Losing weight in maintenance

gutsnglory6

Hi all,

I entered maintenance around the start of the month, and kept losing. Two weeks later it was clearly a trend, so I upped my calories again and I’m still losing. I’m not complaining, but also don’t want to get much smaller than where I’m at now.

Clearly the simple answer is that I still haven’t found my maintenance calorie level and I need to keep eating more, but I’ve actually been los my at a faster rate than when I was actively trying to be at a deficit.

Another easy answer is that I’m exercising more (and I wish I could say I was, but I’m not).

I had one of those indulgent weekends where I didn’t do a great job of tracking, definitely went over, etc and I’m down two pounds.

I know the easy answer is to eat more (and trust me, I’m very, very happy to do that) but I’m kind of worried this is just a blip and that if I start eating more, it will end up catching up with me. (Four days does not equal a trend, necessarily)

Did anything like this happen to you? How long would you wait at a certain calorie level before deciding you needed to go higher?

DanSanthomes

It took me 4 weeks before I stopped losing, then about same again until it 'settled down'. Found maintenance hard to get used to at first as I didn't have a target to make sure I came in under - just one I felt I had to hit precisely :-)

I believe 2 weeks gives you long enough to 'fluctuate' before you know whether to lower or raise - not an exact science and patience seems to be one of the skills you need more than anything else.

Good thing is I now know that, at the right weight, I need 1950 cals a day to maintain. If I hit around about that (as a weekly total) I stay exactly the same weight, week in, week out and so on.

Good luck.

gutsnglory6

@DanSanthomes thanks. This is super helpful.

I agree it’s been hard (more mentally than anything to “hit” the right number. Trying to focus more on weekly averages than anything.

ITUSGirl51

Take it as it comes. It will settle down. Maybe start going out for a nice meal on the weekend and it will take care of the deficit during the week.

I started maintenance 4 months ago and have lost 5 lbs and that time included a very fattening cruise in June. I wanted to lose 5 more lbs, but it was getting too hard to be in a real deficit, so I’m really happy. That 5 lbs made a big difference with how my tops are fitting.

briscogun

Yes maintenance is in some ways actually harder than weight loss but you just have to get used to the idea and how to manage it. I try to keep my diet good and I've added more calories and full-fat ingredients in my day, but I also will let myself enjoy way more things than I used to and let it "even out" over time. So last Saturday I went out and ate a huge meal, enjoyed the heck out of it. Next day I got back on track and its already evened back out for me. A few days I'm up, a few days I'm down, and I just sort of hang around in my "range" and its all good!

Very odd concept after losing for so long, but this is why we spend all that time losing is so we can live our lives in a new way, but that also means you can eat more if you want to and not feel guilty!

I still track (most days) so I still try to be accountable, but if I miss a meal I don't flip[ out. Get a weight trending app too it'll be much easier on your psyche! Good luck!

LiftHeavyThings27105

gutsnglory6 wrote: »

Hi all,

I entered maintenance around the start of the month, and kept losing. Two weeks later it was clearly a trend, so I upped my calories again and I’m still losing. I’m not complaining, but also don’t want to get much smaller than where I’m at now.

Clearly the simple answer is that I still haven’t found my maintenance calorie level and I need to keep eating more, but I’ve actually been los my at a faster rate than when I was actively trying to be at a deficit.

Another easy answer is that I’m exercising more (and I wish I could say I was, but I’m not).

I had one of those indulgent weekends where I didn’t do a great job of tracking, definitely went over, etc and I’m down two pounds.

I know the easy answer is to eat more (and trust me, I’m very, very happy to do that) but I’m kind of worried this is just a blip and that if I start eating more, it will end up catching up with me. (Four days does not equal a trend, necessarily)

Did anything like this happen to you? How long would you wait at a certain calorie level before deciding you needed to go higher?

Good afternoon! Might I ask a few questions?

1. How did you determine your maintenance caloric intake?
2. Are you logging your food? And, by logging, I really mean "tracking" or "counting calories"?
3. Are you also hitting your macros (macro-nutrients: Proteins, Carbs, Fats, Fiber)?
4. So, using the TDEE way (and not the MFP way) - has your N.E.A.T. changed (one way or the other)?
5. If I am to assume that you are tracking your food, how are you measuring?

Anyway, just some starters....

I know that when I first started I was HORRIBLE at tracking | counting calories as my measuring was way off.

And, finding your maintenance is really rough....in that you need an extreme amount of patience for this! It really is "start somewhere....wait....adjust....wait....adjust....wait...adjust....wait"!

cwolfman13

gutsnglory6 wrote: »

Hi all,

I entered maintenance around the start of the month, and kept losing. Two weeks later it was clearly a trend, so I upped my calories again and I’m still losing. I’m not complaining, but also don’t want to get much smaller than where I’m at now.

Clearly the simple answer is that I still haven’t found my maintenance calorie level and I need to keep eating more, but I’ve actually been los my at a faster rate than when I was actively trying to be at a deficit.

Another easy answer is that I’m exercising more (and I wish I could say I was, but I’m not).

I had one of those indulgent weekends where I didn’t do a great job of tracking, definitely went over, etc and I’m down two pounds.

I know the easy answer is to eat more (and trust me, I’m very, very happy to do that) but I’m kind of worried this is just a blip and that if I start eating more, it will end up catching up with me. (Four days does not equal a trend, necessarily)

Did anything like this happen to you? How long would you wait at a certain calorie level before deciding you needed to go higher?

This isn't particularly unusual and it happened to me. I was losing extremely slowly on about 2000 calories and decided to just go to maintenance figuring it would be around 2300 tops which was kinda sad because I'm a male and I was working out regularly and I figured a male should be at least 2500 calories for not doing much.

I started upping my calories and started to lose again at a faster rate. Kept going up and up and up and finally topped out at between 2800-3000 calories before I actually maintained.

I dropped about 6 more pound in the process but then put 3 back on which I attribute to my glycogen stores being topped off and more water from higher carbs.

There are a few things at play here I think. For one, when you are in a prolonged diet, your hormones get all jacked up, including raised cortisol levels from the stress dieting puts on your body. These jacked up hormones inhibit fat loss...when you start eating more, it hits the reset button on your hormones, decreases cortisol, etc.

Secondly, for myself, while I wasn't working out more, I was working out better. My workouts improved and I had more energy...they were just better and I was going faster on my runs and adding weight to the barbell again.

I also noticed that I just had more energy in general whereas before I had gotten a bit lethargic with fatigue from prolonged dieting. I moved more in general and had a harder time sitting still or just sitting around...I was more fidgety, etc.

sgt1372

I've lost 8# while in maintenance over the past 20 months from 160 (my goal weight) to 152 now.

The reason is quite clear. I always eat below my day calorie goal (usually 50-100 cals less) even though I have continued to raise the daily goal from 1650 at the start to 1850 now, but this minor loss does not concern me because I still like what I see and I don't think that my current weight is too light for me.

However, 150 is my red line and when I get there I'll start eating more and/or exercising less in order to prevent any further loss.