I have been following HSM since December and lost 20 pounds, 5 more to go but am now pausing for a maintenance trial for two weeks. I am wondering do I work on keeping it at 150 ( my weight ) or does it make more sense to maintain within a pound or 2 give or take and more importantly, do I add up my calories for the day as I go or wait until the next day after I do the paper/pencil task. I am 70yo. - never tried this way of weight loss/management. I really want to learn maintenance for the long haul.

Sunday check in

I would like to keep better data and wondered if you could explain what and how you track and review your habits on a weekly basis? Do you use a particular spreadsheet design? If this has already been covered somewhere else, please let me know. Thanks!

Weight creep

Hi Heather, Thanks for all you do! I have been a long time listener. For several years I did a good job maintaining around 150-160 before my second child came along and since 2021 I noticed my weight creep up about 10-15 lbs. I have been maintaining without meaning to between 167-172 most of that time. I am tracking around the same calories as before between 1700-1800 but it doesn’t feel as easy and the weight doesn’t seem to budge. I wondered if you had some advice on how to tighten my tracking as I’m probably underestimating by quite a bit. Even though I have a desk job I do 3 spin classes a week and 1-2 short strength classes. Going down any additional calories would be difficult as I have struggled to stay in this range while trying to exercise. Do you have anything you can recommend? I don’t have a habit of weighing and measuring and I don’t know that I could do it long term. I don’t need to get back to the 150 range but would like to just feel a bit more comfortable in my clothes.

Paper Pen Journal

I was looking for a tutorial on how to fill the paper pen journal that has been talked about on the podcast. I went to the YouTube channel for a deep dive. However I am 3-4 videos in but nowhere do I see an example of what the page should look like. There are mentions of right side, left side, highlights and stars but I haven’t seen an actual journal. Is that demonstrated anywhere?

Deciphering My Data

Hi Heather - First, thank you for all the work you do and the helpful content you put out. I discovered your podcast in the Fall of 2023 (I so wish I had found you sooner) and have been rabidly consuming all of your past recordings since then. In fact, the first time I listened to one of your podcasts tears came to my eyes. I had never felt so understood in my life! I have struggled with weight and body image since I was as young as 6 years old, and on my first formal diet by 11 years old, like so many of your listeners and community members. I have made many, many trips up and down the scale in the last 30+ years, and I am hoping and striving to make this time the LAST time. I would love your advice on what I'm currently struggling with... I am very close to the goal I have set for myself of 146lbs. I am 5'10 and currently am unintentionally maintaining at around 150lbs. I wish I didn't care about the last 4lbs but I really do. It is a weight where I feel great and enjoy seeing myself in photos, and have reached it (and even lower) a couple of times in my adult life, so it's not some crazy HS weight that I'm striving to get back to :) That said, I don't want to sabotage all my progress by obsessing over a few pounds. I track religiously and my maintenance calories per the diet fix calculator are supposed to be around 1940. I only weigh weekly, so I know that Happy Scale might not be as helpful as if I weighed daily, but the following is a snapshot of my calories and weight moving average at then end of each of the last 5 months: January 2024: 1871 Avg Daily Calories, Moving Average: 149.9 February 2024: 1914 Avg Daily Calories, Moving Average 149.5 March 2024: 1894 Avg Daily Calories, Moving Average 148.8 April 2024: 1856 Avg Daily Calories, Moving Average 148.6 May 2024: 1854 Avg Daily Calories, Moving Average 149.8 So far, halfway through June, my Avg Daily Calories are 1771, and my Moving Average is 149.6. Based on the first three/four months of data, I was thinking that the diet fix calculator figure of 1940 was probably pretty spot on. Admittedly, I'm taking a VERY slight deficit, but really thought that keeping my calories under 1800 should produce a little more downward movement on the scale, but it feels like I'm stalling out. I'm basically in the same spot I was in back in January. Sure looks like maintenance to me. My activity has remained the same. I would really like to get your read on what this data all means. Does that mean my maintenance is more likely lower than 1940? Is it too soon to jump to conclusions? Should I go back up to around 1850 where it seemed like the scale was at least gently trending down? Should I take a maintenance break? I'm trying to resist the urge to drop my calories even further because your message of sustainability and long term maintenance HAS actually gotten through to my disordered brain! I would appreciate any insights or advice. Thanks again for all you do.