Walking a Tightrope

Lo0BLu

So as a result of getting back into running, I have hit my goal weight a month or so ago.
I put my calories up for maintenance mode and set long term goals.
BUT I am finding maintenance so stressful, like I am walking a tightrope. Stressed about losing any more and although the weight loss has slowed, I don't seem to be able to keep my weight stable.
I have switched my emphasis onto fitness goals and am running at least 13 miles every weekend, with 4-6 mile maintenance runs during the week. The long term goal is an ultra marathon in May 2017 but short term goal is at least 2-3 marathons before that time. I have never run a marathon before and sticking to the training plan seems to be going very well. I am running perhaps 30 miles a week on average. High mileage is classed as 40 miles a week, where I have been told that generally you can eat what you like (healthy choices obviously).
Weight loss is just the byproduct of my fitness goal now.
I am trying to increase my calories but I am unsure how to do this without gaining all the weight I lost. I still log my food religiously.
I'm sure I am being dumb, and perhaps its just a simple case of increasing my calories above maintenance but does anyone have any supportive suggestions?
Many thanks for any help.
Lu

sijomial

Your weight isn't likely to be stable, accept that it fluctuates due to many totally normal and healthy reasons. That's why you need either a happy weight range or an upper intervention weight.
This is new for you - as maintenance becomes the new normal the stress should recede.

You don't "gain all the weight you lost" unless you consistently over-eat for an extended period of time and don't react when you see a long term trend developing. The maths is the same, just the goal is different. If you are still losing you need to increase your calories to find your true maintenance not an estimated maintenance.

Running is very easy to estimate calories burned and with your distance you must have a very good idea of what levels you need to eat at to compensate for those huge calorie burns.

Lo0BLu

Thank you Sjomial It is very true that on my long run days there is no way I am able to eat back all the calories. Seriously it's like 4000 calories combined for the run and my normal calorie intake. Even with a nice bottle of wine and eating when I like, it's just not possible (I have tried).
So I just need to bite the bullet and raise my maintenance, and even though it says "to gain 1lb a week" I need to trust that the maths is the same and I will not gain.
Even if i do, I can just tweek it here and there.
???
I know this is odd, but it's almost feels like I'm asking your permission to do this.
I may be having an epiphany hahaha.
I just don't want to undo all the good work I have done to date, but I also don't want low weight to impact my running.

sijomial

I do endurance cycling so do understand. On long ride days I eat to fuel my rides and then eat for fun but still can't hit the total required for the day. See Saturday's food diary if you want an idea - it ain't pretty!

Thinking of your food allowance over the course of a week instead of a day really helps. As an athlete you could think of it as carb loading if that helps "justify" going over some days to compensate for being under on others.

Rather than adjust your levels to "gain" suggest you adjust it manually if that makes it mentally/emotionally easier, then it's just a number (data has no emotion!) and no scary weight gain connotations. Manual adjustments makes it easier to fine tune as well.

pkw58

Maintenance is a new adjustment just like losing weight is an adjustment. I agree with the poster that says think of the food allowance over a week vs a day. You really don't have to eat back every calorie you exercise on the day you exercise.

Lo0BLu

I feel kind of stupid, it seems pretty basic. I have never been able to maintain in the past and I am determined to get it right to achieve my goals. Thank you for your help and support

Lo0BLu

OK I have manually upped my calorie intake by a snack meal each day (230 Kcal). Over the week that should equate to the missing calories after my long run. I will keep a close eye on this. Thank you so much for your help

The_Enginerd

Lo0BLu wrote: »

