Small Women in Maintenance!

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Tofuli
Tofuli Posts: 79 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Hi! I reached my goal weight some time ago, after losing around 35 pounds. However I am struggling with maintenance, more mentally than physically, I just can't adjust to the idea of eating more because it feels like I am giving in and will gain weight. I am very short (only 4ft 11) and I am just wondering what the average amount of food someone around this height would eat to maintain. I want to stay at the lower end of 'normal' because I am very petite, as in my frame size is very small and my height makes me look bigger naturally!

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  • veggiecanner
    veggiecanner Posts: 137 Member
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    there are calculators online that you can use to get an estimate. I tryed to start maintanace. I couldn't do it. I Got stomach aches from eating the extra food. It was easier to go back on my diet. I'll try again later. Still can loose 10-15 pounds safely. Not sure what hapens when I cann't.
  • hekla90
    hekla90 Posts: 595 Member
    edited March 2016
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    Try reverse dieting. Slowly up your calories by a bit for a week or so, weigh in see where you are at, rinse and repeat until you find where you are maintaining at. I personally liked eating a smaller deficit so that I could go out and enjoy a meal at a restaurant or go for drinks every couple weeks and not have to worry about counting! Works for me anyways.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
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    Congrats on your weight loss :smile: Come and join us in the Petites in Maintenance group, we're a friendly bunch and there's lots of help and good feedback to be had :smile:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/109137-petites-in-maintenance
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
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    ps a lot of people struggle in maintenance because the focus is no longer on the scale, thats why we usually make other goals to keep us motivated, ie more fitness orientated.

    It's a good idea to have a goal range of say +/-5 lbs, anything above or below that then you know you have to adjust calories again.

    Also its a good idea to weigh in regularly so you can keep an eye on things.

    All the best.

    Ruth :smile:
  • amyk0202
    amyk0202 Posts: 667 Member
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    I agree on the reverse dieting. When I calculate my #'s, I usually use these calculators:

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
    http://www.iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

    Your maintenance # is your TDEE. These are really just estimates. After my last loss, I maintained for 2 years eating 1430 calories a day--I'm 44 & 5' 2.5". The IIFYM calculator gives me 1478 & Scooby gives me 1555. I am sedentary, so your # may be higher if you are more active. You just have to start adjusting your calories & see where you end up. There are women here that are my height or smaller who maintain at higher calories than me--it is all very individual.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited March 2016
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    I am currently reverse dieting. I too have this same challenge and because my TDEE is all over the place day to day, it is hard to pin point (still) what the average will be at the end of the day/week.

    All I can say is that, do this slowly. I am doing about 100 - 150 calories per day, I have put MFP set to maintain my weight, also my Garmin tracker is set to the same and I record weight every 3 to 5 days to mark a trend. I have been a little loose on the weighing of my food...so I stayed at the same weight for about two weeks and today the scale was up 4 pounds, so it is possible that I could put it on in chunks just like I lost it in chunks (every two weeks or so) when I was loosing from Jan 4 to March 6th.

    There is a slight difference for my trend in that my cardio has decreased a bit and upped the weight lifting efforts. This is all trial and error and continually a work in progress. I know how to loose excess fat, so if I gain to fast, I can just reverse the calorie surplus while I am weight lifting to not gain too much unwanted fat (I already did this last year and not wanting to do that again this time around).
  • perkymommy
    perkymommy Posts: 1,642 Member
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    I just joined this site yesterday but I am also 4'11" and small framed. It will take getting down to about 120 for me to even show a good loss when I look in the mirror. It stinks. I worry about when I get to maintenance as well. When I lost weight last time about seven years ago I kept on losing even on maintenance and got below 100 pounds. I don't want that to happen this time.
  • Sumiblue
    Sumiblue Posts: 1,597 Member
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    Congrats on your weight loss! Calorie goals really depend on a person's activity level. More activity needs more calories. I lift weights 4-6x/week & walk and I need 1900+ to maintain my 116 lb weight (5'2"). And I agree about expecting to have a weight range. Mine is 114-117. Now my focus is how much I can eat without gaining!

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