In need of help

g2baleoparx

over the past 8 months I've completely changed eating habits and I exercise 5-6 days a week doing everything from Zumba kickboxing and Pilates and I've lost a total 55 pounds. now that I have reached my goal I don't know how to add calories to stop losing weight without actually gaining any back. I've spent my whole life either gaining weight or losing weight I've never been able to maintain any weight all. I haven't found any resources online that are helpful with this... Anyone have any ideas on how to transition from weight loss to maintenance??
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PaytraB

Congratulations on reaching your goal! Way to go!

I'm trying to maintain now, too. I started by added about 200 calories to my day. Did that for a month or so, then slowly started to add more calories to slowly reach my maintenance level. I haven't quite found it yet. I'm still slowly losing, so it takes time.
Don't be afraid to eat more. You've learned a lot through this journey and your new lifestyle won't let you down.

JJBurton825

Have you tried changing your weight goals on MFP yet? I would start there.

tazmaninaz

I just found this:

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/lifestyle_center_detail.asp?id=1

Hope it helps.

g2baleoparx

That sounds like a good idea. That is the scariest part so far is eating more now. I have gotten so used to what I eat it terrifies me to eat more.

JesterMFP

That sounds like a good idea. That is the scariest part so far is eating more now. I have gotten so used to what I eat it terrifies me to eat more.

Congratulations on reaching your goal!

Just add them in gradually, until you find your sweet spot. If you're finding it's uncomfortable to eat more (ie you feel overstuffed) then aim for more calorie dense foods, things that are higher in fat generally. That will make it easier to increase calories with a smaller volume of food. You may gain a little at first, because of more food/waste being in your system, and water retention, but it should stabilise soon enough. You might even find that you drop another couple of pounds as you increase cals; that happens to some people too. Just go slowly until you find that your weight is stable.

Also, don't expect maintaining to mean that you'll always be exactly the same weight. That would be very difficult, if not impossible to achieve. There will always be fluctuations. Set a range that you're comfortable staying within - say a 5 lb range - and then when you deviate from that range you know to either increase or decrease calorie as appropriate. Otherwise, you could drive yourself crazy trying to stay that one number all the time.

JesterMFP

There's a maintenance group forum here, which might be of interest: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/169-maintenance

cingle87

What an OP stated, add 200 cals a week for a month, if you are still loosing add another 200 for a month, repeat untill you gain nothing.

tazmaninaz

Just figure out how many more calories you are eating and burn them off with exercise!