Exercise during maintance

aprilflower18232

Ok....I am 16 pounds away from my goal so I am trying to gather info on maintance......I know I will slowly have to add some more calories into my diet.
, but what about excercise? I currently work out 5 days a week for 45-60 minutes. Do I continue at that pace? I am so clueless

focusedonfitness2015

I continue to workout 4-6 days a week even while in maintenance. However, I increased my calories so I do not have as big of a calorie deficit as before. I still do 30 mins of cardio and a minimum of 30 mins of lifting each night. I've only been in maintenance for 2 months but so far so good. I haven't gained any weight back and actually have lost a couple more lbs so probably should increase my calories again. Good luck to you and congrats on almost reaching that magic number!

heybales

Always, always, eat correctly for your level of activity.

Right now that level is eating less than maintenance obviously, to lose weight.

But if you do less exercise, you burn less, you have to eat less.

Will you be able to adhere to an eating goal that is just as small or lower as now perhaps?

How much are you losing now per week on avg?
That will tell you exactly how much deficit you have in place if it's all fat.
If you are burning up some muscle mass as most do, then the following is not all true.

1 lb is 3500 calories.

So say you reach goal weight losing 1/2 lb weekly, that implies 250 cal deficit.

So you get to add 250 to current eating level to eat at maintenance with current level of activity.

Drop the activity level - you must eat less.

Also, if exercise was merely about losing weight and not actually improving the body, you may not like where the body ends up, and decide you need to keep working on it. Probably slight majority end up skinny fat, merely smaller versions of former selves, because of that muscle mass loss. And not liking where the fats at, now need to do strength training, and frankly be willing to gain some fat back, in order to gain some muscle back.

If not doing strength training now - do it.

aprilflower18232

I normally lose 6-8 pounds per month

nxd10

That's wonderful. When you get to maintenance you should continue to exercise at whatever level you choose to for health and wellbeing. It's supposed to be one of the best predicters of keeping the weight off. But as was said previously, you want to add in the calories you use exercising - log them - so that you eat enough to maintain instead of continuing to lose. Good luck!

heybales

aprilflower18232 wrote: »

I normally lose 6-8 pounds per month

So it's hard to do the math then when you are losing muscle mass. Which you are probably at the normal 20% of the weight is muscle.

I'd recommend to stop doing that, with only 15 lbs to go, back off to 1 lb weekly.

When only 10 lbs to go, back to 1/2 lb weekly.

The reason so many have problems with last 5-10 lbs is they no longer have a healthy body at that point, body is as slow as it can be to compensate for the stress, and attempting to eat even less to force some more weight loss just causes binges and can't be sustained. Interesting how many in last 5-10 actually have problems gaining weight, by their own admittance because cheat meals/weekends have become worse.

And yes, since you'll be eating more with smaller deficit, you will gain, normally, some water weight attached to more carbs that are stored in your muscles. That increases metabolism actually, which is just great.
It's the same big water weight drop everyone gets when they start a diet.

stuffinmuffin

Continue with whatever level of exercise you enjoy and will be able to sustain. If you work out you will have even more calories to eat, if you don't then you'll have less. Maintenance is no different in that respect, just you wont be eating at a deficit.

vsheetz1

Exercise is of paramount importance during maintenance. Minimum 2000 calorie burn per week. Keeps you healthy, feeling good, and a a couple three hundred calories a weeknn

mymodernbabylon

Listen to heybales about eating. You should definitely be eating more now as you get closer to maintenance.

