Does anyone have guidelines for maintenance?

NewSue52
NewSue52 Posts: 180 Member
edited November 25 in Social Groups
Not that I'm ready for maintenance yet but I haven't seen it mentioned. I know I'm on this road for the rest of my life. I'm just not sure how to approach not having more weight to lose

Replies

  • wabmester
    wabmester Posts: 2,748 Member
    One of the nice things about low-carb is that you can design it so that you never have to change anything. That's essentially what I did. I reduced carbs and let my body find my "maintenance" weight. It surprised me a bit and I kept losing about 10lbs more than my goal.

    Phinney and Volek have a nice slide that suggests a similar approach.

    image008.png

    I.e., always keep carbs at 10% or lower, hold protein constant, and increase dietary fat as you burn through your body fat.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    My tip is: when you are close to goal weight, stop letting that number on the scale mean everything to you. Allow yourself to have a "goal range" instead of an exact number. Because it could drive you insane worrying when normal fluctuations happen, especially for women I think. You will have a little bit more wiggle room for treats that you don't have now, but don't go overboard. Consistency over time allows you to lose weight and the same thing goes for maintenance. It should just be a natural progression because as you get closer to goal weight, your weight loss does tend to slow down.
  • wabmester
    wabmester Posts: 2,748 Member
    edited October 2015
    deksgrl wrote: »
    It should just be a natural progression because as you get closer to goal weight, your weight loss does tend to slow down.

    This! It's so predictable that Paul Jaminet came up with a formula:

    07-weight-loss-formula-2.jpg

    And he compared it to some actual cases, like this one:

    04-Isaac-Knoflicek-Weight-Loss-History-after-starting-PHD.jpg

    So just let your body do its thing. There's really no need to change anything assuming you're not intentionally restricting calories.
  • totaloblivia
    totaloblivia Posts: 1,164 Member
    Awesome graphics and graphs @wabmester. Thanks for your input everyone!
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