Peoples opinions and what they do?

Samm471

okay the losing weight part .. Easy.. Now the next part maintaining calories. So I have heard sooo many things from different people. Some say oh eat back the calories you exercise. Some say no don't. Some say they eat less on non workout days some say to eat more ( I think this is like a surplus to gain more muscle maybe) I don't know! What is everyone doing with their maintenance journey how are you all doing it? Some people say do a calculator and whatever it says just eat those calories. Some are saying up it slowly and check progress weight/pics etc and some say whatever mfp spits out when you put in as maintaining as your goal go with that .. I'm confused! It's putting me off a little!

Samm471

Some people are saying eat more on workout days eat less on rest days including cardio days. Some say just eat the same everyday I don't get it!

crystalscottx

As

AsISmile

There are two options, mfp or TDEE

First you need to know, in maintenance you have to eat the same amount of calories you burn. Calories in = calories out.

When using the MFP method, MFP calculates the amount of calories based on your BMR and daily activity. So basically the amount of calories you burn on a normal day. If you exercise now, you burn more calories than the mfp number, and are basically creating a defecit. Therefore you need to log your exercise and eat back your exercise calories. (You don't want to lose weight, so you don't want a deficit).

If you use TDEE, you get a number that includes bmr, daily activity and exercise. It calculates your weekly caloric need and divides it by 7 and gives you a daily calorie goal. Exercise calories are included and divided, therefore you eat the exact amount of calories every day but are still eating back exercise calories. (See, again no defecit created by exercise)

It is often advise to reverse diet to your maintenance calories, because increasing your food intake increases the amount of food weight in your body, glycocen stores and water retention. By reverse dieting this extra weight comes on more slowly and also goes away again because you are still eating at a (smaller) defecit. We basically advise this because people tend to freak out when they appear to have gained weight when they start eating at maintenance. It is just a natural fluctuation.
So don't focus on a set weight on the scale, focus on a weight range. Weight fluctuation is natural.

If you have been at maintenance calories for a while, and it seems like you are either gaining or losing weight, adjust the number of maintenance calories. Calculators can't be perfect. Also, maintenance calories are also a range, so don't worry too much if you are a bit under or over on a day. As long as you are not gaining or losing weight you are doing fine.

Hope this helps.

ExRelaySprinter

I probably did what most people don't do.......i went straight from a deficit to my TDEE.
So i basically got to my goal weight and went immediately from eating 1600 to 1900. (I just couldn't be asked to go up 100 cals at a time,...too impatient, plus i just wanted to eat bigger meals again ).
I even lost 0.5lbs for another 2 weeks after i did this.....so knew that my TDEE was slightly higher than 1900.

I use the TDEE method, as i find it easier - i.e do at least 5 days exercise a week, eat around 2000 cals a day (or 14,000 a week), shouldn't gain weight......Simple!
I think, also doing a decent amount of Cardio helped me to be confident in the fact that i wouldn't put on any weight. If i only relied on lifting, it might be another story.

Phrick

I am more or less in maintenance now - IF I lost another pound it would be fine but I don't care if that ever does happen and I'm not putting serious effort toward it. For me I find it easiest and most sustainable to eat a deficit still during the work week, and then allow myself a lot of latitude on the weekends. I don't understand the "why" of it, but the closer to my maintenance number I eat, the more ravenous and hangry I seem to be and the easier it is for me to "blow it." So by keeping the deficit number that is easy for me on week days, then when I shoot past the maintenance number on the weekend I'm not undoing anything. It might not work for everyone, but it has been effective for me and at least one other person on here (the person who suggested it to me, haha!).

Lonestar5775

I am maintaining a couple of years now and my exercise is mostly cardio. On any given day I eat back most of my exercise calories but am usually a few hundred short. That gives me some room to be over goal occasionally and not worry about it. Plus I don't have to be deadly accurate with the weight of everything I put in my mouth. It is less headache to keep track of and has kept me right around at goal for two years. Good luck!

Commander_Keen

Samm471 wrote: »

okay the losing weight part .. Easy.. Now the next part maintaining calories. So I have heard sooo many things from different people. Some say oh eat back the calories you exercise. Some say no don't. Some say they eat less on non workout days some say to eat more ( I think this is like a surplus to gain more muscle maybe) I don't know! What is everyone doing with their maintenance journey how are you all doing it? Some people say do a calculator and whatever it says just eat those calories. Some are saying up it slowly and check progress weight/pics etc and some say whatever mfp spits out when you put in as maintaining as your goal go with that .. I'm confused! It's putting me off a little!

