Maintenance mentality

hitmeister

OK, so I've reached my goal. I've lost 60 lbs over 2 years. I've reset my goal on MFP to "Maintain Current Weight". I know exactly how many calories I'm supposed to consume each day. The problem is that it's virtually impossible to hit the exact number. I'm always going to be over or under by a little.

The problem with this is that it's hard to accept going over. I'd always rather err on the side of being under. But if I stay under every day, even a little bit, I'm going to slowly keep on losing weight instead of maintaining. Yet, I'm afraid that, if I start allowing myself to go over, I'll start getting into bad habits and get back into overeating.

Know what I'm saying?

kae_blah

This is one of the best features of the mobile app. There is a weekly view so you can balance out the under and over amounts across 7 days,

This is much more realistic as there are always the days where you eat out for dinner, and days where you eat light and exercise a lot.

kluvit

As 'kae' said, look at it on a weekly basis, and just make sure that you're under for the week. Also, continue to weigh; set a "maximum acceptible weight," and adjust your calories to a deficit if you reach that limit to ensure that you don't continue in the wrong direction. I still weigh almost daily, and if I'm up 2-3 pounds for a few days in a row, I drop my calories by about 100 per day to get back on track. Also, just for buffer, I set my "maintenance" calorie goal at about 90 calories under my calculated maintenance calories. At this rate, I should lose about 0.2 pounds per week -- a cushion to ensure maintenance if I go over slightly.

caseythirteen

I agree with looking at it as a weekly whole. Our bodies don't operate on 24 hour clocks. It's really the big picture that matters the most. Also, if you feel like you struggle with going over the calorie limit but want to stick to the maintenance level, than a suggestion would be to customize your numbers and add maybe 50 calories to maintenance. That way you can be under and mentally be glad for that, but still be closer to actual maintenance.

TavistockToad

OK, so I've reached my goal. I've lost 60 lbs over 2 years. I've reset my goal on MFP to "Maintain Current Weight". I know exactly how many calories I'm supposed to consume each day. The problem is that it's virtually impossible to hit the exact number. I'm always going to be over or under by a little.

The problem with this is that it's hard to accept going over. I'd always rather err on the side of being under. But if I stay under every day, even a little bit, I'm going to slowly keep on losing weight instead of maintaining. Yet, I'm afraid that, if I start allowing myself to go over, I'll start getting into bad habits and get back into overeating.

Know what I'm saying?

you may also want to consider that MFP estimates low for maintenance, my maintenance figure is actually about 200 cals above what MFP would have me believe.

try looking at weekly or even monthly figures, not daily... you need to eat 3500 calories OVER maintenance to gain a pound of actual fat... going over a couple of times a week by 200 cals will not make you gain weight....

kristina1709

I never thought to look at my calories as a weekly whole. Thank's for that suggestion! Time to sit down and figure out numbers!

brynnsmom

Try not to worry so much about hitting a number, just make sure you track everything. I really like to let my calorie intake fluctuate. Having days when I am under means I needn't feel guilty on the days I exceed my goal.

nxd10

I do know what you're saying, but you won't keep losing if you really are at a good natural weight for you. You'll get hungry and eat a bit more. When you're starting to get too thin your body tends to hold onto calories more dearly and you won't keep dropping. It's why we all slow down when we get close to our 'ideal' weight.

WORRY ABOUT THE WEEK GOALS not the day. You can't average at your target calories unless some days you're over.

JesterMFP

I agree with looking at it as a weekly target rather than a daily one, and the fact that it is unlikely to be exactly what MFP suggests anyway (it underestimates my TDEE).

Other than that, the best way to learn that it doesn't matter if you go over that number a little is to prove it to yourself. You're just going to have to do it, as uncomfortable as it is, and prove to yourself that going over by 10, 50, 100 calories in a day isn't going to make you suddenly gain weight. Your daily needs will fluctuate, as will your weight. Look at it as a goal weight range, and a daily calorie range, and you'll be much more relaxed. When you're maintaining, you really have to let go of absolute numbers or you'll drive yourself crazy.

NovemberJune

oops double post

NovemberJune

I never care about going over for a day, but try to be under for the week. So I'm under half the time and over half the time. If you are always a little under, or if you are still losing and don't want to, you might want to manually up your calories by 100-200 and see how your weight does after a few weeks of that? Congrats on meeting your goal!

hitmeister

Thanks, everyone, for the great suggestions. My next question is: How do you get those graphics to appear in your posts?

callandert

Go to the Community Tab, then go to Settings. Once you hit that..it will ask you to a check a box to have your Tickerbox show up after your posts. Congrats on reaching your goal!

callandert

Me again...they actually refer to it as My Fitness Pal Ticker (not tickerbox)...LOL

hitmeister

Thanks. Now, let's test it out. The only problem is that I'd been on a weight loss program for about a year before I found MFP, so my ticker won't show the total amount that I've lost.

annakow

I am nearly at my goal and thinking how to do it, I am struggling to eat 1200, what about more to keep my weight? lol its going to be a challenge, nice post!! thanks

Seesawboomerang

I would certainly advise getting past that mentality that going in the red is bad - the same way you shouldn't focus too heavily on a scale reading.

Think of it this way. Your goal weight loss - if you went past that you wouldn't get upset would you? So your daily goal is just that. A goal. You can fall short or go over, it doesn't matter.

As long as you are being more or less regular in the calories you take in and burn it's all good. Like others say, watching the week's progress is easier.

