Two calorie goals - make sense or am I overthinking it?

CarvedTones
CarvedTones Posts: 2,340 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
So, my goal was to get at or below 164 and I made it! 163 and my BMI is now 24.8.

I am thinking of setting two calorie goals - one for the 160s to lose very slowly and one for the 150s to gain slowly. So I will continue to eat at a slight deficit until the scale says 159 or less and then I will switch to a surplus for a few days until the scale is in the 160s and switch back. I may make the switch points 158 and 162 so I am not doing this every 2 days (I weigh every other day). Am I over thinking it? I will set my goal in the middle and either purposefully go over or purposely go under.

Replies

  • CarvedTones
    CarvedTones Posts: 2,340 Member
    edited March 2018
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Why though? If you're maintaining then why not just eat at maintenance?

    Because I don't know exactly what that is and it will probably vary day to day. Also, I have been down somewhat close to this before and failed. Last time, my low was 168 and I was going to stay at 170 +/- 5, which meant I almost immediately went to 175 and then convinced myself +/- 10 was okay and immediately went to 180 and the next thing you know, I am over 200 and crept back up to 223. So I have lost 60 pounds to get here and afraid of repeating my failure if I don't have a specific plan.

    For a couple of cycles, I may actually go down to 157 or so and then eat above maintenance with emphasis on protein and work hard on chest and shoulder exercises to get some muscle back. I started the weight loss losing too quickly and lost some muscle. I did the same thing 4 or 5 years ago when I lost 62 pounds (from 230 to 168). Between those two crash diet periods, I think I have messed up my metabolism. Starvation mode is a myth, but adaptive thermogenesis isn't. I seem to require 150-200 calories less than the calculators say.

    I have read some of the bleak statistics - less than one out of ten people who lose as much as I have are able to maintain the new weight. Common attributes of the ones that do is weighing often and continuing to track. Not everyone who succeeds does those, but a significant number of them do. I tried to become a natural eater last time.

    One big difference this time is that I set the goal based on BMI. I have to stay under 25. Not far under, but under. That's a hard number I can't rationalize increasing. It's also the upper limit; if I want to increase the size of the range, I have to lose more weight, not give myself permission to gain weight.
  • SummerSkier
    SummerSkier Posts: 4,779 Member
    Welcome to the craziness that is maintenance. My friend Ann has a great thread. It's not stickied but it should be. I think one thing you can do is read up here as there is a lot of experience. Once thing you will find is that your goals and approach don't need to be "set in stone". Try reading this. I think your idea would play havoc with both my brain and body but only YOU will know what works for you.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10638211/how-to-find-your-maintenance-calorie-level/p1
  • musicfan68
    musicfan68 Posts: 1,122 Member
    That sounds really complicated. Just give yourself a 5 lb leeway, and if you start getting to the high end of it, pay more attention to what you're eating so you don't keep gaining.
  • CarvedTones
    CarvedTones Posts: 2,340 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    If you don't know what maintenance is then how are you going to set your calorie goals?

    I have an idea of approximately where it is on most days. Low exertion office job. Primary exercise is walking and averaging ~4000 steps a day since New Year's (got a fitbit clone for Christmas). It's default goal is 10,000 per day, which seems excessive. I am at 7137 right now with over an hour of walking, mostly at a pretty good clip. I am 59 and determined not to enter my 60s overweight, 5'8". Calculators say I should require over 2000, but I think it is more like 1900 or less based on rate of loss I was getting at 1500.
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    musicfan68 wrote: »
    That sounds really complicated. Just give yourself a 5 lb leeway, and if you start getting to the high end of it, pay more attention to what you're eating so you don't keep gaining.

    Exactly this. Breathe. You’re going to do great.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,675 Member
    Given how much variability there is in weight on a day to day basis, depending on salt, exercise, etc. that seems like a good way to drive yourself crazy. Pay attention to the long term trend, not the daily. If you find your weight trending upward over a few weeks, then cut back. If you find yourself losing over a few weeks, then eat more. But don't stress out in the short term.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
    edited March 2018
    Way overthinking it. ease your way back up to 1900. by adding 100-250 a day on a weekly/bi-weekly basis.

    You'll keep losing for a bit, but come in for a much softer landing. And if after 2 weeks at 1900, you're still losing. add another 100 or so.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
    You don't HAVE to do it that way, but there's nothing wrong with it. It's not that different from managing a maintenance range. You sounded a bit uncomfortable with that, so do a variation that you do feel OK with. You can always simplify you it later if you want. Good luck!
  • CarvedTones
    CarvedTones Posts: 2,340 Member
    I am moving the calorie bar up slowly and still losing slowly until I get a little further below goal. AS long as I am vigilant, I can probably just adapt as needed instead of being rigid about 2 ranges. But I want a little cushion under my chosen max first. I weigh less than I have in over 30 years; once I got within 7 pounds of where I am but only very briefly. I have yoyoed many times and I am very determined not to let it happen this time. I only have experience with failure and I am probably trying too hard to do something very different.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    The scale saying 159 one day doesn't mean it would say that the next even if you had an identical day. I think you'll find your maintenance range isn't that controllable so yes, I think you're overthinking it.
  • Cheesy567
    Cheesy567 Posts: 1,186 Member
    You might be better served by writing out a list of habits that have helped you lose weight. If you notice your weight creeping back up, you could look over the list and see which habits have slid off and re-instate them.

    I’ve lost a large amount of weight and regained, too. I had to maintain at a high weight last year, but it was good practice. I found that I used most of the habits for losing, same for maintaining. It made me look back over time, and realize the times I gained rapidly were times I stopped weighing myself daily, and stopped meal planning such that I was falling back on drive-thrus on days that I didn’t have a good meal plan in place.

    Focusing on those two habits led me to maintain, and I was easily able to start losing (when I was finally cleared to do so) by dropping my calories by 150-200/ day. Now I know what my maintenance range is, and I’m building self-trust that I can keep the habits I need in place to maintain long-term.
  • CarvedTones
    CarvedTones Posts: 2,340 Member
    I think the big one has to be weighing regularly (I usually weigh every other day), followed closely by continuing to log. I might not log every day indefinitely, but if the weight creeps up, I will. I know it will bounce around some, but I am making my goal the max. If I need a bigger range, I have to lose weight instead of giving myself permission to gain weight. Right now, I am not far under it so I may still see a few spikes over it until I lose a little more. But I am doing that very slowly.

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