Going to Maintenance... Help!

rachelleigh4988

I am off my diet starting tomorrow (Yay!) and switching my MFP caloric intake goal to maintenance. It has set me at 1640/day to maintain my weight at about 120. (Realistically, I fluctuate between 120 and 122.) I had been eating about 1200 calories/day, then eating back my exercise calories.

My plan at this point is to eat about 1640/day, but not stress if I don't eat that many, and to NOT eat back my exercise calories. I still plan on exercising at least 5 days/week.

Am I doing this right? Instead of jumping from 1200 to 1640, should I do a more gradual shift? I just really, don't want to backtrack on my three months of hard work! Any guidance suggested is appreciated, thanks!

ladynocturne

I agree with gradually increasing your calories to maintenance, but your plan could just end up making you continue to lose weight depending on how many calories you burn.

So if you ate 1640 and burned off 500, you'd only be netting 1140, which is pretty low, even for someone dieting. It might even out a little better on the 2 days you take off of the gym, but... not enough to maintain.

I might recommend doing 1400 + exercise calories for a few weeks, then 1500 + exercise calories for a few weeks, see how it goes, then 1600 + exercise calories.

rachelleigh4988

Good point! I'll probably end up eating barely more than I do now by doing it that way. I'll try to set MFP to 1400 and just eat back exercise calories. Plus it'll give me extra incentive to exercise .

It seems like that will be so much food though! Just scared about putting more lbs back on. Upping it by 200 to start out with doesn't seem too outrageous though.

Thank you for your input!

ladynocturne

Nah, you'll do great. You might gain a little water and waste weight from the extra grams of food for a week or two, but you won't gain fat.

I'm excited for you, omg I could have so much more avocado, I'm looking forward to maintenance already XD