Maintenance questions

middleagedmeh

I am starting to get to that point. About 3kg to goal weigh. I still feel a little flabby so I am starting a lifting regimen 3 times a week with a small home gym.

I updated my macros to reduce my deficit by about 100 calories a week until maintenance calories about end of January to mid February.

In your experience and knowledge what is the best way to go about this? How gradual should the increase be to avoid reversing weight loss? Most of the increase comes from fat which will make it difficult to meet. Besides the obvious adding more fat, do you recommend another way (such as increasing protein to active instead of sedentary level or even playing with carbs slowly going towards 50g to see if I stay in ketosis at those levels - currently strictly under 20g of carbs ).

Finally I would love to hear from some people who have done the transition from lchf for weight loss to lchf as a lifestyle for maintenance and their success. matters like logging, having a high carb meal from time to time, reintroducing dairy (I miss my raw milk as a farm kid) and other matters you think are relevant.

Thank you,

FIT_Goat

Back when I hit 71 kg, I decided to go to maintenance. I did not transition slowly. I raised my calories, overnight, to 2500. A week later, I just stopped tracking altogether. I saw no point in tracking. I ate until I wasn't interested in more food, roughly 2500 calories a day and staying super low carb, and slowly continued to trend downwards with my weight. I dipped right below 70 kg before my wedding.

Now, after the 10 day carb debauchery, I am up to 72 kg. I also reevaluated my goal and want to try for 65 kg. So, I am going to aim for slightly less food than I would normally eat. But, I will still not track. I did it for long enough to realize that it doesn't matter. When I ignore the calories, I tend to eat slightly below maintenance anyway.

Your mileage may vary. I allow 3-5 carb days a year, but almost never take any. The only exception was the wedding, and I ended up feeling like I would have enjoyed myself more if I had stuck to my normal eating plan.

I try and stay nearly zero carb.I know this isn't your goal. In your case, I would track when introducing a new food to have a record of how it effects hunger and total calories consumed. I would not track with the purpose of limiting. I would eat until full and track without pausing because of the total calories. That is the best way to know how much is right, long term, for you.

FIT_Goat

Also, the 71->70 kg change happened over 3-4 months. That was good enough for me to consider it maintenance, not ongoing intentional loss.

middleagedmeh

Thank you @frob23‌.

logging:
I think this is a good way. I will track while making changes then if I feel comfortable stop all together.

For calories:
I will have a lot of difficulty getting to maintenance. Even when I try to go higher deliberately I end up around 1500 instead of the 1980 tdee. This is why I think adding my cup of milk may help especially if I continue the current trend of around 10 net cars a day.
Jumping overnight just seems risky to me.

cheat meals:
I may have more than you but I intend to keep them to a max of major holidays and only at night for 1 meal not all.

Thanks for the advice.
I saw you did C25K. I am too short on time to do something like that. Do you have other suggestions for getting in better shape. I was looking at 5X5 lifting starting very low. It is highly recommended on reddit.

FIT_Goat

I found a large component of low carb was retraining myself to eat the correct amount. I actually had minimum calorie goals, that I would hit, and no maximum calorie goals. Before I hit maintenance, I would eat at least 1,900 calories a day (on average). Below that was only acceptable if the day before had been well over and I truly wasn't hungry. Usually, I would hit a little more than that.

Was it risky jumping right there? Probably. It probably isn't for everyone. I was fairly close to my new calorie goal. Will you see some weight fluctuations right at the start? I did. You'll have to give your body time to settle and trust that it will. I think going up more slowly will reduce the amount things move around on the scale, but I don't think it will make a long-term difference. It all comes down to what makes sense for you.

For me, calories matter much less than carbs. When I add nuts, tons of veggies (particularly non-green ones), fruit, most dairy, etc. I find my calories rise. I can avoid that by tracking every item I eat, which is just not how I choose to live. The other option, for me, is to just avoid them on a general basis. It may be similar for you, except that you want to include a certain amount of calories that aren't filling to get you up to the range you need to eat to stop losing weight.

I've heard good things about 5x5 lifting. The biggest thing for me would be finding something you enjoy doing. I happen to get a kick out of crazy mud/obstacle course runs. So, the c25k program helps me prepare for them. If you enjoy lifting, do it. Maybe you enjoy something else that would be easier if you lifted, like rock climbing, and that is a reason to do it. My main thing would be to find a purpose for exercise that you enjoy. After that, whatever exercise or activity you choose will be based around what you enjoy. If you're not sure, try different stuff out.