What happens at the end?

Marcus_2015

Hello All,

So things are going great for me, and I expect to reach goal in another few months. I have been losing weight at a safe clip, hitting the gym, eating clean, etc. I am REALLY in a happy groove.

How do I stop? If I keep going on this way, I will keep losing weight...

My diet is clean but relatively low calorie. I am not hungry at the end of the day, and I don't desire bad foods.

So how should I adjust up to maintain my weight when the time comes? I have thought maybe I can just re-introduce the foods I don't really eat anymore (fried chicken, more red meat, chicken wings, alcohol, etc) in reasonable quantities...?

R

hufflepuff03

If you don't want to eat it, then don't! Of course, part of a healthy life is to enjoy what you want in moderation. But if you really have no desire for unhealthy food, I would suggest just upping your calorie intake with healthy food. But if you're not hungry you may just lose weight until your body finds its happy place. I would check with your doctor if you're worried about weighing too little, though. He or she would have better advice than I could give you.

Also congratulations on almost hitting your goal! That's a huge accomplishment!

tincanonastring

You'll need to figure out your maintenance calories. You also might want to look at doing body recomposition where you maintain your weight but focus on macro management and exercise.

strong_curves

In order to stop losing weight you would have to start adjusting your calories up but slowly at first.

You really should check out the maintenance forums:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/categories/goal-maintaining-weight

Debmal77

strong_curves wrote: »

In order to stop losing weight you would have to start adjusting your calories up but slowly at first.

You really should check out the maintenance forums:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/categories/goal-maintaining-weight

Great advice.

erimethia_fekre

Rhyalus wrote: »

Hello All,

So things are going great for me, and I expect to reach goal in another few months. I have been losing weight at a safe clip, hitting the gym, eating clean, etc. I am REALLY in a happy groove.

How do I stop? If I keep going on this way, I will keep losing weight...

My diet is clean but relatively low calorie. I am not hungry at the end of the day, and I don't desire bad foods.

So how should I adjust up to maintain my weight when the time comes? I have thought maybe I can just re-introduce the foods I don't really eat anymore (fried chicken, more red meat, chicken wings, alcohol, etc) in reasonable quantities...?

R

You just eat more of the healthy foods you've become accustomed to. There's really not much to it.

On a side note: with your title I was going to say "..you die." That's pretty much the end for all of us. Too morbid for most to think about.

PaulaWallaDingDong

There's always room for ice cream. That is all.

tincanonastring

PaulaWallaDingDong wrote: »

There's always room for ice cream. That is all.

QFT!

_Terrapin_

Ferris Bueller walks out of the bathroom with towel on his head and looks in the camera and says "You're still here? Go home"

Marcus_2015

Thanks so much to everyone for the practical AND philosophical advice.

I think the part that I am worried about is that after what will be a year of low calorie eating, it is going to be hard for me to scoff down five more ounces of this, or one more serving of that.

Honestly, I am not hungry after my 300-400 calorie meals. This is the part I am worried about.

@hufflepuff03 - thanks for the congrats - I will post before and after pics when I have the time. It is really just my first goal that I am getting to, but it will be an important one as I decide what to do next. After losing the 38 lbs, I think my next goal will be another 20, but my friends and family will worry... for some reason no one wants me to look like an underwear model... they like me fat. :-(

@strong_curves - I missed that forum - thanks for copying the link here!

@tincanonastring - my whole effort has been recomp - I have been building a lot of muscle in the gym, though kept the weights light so as to focus on calorie burning. Also, I have been trying to keep the protein as high as possible with carbs as low as possible while still allowing me a lot of energy for exercise. But you are right, I can still work on the muscle thing - it is just that at 48, there is a limit to how much I can do.

@HappyCampr1 - my calorie counting and estimation of BMR/TDEE are not accurate for those kind of calculations. I do between 1100 and 1500 depending on several factors. My job is sedentary but I do ~800 cals of exercise every other day. I will just have to edge up my diet slowly...

@UltimateRBF - The whole purpose for this diet was to live forever... you have to be kidding me! :-)

@PaulaWallaDingDong - Ice Cream is not my thing. I have always been more of a food guy than a dessert guy BUT, Carrot Cake, anything with butter cream, and peanut butter cups do it for me. :-)

R

rainbow198

Congratulations OP!

For me there is no end. I still continue to do things I did when I lost 80 lbs. like watching what I eat, fitting in treats (like my weekly pizza, ice cream etc.) exercising daily and making new fitness goals.

The only difference is that I transitioned to eating more and I have been maintaining easily for almost 2 and a half years living a sedentary life with a sucky NEAT.

Although I never ate low-calorie, my advice would be to up your calories very slowly and monitor your body. Still losing? Eat a little more. Gained a bit? Maybe you ate too much and/or too much sodium-rich foods.

Good luck to you and congrats again!

callsitlikeiseeit

my plan? once i reach my goal weight I plan to work on recomp and progressively heavier weights and strength training.

VintageFeline

Wait, you're male eating 1100-1550 per day?! Is that net or gross? If gross that's incredibly worrying and I'd say you're not losing at a safe pace at all.

As for increasing calories, it's not hard. Add oily dressing, butter to your veg, marinades to your meat, calorie dense foods like pasta and rice. Not hard at all.

Marcus_2015

@rainbow198 - Thanks for the kind words... I think that is good advice.

@callsitlikeiseeit - I think that is a good idea too - my workouts now are aimed at using the most calories, so maybe building more mass will work. Before I start that I will do a bodyfat % test since the scale won't tell all anymore.

@VintageFeline - Yes - but I am 48 years old and sedentary other than the gym. I have known for a long time that my metabolism has been "slowing down" but never realized how much. I have no symptoms at all of starvation mode; I am losing < 2lbs week, sleep is good, I am not hungry, no headaches, energy is high and strength is good. I would adjust calories if I had any negative effects at all. I am 16 weeks in so if I was doing the wrong thing I would know it by now. Don't worry about me! :-)

R

dhimaan

What happens at the end?

We die and await our fate in front of God at the day of judgement.

Marcus_2015

@dhimaan - I hope to look good for God when the time comes. Perhaps it will get me a few extra points?

Liftng4Lis

What the heck is a bad food? Why are you eating so little? At the end of what?

BurnWithBarn2015

i looked at your dairy and it is pretty simple...change all your "low fat/sugar free" items back to normal full versions
Like your milk cotage cheese dressings etc..and bamm you have a couple hundred right there

Use some more butter/oils good for 200 calories.... a spoon of peanut butter

And last but not least
Eat a "bad" slice of pizza...just because it is good for you.

You ate more before ( otherwise you didn't have to lose weight) So transitioning back must not be that hard...only keep counting so you dont gain weight.

Simple

Marcus_2015

@BurnWithBarn2015 - Thanks for the input... I think you are right in general, but the transition back may be hard psychologically. That being said, I think to bump up 400 or so calories per day will be easy - more than that I will have to see how it goes.

R

bwogilvie

In my experience, after a 7-month transition to maintenance and now 10 months at maintenance, it's easy to get used to eating more if you do it gradually. 100 more calories a day quickly becomes normal.

The thing to beware of is that if you cut out a lot of calorie-dense foods, reintroducing them to your diet can quickly lead to a calorie surplus. I didn't cut out anything in my diet except breakfast cereal, and that was because I found one slice of buttered toast, at 150 calories, keeps me satisfied until lunch, whereas 300 calories of cereal with milk left me hungry by 10 am. Otherwise I kept eating and drinking what I normally do, just less of it. My diet already did have a lot of plants in it, though.