When to switch to maintenence?

pineygirl

So I've lost about 20lbs in about 3.5 months.
Just CICO....and had about a 500 to 700 daily deficit. I'm 5'1 and I went from 130lbs to 110lbs...

Yes, my deficit was pretty big and I lost the weight faster than recommend...but I ate plenty of protein and did heavy lifting 3 times a week to minimize muscle loss. Also I didn't eat 1200 calories per day...more like 1400 to 1800. I was just eating back only 75% of my fitbit "exercise calories"

I'm thinking I should just stop. Or switch to a lower deficit before going to maintenence.

I'm going to be trying to concieve soon and I don't want my body fat to be too low....right now I think it's around 20 to 22%.

So I'm probably done...right?

yarwell

Flip to a smaller deficit, lose a couple more pounds then increase your intake to maintenance.

007Aggie

A good strategy is to slowly work up to maintainence calories by adding 100 or so at a time for a week at a time. You'll lose a bit more weight while transitioning gradually.

middlehaitch

I am your height and a little bit lighter in weight.
If I you i would switch to goal maintenance calories now and let those dictate your loss.
It will be slow, but will give you a nice segue into maintenance.
Change your calories by 50-100 a day per week if your maintenance is a lot higher than what you are eating now. It is an easier adjustment that way.

Cheers, h.

pineygirl

Thanks....

I'm going to try to eat all my fitbit exercise calories back to get my deficit back to around 500 for a week. Then I'll switch to 250 for maybe a week or two...and finally maintenance. Once I see my weight go up by 2 to 3 lbs I'll know I'm at maintenence because I put my water weight from storing glycogen back. Then I'll keep eating maybe 50 to 100 below maintenence to see if it levels off or drops.

My current TDEE varies between 2000 on lazy days and 2500 on more active days. It's most often around 2250.

If I cut back on exercise it might be around 1800 or so on lazy days.

I'll try to see how fitbit works with maintenance and adjust accordingly.

middlehaitch

Your plan sounds good. You know how tour calories are working and the effects of water so I think your transition will go well.
Cheers, h.

cwolfman13

I think only you can decide that