Hi! New to maintenance - advice & support welcome

gutsnglory6

Hi! I’ve gone from trying to lose to trying to maintain and thought I’d introduce myself.

Stats: 5’9”, 135 lbs (not sure of what my maintenance range will be yet), 29 years old.

Started (this time around) at the end of February at 148.8 lbs, with the goal of getting lean and fit before my September wedding. I set a goal weight of 135 pounds, which I hit June 4. I’ve been hovering above or below for the past month.

June has been insanely busy, so maintaining the weight was a bit of a victory unto itself. For July, I’ve got a bit more time and energy to put into this, so I’m going to focus on building muscle and getting more toned.

The challenges I’ve noticed so far with maintenance are the mental hurdles around eating more — when my goal was to lose, a day under calories was sort of a bonus, whereas now I’m trying to stay consistent(ish) about eating enough. It’s also a challenge to make bigger meals when you’re used to smaller ones — which also makes it harder to resist the urge to fill those “extra” calories with not so healthy foods.

I’m also not sure 135 is the right goal. Now that I’m here, I’m thinking I might shoot for 130. But it’s also possible that’s just my mind not keeping up with what my body actually looks like — so I’ve decided to maintain/recomp for the full month of July and then reassess.

Would love to hear your struggles, strategies and stories — especially women with similar stats.

Also, I should add this isn’t entirely my first time in maintenance. About six years ago, I lost 30 pounds (175 to 145) with MFP and was able to develop better habits and maintain relatively easily without logging (I’d step on the scale regularly and readjust my habits if I saw a trend upwards). 135 was my original goal, but I kind of got busy/was happy with where I was at/etc and dropped off here. Now I’m back and with the added motivation of looking my best for my wedding day, I’m here to be accountable.

Thanks for reading all of this!

kommodevaran

I've maintained a 50 pounds loss for 3 1/2 years, and I recognize many of your concerns. I would like to comment on some of your points: Consistency is key, yes, but you don't have to aim for the same amount of calories each day - it evens out over time as long as your days over maintenance aren't more frequent and/or more intense than your days below maintenance. After losing weight, intentionally, eating enough is not going to be a real problem, I can assure you that not eating too much is still the challenge you have to deal with every day. You can fill up some of those calories with "not so healthy" foods. Being able to maintain means finding the balance, being more flexible, and stopping the all-or-nothing and black/white for good.

iowalinda

First off, congrats on your weight loss and best wishes for your upcoming marriage
I think most of us reassess as we reach our goals. And that's probably a good thing. My first goal was 135. When I reached that, I decided I needed to lose a few more pounds. After reaching 130, I went for 125. Currently I am between 119 and 121 @ 5'6" and I believe this is a good weight for me. I am determined to keep myself accountable and not fall back into the old habits.

CarvedTones

Other than trans fats, there really aren't "no so healthy foods". You can have an overall not so healthy diet but you can fill the extra with just about anything. mfp uses percentages for macros (unless you are a paid member) but you really don't suddenly specifically need more protein, fat or carbs because you are upping your calories. I get enough protein, a little low on fats and eat a lot of carbs, many of them sweets. I am active and pretty fit with a BMI of 24. I am not saying you should eat like I do, just that there is more flexibility and you can fill that new void with pretty much anything you want.

Congrats on the success and I hope you have the wedding of your dreams.

AnnPT77

Since you're considering losing a bit more, one option might be to gradually increase calories to maintenance, rather than increasing in one big jump. I did this, and adding 100 calories a day, then monitoring for a week or more, was very helpful because I tended to add small enjoyable tweaks to my eating that tended to be more nutritious, rather than just increasing portion sizes across the board, or being tempted to add some major treat food every day.

For example, I'm a vegetarian, so protein is always something I need to pay attention to, and I tend to under-eat fats. One of my additions was putting some hemp & flax seeds in my daily oatmeal, which added some enjoyable crunch as well as a bit of protein and some healthy fats.

Some people do find that their TDEE rises a bit in maintenance, too, so you may find that you can add back a few more mini-steps than you'd guess, over time.

I also eat slightly below my estimated maintenance most days, and over it on other days, which helps with social situations, restaurants, special occasions, etc. That works better for me than consistency.

Welcome to maintenance!

gutsnglory6

Thanks all!

@kommodevaran Your loss and maintenance is inspiring! I've been super inconsistent about many things for the past month (too busy), so I'm trying to build back some of the routine and disciple. Also - I definitely can eat a lot more food than I need to... but I do find that emotionally, I need to readjust what I think of as a "reasonable" meal. I've gotten used to 400-500 cals being the right size, now I need to recalculate those portions (also, I'm not much of a snacker, so don't really add calories that way... well, unless I get into the chips).

@CarvedTones Thanks! I eat everything - but I do find a few hundred extra calories at the end of the day, and I'm inclined to reach for a beer or a dessert. Not that there's anything wrong with having those in moderation, but generally not how I want to be filling my calories.

@iowalinda Thanks and congrats on your success!

@AnnPT77 Thanks! I really like the idea of upping my calories slowly. I think I'm still figuring out exactly what my maintenance calorie level is (close, but still some experimenting to do), so that would be helpful on that front too.

makinemjellis

Faving this cause I’m getting close to my goal weight as well and worried/excited about switching to maintenance calories.