Do you think this is a decent idea? Or just plain unnecessary.

115Everest

I have a 5 pound range that is my true goal to land in and maintain, which is not horribly far off. But I set my MFP goal weight for three pounds less than the low end of that range so that when I start on maintenance if I put on a few pounds of water weight, it sends me into my REAL goal range rather than right back out of it.

Is it worth it to lose a few extra pounds? Or is water weight gain really not a problem once maintenance starts. Figured I'd ask the experts who have either faced that already or discovered that there is no such thing to face.

brenn24179

I am up 10 pounds after 2 1/2 years maintenance so I would say yes. It is hard for me to maintain, I want to eat too much all the time.

loulamb7

Many people reverse diet up to maintenance calorie level, once they hit goal weight. By slowly increasing your calories up, you will either experience a little extra weight loss or avoid the glycogen replenishment bump.

zoeysasha37

I really didn't see much . I have a -5\ +5 range and haven't had any real issues in the past 2yrs.

ahoy_m8

I would say no. Like loulamb said, reverse dieting is where you gradually add calories from your deficit level to maintenance level. Lots of people continue losing a few pounds until they find their **true** maintenance.

5stringjeff

I set my MFP goal to the bottom of my weight range (180, with a goal range of 180-185). When I hit 180, I began to "reverse diet" by adding 100 daily calories per week until I hit maintenance calories. That worked.

Pinnacle_IAO

115Everest wrote: »

I have a 5 pound range that is my true goal to land in and maintain, which is not horribly far off. But I set my MFP goal weight for three pounds less than the low end of that range so that when I start on maintenance if I put on a few pounds of water weight, it sends me into my REAL goal range rather than right back out of it.

Is it worth it to lose a few extra pounds? Or is water weight gain really not a problem once maintenance starts. Figured I'd ask the experts who have either faced that already or discovered that there is no such thing to face.

My original goal weight was 199 for 80 total pounds lost.
Once I reached this, I wanted to be better, so 199 became 185...and once I reached 185 I cut an additional 5 pounds.
This might just be where I stay for a while, and 180 is 180. I have no range.
Every Friday I want to weigh in at 180, or I skip my cheat day.

griffinca2

Agree w/loulabm & ahoy_m8. You may also have to re-adjust your macros.

michellemybelll

Pinnacle_Fitness wrote: »

115Everest wrote: »

I have a 5 pound range that is my true goal to land in and maintain, which is not horribly far off. But I set my MFP goal weight for three pounds less than the low end of that range so that when I start on maintenance if I put on a few pounds of water weight, it sends me into my REAL goal range rather than right back out of it.

Is it worth it to lose a few extra pounds? Or is water weight gain really not a problem once maintenance starts. Figured I'd ask the experts who have either faced that already or discovered that there is no such thing to face.

My original goal weight was 199 for 80 total pounds lost.
Once I reached this, I wanted to be better, so 199 became 185...and once I reached 185 I cut an additional 5 pounds.
This might just be where I stay for a while, and 180 is 180. I have no range.
Every Friday I want to weigh in at 180, or I skip my cheat day.

that is setting yourself up for frustration and disappointment. I don't think that's a healthy way to view maintenance at all.

Katla49

I've been maintaining a while. I dropped my weight a few pounds below my actual goal and bounce up and down just below my goal weight. I still log every bite and swallow, and my exercise. I regularly eat back most of my exercise calories, but not all of them. It is working for me. You'll need to experiment to see what works best for you. I recommend logging forever. :flowerforyou:

macgurlnet

michellemybelll wrote: »

Pinnacle_Fitness wrote: »

115Everest wrote: »

I have a 5 pound range that is my true goal to land in and maintain, which is not horribly far off. But I set my MFP goal weight for three pounds less than the low end of that range so that when I start on maintenance if I put on a few pounds of water weight, it sends me into my REAL goal range rather than right back out of it.

Is it worth it to lose a few extra pounds? Or is water weight gain really not a problem once maintenance starts. Figured I'd ask the experts who have either faced that already or discovered that there is no such thing to face.

My original goal weight was 199 for 80 total pounds lost.
Once I reached this, I wanted to be better, so 199 became 185...and once I reached 185 I cut an additional 5 pounds.
This might just be where I stay for a while, and 180 is 180. I have no range.
Every Friday I want to weigh in at 180, or I skip my cheat day.

that is setting yourself up for frustration and disappointment. I don't think that's a healthy way to view maintenance at all.

I agree with @michellemybelll on this.

I'm currently maintaining my weight. I was 118.5 on Thursday. Didn't have the chance to hop on the scale Friday or Saturday but today I'm 120 pounds.

I've still been logging as accurately as possible, and there's no way I overate by 5000+ calories, but I did eat out more than usual, which in turn means I've taken in way more sodium than usual and I'm retaining water.

