Maintaining slightly above original goal

SCoil123
SCoil123 Posts: 2,111 Member
edited December 21 in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I’m wondering how many others have rebounded a little after switching to maintenance and then just decided to stay at the slightly higher weight.

My maintenance goal was a range of 150-155lb but when I got there I rebounded back up a little when I stopped eating at a deficit. I’m now maintaining pretty easily at 155-160lb. I’m not sure how much it really matters. The only part that bothers me is that 160 is 1lb outside my healthy BMI range.

Has anyone else here been in a similar situation? If so did you decide to work back to your original goal or just stay where you were and maintain a little higher?
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Replies

  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    I'm getting there haha! I've been maintaining a couple years 133-135 and for the last month or two it's a couple of pounds above that. It's a bit frustrating intellectually but I'm making peace with it.
  • pierinifitness
    pierinifitness Posts: 2,226 Member
    I feel more comfortable being at the lower end of my 5-lb. maintenance range and maintain accordingly.
  • gvizzle74
    gvizzle74 Posts: 123 Member
    I actually hit my goal weight and then lost a few more pounds while i was trying to figure out my maintenance calories - that took longer than expected. Since i've started strength training i focus on measurements instead of weight.
  • brenn24179
    brenn24179 Posts: 2,144 Member
    I go up 3-4 lbs and back down, hard to stay at my low end when you love to eat
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,099 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    SCoil123 wrote: »
    I’m wondering how many others have rebounded a little after switching to maintenance and then just decided to stay at the slightly higher weight.

    My maintenance goal was a range of 150-155lb but when I got there I rebounded back up a little when I stopped eating at a deficit. I’m now maintaining pretty easily at 155-160lb. I’m not sure how much it really matters. The only part that bothers me is that 160 is 1lb outside my healthy BMI range.

    Has anyone else here been in a similar situation? If so did you decide to work back to your original goal or just stay where you were and maintain a little higher?

    It's pretty normal for your weight to go up when you go into maintenance and consume more calories...for one, you are topping off glycogen stores...you're also going to likely have more inherent waste in your system from consuming more food. If you were low carb or lower carb and start consuming more carbs, this can be even more drastic given that you will hold onto more water with more carbs.

    True @cwolfman13 . I personally have large water shifts because of my large weight loss. OP, nothing wrong with gaining some to make like more bearable! Trust me on that! :D
  • SCoil123
    SCoil123 Posts: 2,111 Member
    Thank you all for responding. Last time around I maintained for 3yr at about 10lb lighter than I am now but I didn’t commute and had a more active job. I also didn’t lift then though too. I guess in the grand scheme of things I’m happy where I’m at and definitely stronger so I won’t stress on the number
  • steveko89
    steveko89 Posts: 2,223 Member
    MikePTY wrote: »
    apullum wrote: »
    Unless you have some medical reason why you really *must* be in your "optimal" BMI range at all times, then an occasional fluctuation of 1 pound above it probably does not matter. What matters more is where you are happy maintaining and able to maintain long term. I think it's better to maintain easily and happily at a slightly higher weight, rather than struggling to maintain at a lower weight.

    Yes. BMI is a legitimate measurement, but it's also a general range. It's not as if when you cross that line into overweight you are magically unhealthy vs one pound under it you are magically healthy. The only difference between the two weights is psychological. If you are happy maintaining where you are, there is no need to us the BMI as a cut off line.

    It may have bearing on health and/or life insurance. I don't really put much stock in it beyond that; I know I don't like my body composition at the higher end of "healthy" BMI so I generally stay a good bit below that.

    To directly address the OP's question I've maintained above my original goal weight but have improved my body composition at that higher weight. I originally targeted 165 lbs, a weight which I'd hit and maintained fairly well as a young adult, and ultimately hit a low weight of 159 and maintained <170 for two years, then eventually creeping up to 170-175. From there I got into weight lifting and haven't dropped below 170 since.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    I think it's perfectly understandable to settle on a little higher than you originally thought!

    I think finding the perfect "maintenance" weight is a balancing act - finding the weight where you are happy with how you look, you are healthy, and you can easily maintain the lifestyle required to stay there.

    I went a little differently in that I got to my goal weight and determined that to look the way I'd imagined, I'd probably need to lose another 5-10 lbs. But I'm generally still happy with this weight and comfortable in the lifestyle that keeps me here, so I decided to hang out here for awhile. Maybe the mood will strike again someday and I'll go for the next 5 pounds :tongue:
  • SummerSkier
    SummerSkier Posts: 5,192 Member
    SCoil123 wrote: »
    I’m wondering how many others have rebounded a little after switching to maintenance and then just decided to stay at the slightly higher weight.

    My maintenance goal was a range of 150-155lb but when I got there I rebounded back up a little when I stopped eating at a deficit. I’m now maintaining pretty easily at 155-160lb. I’m not sure how much it really matters. The only part that bothers me is that 160 is 1lb outside my healthy BMI range.

