Just needing to know Im not the only one

 Ok so here is what I have found during maintenance that I just can't get my head around and it scares the hell out of me. 
I have days where I just eat bad not as bad as I did before because I can't eat as much but just stuff that really isnt healthy- I weigh my self daily and keep things in check never allowing more than a three pound gain now here is the kicker.... After a few days of eating not so good I say thats it and I go into good mode eating healthy protein, veggies fruit drinking water protein shakes and that is when the scale will jump two or three pounds I am usually good that way for a couple of weeks and then I go right back to bad habits and when I do go to the bad habits all of a sudden I drop two or three pounds WTF I don't get it, I feel like the days when I eat so much more than usual are the days I lose weight. I tell myself that I should just forget about the number and just forget about the stressing of weighing but I can't what really scares me is that I am always afraid of stretching my stomach out but it seems like my body wants and needs me to take in more- Am I the only one experiencing this.  Appreciate anyones thoughts Thanks 

I'm not any help for you because I just reached goal but I can't seem to add anything to my diet to figure out maintenance. It's all in my head and I know that adding one little anything is not going to make me weigh 220lbs again, but geez...this is harder than losing the weight. At least I knew what to do then.

As long as it's not diet soda, cookies & ice cream all day I should chill.

 Thanks totally agree maintenance is way harder than the losing part for sure partly because of our fears of failing and two because there is no end in sight it is a lifetime everyday for the rest of our lives battle but we can do this I just keep telling myself maybe after a few years it will become new normal and new habits learned will be automatic hang in there best wishes to you 

If we could only just quit obsessing about it....just weigh every day, eat lightly, like our skinny friends do, and be happy in the knowledge our bodies will take care of themselves and not regain any weight. Obsessing is just too stressful, and of course, that raises our cortisol levels, and that alone puts fat back on us. Surely there is a happy medium in there somewhere??? When I quit smoking I had to learn to not obsess, so I guess I will have to apply the same strategy with this maintenance thing. We can do it, we can do it....

I ate like a garbage can today (can you say cupcakes?) and I'm scared of the scale tomorrow. I am already feeling drawn back to protein like a magnet, which is a good thing!

But, the worst thing that could happen is no scale movement tomorrow, but scale movement up after I go back to eating clean again. I think MikeyMike has commented how his bad eating days don't show up on the scale until 2-3 days after.

I would love to think about food less, focus on food less, and just have it come naturally to me to eat healthy and be good. But it's gonna be a lifelong fight for me. *sigh*

 I felt like I knew everything when I had surgery. Lose weight, no problem! Maintenance? Nobody teaches about it... I am clueless...

I have heard from (literally) decades of weight loss programs that a binge usually takes at least 2-3 days to show up.  Sometimes a little longer.

I think the fact that this isn't commonly disseminated information does a grave disservice to those trying to lose weight.  It's easy to jump on the scales the next day and feel relieved that they didn't move upwards.   Then you slack off and the scales end up moving up even more.

It truly is a fight for us afflicted with this disease.  All of you are great role models for those of who want to be in maintenance one day.  Because you have done it perfectly?  No, because you don't quit.

Maintenance is indeed scary but as time goes on it becomes less so. I think our bodies take quite a bit longer than a day to responds to several days of overeating or several days of restricted eating. Just because we live on a 24 hour cycle doesn't mean weight gain or loss is that way. But I don't know how long it takes - have always wondered.

I think a lot of people do what you do - experiment with some poor eating and then return to better habits. Some people schedule "eat days" once or twice a week where they plan to go off program and knowing they have those permitted days helps them stay together the other days.

I think it would be a mistake to stop weighing right now as its the way of checking how you are doing with maintenance. go to weekly if you want but don't stop. And try not to feel emotional about the number. It should feel more like checking the weather and planning what to wear. and go back to food journaling for awhile during maintenance so see how much you are really eating so you can learn what it takes to maintain.

Diane

Water weight.

When you eat more calories than normal, your body is more likely to grab stored energy from the glycogen stored in your muscles and, for every ounce of glycogen used up, 3 oz of water are released.

So that's the big "loss" when we eat poorly for a day or two.

Of course, it comes right back once we go back to a lower calorie count.

 
Mine seems pretty normal......

By normal... I mean a normal moving target.......

Although my quantity is pretty constant..... If I indulge for more than a couple of days in a row I feel a little puffy......

I'm in kind of a clinical trial of my own.....although I am a true believer of daily weighing, I've been going without it in the recent months.....I'd say for the last 4 months I've been on the scale 6-8 times.

***Not recommending this.....

By staying off the scale I take the "Reward" element out of weighing. I found myself food rewarding myself when I was weighing low....... I know...still have issues....

By not weighing I stay much more aware of what I eat and more importantly I think I'm more in tune to the feel of my body weight. I know from weighting what a few pounds feels like both up and down..... (I hated hearing that pre-op.....when someone would say...I need to lose a few pounds!)

So not weighing for now is kinda like taking the training wheels off......

Now a few of you are thinking.... here he goes.... the start to the end of it !!!! Sorry... not gonna happen.... I'm much more educated about this WL than any other and I have very good preserved restriction and the first sign of being out of control.....I'll just go back into WL mode......

frisco