Maintaining is turning out to be harder then losing

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dad4192
dad4192 Posts: 21 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Last year about this time I was 252lbs. A few weeks ago I hit my goal of 185, yay me. Since then it has been a battle to maintain. Currently I am sitting at 179lbs. I can not, for the life of me, eat the calories MFP suggests. Right now they say I should be at 2220 calories a day. If I am lucky Ill use maybe 1800-1900 a day now. Ive cut my cardio down by a 1/3 and have doubled my lifting. Not sure what else to do. Any thoughts? Ive been told "eat more" but after 9 months of regimented dieting it's very hard to just add more food.
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Replies

  • HIITMe
    HIITMe Posts: 921 Member
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    by doubling your lifting, you've negated any "maintenance" that cutting your calories would've done...

    in other words, lifting is probably burning more calories than the cardio was.... so you effectively are not eating at maintenance....

    Im with you though, I cant seem to eat enough..... I have found that grazing on some healthy fats & carbs is a help....(cheese, nuts, etc)
  • BIW2012
    BIW2012 Posts: 97 Member
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    I'm not maintaining yet, but I get where you are coming from because some days I have so many exercise calories to eat back, I don't know what to eat. How about healthy foods that are high in fat? Peanut butter (fresh, organic), cheese, nuts etc.

    These foods aren't bulky so it can help you get some extra calories in, without the mental blocks.

    Hope this helps. Well done on reaching goal! xx
  • eating4me
    eating4me Posts: 239 Member
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    I have the same problem, right now. I have been adding several protein shakes to my day, which helps tremendously. Other than that, just try to have more dense calorie foods when you do eat. I know what you mean, though...there are days I just cannot eat another morsel. Who would have thought eating more would be a problem?! LOL
  • pandorakick
    pandorakick Posts: 901 Member
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    Have some cheese for snack or a bit of chocolate, drink juice, milk or *gasp* wine with your dinner. That easily adds another couple of hundred extra calories to your day...
  • vertor81
    vertor81 Posts: 17
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    I would suggest eating more meals a day.
    I had same problem some time ago with reaching my goal of 1800 cal a day now I can easy do 3000 when I do a lot of exercises.
    My solution was to eat more for each meal and add an extra 4th meal during the day between lunch and dinner.
    As long as you are lifting you should still provide a lot of calories with high enough protein and carbs.
  • toutmonpossible
    toutmonpossible Posts: 1,580 Member
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    Eat what you need to stay at your goal weight. Finding the right amount will be trial and error.
  • SJVZEE
    SJVZEE Posts: 451 Member
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    I totally agree-I've been in maintenance since March and since then I've lost another 13.5lbs, while not trying :tongue: It's frustrating because I don't have much more wiggle room, but I'm still losing every week. I've been eating intuitively and also transitioning to a whole foods, plant based diet, but I'm thinking about going back on the plan I did for weight loss (alternate day IF), and following it's maintenance schedule, just to try and get the weight loss to stop. Really was hoping I wouldn't have to do that though, sigh...
  • tomjmul
    tomjmul Posts: 8 Member
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    I had exactly the same starting weight as you and my goal weight is also exactly the same as you - hope to be there in 3 or 4 weeks. Now, for the absolute life of me, I can't comprehend how anyone who got to the same 252 lbs weight, that I got to, can't figure out how to work a few extra calories into their diet. I could quite literally sit here all night and recite a list and certainly Messrs. Ben and Jerry would be lending a hand along the way :tongue:
  • stephs0214
    stephs0214 Posts: 269 Member
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    I just started maintenance a couple of weeks ago and am trying to adjust too. I just weighed myself yesterday and lost another lb. I'm trying to figure out if I should consume more cals. or decrease exercise by a day. I really don't want to cut my exercises since I'm trying to gain muscle and strength, though. Maybe a couple rum&coke zeroes weekly (especially on those crappy days) will help lol.
  • TKRV
    TKRV Posts: 165 Member
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    Eat what you need to stay at your goal weight. Finding the right amount will be trial and error.

    Gah! Trial and error. I am having the same problem. I never had a whole lot to lose in the first place, but I've found that I am 'maintaining' a weight that is 3-4 pounds more than I want it to be. (and by that I mean, I have stayed here and not fluctuated down to my ideal weight)

    Sometimes I want to say that what I have right now is my ideal weight. I look good, I'm happy and healthy. So, it just comes down to the number on the scale. I haven't found a solution yet, but I have been successful in not going over the weight I never want to see again.
  • Seesawboomerang
    Seesawboomerang Posts: 296 Member
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    I'd love to find myself unable to eat all my calories!