So as a result of getting back into running, I have hit my goal weight a month or so ago.
I put my calories up for maintenance mode and set long term goals.
BUT I am finding maintenance so stressful, like I am walking a tightrope. Stressed about losing any more and although the weight loss has slowed, I don't seem to be able to keep my weight stable.
I have switched my emphasis onto fitness goals and am running at least 13 miles every weekend, with 4-6 mile maintenance runs during the week. The long term goal is an ultra marathon in May 2017 but short term goal is at least 2-3 marathons before that time. I have never run a marathon before and sticking to the training plan seems to be going very well. I am running perhaps 30 miles a week on average. High mileage is classed as 40 miles a week, where I have been told that generally you can eat what you like (healthy choices obviously).
Weight loss is just the byproduct of my fitness goal now.
I am trying to increase my calories but I am unsure how to do this without gaining all the weight I lost. I still log my food religiously.
I'm sure I am being dumb, and perhaps its just a simple case of increasing my calories above maintenance but does anyone have any supportive suggestions?
Many thanks for any help.
Lu

In regards to the bolded, not even close to true. At 40 MPW, that's an extra of 540 calories/day above being totally sedentary. It would be SUPER easy to eat right past if I ate however much I wanted and wasn't being mindful of my eating. I've seen many folks gain weight while training for a marathon and running high mileage. On top of that, hunger increases right along with the increased activity. The runger is real, yo.

In regards to feeling like you have to walk a tightrope, realize that maintenance is a range. How wide that range varies from person to person, but generally there is an amount you need to go above before you start gaining. If you have been consistent in your tracking and have some good long range (more than one month worth) weight trends, you should be able to figure out the lower end of your maintenance range. When I first changed to maintenance, I was very slowly losing at the MFP estimates. I had to up my calories by 100/day to stop losing.

Lo0BLu

That's really useful information. Thank you.

Owlfan88

I find it very difficult to eat exactly to a particular calorie level, especially on days where I end up with more activity after dinner. I also don't like going in the red (I know it's psychological, but it bugs me). So I have set MFP to gain half a pound a week. In reality I would like to gain a little but not that fast, so staying under that goal mostly, but trying to get near it is working for me. Trendweight and a Fitbit also help me out.

RWClary

I found that there really is no such thing as pure maintenance.
Weight will fluctuate. Let it.
The truth is that my own weight maintenance program is much more challenging than losing the weight.
I set very high goals related to athletic performance, run times as well as continued efforts to reduce body fat and maintain strength.
It's difficult but so worth it. The demarcation was when this became as natural to me as losing the weight had become. I've been in the zone for 3 years now, but the zone is far from perfect.

BurnWithBarn2015

i go by a weekly max allowed calories
Some days i eat more some days i eat less. And my weight fluctuate nicely up and down in the "desired/wanted" range.

Just relax about it. You wont gain overnight...when you overeat...eat a bit less the next days. ...or not...Just when your range starts to get higher and higher you know you have to cut back.

for me when i eat salty foods i am sometimes almost 14 days heavier..but it slowly drops back over those days to the range i had before.

JuliaHaleFitness

If you are at a healthy spot right now, focus on the and your fitness goal and forget what the scale says. Remember that it's just a number.

You won't close your eyes and wake up one day with the weight you lost all piled back on. If you have been logging your meals and exercising, then you know what works for your body already because you've done it!

Think about adding calories more as adding fuel for your ambitious goals! Running a marathon is amazing. FUEL IT! Give your body a bit extra. Add 1 snack (about 200-250 cal) a day for a week or so and check at the end to see if your weight ha fluctuated. Keep adding or subtracting in this manner!

Lo0BLu

Thank you guys this is all so helpful. I'm being a stress bunny and you guys are really calming me down.

jasonsunlee

Daaaaamn... if that is your profile pic of your abs, great job!

gothomson

The advice on here is excellent! I'm doing maintenance now and I never thought of an acceptable weight range that I'll go between! That a really useful way to look at it. I want to stay at 12 stone 7 lb, but mostly im a few lb lighter or heavier - up to 12 stone 10lb. When I think about it that's a fairly good range! Thanks for starting this post and for other for sharing their views!

kommodevaran

This thread is what I call the essence of MFP. Lots of good advice and educational. I've been in maintenance for a while and don't run, but still found useful ideas and new insight and reassurance. Thank you

LivingtheLeanDream

fabulous abs OP
but as the others have already mentioned, have a weight range ie +/-5lbs, allow for natural fluctuations but obviously if you drop below or above the range for a few weeks then its time to make adjustments.

