When to switch to maintenance after goal

ChickenKillerPuppy

I weigh myself every day and track on Happy Scale. I first landed in my goal range (125 - 130 is my goal range, I weighed in at 128.6) on February 5th. I am set at losing .5 per week which gives me 1450 calories. I believe when I switch to maintenance I'll get about 1690 (if my memory from playing around is correct).

I didn't switch to maintenance immediately because I knew I'd be travelling a lot through out February both for work and pleasure, and knew I'd see some fluctuations (which indeed I did). I have been back one week since the last of that group of travelling and I"m back at goal for 3 days in a row now. Should I see if I weigh in at goal for the whole week before I switch to maintenance or just take the plunge? I know I have a tendency to under-eat because of fear of gaining weight so I need a little time to get used to the higher calorie allowance. For whatever it's worth, here are my weigh-ins for February (the jump on 2/18 is after being on vacation for 4 days with long plane trips each way so I'm coming off of that over the next few days and there are a few gaps for other work travel days):

2/1: 132.2
2/2: 131.6
2/3: 131.6
2/4: 130.8
2/5: 128.6
2/7: 130
2/8: 129.2
2/10: 130.2
2/13: 130.2
2/14: 129.2
2/18: 136.6
2/19: 135
2/20: 133
2/21: 131.4
2/22: 130
2/23: 129.8
2/24: 128.6

I would be grateful for anyone's input. I feel like I should switch officially to maintenance but I guess mentally I'm trying to give myself "wiggle room" in case the scale goes up and considering I'm not at the bottom of my range, so I don't know if I need to be solid in the goal range for a week or two before I switch.

amtyrell

Switch now. The difference of 0.5 lbs a week is only 250 calories. Switch. Keep tracking calories and weight. If trend goes above what you like you know how and can start cutting again.

Congratulations!!!!woohooo happy dance

cwolfman13

Keep in mind that maintenance is a range, not one specific weight. You are going to have fluctuations up and down that occur naturally. Nobody weighs exactly XXX Lbs all of the time.

kgirlhart

Your weight will always fluctuate, so it is best to set a goal range. Looking at your data a range of 128 - 132 might be good. As long as your trend weight is in that range then you are maintaining at goal range. It is fine to go right up to the new calorie level, or if you prefer you can start by adding 100 calories per day until you stop losing weight.

ChickenKillerPuppy

I should have been more clear - I do understand my weight will always fluctuate (as evidenced by my weight in February) and I maintained my goal range for 3 years at a few years ago (and then gained 30 pounds of it back). My goal RANGE is 125-130. So I guess the question is, I'm in my range but I'm not at the bottom of my range. Time to switch over now or safer to get a little lower in the range so I have more wiggle room?

cmriverside

I didn't do those last ten pounds perfectly - don't know about you.

I stopped eating at deficit when I was just halfway through my acceptable weight loss goal range. My goal was 140-145, I increased my calorie goal on here at 142, but I hadn't been sticking to it anyway - I was hungry.

To be honest I couldn't stay at that deficit anyway. I had no choice but to increase. I was set at 1500 while losing the last 15. I raised my calories to 1700 but I know for a fact that is low. I maintain on 2000-2200 Net. So technically I have a 250-300 calorie buffer/deficit all the time. Most days I eat at 2000 Net. I prefer this, "fake deficit," as I tend to slow my roll a lot easier when I see it approaching the red.

Just about every day is in the red for me.

AnnPT77

ChickenKillerPuppy wrote: »

I should have been more clear - I do understand my weight will always fluctuate (as evidenced by my weight in February) and I maintained my goal range for 3 years at a few years ago (and then gained 30 pounds of it back). My goal RANGE is 125-130. So I guess the question is, I'm in my range but I'm not at the bottom of my range. Time to switch over now or safer to get a little lower in the range so I have more wiggle room?

Maybe add 50 daily calories, wait a week or so, add another 50, repeat until weight stabilizes?

You'll lose a little more weight, avoid much of a scale jump from glycogen replenishment and increased average digestive system contents (a benefit if you're anxious), you might see a little NEAT increase . . . kinda coast into maintenance?

For myself, I liked the "slow add to reach maintenance" approach because it encouraged me to think in terms of small nutritious tweaks to my eating, avoiding my natural hedonistic inclination to add one big daily treat.

sijomial

ChickenKillerPuppy wrote: »

Time to switch over now or safer to get a little lower in the range so I have more wiggle room?

"Safer"?
Sorry I don't get that - where's the danger?

You are in your chosen maintenance range so maintain. You will no doubt have to make weight/calorie adjustments in the months and years to come and that doesn't mean a binary choice between maintenance or full on diet mode.

You can switch to what you think is maintenance calorie level in one go or in increments if you prefer (manually set a calorie goal). You might even find what you think will be maintenance level actually isn't and you have to adjust upwards.

Congrats on getting to goal, enjoy it. :flowerforyou:

spiriteagle99

I continued to lose weight after I began maintenance and ended up under weight. As Ann suggested, gradually increasing your daily/weekly calories is a good way to determine your actual calorie needs and to get used to a new level of eating.

jeagogo

I slowly transitioned from the calories to lose .5 lb/week towards my maintenance calories once I was within 5-10 lbs of my goal weight. I added 50-100 calories each week since the gradual transition felt less jarring, and it also gave me some time to play around and find out how accurate MFP's maintenance estimate really was for me.

vc3jvaughn

Just offering a different perspective here.
Do you like your body?
Then congrats maintain it.
Do you think you'd like it more with a couple less pounds?
Then do that because being so near it would only take a few weeks. I haven't hit maintenance yet but I heard it's impossible not to sin some weight from water and simply having more food in your body all the time so maybe think about that too? To me it's just basically are you happy or not?