How did you transition to maintenance

hmhill17

I'm 15 pounds from goal. My plan was always to stay at 1.5 pounds a week until I hit goal and then switch to maintenance. But looking at maintenance calories compared to current calories and that seems like a lot of calories. I was thinking switch the goal to 1 pound a week and get used to that.
Of course, I almost never eat back all my exercise calories according to MFP. This is deliberate on my part because I don't trust the calorie calculator in the recipes or exercise 100%. Even when I check the USDA site, there can be 5 different numbers for apparently identical items.
Did you taper off your weight loss to maintenance or go "cold turkey" with your weight loss?

ElizabethKalmbach

I'm trying to creep my weight back down by only .5 lbs per week, but as my NEAT creeps up, I keep having to adjust my calories up by 100 calories/day/week. Because I'm going so slowly, I have a really good idea of what exercise calories are roughly correct for me and which ones are not. Over time, everything has averaged out or I've been able to make mental adjustments for things that are too egregiously off to fade into background noise.

Because I only have about 250-300 lbs/day more to add to my daily eating to get back to maintenance, I could just jump into maintenance cold turkey, but I'll probably creep my calories back up by 100 or 50cal/day/week as I have been all along. It might mean I lose an extra half pound or pound, but those will get lost in the rest of the numbers over time and habits will control where I settle.

wifeoferp

I would taper by about 100 calories every two weeks or so... you will be able to gauge more easily what your actual maintenance is. Also many people find that they gain a couple of pounds initially if they just jump up to higher calories. However if it was me I would also wait until I was much closer to my goal weight. Like only a pound or two away.
Good luck!

nighthawk584

1.5 lbs is too aggressive with only 15 lbs to lose.. I'm only about 5 lbs from maintenance but have my setting only to lose .5 lb per week. I started this at around 15 from maintenance. I want to ease into it slow and also not just up my calories all at once at maintenance either.

SummerSkier

Here is a great discussion on this topic for you.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10638211/how-to-find-your-maintenance-calorie-level/p1

cmriverside

Yeah, I would go to "lose 1/2 pound per week" at this point. I lost my last 15 pounds set at that and when I eased into maintenance I didn't gain any weight, my hormones and habits were already stable, and it was a very smooth and easy transition.

sardelsa

I was losing 0.5lb per week and once I hit goal I started to add calories. My body naturally increases NEAT in response to more calories so I take it really slow and steady. It usually takes about two weeks for me to hit maintenance. Since you are still losing quite fast without a lot to lose I would start to increase calories to lose 1lb per week, then 0.5lb to help ease the transition to maintenance.

hmhill17

Thanks all. Set myself for 1 pound a week today. I’ll do that for 5 pounds and then drop to .5. And I may go past my current goal just to see if I can. I’ll still be well within my healthy weight range so why not.

sijomial

I lost at a pound a week and simply switched directly to maintenance when I got to goal.
But my method doesn't suit everyone, many prefer a taper either before goal, after goal or both.
A pound a week for an averaged sized (or bigger) male really shouldn't be a problem as it's well under the often recommended 1% per week but do think how you will allocate those extra calories.

Similar to others my initial maintenance calories were a bit suppressed and a month later I started to lose at the same calories so had to bump up a bit to compensate, a pleasant surprise to maintain at a higher than expected allowance.

Time for you to think about how you will account for exercise long term as you do have to when maintaining, the database here often isn't the best choice.

gothchiq

slowly, slowly increase calories to your calculated maintenance amount, and monitor weight so that you can increase or decrease if you notice a gain or loss creeping in.

AnnPT77

Close to what others have said about gradually slowing loss intentionally as goal weight got closer, with the exception that I never went all the way to maintenance calories.

I decided I wanted to "calorie bank": Eat a little under maintenance most days, in order to have a more indulgent meal or day once a week or so. Seems to be working out fine so far, currently in year 4+ of maintenance, losing ultra-slowly now (less than a pound a month) to drop a few pounds within healthy range (BMI 22.2 this morning).

Keep in mind that it's a good plan to think of maintenance as a range of weights, encompassing your normal day to day fluctuations. Just like while losing, what matters is the trend, it's just that you want a horizontal trend now, instead of a downhill one. Day to day is still ups and downs (which may look a little more dramatic than during loss, since they're sitting on top of the level trend in the background rather than a dropping trend).

kristen8000

I'd slowly start eating more. I hit my goal in November of 2019 of 150lbs. Today, I'm 143.7. I've had a really hard time eating more so I can maintain my weight (right now I'm currently at a .5lb/week deficit, losing slowly, but still losing).

It's been a struggle to re-design my eating strategy to get in more calories, not less. I know it's mental and physical and it's going to take some time to work out. Luckily I'm not at the bottom of my healthy BMI.

