About to finish losing weight, need some advice

bardd1995
bardd1995 Posts: 17 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Hello everyone,

I've been working on my weight for four months now. Based on my progress so far, by this time next week I will reach my goal weight, and I'm starting to prepare for "what's to come". I have a couple questions.

1. How do you keep track? My idea currently is weekly weigh-ins, and a week of calorie deficit if I gain weight and feel like it's not because of fluctuations (e.g. gaining weight a couple of weeks in a row)

2. How do you raise your calorie intake? I'm going to need to raise my calorie intake by about 500 calories, but I'm not sure what to add to my diet to do that. Do you just eat larger quantities of whatever you ate before?

3. Once I finish, I'll have the right size but the wrong shape. I plan to do two long runs a week (currently 4.5 miles) and two strength workouts. How do you take that into account? Really any tips on shaping up will be appreciated.

4. I really miss bagged snacks (pringles, doritos etc.), how do you maintain your weight while not abstaining snacks? Of course, I won't eat one a day, but now that I can afford more calories a day I do plan to get one once in a while.

Thanks everyone for your help!

Replies

  • plhartless
    plhartless Posts: 5 Member
    A few tips:
    I have had trouble keeping on track without using MyFitnessPal or another tracker, I'll admit. I've lost weight and kept it off for a year or two, but it sneaks back on when I wean off trackers. So, advice: keep MyFitnessPal up to keep yourself honest, at least until you have a sense of your new eating requirements. You'll find it is pretty easy to add 500 calories back into your diet, through a combination of portions and treats, within reason. There's your bagged snacks right there! :smile: --again, though, keep tracking for a considerable amount of time after you reach your weight goal.

    Not clear what your question is about the runs and strength. You can enter those into your tracker and get your desired caloric load easily that way, just as you presumably do now.

    Best of luck!
  • bardd1995
    bardd1995 Posts: 17 Member
    I'd rather not get the calories back through snacks, tempting as it is... I want to eat right.
    About the exercise, I mean do you eat more on days when you exercise? Do you eat the same? Just change the composition of your food?
  • Lynzdee18
    Lynzdee18 Posts: 500 Member
    Keep up the cardio.....
  • rosebarnalice
    rosebarnalice Posts: 3,488 Member
    1. I've been on maintenance calories of ~1800+- since mid February (~9 months). I continue to log regularly, and I weigh once a week. If I'm up a pound or two, I will go back to my "reduction" calories (~1400 - 1500) for about three days.
    2. I added calories by both increasing portion sizes and by adding a few more snacks while keeping under the target sugar and fat goals. For me this has mostly meant increasing my consumption of nuts, cheese, and fruit, but occasionally salty snacks (see #4 below)
    3. Yeah. Shape. Well, I'm a 55-year old post menopausal woman, so we probably have different shape issues :-) But I've tried to accept the shape I have, and dress appropriately. The cut of a shirt or jacket can REALLY make a difference. And This girl don't wear Spandex-- that's all I'm sayin'!
    4. An increase in snackage is one of the things I've added to my calorie intake, but I read lots of labels and have tried to branch out from the standard Lay's collection. I like "hippie" snacks like Flamous Falafel chips, Snap pea Crisps, Harvest Lentil Snaps. I don't mind spending a bit more on these because I don't eat a whole lot of them and it really feels more like a treat.
  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
    1: I weigh daily and plug it into the HappyScale app to get a weighted average.

    2: I'd add 100 kcal per week until weight stabilizes.

    3: i lift three times per week when cutting, four times when maintaining, and seven+ when bulking. It's just something you have to watch in measurements, body composition, and the scale.

    4: I started making my own "snacks", and will never go back. Seriously, I can't stand premade crap anymore. Why would I buy ice cream when I can make sludge and put it in the freezer? Why would I buy chips when I can mix together a few types of cheese and bake it until crispy? I do still occasionally buy protein bars, but that's because I haven't perfected those just yet.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    There really is no end date to calorie counting - when you get to goal you need to keep doing the things you have been to lose but you just get to add a few hundred more calories on - depends on your weekly loss as to what those calories to add will be.

    So its up to you what foods you add, they can be whatever the heck you fancy :smile:

    Frequent weigh ins are a must imo. Trend your weight on an app so you can see the overall trend is staying within say a 5lb range. In the beginning when you increase to maintenance cals people can panic as they see a hike on the scales. This is perfectly normal and will settle down in a few weeks when you body gets used to the extra calories.

    And keeping active if you don't already do so is also a great plan.

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