Eat at maintenance calories for goal weight?

ralexhou82

I am learning a TON about calories in calories out since joining MFP, specifically this forum! I read as many posts as I can just learning about everything.
I just want to make sure I am understanding something correctly.
I looked up my current TDEE using an online calculator...and then I decided to look up the TDEE for my goal weight. It's obviously much lower than my current TDEE. Wouldn't it make sense to just eat the TDEE for my goal weight? MFP has my calorie limit set a little bit lower (2150 MFP vs 2350 for my goal weight TDEE).
I haven't actually eaten up to 2350 yet since i began tracking three weeks ago, but I've been kind of keeping that magic number in my head as a "Do not go above this amount" kind of thing. Obviously I would lose more quickly if I eat at the MFP number, but I am not in a race with anyone. I want this to be slow and healthy.
So if I keep that TDEE for my goal weight in mind, I will eventually get down to my goal weight and then I'd be on maintenance once reaching that weight, more or less, correct?

samwiserabbit

I've considered using exactly this scenario in a math problem. It's a good one for the concept of limits.

If you could somehow know very precisely the number of calories you will need to maintain your goal weight and make sure that you eat exactly that number of calories every day, you would get closer and closer to your goal weight more and more slowly as time goes by. It's like that thought experiment about walking across a room. If you walk half way across, and then half of the rest of the way, and then half of what's left, and then half way again, you'll keep getting closer and closer to the far side, but you'll never get there.

Now, in practice, you'd probably consider getting within an inch, or the width of an atom, or the width of a proton, as "arriving" at the other side of the room. In practice with you're diet, you will, eventually, get close enough to your goal weight that you'd consider yourself to have arrived. Plus, there's no way to be that precise about your calorie needs and intake, and your weight depends on things like the contents of your digestive track and the amount of water in your blood.

The short answer, the one you're really looking for, is that your strategy can work, but it's a hard road. In fact, I think it's a great idea because you'll never have that "yay! I'm done, I can stop dieting now" moment followed by a sudden increase in calories consumed. You'll have to be very, very patient, though. Your weight loss will slow way, way down as you get close to your goal. The closer you get, the slower your progress, and the more carefully you'll have to log your calories in and out. It might take you many years of logging to get to your goal.

Francl27

In theory, yeah. In practice, you'll probably end up stalling 10-20 pounds from your goal, due to inaccuracies etc.

WA_mama2

Why would you eat at a caloric allowment that doesn't reflect your current stats? That doesn't make any sense. Your current TDEE is based on your current stats and is the number you should stay under.

20yearsyounger

Francl27 wrote: »

In theory, yeah. In practice, you'll probably end up stalling 10-20 pounds from your goal, due to inaccuracies etc.

I agree with this. In Theory it sounds good. I used my BMR at goal weight but I only had 30lbs to lose.

Francl27

WA_mama2 wrote: »

Why would you eat at a caloric allowment that doesn't reflect your current stats? That doesn't make any sense. Your current TDEE is based on your current stats and is the number you should stay under.

It's not that crazy. My TDEE when I started (lightly active) was 2365 calories. My TDEE for my goal weight as lightly active would have been 1868 (keeping the same age, which obviously didn't happen). That's the same as TDEE-20% for my starting weight, so a perfect loss rate. The problem is that 30 pounds from your goal, it would be less than a 200 deficit, and that's VERY slow and it would take forever to get down there.

However, in my case, I've also increased my activity so keeping that 1868 goal would have been just fine... that's still a 300 calories deficit from my TDEE now (5 pounds from goal weight)... as my maintenance TDEE is pretty much 150 calories under my starting TDEE because I'm just way more active now.

Christine_72

I set my calories to my goal weight at sedentary this week. In reality I'm lightly active, so will see what happens. I'm in no hurry and only have a couple of kgs to lose.

PaulaWallaDingDong

It's how I've done it for all but the last few months (started 1/26/2015). I recaculated recently to lose 1 lb/wk so my calories dropped a bit. I found it to be sustainable and I never stalled unless I was deliberately taking a break (the holidays, etc). I have no complaints.

vismal

The problem with that way of doing things is it depends heavily on the accuracy of the estimated TDEE for your goal weight as well as your calorie counting. Too much margin for error for my tastes. I simply pick a number that should create a reasonable calorie deficit. After a few weeks, if weight loss occurs at an acceptable rate, continue eating that number only decreasing when weight loss stalls for 3 or more weeks or slows to an unacceptable rate at which point calories can be reduced and the process can begin again. This method works on the consistency is more important than accuracy premise. Even if you are poor at calorie counting, as long as your are consistently poor, you will eventually reduce calories enough to compensate for your overestimation and begin losing weight.

loulamb7

Yes, this should work. I believe some website advocate this method. As you already indicated your rate of loss will be slower, but that's okay.

Merkavar

I think like others mentioned wouldn't wating your goal weight maintenance calories result in very (unhealthily) fast weight loss at first, then a period of normal weight loss, then a period of unbelievably slow weight loss, like 0.1lb a month.

Like a curve, while mfp is closer to a straight line.