How did you know...

angelxsss

How did you, personally, know when it was time to stop weight loss and transition to maintenance (for those of you who took that path). Was it an aesthetic being reached or a number or a fitness goal or what?

I've been contemplating whether to lose 10 more pounds or to just stay and maintain. I was shooting for a flat stomach, but I think I look perfectly fine now, and I feel good, clothes fit well, etc. At most I may just need to tone up a little bit.

sijomial

I hit my goal weight (a fairly randomly selected lifetime previous favourite weight) so maintained a few months.

Then had a serious think about if this was my "best weight" (body composition, strength, energy levels, looks...) - it wasn't, so nibbled off a few more pounds.
Repeated that process a few times over more than a year and ended up 11 lbs under my original goal. I did very briefly drop lower (for a cycling event) which confirmed that any lower felt too low for me.

I've now revised my goal 4lbs back up again having added a bit of muscle (recomp).

Why not have a pause, find your maintenance calories (a very useful piece of data) and reflect on what you want to do?

zyxst

I hit my goal weight and was done. Only way to change how my body looks is with surgery.

nxd10

I hit the weight I was at in college and all of a sudden it was obvious. I looked good. I felt good. It was time. I also know from experience that when I weigh less than that I am hungry all the time and get grumpy. At 150 (my goal weight - I'm 5'10") I don't have a lot of fat so when I don't eat I get HUNGRY - not many reserves.

It's a natural weight for me. It was my weight when I graduated. Got back to it with each kid. Have been maintaining here almost 5 years.

Aidan2552

All depends on your personal goals. If you feel you've achieved a flat stomach and you just want to tone up, do it. As long as you maintain a healthy diet and continue to work out regularly towards a defined goal (toning in your case), your body will maintain a healthy weight.

AnnPT77

I set a provisional goal weight initially, then adjusted it as it got closer. Finally one day I literally just woke up and felt right.

Keep in mind that one of your options would be to gradually increase calories to find your maintenance level (which will typically result in a very slow additional loss) rather than increasing them in one bigger jump; or to go to maintenance for a while then (if you wish) reconsider and lose a little more. It doesn't have to be a sudden or irrevocable decision.

Some of us like to increase calories slowly to "coast into maintenance", adding maybe 100 daily calories, waiting a couple weeks or so to see what happens, then repeating as necessary. This way, you don't have a sudden change in behavior, and you may not see a bigger glycogen replenishment/water weight gain that can happen if you raise calories by a bigger increment all at once.

Sounds like you're pretty close to ready, though. Nice work!

HappyGrape

I was happy with my lifestyle. I wasn't loosing weight for few weeks. If I ate less, or pushed to exercise more it would have been not enjoyable and I wouldn't have been able to sustain it. I had goal lifestyle in mind.

Machka9

angelxsss wrote: »

How did you, personally, know when it was time to stop weight loss and transition to maintenance (for those of you who took that path). Was it an aesthetic being reached or a number or a fitness goal or what?

I had dropped into the lower half of my normal BMI range, and needed to start training for long distance cycling events. I did try to train while in a deficit, but that just simply wasn't working so I basically switched to maintenance. Cycling long distances was more important to me than dropping another 2 kg.

Cylphin60

My goal weight was chosen based on my last best weight, but that was 30+ years ago and things have changed......a little lol. I've set a new attainable goal 4 lbs lighter that I'm slowly going towards. I'm leaving that open to change as well.

92019start

My goal weight was my wedding weight. That's what he married and I think it's nice to more or less stay close to that.

sardelsa

After my first bulk I cut until I was about 90% happy with my physique. I transitioned to maintenace for a few weeks but then got pregnant shortly after.

You sound like you are in a good place to start transitioning to maintainance.. especially if you have been dieting for awhile. Really it's up to you and how you feel.

drewbendzak

Personally, I think the most important thing to keep in mind is that everyone on here has either mentioned feeling good or looking good(in their eyes). A target weight is a great place to start a fitness journey and is critical for those who have been in and out of the gym or need to lose weight for health reasons. Once you are close to your "target weight" I would aim for what feels and looks good to YOU, not anyone else. Too often people are convinced that a number is where they need to be when really it is a body composition that is important. Whatever the activity or lifestyle was that originally got you into the gym, dieting, or on a weight loss mission, work to perform that activity/lifestyle to the best of your ability. Whether it be playing with your kids, a sport, body building competition, or simply eliminating creaks and pains, I think most people can fluctuate in about a 10 pound range to achieve those goals while maintaining an extremely healthy body composition. If you look in the mirror and look/feel good, you're killin it! I would say set a new goal based on performance and see where it takes you