Forget what you have learned.
go over to the Success stories.
Look for stories, of where people have lost 100lbs.
ask them what they did.

CarlydogsMom

You'll find as many people maintaining, they all have their own way to do it. There's no "one way" other than calories in = calories out. I personally have a "routine" that I follow 90% of the time that works for me, and I give myself the latitude to be a little more carefree in my challenging situations (travel, driving, social outings):

1. Created new, sustainable eating patterns that I have no temptation to deviate from. I focus on lean protein and veggies in any quantity, and I don't restrict anything else but do eat/drink in moderation for those things.
2. Weigh myself once per week, allowing myself a 3-4 pound range of variation. When I see that range trending up, I reign things back in a bit, track a little more closely, and get back down a pound or two.
3. Manage my challenging situations (listed above) as best I can, using some techniques I've found that work for me (snack bags to prevent buying junk on the road; eat lower-carb while traveling, etc).
4. Keep up my exercise routine; I lift weights and walk in the winter; mountain bike, play pickleball, lift weights, and walk/hike in the summer. Add new exercises as I please, and shake things up every once in awhile.

BigGuy47

If prefer using TDEE. To me it's far less complicated than calorie cycling and eating back calories. Keep it simple.

xLoveLikeWinterx

I have a Fitbit and use TDEE. I do more, I can eat more. It varies just like my lifestyle and saves me time figuring everything out.

sijomial

You must take significant exercise into account when you are maintaining.

I use the MFP "eat back exercise calories" method as my exercise burns vary daily from zero to thousands and weekly from a few thousand to many thousands. A lot of my exercise has to fuelled on the day (anything over two hours exercise for me).

If you have a regular exercise routine without big peaks and troughs TDEE method is more simple but to me the same daily goal is a chore and not a blessing. Your diet should fit into your lifestyle and not the other way round. Sustainability is where personal preference counts - don't be afraid to experiment as there isn't just one way to suit everyone.

Calculators are just an estimated start point - IMHO pointless to go back to calculators once you have been logging a while. Your own data is far more relevant and also self-adjusts for logging inaccuracies. Something calculators can't do.

I've maintained for quite a while now with different eating patterns, adjusted my weight for specific events, lost temporary weight gained on holiday and now maintaining without food logging.

It your bathroom scales trend upwards (or downwards) over time then adjust your intake in a way that suits you. Doesn't actually have to be complex or obsessive.

nxd10

I've been maintaining 3 years without much trouble. I use MFP to calculate my calories. I use a fitbit zip to measure my steps, set myself to sedentary (no negative calories) and eat back my exercise calories when I'm hungry. I always hit my weekly goal, I typically go over calories once or twice a week.

I log everything. I estimate my portion sizes unless it's something weird I have to measure or I want to check myself. I weigh myself every morning. I take a brisk walk almost every day (around 4 miles).

My activity levels vary a lot depending on the day, so matching calories to my activity and hunger works well for me. To me that is what's simple. Log. Look at the calories I have left. Eat what I feel like.

I am pretty sure I could maintain without logging, but I like logging. I frequently find logging tells me I should eat more. Sometimes it still tells me something innocuous has four time the calories I thought it did. It's educational. It keeps me honest. It gives me permission to eat when I'm hungry.

kdiamond

I also go by a weekly calorie total not daily.

I typically eat more on weight lifting days than non weight lifting days.

I weigh myself about once every 2 weeks or go by the fitting of my clothes. Occasionally I'll measure too. If my jeans feel tight, I buckle down for a week or so to get back on track.

Its not an exact science because there are so many factors in play, but you can come close.

11+ years in maintenance, +/- 5 pounds during those years. I believe I was successful by keeping active (5x a week in the gym plus other activities), and tracking calories approx 80% of the time.

CasperNaegle

I'd start with about 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, 1.5 grams of carbs, and 1 gram of fat per 4 pounds. This is assuming you work out several times a week and want to build some muscle and are not trying to lose fat.

[Edited by MFP mod]

dopeysmelly

I added back calories slowly and added in exercise (I basically did nothing more than shoveling snow and the odd walk while I was losing). I guessed my calories using calculators and from what I'd figured out myself, but really they were a starting point, nothing more. Mainly I slowly figured out a way of eating and exercising that suited my lifestyle, my goals (both fitness, weight maintenance and non-weight-related health) and my tastes.

I weigh myself every day, but I stopped logging food about 2 weeks ago.

