Maintenance advice. Do you like my plan?

nichell88

I'd posted earlier in an attempt to get some feedback from people as to how to transition from weight loss to maintenance, as I am close to said transition. After reading several comments, I wanted to bounce some thoughts and ideas off of people to see if my plan makes sense or looks like a good plan. I know its hard to tell until you attempt it, but I just want to see if this seems like a sensible plan.

1. Right now, my goal for weight loss 1400 net calories daily. I havent checked to see what it would be when I switch to "maintenance" as a goal in mfp, but my plan is to net around 1600 calories daily. I am 29 years old, 5'6, and will be 150-155lbs at maintenance.
2. So I will not be changing my caloric intake drastically, but I think I will change my caloric composition. Right now, Im drinking two scoops of whey protein daily, and protein accounts for ~50% of my diet. I'd like to nix the shakes, at least on a daily basis, and maybe lower my protein intake to about 30% of my calories. Ideally, each of my macros would constitute 33% of my caloric intake.
3. In terms of working out, right now I am at the gym 6 days a week, 3x HIIT and 3x strength training and steady state cardio. In maintence, I want to continue this trend. The difference would be that for my intrevals, I up the intensity every ~2 weeks ish as the workouts become easier. I think I can maintain at the same level moving forward, at least for more than two weeks if not always

What do people think? Does this make sense as a plan?

adipace815

I think the fact that you have a plan is a good thing right from the get go. Its a good thing to start with just a couple of things like the small increase in calories. I personally started a transition about 15 lbs before my goal weight. I took my weight loss calories and added 100 calories per day each week and continued to monitor my loss. I have been doing that for a while now and I still haven't had a week where I have not lost weight. That seems pretty typical for everyone in the maintenance threads. Most people that have a phase in plan continue to lose weight until they figure out their true TDEE.

It sounds like you have a pretty solid work out routine. I am not sure what lead you to decide to lower protein percentages. Most people seem to think that a person that does regular strength training ought to have a higher protein focus. I have a high protein focus but its more to do with the food that I like and the fullness I feel with protein as opposed to a higher carb or fat diet. I believe that Macronutrients are an individualized kind of thing where there is no right or wrong answer. It's about what is right for you.

Congratulations! You have done a great job. Good luck with maintenance. I am sure you will do great at it!

lorrpb

Congrats on planning ahead, this is a great step. Personally, I've kept a protein shake in maintenance to help me get at least 100g of protein per day. I am your same height & weight, but older, and strength training is an important part of my workouts. Adequate protein is vital to muscle and strength building. Generally MFP default macros are recommended at 50% carb, 20-30% protein, and 20-30% fat.

Regarding working out, I've continued to increase my workouts each week as I am able. In fact, because I'm stronger & lighter now it's easier to increase intensity than while I was losing. I want to continue increasing my fitness level to keep up with the effects of aging. I don't go crazy and am not interested in athletic competition, but I do want to experience improvements. I don't know why you want to continue HIIT but not increase the intensity as you are able, but there's nothing that says you can't take it a bit easier.

You will want to work out your new eating plan in advance since you want to change your macros as well as calorie content. This approach can present a slippery slope if you don't keep on top of it. Figure out what are going to eat instead of the protein and how you will manage the portions of foods you're not in the habit of eating. If you continue to plan ahead and weigh and log your food, you should be fine.

Although your plan is not what I would do, as long as you plan and monitor the results, that is the "sensible" part. Remember that in maintenance it takes longer to see the results because it can take a few weeks to identify whether a gain (or loss) is a normal water fluctuation or a fat gain.

PS Great progress pics!

nichell88

adipace815 wrote: »

I think the fact that you have a plan is a good thing right from the get go. Its a good thing to start with just a couple of things like the small increase in calories. I personally started a transition about 15 lbs before my goal weight. I took my weight loss calories and added 100 calories per day each week and continued to monitor my loss. I have been doing that for a while now and I still haven't had a week where I have not lost weight. That seems pretty typical for everyone in the maintenance threads. Most people that have a phase in plan continue to lose weight until they figure out their true TDEE.

It sounds like you have a pretty solid work out routine. I am not sure what lead you to decide to lower protein percentages. Most people seem to think that a person that does regular strength training ought to have a higher protein focus. I have a high protein focus but its more to do with the food that I like and the fullness I feel with protein as opposed to a higher carb or fat diet. I believe that Macronutrients are an individualized kind of thing where there is no right or wrong answer. It's about what is right for you.

Congratulations! You have done a great job. Good luck with maintenance. I am sure you will do great at it!

Thank you, this is great advice. When I started to drink the whey, it was because I was losing more lean muscle during weight loss than I would've liked. So as of now, I drink them more out of necessity than desire. It's a very intentional practice for me and would not do it otherwise. So I definitely feel like I want to get rid of the shakes, and when I wasn't doing the shakes I was at about 35-40% protein anyway. So whether or not I change the breakdown to 33% all around, I think I want to stop with the shakes because I don't see myself maintaining with them over a long period of time. But that's what I'm trying to figure out, if those configurations make sense. I know it's different for everyone, but I want to know if they generally make sense from others' experiences

nichell88

lorrpb wrote: »

Congrats on planning ahead, this is a great step. Personally, I've kept a protein shake in maintenance to help me get at least 100g of protein per day. I am your same height & weight, but older, and strength training is an important part of my workouts. Adequate protein is vital to muscle and strength building. Generally MFP default macros are recommended at 50% carb, 20-30% protein, and 20-30% fat.

Regarding working out, I've continued to increase my workouts each week as I am able. In fact, because I'm stronger & lighter now it's easier to increase intensity than while I was losing. I want to continue increasing my fitness level to keep up with the effects of aging. I don't go crazy and am not interested in athletic competition, but I do want to experience improvements. I don't know why you want to continue HIIT but not increase the intensity as you are able, but there's nothing that says you can't take it a bit easier.

You will want to work out your new eating plan in advance since you want to change your macros as well as calorie content. This approach can present a slippery slope if you don't keep on top of it. Figure out what are going to eat instead of the protein and how you will manage the portions of foods you're not in the habit of eating. If you continue to plan ahead and weigh and log your food, you should be fine.

Although your plan is not what I would do, as long as you plan and monitor the results, that is the "sensible" part. Remember that in maintenance it takes longer to see the results because it can take a few weeks to identify whether a gain (or loss) is a normal water fluctuation or a fat gain.

PS Great progress pics!

Thanks. I hadn't particularly thought about what would specifically take the place of the shakes, so that is good insight and something for me to consider. I have been wanting to eat more fruit, as I've been avoiding many fruits (other than berries and on occasion apples) in large part due to the amount of sugar, so I think I might start there. Thanks for this. And thank you for the compliment

kcmsmith0405

Actually the 1600 cal for maintenance seems a bit low for your height and activity range. But otherwise the plan sounds good.

Might want to see what your actual TDEE is and plan maintenance from there:
https://tdeecalculator.net/ or
http://eatmore2weighless.com/weight-loss-calculator/

You would be moderate activity or above with your workout schedule. I am guessing the next step above moderate.