Chucked into Maintenance

krissyreminisce

Did anyone else find themselves unceremoniously chucked into Maintenance? I hit my goal weight last week (yay!) but I was completely shocked. Primarily, because I had been losing about .5lb - 1lb a week and then I stalled, four pounds away, for two weeks.

So I tightened up my weighing (got a better freaking scale that didn't shut off in the middle of weighing things ((curse you, walmart!))), and logged diligently. And I expected to lose at least one pound but I lost four! Which, yay! And then I realized I was not prepared in food or in mind. I was able to add one snack in the morning, which was a hard boiled egg because I had them on hand, but other than that, I just ate what I had.

I've been working on losing weight for four years and to suddenly be done losing and starting to maintain has been kind of hard for me. I'm so used to ending the day with a deficit that I'm still doing it.

Today is my weigh in day and I figured I might have lost at least a pound, which I could bounce back from. But *kitten* me, I lost nearly another four pounds! I knew I *kitten* up when MFP asked me if I was SURE this was the right weight and then gave me the warning about my BMI.

I have snacks this week, and I have bigger breakfasts planned. I guess I can finally add various nut butters into my diet.

But has anyone felt this? I know there are people in my family and social circles that are becoming convinced I'm anorexic and this will not help quell those suspicions.

madrose0715

Looking by your photo, I would say your body fat does appear to be well below 20% (perhaps even below 15%??). Do you know your BF percentage? I would say maintenance is certainly where you need to be at and perhaps determine if you are undereating for unhealthy reasons and address those throughout maintenance?

krissyreminisce

madrose0715 wrote: »

Looking by your photo, I would say your body fat does appear to be well below 20% (perhaps even below 15%??). Do you know your BF percentage? I would say maintenance is certainly where you need to be at and perhaps determine if you are undereating for unhealthy reasons and address those throughout maintenance?

I'm not sure about my BF percentage, and I don't know how much I trust the trainers at the gym I go to. I have an inkling it might be low.

I am going to work on upping the calories, I have snacks lined up and bigger meals planned, so hopefully I can bounce back.

srcurran

I am struggling too. I'm eating a little more, but when I look at the number of calories it says I can eat I am so afraid of gaining weight back. I've continued to lose a little more, so I will just have to figure it out.

krissyreminisce

HappyCampr1 wrote: »

I just took a look at your diary, not to see what you were eating, but to see your goal numbers. It appears you haven't increased your daily calories yet. Since you don't have any more weight to lose, I'd definitely increase your goal right away by a minimum 250 calories a day. Then start increasing from there until you stop losing weight. You may gain a couple pounds of water weight in the beginning, but know that it's not fat, just your body getting used to the additional calories. It goes away if you just stay the course.

My original goal was actually 1200, and I'd seen that 50-100 calorie increase a week was the way to go.

srcurran wrote: »

I am struggling too. I'm eating a little more, but when I look at the number of calories it says I can eat I am so afraid of gaining weight back. I've continued to lose a little more, so I will just have to figure it out.

That's my fear, too. I just don't want to gain it all back. Right before I joined this site, my weight was stagnate for several months before it had started to creep back up again. I'm really skittish.

I do want to better my habits, and I know I have to eat more to fuel my long runs.

krissyreminisce

HappyCampr1 wrote: »

krissyreminisce wrote: »

HappyCampr1 wrote: »

I just took a look at your diary, not to see what you were eating, but to see your goal numbers. It appears you haven't increased your daily calories yet. Since you don't have any more weight to lose, I'd definitely increase your goal right away by a minimum 250 calories a day. Then start increasing from there until you stop losing weight. You may gain a couple pounds of water weight in the beginning, but know that it's not fat, just your body getting used to the additional calories. It goes away if you just stay the course.

My original goal was actually 1200, and I'd seen that 50-100 calorie increase a week was the way to go.



That's my fear, too. I just don't want to gain it all back. Right before I joined this site, my weight was stagnate for several months before it had started to creep back up again. I'm really skittish.

I do want to better my habits, and I know I have to eat more to fuel my long runs.

Normally, that's what I would advise too and I'm not an expert, so you can take this advice with a grain of salt. I was just thinking that since you're BMI is obviously low (or the App wouldn't be warning you), then you really don't have the time luxury to increase quite that slowly. Either way, even adding 250, you'll still be losing weight. It was just a hope that it would slow the weight loss down and then you could do the increases in smaller increments. I lost 6 pounds after I hit my goal, while trying to find my maintenance number. I was just trying to help you avoid that.

As for being scared of gaining it back, just remember the four years you've spent losing it. It didn't come off over night and it won't go back on overnight. A pound of fat is 3500 calories. That's 3500 calories over your maintenance number...for one pound. You're not going to accidentally overeat by that amount. Don't worry and trust the numbers. If you know that you haven't seriously binged and over eaten by thousands of calories, then any small weight fluctuations you have are most likely water weight.

I'll try that. It's also a bit of a challenge because I get full pretty quickly. I'm trying to add more calories earlier in the day.

krissyreminisce

So, I got my body fat percentage checked at my gym and it came up at 13.4% and the the guy seemed really excited and showed me a chart that put me in a super healthy range. He seemed confused when I mentioned that maybe I should gain weight.

I'm not sure what to think.

bioklutz

http://www.webmd.com/diet/body-fat-measurement?page=2

Are you still getting your period? I would ask your doctor about your weight/body fat to see if he/she thinks it is acceptable.

rdlewis123

Congratulations on our loss! You are wise in planning your meals and snacks. Just because you enter maintenance, that does not mean it is any less work. Trust me! As soon as you quit being conscious of your food, it is easy to gain it back--been there, done that! Keep up the good work!