I have met my goal, but...

njrea58

I would like to continue to use this site (which is fantastic btw) and teach myself to maintain. Over my life time I have lost and gained the weight and this last time I took off 35 pounds and am very happy where I am. How can I use this amazing site to maintain? Any tips?

cmriverside

Read through the posts in this forum.

Set your Goals to "maintain my weight." Then do what you need to do in order to make that happen. Some people log food, some don't. Find your sweet spot.

sijomial

Vigilance is required but not deprivation or misery, maintenance should be enjoyable rather than feel like being on a permanent diet (verb).
Some people struggle, some find it easy - really have a serious think about what would make maintenance easy (or easier!) for you. That might be a set routine, that might be flexibility, might be logging, might not be.

But would suggest setting an upper weight limit that triggers action - when you hit that limit do take action! Don't let a slide become a landslide.

brendanwhite84

Right now I'm in maintenance although longer-term I am thinking about bulking further by as much as another 17 lbs.

Presently I weigh myself daily and enter the data into Libra, a scale app on my phone which plots a trend line and helps deal with the daily 2-4 pounds swing up or down in weight. So far I haven't needed to because I log my food very precisely, but if I found myself creeping upward on the trend line I'd just cut a couple of pounds. That makes tweaking my weight very, very easy.

LivingtheLeanDream

I'm at year 5 of maintenance and still use this app (more for the forums though rather than logging my meals or exercise).

Change your diary settings to maintain weight. Simple.

Congrats

w8goal4life

As others have said...change your goal settings to maintain. For me, continuing to log is critical to continued success. Without logging, calories are estimated, at best; and our estimations are simply not accurate. I started another online tracking program (caloriecount.com) in 2011 and continued to log until late 2016. Loved the program, but it shut down leaving its members high and dry. Gained about 10 pounds in a year and started MFP, seriously, at end of October. I am now back in maintenance thanks to the logging and support at MFP. Agree with @sijomial with his comment "Suggest setting an upper weight limit [no more than 3-5 pounds for me] that triggers action - when you hit that limit do take action! Don't let a slide become a landslide."

Congratulations @njrea58 for reaching a goal you are comfortable with!

jessicapk

Congrats on reaching your goal! I plan to get there one day LOL My plan, based on experiences I've read about, is to slowly transition up to maintenance calories (add 100 calories / week til I get there) and weigh daily. I use Libra now, an app that averages your daily weight to give you a trending weight. It shows you a chart after you enter your weight every day. Give yourself a 3-5lb buffer zone and, even with normal fluctuations, you should stay within this. Overall, your chart should stay pretty level over time. If you go over that 3-5lb buffer, start decreasing calories again. If you are at maintenance and still losing or gaining, adjust accordingly since the calorie goal is still just an estimate. I think I will count calories for life. Some people are highly opposed to this but it's no worse than keeping a checkbook. Yes, we should watch our food intake just like we do our financial situation.