I am not going to start eating at a deficit again in an attempt to lose weight because I really haven't gained anything. I weigh daily and this water weight should drop back off within 1-3 days.

120 is currently the upper limit of my range, though I know I may go a touch above that thanks to water weight. It's only an issue if I stay high every single day for 2 weeks or more.

Save yourself the headache and pick a weight range you're comfortable with. Your weight will never be a static number.

~Lyssa

arditarose

Eh. If you want and feel like you can. Personally I gave up BEFORE I got to my next goal because I was fed up and hungry and wanted to lift heavier. I added 100 calories a week VERY carefully. Nothing went unlogged. I didn't really gain any weight. In fact I dropped the last pound or so from my deficit that wasn't coming off.

WinoGelato

My original goal was 125, which was about 25 lbs lost from when I started MFP. I went right past that to 123, and then thought maybe I should aim for 120 as my new goal weight, so I didn't increase my calorie goal (I'm only at about a 200 cal deficit) It's been about 4 months and the lowest I've gotten is 121 and it seems like I fluctuate between 121-124 most of the time. I think I'm going to enter 123 as my new weight and consider that as the midpoint of my maintenance range. Since I'm essentially maintaining around that now, I probably won't increase my cals much, I'd rather have a bit of a buffer and not stress if I go over for the week.

Just my personal thoughts, I do think expecting to see fluctuations is important with maintenance.

Pinnacle_IAO

michellemybelll wrote: »

Pinnacle_Fitness wrote: »

115Everest wrote: »

I have a 5 pound range that is my true goal to land in and maintain, which is not horribly far off. But I set my MFP goal weight for three pounds less than the low end of that range so that when I start on maintenance if I put on a few pounds of water weight, it sends me into my REAL goal range rather than right back out of it.

Is it worth it to lose a few extra pounds? Or is water weight gain really not a problem once maintenance starts. Figured I'd ask the experts who have either faced that already or discovered that there is no such thing to face.

My original goal weight was 199 for 80 total pounds lost.
Once I reached this, I wanted to be better, so 199 became 185...and once I reached 185 I cut an additional 5 pounds.
This might just be where I stay for a while, and 180 is 180. I have no range.
Every Friday I want to weigh in at 180, or I skip my cheat day.

that is setting yourself up for frustration and disappointment. I don't think that's a healthy way to view maintenance at all.

I have maintained for 3 years with little issue.
It worked fine.

Here is my reservation: if I give myself any "range", guess what?
I will probably weigh in at the highest weight in that range. That's my character flaw in full play.

Guys like me will take that mile if you give me the inch.

DoreenaV1975

I am doing this!
My goal weight was 110 but now I am at 109 and I am trying to get to 106 (trying but not stressing) so that my range will be 106 -110. If I start inching up to 110 then I know to get my butt back into gear (figuratively and literally)! I don't eat a lot on the weekdays so I can enjoy more eating on the weekends, the more social days, so as far as I am concerned the weight range allows me some wiggle room w/ out being a fanatic! Good luck to you!

DoreenaV1975

Pinnacle_IAO wrote: »

michellemybelll wrote: »

Pinnacle_Fitness wrote: »

115Everest wrote: »

I have a 5 pound range that is my true goal to land in and maintain, which is not horribly far off. But I set my MFP goal weight for three pounds less than the low end of that range so that when I start on maintenance if I put on a few pounds of water weight, it sends me into my REAL goal range rather than right back out of it.

Is it worth it to lose a few extra pounds? Or is water weight gain really not a problem once maintenance starts. Figured I'd ask the experts who have either faced that already or discovered that there is no such thing to face.

My original goal weight was 199 for 80 total pounds lost.
Once I reached this, I wanted to be better, so 199 became 185...and once I reached 185 I cut an additional 5 pounds.
This might just be where I stay for a while, and 180 is 180. I have no range.
Every Friday I want to weigh in at 180, or I skip my cheat day.

that is setting yourself up for frustration and disappointment. I don't think that's a healthy way to view maintenance at all.

I have maintained for 3 years with little issue.
It worked fine.

Here is my reservation: if I give myself any "range", guess what?
I will probably weigh in at the highest weight in that range. That's my character flaw in full play.

Guys like me will take that mile if you give me the inch.

I'm the opposite! I will want to stay at the lower end!!!! The wiggle room allows me to stay sane though if I move up from that. But believe you me...if I start moving up, I will hit the brakes, fast!!!

115Everest

This is extremely freakin' helpful everyone. Thank you!!

paperpudding

I have given myself a 1.5 kg range either side of my goal weight.
Ie my goal is 62 and I'm ok with being anywhere between 60.5 and 63.5.
Have not varied beyond this range in nearly 2 years.