. I'm currently wondering if I should prioritize that over measuring and weighing my food to count calories, even though I still want to lose some weight. I don't mean I can't do both, but I want to prevent being that exhausted again. I would like to further my reflection by reading your experiences with a) weight loss after taking a break to maintain or b) maintenance as a part of leading a healthy lifestyle. Thank you :)

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