New to maintaining. How do I add calories

KimberlyVermillion

Well after 5 months I lost
52.2 pounds and am now about a pound under my goal weight. I switched to maintaining and now am supposed to go from 1200 to 1660. No clue how to do this. Yesterday I consumed 1100 and I excercised. Advice anyone?

vivmom2014

If *only* I were ever in the position to figure out how to eat MORE!!

Congratulations on your loss! Now you can simply eat more. Increase fats when cooking; eat a late afternoon snack; have dessert; try a protein shake, eat more fruit... the possibilities are truly endless.

nikkit321

The advice I hear most often is to increase calories gradually, don't just jump from 1200 to 1660. If you do that, your glycogen stores (the "water weight" you lost so easily in the beginning) will replenish and your scale will jump. It will eventually level off again, but it takes time. If you increase calories gradually, just as 1300 for a couple weeks, then 1400 for a few weeks, and build up to 1660, your scale shouldn't move much. Adding 100 calories at a time is very easy both mentally and practically.

In addition, remember that maintenance is a range, not a specific number. You can go under your goal weight or above your goal weight by a few pounds either way and still "maintain". This allows for water retention and other factors without making you think that you gained weight.

Hang out in the Maintenance forum and you'll figure it out. Congratulations on your loss!

bkastens

Have a candy bar, a dessert. Protein bars, etc. Shouldn't be too hard to find a way to sneak in an extra snack or two

freesiasun5

Ben. And his friend Jerry.

Jokes aside (although I'm only half joking), nikkit321's advice is great. Add the calories gradually, pick a range, not a specific number.

I added calories back in gradually and now when I have a 2000 calorie day my scale stays stable instead of jumping 3 pounds.

KimberlyVermillion

Thanks everyone. I think my mind and body got used to the 1200 for so long. I will do the gradually add advice!

Commander_Keen

Add 100 calories perday, so your body can adjust, and for you to get comfortable with it.

BurnWithBarn2015

This is how i am doing it atm

i swapped all my skinny products back to normal...so skim milk is full again. Low Fat yogurt is full again etc etc
Than some snacking or instead of half an avocado i take a whole
28 almonds is now 35
etc etc

i am upping by 100 calories daily every couple weeks. Still losing btw. But my average is 1650 atm and holding for another 3 weeks. When still losing again i up another 50 or 100. Just as long as it stops

So for more calories more dense food if you dont want more volume.
And upping slowly to see where your weight finally "sticks"

And congratulations on your weight loss accomplishment.

mamadon

Everybody is right. When I first switched to maintnance (its been about a year and a half) I very slowly upped my calories until I knew what my daily calories would be,

KimberlyVermillion

Great advice. I guess my biggest fear is gaining weight. But I know I don't want to lose anymore.

jelenacrnic

Kimberly, absolutely same problem here. I want to take more calories i don't want to lose more weight but i'm also afraid of gaining.

BurnWithBarn2015

KimberlyVermillion wrote: »

Great advice. I guess my biggest fear is gaining weight. But I know I don't want to lose anymore.

Dont be afraid of that...you didn't gain all your excess weight overnight.
When you gain some weight like a pound and the next week again...cut back till they are gone and you know you are around maintaining level somewhere there

Don't flip out dont be afraid you know how to lose weight because you did it. Remember it also can be a fluctuation so take your time. Now finding that level to hold can take some time but you wont gain 50 bammm in 2 weeks.


So steady as it goes, up it slowly and enjoy the ride

jelenacrnic

BurnWithBarn2015 wrote: »

KimberlyVermillion wrote: »

Great advice. I guess my biggest fear is gaining weight. But I know I don't want to lose anymore.

Dont be afraid of that...you didn't gain all your excess weight overnight.
When you gain some weight like a pound and the next week again...cut back till they are gone and you know you are around maintaining level somewhere there

Don't flip out dont be afraid you know how to lose weight because you did it. Remember it also can be a fluctuation so take your time. Now finding that level to hold can take some time but you wont gain 50 bammm in 2 weeks.


So steady as it goes, up it slowly and enjoy the ride

This is great advice

KimberlyVermillion

Thanks for the advice!

kettlebells_and_cupcakes

Loved reading this thread guys so thank you! I'm eager to start my calorie increase and aim for maintenance now but I am genuinely a bit fearful (mad I know!) This has made me feel a little better

nxd10

One mistake a lot of folks make (I did) was to add in a lot of easily processed carbs - sugar, bread, etc - that you may have dropped out. I did. But you're better off adding more protein and fat. The easily processed carbs will make you hungry. So mix them in with protein and fats.

And congratulations!

KimberlyVermillion

Awesome thank you! So far all is well. My weight has been staying in the alloted 2 pound range I expected. I love getting the advice from everyone.