Maintaining body weight

myvwpolo

Hi everybody, I've been quietly following a weight loss regime for the last 7 months using MFP and at today's weigh-in have reached my target having shed 50 pounds! My BMI says I'm healthy rather than obese and I'm over the moon, I'm happy that fitness has now become a way of life for me and my husband.

My target now is to maintain my shape. I'll continue my exercise routine which has become a daily ritual I couldn't live without but how do I ensure my weight remains stable? Is it trial and error by gradually eating more until I find equilibrium?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

JesterMFP

Start by going here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided and setting your goal to "maintain my current weight". That will give you an idea of how much you should be eating. But yes, it is a bit of trial and error to find your maintenance level. I would recommend gradually increasing your calories, say each week increase by an extra 50-100 calories per day. Keep going until your weight is stable.

Bear in mind that you might gain a few pounds because there is more food/waste in your system, and you will probably retain a little more water, which is normal. You might even find that you continue to lose a little as you increase calories. Just experiment and find the point where your weight remains fairly stable (allowing for normal daily fluctuations).

pkw58

I agree totally with what the other poster said. Just want to add measure yourself - all those ones you want to - and take pictures from different angles. I wish I had when I reached goal.

I continue to log my calories and exerise every day. I still weigh my self regularly (for me that is daily,others weekly, others monthly)

I re-sign myself up to new goals every year. That helps as well.

Congrats on reaching your goal and to an even healthier future!

myvwpolo

Thanks for your replies. I'll increase my intake bit by bit, I suppose the danger is shocking your system into an over-reaction and undermining all the good work.

I've updated my goal so we'll see what happens!

Capt_Apollo

Hi everybody, I've been quietly following a weight loss regime for the last 7 months using MFP and at today's weigh-in have reached my target having shed 50 pounds! My BMI says I'm healthy rather than obese and I'm over the moon, I'm happy that fitness has now become a way of life for me and my husband.

My target now is to maintain my shape. I'll continue my exercise routine which has become a daily ritual I couldn't live without but how do I ensure my weight remains stable? Is it trial and error by gradually eating more until I find equilibrium?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

pretty much. your weight will go up and down depending on a lot of factors.

sijomial

Well done!! :flowerforyou:

Good advice from 'JesterMFP' and also agree about setting new goals as per 'pkw58'

My additional suggestion would be to allow yourself a range of weight where you are happy rather than one single number.

JesterMFP

My additional suggestion would be to allow yourself a range of weight where you are happy rather than one single number.

Agreed. You will drive yourself crazy if you try to stick to one particular weight all the time. It's not going to happen, so find a range that you are comfortable with, and once you find yourself out of that range, you know how to get back there.

Zaniejane

I think you have lots of good suggestions here. What I find hard is forming new goals and being happy with where I am now.

1_Slick_Chick

First of all....GREAT JOB on reaching your goal! Next, from my personal experience. keep tracking what you eat, use the MFP guide mentioned in an earlier post to determine calories...keep weighing at least once a month and have a weight range to stay within...your weight will fluctuate as also mentioned above.
I made the mistake of NOT logging my food, NOT weighing myself regularly and after losing 65 pounds (5 lbs from my goal) in 11 months managed to gain back 20 lbs!!! So, here I am again....I should have never left :frown: and lost focus of what I had accomplished.
Again, GREAT JOB! and Best Wishes :flowerforyou:

myvwpolo

Many thanks for all the advice, comments and good wishes, you've helped me see the way forward.

Best of luck to everyone in achieving your goals.