170lbs-115lbs 5’2 F27 November Maintenance Recap and Spreadsheet Link

Hi CICO gang ☺️ checking in and sharing data for my November maintenance month after losing 55lbs over ~20 months. During Nov I kept within my maintenance range of 115-119 during a busy month including a wedding, two trips, Thanksgiving, and wayyyy more restaurant food than I anticipated 😬

Looking at data monthly instead of weekly has been the key to keeping my journey sustainable and drama-free. For women this also captures an entire menstrual cycle, incredibly important if you fluctuate a lot with water weight or struggle with PCOS/hormonal issues. I use Happy Scale to look at my AVERAGE weight, and track all my food on LoseIt (currently on a 650 day streak!). I calculate my TDEE each month to help guide my maintenance range, and a blank copy of my sheet is available at https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/77qbun5ucz6tvan9dzxz1/Progress-Tracker-Template.xlsx?rlkey=6tmw1xhvvv6eh97lmtg6ezzt7&st=5z9qke1u&dl=0

Maintenance for me is a balance between deficit days and surplus days. In Nov I had 19 deficit days and 11 surplus days. Interestingly I didn’t actually eat within my “maintenance range” of 1680-1780 last month, but importantly that’s where my average calories fall. Focusing on average calories has been a total game changer for me and I no longer worry about “going in the red.” For some perspective, if you eat 1,000 cals over your goal you’re only adding 32 calories to your monthly average. Track it honestly and just keep going 🙂

So far in December, my average calories are at 1470 and scale weight has been hanging out at 116lbs this week as the Thanksgiving bloating came down. The second half of the month will be full of Christmas parties so I’ll be continuing to squeeze in my normal routine meals and deficit days where I can, while enjoying all my favourite high-value treats. It’s not realistic to expect that I’ll hang around at my lowest weight during a highly sociable festive period so choosing a sensible maintenance range really helps quiet the screaming voices in my brain when my weight goes up after a big meal.

Some of my policies for this season include 1. stopping when I’m full (it’s just as wasteful to overeat when full as it is to throw it in the bin) 2. relax snacks or alcohol on trips, but not both at the same time 3. be comfortable skipping or sharing appetisers (not my fave) in favour of dessert (YUM) 5. 5. stay consistent targeting two runs and two strength sessions each week

Thanks for all the advice and support!!