LivingtheLeanDream

I thought once I'd get to maintenance I would cut myself some slack when it came to my workouts but I've come to enjoy them so much that I haven't changed a thing. Its good for us to be active so I'm sticking with my 5 workouts/week plus walking. I believe its helped me maintain my weight for over a year.
The last 10lbs are the hardest and slower at coming off but it might feel easier for you if you adjust the settings to lose at 1/2lb per week now, that way you'll be able to eat more

dopeysmelly

I was relieved when I hit maintenance, because for me, fitness and exercise is far more exciting than losing weight. The goals you set yourself are limitless for fitness, I guess, since you can always move faster, go further, or try a new yoga position, and well, when you lose weight, the number goes down, and then, there's nothing else. So, for me, maintenance isn't really "maintenance", which implies doing nothing, but it's about "more" and "new".

I slowly added calories in waaaay before I reached maintenance (like 3-4 months before), just 50 or 100 calories per day per month. It made it easier to make the mental adjustment to eating more without going crazy, and it meant that I had a pretty good ballpark of where my maintenance calories would be when I got there.

Rose6300

dopeysmelly wrote: »

I was relieved when I hit maintenance, because for me, fitness and exercise is far more exciting than losing weight. The goals you set yourself are limitless for fitness, I guess, since you can always move faster, go further, or try a new yoga position, and well, when you lose weight, the number goes down, and then, there's nothing else. So, for me, maintenance isn't really "maintenance", which implies doing nothing, but it's about "more" and "new".

I slowly added calories in waaaay before I reached maintenance (like 3-4 months before), just 50 or 100 calories per day per month. It made it easier to make the mental adjustment to eating more without going crazy, and it meant that I had a pretty good ballpark of where my maintenance calories would be when I got there.

I agree 100% with all of this. It's what I did/am doing and it's working out great.

cwolfman13

aprilflower18232 wrote: »

Ok....I am 16 pounds away from my goal so I am trying to gather info on maintance......I know I will slowly have to add some more calories into my diet.
, but what about excercise? I currently work out 5 days a week for 45-60 minutes. Do I continue at that pace? I am so clueless

Diet (noun) for weight control; exercise for fitness. Weight control is largely about consumption. If you dial back exercise in maintenance, your maintenance will be lower than it would be now...if you increase exercise in maintenance your maintenance calories will be more than now.

I actually exercise more in maintenance than I did when I was losing...more calories means more energy in general...which means I have more to give and can actually get out there and train for things and not be dead on my feet afterwards from being in an energy deficit.

My maintenance calories vary depending on what exactly I'm doing. When I'm training for endurance rides, etc and spending a lot of time in the saddle and wracking up miles I can eat upwards of 3200 - 3500 calories per day and maintain. Conversely, it's winter now and my cardio work is primarily to maintain my fitness...so I ride about 60 miles per week and try to run a few miles a couple days per week and I really put a lot of focus on my lifting...but due to less activity all around, my maintenance calories dip down to around 2700-2800 or so.

Moral of the story...adjust your consumption to match your activity level rather than trying to adjust your activity level to your consumption....it's easier.

Hornsby

I didn't do anything while losing weight that I wasn't going to continue when I got to maintenance. The only thing that changed is that I got to eat more food.

tulips_and_tea

Rose6300 wrote: »

dopeysmelly wrote: »

I was relieved when I hit maintenance, because for me, fitness and exercise is far more exciting than losing weight. The goals you set yourself are limitless for fitness, I guess, since you can always move faster, go further, or try a new yoga position, and well, when you lose weight, the number goes down, and then, there's nothing else. So, for me, maintenance isn't really "maintenance", which implies doing nothing, but it's about "more" and "new".

I slowly added calories in waaaay before I reached maintenance (like 3-4 months before), just 50 or 100 calories per day per month. It made it easier to make the mental adjustment to eating more without going crazy, and it meant that I had a pretty good ballpark of where my maintenance calories would be when I got there.

I agree 100% with all of this. It's what I did/am doing and it's working out great.

Same here. I also think that sometimes "maintenance" is associated with "stagnant", but that's not true. Health and fitness gains can be endless. I set new goals all the time. Sure, my general calorie count remains the same, but I no longer focus on that. I focus on the nutrients I eat so that I'm at my best when working out.