How do you get into maintenance-mode mentality?

xcgirl078

Hello! As of this morning, I hit my ultimate goal--I weigh 114.4 pounds, down from about 145 last August. The funny thing is, when I began this weight loss journey, I told myself that I wouldn't go under 125 pounds. Now, I'm striving for lower and lower, and can't seem to stop myself.

I have adjusted my calories to maintenance, but I still get so freaked out about the possibility of GAINING that I never hit that amount of calories. Has anyone else had trouble adjusting to the idea of maintenance? What did you do to change it??

Thank you, all!

tootoop224

In to follow. Interested in peoples opinions.

JakeBrownVB

seriously consider going on a bulk.. go 200-300 over maintenance and lift heavy.. you will gain muscle and very little fat. Dont correlate weight with appearance.. the lower your weight does not make you look better.

A 130lb women who is same height and bf% as a women who is 110lb looks much much better. Start putting muscle on your frame and you will begin looking more and more toned and fit.. keep cutting and you will become skinny fat

BigGuy47

Has anyone else had trouble adjusting to the idea of maintenance? What did you do to change it??

It can be difficult to flip the mental switch on eating more. For myself, after over a year of disciplined eating habits it was tough to get out of that routine. Currently I'm keeping calories at my TDEE and I'm maintaining. Longer term I plan on continuing with my strength training adding more calories and adding body weight. If I do it correctly much of the new weight will be muscle.

At some point fitness becomes far more important than a goal weight on the scale. That's when the mental barriers to eating more start to collapse.

SJVZEE

I also struggled to switch mental gears when I transitioned to maintenance. One thing that helped me was to make new, non-weight, goals. I've started training for my first 5K and I'm also transitioning to a whole foods, plant based diet. Those things have given me new goals to work towards and I'm no longer so focused on my weight.

Also, it's a good idea to have a maintenance window, instead of a set weight-most people have a 5lb one. Your weight will fluctuate throughout the month due to things not weight related (sodium, time of month etc). Having a window will give you a more accurate picture of your weight

Congrats on hitting goal!

TavistockToad

i never really struggled with getting to maintenance, i like food too much, so i was just happy i could eat more!

erikmsp72

I'm struggling some to figure out what my "window" is, now that I'm done *trying* to lose weight. Yesterday I did in fact eat over the calories suggested . . . stepped on the scale this morning and LOST. Ack! So, today I'm eating MORE.

Not that I'm suffering overmuch. I mean, one of my "add calories" things is chocolate chips. :-)

But getting from the "weight loss is a win!" mentality to "maintaining weight or gaining fitness is a win!" does take a *little* adjustment. At least it does in my case.