Calorie deficit once reached goal weight?

xxteeleexx

I don't want to ramble so will keep the preliminary story brief!
I started my journey 2 years ago weighing 196lbs at 5'
No excersizes whilst eating pure crap constantly.7 months post partum I decided to change and ditched the unhealthy eating habits and joinedthe gym. I lost over 30 pounds over the space of a few months and ever since I've maintained, fluctuating by a few pounds.

Now, I didn't reach my final goal weight which was 150lbs at the time but I have adjusted it to 140lbs. Currently weigh 161lbs.
I am finding motivation harder this time to remove the last few pounds and as I plainly ate good and exercises before the weight came off quick, I didn't calorie count I just ate as I pleased but healthy whilst excersising. I was a novice.

Now to my question... I really really want to remove these last 21lbs and was wondering whether I should reduce my calories, I've always been worried about this because I'm not sure that if I reduce my calories in order to LOOSE the excess weight, once at my goal weight, if I change the habits I adopted to loose the weight(calorie deficit) will the weight come piling back on?

In other words, if I loose weight in calorie deficit, will I have to live the rest of my life eating in that way ( in a deficit )in order to stay at my goal weight seeing as that is what got me there. OR will I be able to up my calories and eat normally once I hit my goal weight and that will stabilise me at that weight?

Thankyou!

SezxyStef

ah no. To lose weight you eat in a deficit. To maintain you don't, you eat at maitenance.

Eating "normally" is pretty subjective. What is your normal? if it's what got you to 196lbs then no...you won't be able to eat "normally"

Rose6300

Well, assuming you're 30 years old and exercise 3 times a week, your maintenance at 140 pounds will be 1757 calories per day.
And, since you're 161 pounds, your maintenance now is 1888 calories per day, which is probably what you're eating now.
So your maintenance will be 131 calories lower than it is now.
And in order to get to 140, your calories will have to be something less than your current intake of 1888. Aggressive cutting will be 1510 (20% deficit), standard will be 1604 (15% deficit), and slow will be 1700 (10% deficit).

Calculated at http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

Francl27

Well yes, you need to reduce your calories to lose more. And yes if you start eating then like you are eating now, you will gain the weight back eventually.

loulamb7

xxteeleexx wrote: »

I didn't calorie count I just ate as I pleased but healthy whilst excersising. I was a novice.

In other words, if I loose weight in calorie deficit, will I have to live the rest of my life eating in that way ( in a deficit )in order to stay at my goal weight seeing as that is what got me there. OR will I be able to up my calories and eat normally once I hit my goal weight and that will stabilise me at that weight?

The closer you get to your low/goal weight it might be more difficult to lose unless you know the number of calories you are actually eating. The reason you loss weight was because you were eating at a calorie deficit. You can eat healthy and still gain weight. In order to lose weight and still be able to eat the maximum number of calories when your are done losing you need to figure out your maintenance level. You can use either MFP or the scooby calculator recommended above.

And no, you will not have to eat at a deficit forever. I started losing at 1850-1900 calories, was still losing at 2250 and can maintain between 2600-2700.

xxteeleexx

Thankyou everyone for your replies

loulamb7 wrote: »

xxteeleexx wrote: »

I didn't calorie count I just ate as I pleased but healthy whilst excersising. I was a novice.

In other words, if I loose weight in calorie deficit, will I have to live the rest of my life eating in that way ( in a deficit )in order to stay at my goal weight seeing as that is what got me there. OR will I be able to up my calories and eat normally once I hit my goal weight and that will stabilise me at that weight?

The closer you get to your low/goal weight it might be more difficult to lose unless you know the number of calories you are actually eating. The reason you loss weight was because you were eating at a calorie deficit. You can eat healthy and still gain weight. In order to lose weight and still be able to eat the maximum number of calories when your are done losing you need to figure out your maintenance level. You can use either MFP or the scooby calculator recommended above.

And no, you will not have to eat at a deficit forever. I started losing at 1850-1900 calories, was still losing at 2250 and can maintain between 2600-2700.

Precisely, this just made me realise. Although i was at a deficit i didn't know because i never counted my calories.

jennifer_417

Barring a health condition such as PCOS or Diabetes, a calorie deficit is the ONLY way to lose weight. When you hit your goal weight, you adjust your calories so that you are no longer in a deficit.

RaspberryTickleChicken

Base on your height (I'm 4'10" ) we have to come to the realization & accept that we just don't get to eat as much as compared to someone who's 5'9"

As other posters mentioned, the closer to goal the slower the progress because you have less to lose. Towards the last 2-3 mths towards my goal, I was losing FRACTIONS of a pound every other week. Don't get discourgaed, progress is progress.

Once I reached my goal weight I added back 15-30 calories & carried on. I've been maintaining for about 10+ mths now with very little effort.

Due to our height, you may find that in general we tend to have less wiggle room in our daily caloric intake. For me, I've decided long ago that I will always be using MFP to keep an eye on the general state of the union so-to-speak. LOL The absolute LAST thing I want is fall prey to the statistics.

Best of luck!