    Has anyone else here been in a similar situation? If so did you decide to work back to your original goal or just stay where you were and maintain a little higher?

    Of course the answer is whatever YOU feel best at. But to me it's a slippery slope. First you change your range a little then you creep up and change it again. Before you know it you need to lose 20 again. if you don't have a history of regaining perhaps this is a good idea but only you can know the answer. In my opinion this is perhaps a pretty common way for us to fail at maintaining. But we are in it for the LONG term so if you hold this weight for a few months and are happy and feel good than it might be YOUR perfect range.

    Just another viewpoint. It sounds like you are happy and stable where you are.



  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    brenn24179 wrote: »
    I go up 3-4 lbs and back down, hard to stay at my low end when you love to eat

    Same here
  • Audreyonfire
    Audreyonfire Posts: 15 Member
    I'm finding the same thing. I bounce up and down. I'm actually in a kind of pre-maintenance. I want to maintain my lowest weight until the end of the year. I'm about 20 pounds from where I ultimately want to be but I feel good where I am now so I'm in no hurry. I think for me, a lot of it has to do with water weight because I have to add salt and drink salty broth due to issues with leg cramps. Ugghh! Maintaining does seem harder than actually losing.
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,099 Member
    SCoil123 wrote: »
    I’m personally a fan of BMI which is why going even slightly above is something I have paid attention to. Most people I’ve seen who think it doesn’t apply to them have never been within a healthy BMI range. That said, I’m going to try not to stress on it anymore.

    Instead I will continue improving my fitness and chasing those goals over a set number now.

    This is me slightly shiver healthy BMI range. Taken at the gym a week agoyn6qj3pga8wf.jpeg

    I'm not in a similar situation but I just wanted to tell you that I think you look great. Awesome, actually. Your arms look spectacular. I think that whether you decide to stick to this weight or drop, you'll look beautiful.

    You look very healthy! 😁
  • MadisonMolly2017
    MadisonMolly2017 Posts: 11,157 Member
    This has been a helpful thread, as I declared maintenance at 153lb 5’9” at the same time I switched to lifting weights /wt machines & Ex bike with increasingly higher resistance/treadmill daily instead of 70 min walks and some stretching/light free wts.

    I’m still trying to decide if the increased exercise increased my wt 1-2 lbs or if I’m eating more.

    I agree with @SummerSkier that it’s a slippery slope.

    I stopped exercising with a bad cold, and wt dropped back to 153 over 9-10 days. But I also are less.

    I’m 2 months into maintenance & I keep reading it takes time to figure it out. To remove a variable, I plan to eat at home only mid-July to mid-August & try to determine what I should be eating on avg daily.
  • Phirrgus
    Phirrgus Posts: 1,894 Member
    176 was my original goal and I'm maintaining ~180ish. 3-4lbs seems to be the magic number lol.
  • Addictead
    Addictead Posts: 66 Member
    I've been struggling with the same, I called goal at 125 but rapidly gained up to 130 and have been maintaining 128-133 since then which is a bmi of 23-24 for me, I'm pretty sure most of it is water/glycogen/food from eating more/late night snacks because I've been eating right and it's holding steady and has since May so I'm not too worried because stable weight is better than erratic eating. But I'd be lying if I didn't say it bothered me a bit to be higher than I wanted and have thought is "optimal" weight.
  • wendyheath32
    wendyheath32 Posts: 74 Member
    I'm currently maintaining at around 162lbs which is in my maintainance range( I have 7 lb window as my weight can fluctuate) but fluctuates wildly. For the first 8 months of maintainance my weight sat around 154 and then it went up and now it's going down again ( though I am in a very slight calorie deficit atm. In my head I need to sort it so I am literally loosing 3 lbs ). Don't really mind about bmi, mine is in the *normal range* so happy with that.
  • umbramirror
    umbramirror Posts: 256 Member
    SCoil123 wrote: »
    While I feel good at my current weight I did decide to go back to a deficit temporarily to drop 10 more lbs. I just want more of a cushion to always stay in my BMI range.

    That’s the great thing about this journey and process - we can adjust our goals at any time 🙂

    Let us know how it goes. :)
    I agree. It's great that goals are constantly changing. Isn't that how it should be so that we are always improving ourselves? ;)
  • SCoil123
    SCoil123 Posts: 2,111 Member
    SCoil123 wrote: »
    While I feel good at my current weight I did decide to go back to a deficit temporarily to drop 10 more lbs. I just want more of a cushion to always stay in my BMI range.

    That’s the great thing about this journey and process - we can adjust our goals at any time 🙂

    Let us know how it goes. :)
    I agree. It's great that goals are constantly changing. Isn't that how it should be so that we are always improving ourselves? ;)

    I will absolutely update as I go
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