It's just that big red bar the moment you make zero. It doesn't help the panic, but a few 100 cals either way is really not a problem, especially if the food is all nutritionally sound and you are exercising routinely.

leadiax3

Yes. Me too. I stay under my cals and i lost 2 pounds that should have stayed on my body. Its hard to accept meeting ur cal budget and harder to accept going over it! Remembering that if you did gain a couple pounds it is easy enough to lose them again helps my mentality.

leadiax3

I like that idea!

JenNuma

Bump... I'm getting close... Will watch this thread for ideas. Good Luck to you!

Evamutt

set yourself a maintenance range, it can be 5-10 lbs because our weight fluctuates every day. If it's in that range it's all good. example is if your 150lbs, your rate can be 150-157. The weekly one is good too. If you get the Happy Scale app, it does it for you

mtaratoot

@Evamutt

You do realize you resurrected a decade-old thread and that the original poster has not been active here for over seven years, right?

rosiekin

I'm in my 10th year of maintenance, and I agree with all the posts about having a weekly target. It took me a while to get on board with this as I HATED being in the red, but as time has gone on, I am more relaxed about the number. I find this gives me much more flexibility in my eating. As a rule I tend to eat more at the weekend, so I try to have a couple of lower days during the week to give me more calories for the weekend. Maintenance is definitely not without its' struggles, but give it time, try different things, and hopefully you'll find a system/eating plan that works well for you.

rosiekin

mtaratoot wrote: »

@Evamutt

You do realize you resurrected a decade-old thread and that the original poster has not been active here for over seven years, right?

Oops 🤣! Oh well, hopefully some other members might find the replies/posts useful, and the original poster is happily maintaining!

mtaratoot

rosiekin wrote: »

mtaratoot wrote: »

@Evamutt

You do realize you resurrected a decade-old thread and that the original poster has not been active here for over seven years, right?

Oops 🤣! Oh well, hopefully some other members might find the replies/posts useful, and the original poster is happily maintaining!

Well, now that it's active again... yeah maybe.

I use a spreadsheet to keep track of my daily calorie goals. My goal in general is to be within 10% of my daily goal every day and ideally within 5% of my weekly average goal. For sure I go out of that range. This week I had a day 25% over, but I still ended up fairly close to my weekly average. Over time, if I eat above my weekly goal, I will gain weight... like I'm doing now....

This is in addition to the spreadsheet that looks at my weight as a moving average even though I get on the scale every day.

Guess what? Being over on my weekly calories for several weeks in a row has resulted in my average weight to increase over time. Just as expected.

csplatt

keep in mind that none of us have perfect calculations. we will always either be a little over or a little under! our weight tends to be a range, up or down 3-5 lbs from where we want to be. it’s impossible to be one single weight every single day.

Evamutt

I hope this becomes active again because it's hard to find maintainers groups and isn't the goal of weight loss to maintain? We could all use some support & share no matter what stage we're at. It could also help those who are still in the losing stage some ideas & glimpses of what it's like to maintain.

Sinisterbarbie1

I am mostly doing the same thing that I did to lose, except at a very, very slightly higher calorie level (maybe 200 extra calories a day). So I am continuing to track my food and continuing to eat pretty much the same way I was eating. I have upped my exercise a bit because I lost more muscle than I intended to (I lost more than 40 lbs before joining MFP and 30 since counting some intentional regain), but with the extra calories and strength training that is coming back fine.
I think the key is realizing that you don’t really make any significant changes in maintenance from the way you are eating when you are losing — if you have lost to a healthy weight at a healthy pace without cutting calories too steeply you won’t keep losing because your body will need the calories to maintain the weight where you are. That said, I eat what many people here would consider a low calorie level for maintenance

Evamutt

Sinisterbarbie1 wrote: »

I am mostly doing the same thing that I did to lose, except at a very, very slightly higher calorie level (maybe 200 extra calories a day). So I am continuing to track my food and continuing to eat pretty much the same way I was eating. I have upped my exercise a bit because I lost more muscle than I intended to (I lost more than 40 lbs before joining MFP and 30 since counting some intentional regain), but with the extra calories and strength training that is coming back fine.
I think the key is realizing that you don’t really make any significant changes in maintenance from the way you are eating when you are losing — if you have lost to a healthy weight at a healthy pace without cutting calories too steeply you won’t keep losing because your body will need the calories to maintain the weight where you are. That said, I eat what many people here would consider a low calorie level for maintenance

same here, I did nothing new except add more calories of the same foods I was already eating. I still weigh & log my food, I'm not good at guesstimating, I could very well gain weight if I don't keep intentionally aware of what I eat. I have learned more ,(I"m always learning) with experimenting, what things keep me satiated & have always added rather than took foods away.
The thing that still can be a challenge for me is to stop eating when I'm done & get get seconds or something else but wait 20 minutes to see if I really want more. I ate healthy before but too much of it & ate till I felt full for many years so now I get up from table & do something else for a few minutes

best4menow

I will be following this thread as I get ready for maintenance. Maintenance has always been the hardest part for me and I guess for a lot of people. I was on a different program for nearly a year and had lost about 80 pounds before I started with MFP. I have lost about 30 pounds since then. I try to eat well and I walk some every day. I have a knee that I hope to get replaced in about a month. I also have chronic back problems that sometimes means I have to do my steps in short spurts. In my whole life I have not been able to keep lost weight off permanently.
I am determined to do better this time, but frankly maintenance scares me😢. I have less than 5 pounds to go to meet my goal.
This is important to me to help keep my "numbers" in a healthy range for my age(76). Any help here will be appreciated.

Evamutt

@best4menow I'm impressed you walking with your knee & back. Hopefully you'll have a full recovery with your knee. great you have 5 lbs to go. May I ask why do you think you gained back in the past & what are you doing differently now?