Astonishing realization about maintaining

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  • srcurran
    srcurran Posts: 208 Member
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    Be wary. Many years ago I lost a lot of weight. A LOT of weight. Too much. I thought my body would "know" but in fact I still saw a fat person in the mirror even though I got dangerously underweight. This time I have hit a reasonable goal and now I have to figure out maintenance before I drop too much more. I'm so afraid of gaining it back.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,740 Member
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    Hello California Rower!

    I agree with you! For most of us a lifetime commitment is needed if we don't want to return to where we were.

    Having said that, I don't see how 1400 is the right long term number for you!

    Why don't you play with some online TDEE calculators?

    Assuming a goal weight of 164lbs, the **lowest** TDEE guestimate I find for a SEDENTARY 5ft 9" female, age 50, is about 1718 calories per day.

    @ 1718 you would be eating ALL of your (actual) exercise calories on top of that!

    Also, if you take more than about 5 or 6,000 random steps a day you are probably more active than sedentary, in which case you would need to chose a higher activity level for your TDEE guestimate, or plan to eat back some of the extra step calories too : - )
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    confused..

    if you are losing a pound per week on 1400 then your maintenance would 1900…

    I am assuming that your goal is currently one pound per week loss…if it was .5 pounds then your maintenance would be 1650 …

    not sure where this 1400 number is coming form….
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    Wat?
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    gothchiq wrote: »
    1440 is maintenance for me. Depends how short/old/etc you are.

    don't forget activity...pretty big piece of the equation but for some reason, a lot of MFP folks don't like to actually give themselves credit for that...bizarro world.

    Also, OP is cutting on 1400...how OP thinks that would be maintenance when she's cutting on the same calories is beyond me.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    That IS an astonishing realization.
  • areallycoolstory
    areallycoolstory Posts: 1,680 Member
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    CaliforniaRower wrote: »
    So I started here with a "goal" - a set number of pounds I want to drop. This morning, I was thinking about maintenance and I realized....this IS maintenance! Eating ~1400 cal per day, which is how I'm losing it, is also how I'll maintain this. Because my body will know its level when it gets there. It may want to lose more than I "think" it should.

    While I was struggling to lose weight, I felt like I was arguing with my body. I thought I "knew" the perfect weight for me. Well, lo and behold. That's my body's job! My job is just to feed it about ~1400 nutritious calories for the rest of my life and it will take care of the maintenance all by itself.

    Wow! There isn't an "end point"- this is a lifestyle commitment.

    I think what you said about there being no end point is spot on. If you erase the number of calories for a moment, and just think in terms of eating enough calories to maintain weight just as we now consume enough calories to lose, I am with you:-) I also agree with your comment about cookies. Forget about the future...cookies can happen tonight if you are under your 1400 goal.
  • CaliforniaRower
    CaliforniaRower Posts: 187 Member
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    I guess we'll see. I may be jumping the gun, because I still would prefer to lose maybe 23-28 lbs. (A WEEK AGO I SAID "25-30"!!!!!!! Im so happy over two little pounds lost!)) I appreciate all your perspectives. I am learning SO much here.

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