Congrats on reaching goal, enjoy maintenance as there simply is no better place to be

kdiamond

Agree with what the others say, you can't focus on the scale/weight because that will change.

I have been in maintenance since my son was a little over a year old, 12 years ago now, when I "got my act together". During this time I have never gone back up to my high weight (~125/130lbs) BUT I have been anywhere from 100-115 pounds, still well within my 'maintenance' weight. My goals have changed many times as well, and now I'm focused on fitness and strength goals, so I'm less concerned about the weight on the scale (I honestly don't know what I weigh right now).

What I'm trying to say is don't stress too much about it, enjoy life, make good choices, exercise, and you'll be fine.

dopeysmelly

Maintenance is a mind-game as much as a math game. I completely agree with the advice here. I've found using manual adjustments gave me more of a sense of controlling my own fate and much prefer them to what MFP suggests, even if the numbers are close!

Just remember that even if you do find the weight drifting back on, it's not the end of the world. I was 10 lbs over where I wanted to be, but realized I knew what to do, and have just got on with it (5 lbs gone now). Just stick with the things which worked for you while you were losing (like weighing frequency etc.) and you'll be absolutely fine.

cyndit1

As your miles go up in marathon training, it gets pretty easy to gain weight during training. A lot of endurance runners do because you're pretty hungry after some of those workouts. I made it a huge point not to do that when I ran NYC in November and let me tell you it wasn't easy (I did the gain during training thing during my first marathon training) so the for me it is not true that you can eat what you like during training. I'm training for my third marathon now and being very careful. Good luck with your training and maintenance.

Lo0BLu

I think I am in love with you all and MFP too!! Thank you so much for all your advice, it really has been very helpful. I have now manually set my calories a snack higher and will continue to monitor as the mileage goes up. Will be abiding totally with what has been said and love you all for the support

Lo0BLu

PS have really taken on board what has been said about the "eating what you like" advice that I was given. I won't be doing that

RoxieDawn

I trained for a HM back in Dec 2015 to March 2016. I actually was trying to loose weight during this process and planned to maintain after training and race end. I did not worry about any maintaining until it was over. Too much going on each day to make sure I was eating this and that and drinking this and that in order to perform each day for training.

Then once it was over, I did not stop running so I had to figure out TDEE for calories I would still be burning and I was also lifting during training and I predicct you will not stop running when all of this over unless you plan to take a break.

To need to eat for being an athlete first and foremost and not worry about weight, I predict you cannot gain any weight at this point and can eat a lot more than you think. The switch from fat burning to maintaining took me a while to figure it out.

2 to 3 marathons and an ultra marathon all before May is a lot training, and a lot of calorie burning you will be doing, a lot recovery going on in the body and specific needs your body needs. Since you are no longer wanting to lean out for these races, you just need to fuel the running, and find a balance into maintenance.

I think you should focus on nutritional needs to fuel for being an athlete right now and perhaps reverse diet to get to an actual maintenance now or when all of this done and if you need to eat more calories during the day to reach a magic number you can always add in "calorie dense" foods to hit a target.

I had eat a certain way and drink a certain way 7 days a week for training. It is funny that you are second person in the two days trying to get to maintenance right in the middle of training. It will take a while for your body to stop burning fat and get into fat gaining mode, because you will not be eating nearly enough to gain weight during training of this magnitude, so enjoy more calories and you may even perform better.

mitch16

I run half marathons and I, too, find it hard to eat all of my calories back on long run days. I think you have it figured out though--add a small amount of calories (100-250) to every day, and over the course of the week it will even out.

Maintenance is tough... Remember that your weight will fluctuate by ~5 lbs from day to day. If your trend is still going down, add a few more calories back in. My downfall in maintenance has always been to get lazy/sloppy with my tracking and I gain a few pounds--now that I am aware of it, I try to be more careful. I don't think that with your training for the marathons/ultra that you will fall into that... Good luck!