For those working on maintaining weight

[NbyNW]

I've occasionally struggled with this problem in the past, and I think it can be complicated, so I hope you are able to figure out what works for you . . .

A few thoughts, from personal experience:

It can be challenging to be in a social situation that involves food that irritates your system. Without knowing what your specific issues are, my advice would be to be very selective about what you eat in those situations. Have a good hearty snack before the gathering so you're not tempted to eat things that you know will cause discomfort later. Nurse your beverage of choice and a small salad/soup/appetizer if you're worried about other people feeling uncomfortable that they're eating and you're not. Don't let yourself feel pressured to eat things that will make you miserable. If someone wonders why you're not eating, it's perfectly ok to say "I don't do so well with X." Enough people have food sensitivities these days and most restaurants are used to adapting their dishes if you can pinpoint what you need, e.g., you might be able to ask them to leave out the cream if you have problems with dairy.

If you are having trouble with specific foods, it would be a good idea to figure out what they are so that you can take steps to avoid them. Sometimes you can re-introduce things into your diet after avoiding them for a while, other things you may want to just avoid. Everyone's different, I think you can google food allergy or food sensitivity to learn more about this.

There could be other "lifestyle" reasons that are making it hard to maintain weight. For example, I had a lot of trouble maintaining weight my first year of grad school. I was eating constantly but sleeping very little, and the whole experience was ludicrously stressful. I was 108 when I started school and dropped 15 pounds over two semesters. I went to my doctor who ordered some tests to see if there were medical reasons for my weight loss. They didn't find anything. Ultimately the solution was to leave that toxic grad school environment and try my luck elsewhere. It took me more than two years to rebuild my physical strength after that experience.

I think if you feel like you have enough energy to get through your rides, you probably don't need to eat more DURING; focus on getting the nutrition you need before and after.

Good luck, let us know how it goes.

[emily_in_nc]

I am maintaining (after losing 15ish lbs on a high-protein, low carb diet about 6 years ago), but fortunately I don't have to work at it too hard -- my lifestyle just seems to keep it there. Running (not long distances), walking, mountain biking, weight workouts, and healthy eating (nearly all home-cooked, rarely eat out) seem to keep me at my goal weight of 102-104 (I am short!) without any additional intervention, calorie counting, or overly restrictive regimes (i.e., I can have a daily glass of wine or beer, small serving of ice cream a couple of times a week, a few chips now and then, dark chocolate, and so forth).

Gaining can happen, and often does on vacation (extra eating out, more drinking...), but not so much that I can't quickly lose the couple of extra lbs. when I return home. DH and I always take active vacations, which helps too.

It's nice that with the diet and exercise, I seem to have re-set my set point at the new level since I've been at this weight for years now. I feel very fortunate not to have the weight struggle in my life as so many (including my mom, for years) do. There are enough worries in life without this, and I empathize with all of those who are dealing with trying to lose. Even though I've never been seriously heavy, I've certainly been chunky and very unhappy about that.

Emily