Justy2003 called me out:
Hey Kelly, I found this article and had a question about it, which has nothing to do with this post really…
Here’s the article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7530345.stm
It says for people maintaining weight loss you should work out MORE. But I remember you previously saying that once you’re in maintenance mode you can work out a lot less than you were when losing. Just wondering your thoughts on the article.
K, I either miss spoke, or i didnt explain myself clearly. Either way: i need to clear it up.
i went back to my trusty ACE Personal Trainer textbook to find my answer.
“[The Maintenance Stage] usually begins five to six months after the start of training, and hopefully, extends for a lifetime. To ensure long term complaince, the exercise program should be enjoyable, fit into the time schedule without undue stress, meet personal needs and goals, and be adaptable to changes in weather and location…..Maintenance of physical fitness, however, is acheivable even when training volume (but not intensity) is decresed by half.”
Having lost the weight, and being in maintenance stage are two completely seperate things. As I said before the maintenance stage is “successful, sustained lifestyle modification.”
You can bust your ass in the gym and drop weight, but you arent neccissarily in maintence mode. you may be trying to actively maintain your weight, but in true Nationally Certified Personal Trainer terminology, maintenance is only when you dont have to actively try and change your lifestyle (like by being on a diet, trying to lose more weight, forcing yourself to go to the gym/workout: basically “white knuckling it”) True maintence is when these things are engrained in you and you aren’t having “good” days and “bad.”
Maintenance in terms of being at the weight you want, and maintence in terms of having fully adopted your healthy lifestyle habits, nutritionally and fitness wise, are two completely seperate things. True maintence stage is when you these healthy lifestyle modifications are engrained in yo uand become second nature- so theres no chance of gaining your weight back, as you dont over eat and you are no longer sedentary. If you relapse and gain wieght, you are not in the maintenance stage.
I hope that made sense. Call me out again if it didnt.
Head over to GroundedFitness and read: I’m a Giant MF-er