Maintaining has been more of a mental game than losing for me, which was a math game. I've come to terms with the fact that when I have a business trip I'll put on 5 lbs and I've still needed to work on bingeing and snacking habits, but I've never lost sight of what I've achieved so far, so make sure you enjoy what you've done.

cwolfman13

Samm471 wrote: »

okay the losing weight part .. Easy.. Now the next part maintaining calories. So I have heard sooo many things from different people. Some say oh eat back the calories you exercise. Some say no don't. Some say they eat less on non workout days some say to eat more ( I think this is like a surplus to gain more muscle maybe) I don't know! What is everyone doing with their maintenance journey how are you all doing it? Some people say do a calculator and whatever it says just eat those calories. Some are saying up it slowly and check progress weight/pics etc and some say whatever mfp spits out when you put in as maintaining as your goal go with that .. I'm confused! It's putting me off a little!

what you have to understand is that there are basically two methods used for calorie counting...i don't know why people don't get this...do people not research how to use a tool before they use it?

anyway, two methods...NEAT (Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis...this is MFP) or TDEE. With the NEAT method, your activity level is only supposed to include your day to day hum drum...it does NOT include any exercise...you have to account for exercise somewhere...this is where you log it and get calories to "eat back".

Conversely, the TDEE method assumes exercise in your activity level...thus you will get a higher calorie target than with the NEAT method....because your targets already include an estimate of the calories required to fuel that particular activity...if you ate back calories here, you'd be double dipping.

you have to know where you are account for exercise activity...that is all.

it's also important to note that fit and healthy people don't diet and exercise...we eat and train. learning to fuel your fitness is important to fitness gains and recovery as well as your overall health and well being.

I've maintained my weight loss for over two years...I don't log...I just eat well. Given my past logging history I can tell you that I eat somewhere in the neighborhood of 2800 calories...but really, it's a range..some days I might eat 2600 and others I might eat 3000...TDEE isn't some exact number...people get all hung up on that.

I eat very healthfully while still fitting in "treats" here and there...pizza night with my boys every few weeks...a cookie here and there, etc...but by and large, my diet is comprised of lots of healthy, whole food nutrition and/or minimally processed food items.

I also exercise regularly just as I did while losing weight...the only difference between losing and maintaining is a handful of calories.

I weigh myself regularly to monitor the trends...it is important to note that your maintenance weight isn't a static figure...your maintenance will be a range on the scale, so it's important to look at overall trends and averages rather than individual weigh in numbers.

Sparkle7

My approach is simple!

Exercise: 5x/wk 45 min cardio, 30 min weights 5 day split.

Food: TRACK EVERYTHING!!! Eyeballing means more calories eaten. Increase cal to 1800 a day w/ a cheat meal once a week. I eat a plant based, mostly Paleo diet.

Water: A gallon every day.

Other: Weigh 3x/wk. I sold my big clothes and bought beautiful clothes with NO wiggle room. I also have a fun bet with a friend that we would pay each other $50 if we aren't w/i 5 lbs of goal at the 1st of each month. And I drop 5lbs before vacations so I have some room to be lazy and not feel bad.

mattyc772014

It is your choice. Listen to what everyone is saying here. Most are different but the end result is to adjust when needed and try to get the calories you set for the whole week in. Adjust to how you feel/results. It is your body...not anyone else. Best tool is a food scale.

DeterminedFee201426

ExRelaySprinter wrote: »

I probably did what most people don't do.......i went straight from a deficit to my TDEE.
So i basically got to my goal weight and went immediately from eating 1600 to 1900. (I just couldn't be asked to go up 100 cals at a time,...too impatient, plus i just wanted to eat bigger meals again ).
I even lost 0.5lbs for another 2 weeks after i did this.....so knew that my TDEE was slightly higher than 1900.

I use the TDEE method, as i find it easier - i.e do at least 5 days exercise a week, eat around 2000 cals a day (or 14,000 a week), shouldn't gain weight......Simple!
I think, also doing a decent amount of Cardio helped me to be confident in the fact that i wouldn't put on any weight. If i only relied on lifting, it might be another story.

Same here after .. reaching my goal weight
I went from eating 1380 calories slightly above my bmr to maintenance which is 1790 normally and after 2 weeks I losted 2lbs.. with eating exercise calories back (Exercise 5 days perweek 32 minutes in each of them days)
I used a calculator to determine my maintenance which was 1861 but i went with mfp recomendation of 1790 to be on the safe side..lol i was just too impatient as well to with that upping calories by 50-100 everyweek so slow :0... I eat my normal calories of 1790 on a non workout day.. on workout days I eat 1900 most
days and sometimes 2100. A decent amount of Cardio helped me as well , cardio burns a great amount of calories:) .. I tend to only do that for 80-100 minutes perweek the other is body weight exercises with free weights.