    Yes, maintenance is the tricky bit. As was already said - a bit of trial and error to find your ideal input against output.
  • jenmsu83
    jenmsu83 Posts: 185 Member
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    I agree...maintenance has been way more difficult for me than losing weight was. It's not super exciting seeing the scale stay the same week to week. Losing weight was exciting!! Seeing the scale drop was my motivation to keep with it. I am not finding it hard to eat the extra calories (that's the easy part of maintenance for me!) it's just keeping the motivation to continue tracking, weighing food, etc...

    I agree with others that said to add in extra treats here and there...things like wine, peanut butter, cheese, nuts, avocado, etc add up pretty quick.

    Good luck! :smile:
  • Zaniejane
    Zaniejane Posts: 329 Member
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    Add daily calories slowly. Start with 1800 or so for a few weeks or until you are comfortable, then keep adding 100 every two to four weeks. There is no need to rush.
  • crandos
    crandos Posts: 377 Member
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    calorie dense food add olive oil on most things srs lol.
  • TheLongRunner
    TheLongRunner Posts: 688 Member
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    I struggle with this too...because I am a long distance runner I really should be eating a lot to maintain...but I can't keep up. I have added in multiple protein shakes to get my calories up there. It seems to be helping in a variety of ways. :)
  • barrpc
    barrpc Posts: 96
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    You may want to google "leptin" and read about the role it plays in fat storage along with cortisol levels. I have at least 1 day every 10 days where I eat 3000 calories just to let my body know there is enough food out there and there is no need to slow my metabolism down. Of course I run and lift during the week but am keeping my routine the same.
  • katorihanzo
    katorihanzo Posts: 234 Member
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    I agree...maintenance has been way more difficult for me than losing weight was. It's not super exciting seeing the scale stay the same week to week. Losing weight was exciting!! Seeing the scale drop was my motivation to keep with it. I am not finding it hard to eat the extra calories (that's the easy part of maintenance for me!) it's just keeping the motivation to continue tracking, weighing food, etc...

    I agree with others that said to add in extra treats here and there...things like wine, peanut butter, cheese, nuts, avocado, etc add up pretty quick.

    Good luck! :smile:


    I'm not maintaining weight yet but I'm curious about it so often read these threads. I've heard people say it's hard to eat the extra calories (honestly I just can't wait until I can not worry about an extra tablespoon of butter for cooking or eat a whole bagel instead of half) but I definitely get that sticking to one number on the scale will be hard. I plan on letting myself fluctuate 3 lbs each way.

    Anyway, my question is are you guys all planning on tracking/weighing for the rest of your lives? I can see why it would be a good idea.. I think I'll just weigh myself every week and if it goes up or down three lbs THEN I'll start weighing/tracking to gain/lose that weight. I don't know.
  • jojo86xdd
    jojo86xdd Posts: 202 Member
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    add foods high in calories...

    Olive oil= 120-150 per tablespoon
    Avocado= 50-70 per ounce
    Peanut butter= 200 per serving
    Dressings= 100-300 per ounce
    Nutella=200 per serving
    ice cream=130-250 calories per 1/2 cup

    protein shakes, smoothies (add all kinds of fruits + milk=200-500 calories per/12 oz), add peanut butter to these and that's an extra 100-200
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    Fat...cook with more oils/butter...eat nuts and whatnot...nut butters...drink a beer or two...or three...full fat dairy....avocados, etc. You don't have to stuff yourself to get in calories. There are a lot of calorie dense foods out there that are also nutrient dense...also, not every single thing that goes into your pie hole needs to be a nutrient dense food...that's why they call it a pie hole...you can have pie.
  • jenmsu83
    jenmsu83 Posts: 185 Member
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    I agree...maintenance has been way more difficult for me than losing weight was. It's not super exciting seeing the scale stay the same week to week. Losing weight was exciting!! Seeing the scale drop was my motivation to keep with it. I am not finding it hard to eat the extra calories (that's the easy part of maintenance for me!) it's just keeping the motivation to continue tracking, weighing food, etc...

    I agree with others that said to add in extra treats here and there...things like wine, peanut butter, cheese, nuts, avocado, etc add up pretty quick.

    Good luck! :smile:


    I'm not maintaining weight yet but I'm curious about it so often read these threads. I've heard people say it's hard to eat the extra calories (honestly I just can't wait until I can not worry about an extra tablespoon of butter for cooking or eat a whole bagel instead of half) but I definitely get that sticking to one number on the scale will be hard. I plan on letting myself fluctuate 3 lbs each way.

    Anyway, my question is are you guys all planning on tracking/weighing for the rest of your lives? I can see why it would be a good idea.. I think I'll just weigh myself every week and if it goes up or down three lbs THEN I'll start weighing/tracking to gain/lose that weight. I don't know.

    As of right now I am still tracking my calories and weighing/measuring food. For me it's the key to success. If I stop doing either one I get lax and eat more than I should and start to gain weight. I have been maintaining since November of last year and each time I stop tracking I gain. I figure if I have to do it the rest of my life it's worth it if it keeps the weight off. :wink:

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