What you're willing to do vs. not willing to do long-term to maintain a goal weight range

I've intentionally changed my lifestyle and food behavior and have lost a substantial amount of weight since August 2023 (~20 months). As I approach the end of my weight loss phase and the beginning of my maintenance phase, I'm setting boundaries of what I'm willing to do vs. not willing to do for the rest of my life to maintain my weight.

Here's what I want maintenance to look like for me:

• I can eat two healthy and satisfying meals each day (in the range of 400-600 calories each) consisting of mostly unprocessed/minimally processed foods, have room for a protein shake for macro balancing (~200 calories), and have 200-300 calories allotted most days for treats that might be highly-processed or less healthy but bring me enjoyment (or use those 200-300 calories toward the occasional bigger meal - see below) - so around 1600-1800 calories/day
• I can enjoy eating out once a month without obsessing over the calorie content of the meal, choosing the lowest-calorie option on the menu, or making the restaurant meal the only thing I eat that day (these days I eat half a restaurant meal by default, take the other half home for a second meal later on, weigh it on my food scale, and use ChatGPT to estimate its calories and macros based on weight and description)
• I can indulge rather than restrict or miss out on special occasions (birthdays, holidays) a few times a year

This is what I'm willing to do to maintain my weight long-term:

• exercise 5 days/week for around 30 min each time, including a mix of cardio and weight training, and take at least 1 full rest day each week (knowing that TDEE-wise, this'll land me between "sedentary" and "light exercise", based on recent analyses)
• spend 2-3 hours each weekend meal-prepping healthy recipes on weekends, weighing and measuring all ingredients
• weigh myself daily and adjust my calories if my weekly averages trend upwards
• accurately log my food intake daily
• calorie cycle for planned indulgences (i.e., if I know I'm going to have a big, 1000-calorie Thanksgiving dinner, eat 100-200 calories less than usual the days before and after)
• continue intermittent fasting and omit breakfast, though in a more relaxed way (I currently do 20:4 or 19:5 most days; would like to relax this to 18:6 or even 16:8 depending on the day)

This is what I'm NOT willing to do:

• stay at 1200-1500 calories/day long-term in maintenance (given my gender, height, and age, this likely means I won't get smaller than a US women's size 6/8, and I'm fine with that)
• exercise 7 days/week with no rest days or for >1 hour/day (speaking from past experience -- I did this for years, often spending 1.5-2 hours/day on cardio at the gym and never taking rest days, and it was not healthy for me mentally or physically)
• wake up at 5 AM to exercise (also speaking from past experience)
• log 10,000+ steps/day every single day (also speaking from past experience)
• never eat out
• never eat dessert
• sacrifice all flavor from food I enjoy so that it's low(er) calorie (also speaking from experience - there are only so many tweaks you can make to your favorite coffee shop order before the drink tastes totally different in a bad way)

What about you all -- what are your "willing to dos" and "not willing to dos" as you've approached or transitioning into your maintenance phase?

submitted by /u/maximumspoilage
[link] [comments]

from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/hbN0PDF