ElizabethKalmbach

ElizabethKalmbach wrote: »

I'm trying to creep my weight back down by only .5 lbs per week, but as my NEAT creeps up, I keep having to adjust my calories up by 100 calories/day/week. Because I'm going so slowly, I have a really good idea of what exercise calories are roughly correct for me and which ones are not. Over time, everything has averaged out or I've been able to make mental adjustments for things that are too egregiously off to fade into background noise.

Because I only have about 250-300 lbs/day more to add to my daily eating to get back to maintenance, I could just jump into maintenance cold turkey, but I'll probably creep my calories back up by 100 or 50cal/day/week as I have been all along. It might mean I lose an extra half pound or pound, but those will get lost in the rest of the numbers over time and habits will control where I settle.

*sigh* That should read CALORIES, but I'm sure y'all got what I meant. >_<

MikePfirrman

I ate between my maintenance and my weight loss number for around a year. I wanted to have some "fudge factor" in case I made mistakes. If I was gaining, I got more diligent about weighing foods using food scales when possible.

mtaratoot

I will echo the suggestions that, with less than 20 pounds to lose, switch to a half pound a week goal and start to get used to THAT.

Another thing you can play with is figuring out what your maintenance calories will be when you get to your goal weight. If you start slowly working towards THAT number, even now, you will get to maintenance. Maybe even for now maintenance at goal minus 50-100 calories a day; not much, just a little. This sets you up for a soft landing when you get there, and you will if you want to!

I kind of do this same thing if my weight starts climbing up towards the top of my maintenance range; I change my MFP goal to "lose a half pound a week," but I don't actually change my calorie goal. I just keep at it, and I get there. My calorie goal is just a tiny bit below maintenance, and that helps, too. I eat back most or all of my active calories. I go over/under most days and mostly like to be close to goal on a weekly basis since my diet isn't as consistent as some are. I eat all kinds of things that vary from day to day. I love food.

I am curious how much you've already lost and how long it's taken. Maintenance is the long game. Slow down sooner so you don't get whiplash later!

SoHowLongIsThisGonnaTake

Question to those maintaining a while.

Do you eventually stop feeling so cold?

mtaratoot

SoHowLongIsThisGonnaTake wrote: »

Question to those maintaining a while.

Do you eventually stop feeling so cold?

Some time between April and June.

Actually - sort of. I keep my house on the cooler side, so always used to and still do wear more clothes, but I'm not really colder than when I was bigger.

sarabushby

SoHowLongIsThisGonnaTake wrote: »

Question to those maintaining a while.

Do you eventually stop feeling so cold?

I’m so glad to hear you say this, I feel like I’ve been freezing almost every day for the last few weeks since I started a deficit to clear off some of my winter gain. I’m wrapped in blankets now and still feel freezing.

reversemigration

SoHowLongIsThisGonnaTake wrote: »

Question to those maintaining a while.

Do you eventually stop feeling so cold?

Not yet. It's a particular issue with my hands and feet - I have to wear much warmer gloves than previously. I've just accepted that I need to wear more layers than previously.

kcmcbee

SoHowLongIsThisGonnaTake wrote: »

Question to those maintaining a while.

Do you eventually stop feeling so cold?

Ditto! This should be a thread unto itself. Probably get a lot of comments!

sijomial

SoHowLongIsThisGonnaTake wrote: »

Question to those maintaining a while.

Do you eventually stop feeling so cold?

@SoHowLongIsThisGonnaTake

Yes.
Feeling cold seems to be a part of adaptive thermogenesis which does correct itself when you are maintaining for a time.
Similar to people's NEAT often also gets surpressed while dieting and returns to normal when the restriction ends.

If you are maintaining and feeling cold and lethargic/low energy it could be worthwhile experimenting with bumping your calories up a little. You might be surprised that you can maintain weight on a higher allowance.

ReenieHJ

Here I thought it was just me. I usually keep the heat a bit low to conserve oil and save money. Not this year, I'm freezing! I also think I need to invest in winter underwear. I'm glad spring is coming.

AnnPT77

sijomial wrote: »

SoHowLongIsThisGonnaTake wrote: »

Question to those maintaining a while.

Do you eventually stop feeling so cold?

@SoHowLongIsThisGonnaTake

Yes.
Feeling cold seems to be a part of adaptive thermogenesis which does correct itself when you are maintaining for a time.
Similar to people's NEAT often also gets surpressed while dieting and returns to normal when the restriction ends.

If you are maintaining and feeling cold and lethargic/low energy it could be worthwhile experimenting with bumping your calories up a little. You might be surprised that you can maintain weight on a higher allowance.

QFT. Being cold can be more a matter of down-regulation, not so much about "insulation" IME.