How to pick maintence range

Owlfan88

How do you know what's a good size range to try to maintain in? I know that weight can fluctuate based on various things (salt, TOM, eating out) and I want to set a target range broad enough to not freak out over a temporary weight gain, but not so large to make it a pain to cut back down. I have just gotten into my maintence weight. Should I just keep an eye on the trend in happy scale and make sure the trend and projections aren't going up?

bioklutz

It seems pretty typical for people to have somewhere between a 5 or 10 pound range. It really would depend on your own body though. Do you gain more than 5 pounds of water if you have a high sodium day? Or around your TOM?

You could weigh every day for a month (same time of day without clothes on) to see what seems typical for you.

nxd10

I weigh every day, so I know what my normal weight bounces around. Typical weight fluctuations for me are all within a 3 pound range. A big bounce would be 5 pounds - I only get that when I travel. So my 'range' is 150-155. I expect to stay within 150-153. If I hit 154 I start to watch a little more carefully. If I hit 155 I double check my logging and salt. I have only gotten higher than that range when I've been out of the country a few weeks. I have been lower, but it was summer and I wasn't eating as much as I usually do. So basically - 3 pounds unless I have a good reason otherwise.

But I also weigh the same time every day. I would vary a lot more if I didn't hit the scale every morning after I pee.

Owlfan88

I don't really know how much I gain from various things, because mostly I've been losing at a relatively steady clip, so the gains and losses somewhat cancel out. I guess I'll just set a soft range of +/- 3 pounds for now and then watch for a few weeks at least so I can see how much I really do fluctuate.

nxd10

Well, when I was losing, I also bounced a little. If you're hitting your goals and weighing every day, you will see what's a steady weight. If it is trending upwards and never bounces down, you know you need to adjust.

Patttience

You can google your healthy weight range. Its based on your height. Generally i'd suggest aiming for the middle. I have given up on the lower end and hover around the middle at best and to the upper at worst before i get a grip and get back to the middle again. I can do the lower end but only with a lot of regular exercise.

MissJay75

In addition to my 'range', I include a number of days before I start to consider it a real weight gain/loss. I have to weigh that 'new' weight for a minimum of 3 days in a row before I start to believe it. If it's my TOM I don't even give my weight a second thought. I can gain up to 8 pounds overnight! I know it's just water and will go back down in a week or so.

But I don't have any surprises either. I know my maintenance calories, and I keep track of if I am over or under. If over a period of time, I am over by more than a couple thousand calories, I'll eat at a deficit again until I am back to net zero. Even if the scale doesn't say I've gained.

dmt4641

I decided to have a smaller range (3-4 lbs) because my weight doesn't usually fluctuate much more than a pound. And I would have to see the higher weight consistently, not just a big jump one day. My last few pounds came off so slowly so if let it go too long and gain 5-10 lbs it would take a few months to lose again.

LivingtheLeanDream

I have a range of +/-5lbs, I would have to be at the highest end of my range for a few weeks before I would adjust calories as theres all sorts of factors to influence it e.g this week I'm showing at the highest end, TOM was last week and for some reason that affects my scale reading for around 10 days plus new strength workouts/extra runs...but I know its still only temporary but its why I'll give things a few weeks before I adjust - I enjoy eating my maintenance calories far too much!

kristen6350

I do things a bit differently and it works for me. I picked a # that I won't go over. I weigh 1x week and if that number appears on the scale, I tighten up for a week or 2 and I'm back to "happy land". I know very well I won't hang out on the low end of what I feel is good, it's going to be close to that high number all the time and that's fine. I've been doing this since 2012 and it works. But as soon as I start not weighing 1x week and being more lax in my food/activities is when I lose control.

cwolfman13

I wouldn't bother picking a range...just track your trend and your average weight...if your average weight is going up, even within your arbitrarily selected range...well, you are gaining weight then.

i naturally fluctate 3ish Lbs up or down from my average weight...i didn't select that range...it just occurs naturally. my average weight over the last 3 months has been 181...which means to me that I'm maintaining at 181...even though I've had days that were higher or lower...but again, I didn't select that range.

in terms of when I would actually care about my weight gain...if my average jumped more than 2 Lbs I would cut. I'm fairly lean and 2-3 Lbs of actual fat gain would be pretty noticeable.

maxit

I started maintenance at ~146 and picked 150 as the weight at which I would take "measures" if I hit (even once). That seems to be fine - my normal fluctuation was 146-149. I hit 150 once and started a slight deficit that is getting me back to 146. But I picked the upper third of "normal" for my height originally (I was just tired of the losing process) and I think I am going to maintain that slight deficit and see if I can drop 4-5 more pounds this year. I am losing about a pound every three weeks without too much pain

stormyview

cwolfman13 wrote: »

I wouldn't bother picking a range...just track your trend and your average weight...if your average weight is going up, even within your arbitrarily selected range...well, you are gaining weight then.

i naturally fluctate 3ish Lbs up or down from my average weight...i didn't select that range...it just occurs naturally. my average weight over the last 3 months has been 181...which means to me that I'm maintaining at 181...even though I've had days that were higher or lower...but again, I didn't select that range.

in terms of when I would actually care about my weight gain...if my average jumped more than 2 Lbs I would cut. I'm fairly lean and 2-3 Lbs of actual fat gain would be pretty noticeable.

I monitor more like this. There are programs and apps you can get to track your weight, but I do it more old fashioned without those. I tend to be between 114-116. Occasionally I'll see 117. Most often I see 115. If I stop seeing 114 occasionally, or if 115 stopped being the most common number, I'd adjust my intake and log for a week or two until I got back to where I want to be.

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macgurlnet

5 lbs is good for me and I've got a hard upper limit that I won't let myself go over. If I go over and I can see that my sodium intake has been much higher than usual, I'll continue eating at maintenance and get that sodium intake back down for at least a week to see if the weight stays. I went above that limit for 2 weeks straight, but my sodium intake was also high due to eating out more. Once I had the sodium lower again, the weight came back off and I'm smack dab in the middle of that range

~Lyssa

barbecuesauce

I just don't weigh when I'm expecting my period, and I try to remember that I've had a lot of sodium when I'm on the scale.

I think I'm going to pick the spot where i stopped losing as my high point and try to stay below it, but I'm new to maintaining. I've lost since I entered maintenance and as I understand it, I may lose more as I haven't found maintenance calories yet.