Can you lose weight eating at maintenance for your goal weight?

XxAngry_Pixi

I have a lot of weight to lose and a history of yoyo dieting .

I'm wondering if I just work out the maintenance cals for my goal weight and eat that from the start will I still lose weight at a sustainable level?

Thinking rather than always adjusting the amounts I could just get used to eating what I would be eating for the rest of my life once I hit maintenance anyways.

penguinmama87

There's some great people here who can work out the math specifically, but my initial thought is that it uses a lot more calories to sustain your body at a higher weight than a lower weight, both for the needed processes to keep you alive and for any kind of exercise. Depending on where you are now and where you want to go, the gap may be too high, at first, for it to be a good idea to go right there.

Lhenderson923

That depends on a lot of factors like how much you currently weight and your goal weight. This doesn’t sound like a great plan though and you’d likely lose to quickly if the gap between the two is too large. I’d just set MFP for a modest goal and eat the amount that it recommends.

AnnPT77

Conceptually, it can work, and occasionally some one does it. Personally, I sort of tried, and got frustrated with that slow a loss rate after a few short months (which is a function of where you start, where you're going, and your very own personality, so I'm *not* saying the same would happen for you - I have a short attention span 😆 ).

The maintenance-practice part of it can be a plus, I think. Sometime during weight loss, I think that everyone should practice maintenance strategies (with a small deficit cushion in case of mis-steps), but it need not be the whole time period, it can be closer to the end.

What you're suggesting can work for some people. Why not try it for a while? What's the worst that could happen? There's really no down side I can see from the experiment, especially if you're starting with either a fair amount to lose (so you'll see motivatingly fast loss to start) or a very small amount to lose (so you don't need that fast loss at the start).

One caveat: It's rare, but there's the occasional outlier person whose maintenance calories are higher (or lower) than the so-called calculators predict. If you lose faster/slower than you'd expect at first, that might make an adjustment sensible. Fast loss can be a health risk, and in either direction the starting estimates are only estimates. A few months' experience validates those estimates, or suggests need for adjustment to personalize.

I hope it works out perfectly for you. Keep us posted, eh? 🙂

PAV8888

Absolutely... as long as the math works out for you.

In fact it was one of the strategies I employed once I started being more "deliberate" with my weight loss attempt. And it was very educational.

caveats:
if obese future maintenance may be too much of a deficit.
if close to goal, future maintenance may not be enough of a deficit.

But *adjustments* are always possible along the way!

In fact recognizing that flexibility and adjustments are necessary during weight loss and maintenance is an extremely good thing, imho!

XxAngry_Pixi

penguinmama87 wrote: »

There's some great people here who can work out the math specifically, but my initial thought is that it uses a lot more calories to sustain your body at a higher weight than a lower weight, both for the needed processes to keep you alive and for any kind of exercise. Depending on where you are now and where you want to go, the gap may be too high, at first, for it to be a good idea to go right there.

The cals for me at maitenence with a light activity level are the same as losing a pound a week at my current weight and sedentary lifestyle so I think I should be right there. I have health issues preventing me being very active at the moment but hope to heal that through and while losing my extra 50kgs.

XxAngry_Pixi

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Conceptually, it can work, and occasionally some one does it. Personally, I sort of tried, and got frustrated with that slow a loss rate after a few short months (which is a function of where you start, where you're going, and your very own personality, so I'm *not* saying the same would happen for you - I have a short attention span 😆 ).

The maintenance-practice part of it can be a plus, I think. Sometime during weight loss, I think that everyone should practice maintenance strategies (with a small deficit cushion in case of mis-steps), but it need not be the whole time period, it can be closer to the end.

What you're suggesting can work for some people. Why not try it for a while? What's the worst that could happen? There's really no down side I can see from the experiment, especially if you're starting with either a fair amount to lose (so you'll see motivatingly fast loss to start) or a very small amount to lose (so you don't need that fast loss at the start).

One caveat: It's rare, but there's the occasional outlier person whose maintenance calories are higher (or lower) than the so-called calculators predict. If you lose faster/slower than you'd expect at first, that might make an adjustment sensible. Fast loss can be a health risk, and in either direction the starting estimates are only estimates. A few months' experience validates those estimates, or suggests need for adjustment to personalize.

I hope it works out perfectly for you. Keep us posted, eh? 🙂

Thanks for the great advice and encouragement! Im not looking to lose weight fast this time, just to lose it without losing my mind and then keep it off.

I think the generous calorie allowance (1800) and not setting and crazy food rules on myself will help me make it stick this time.

I like the idea of just getting used to it right from the start, it makes it feel more attainable for me or something...

wunderkindking

I think you'll be fine, at least for a while and if you're very patient.

Where I am now eating maintenance for what is tentatively my goal/13lbs away would be an 80 calorie deficit. At that rate it would take me 569 days to get there.

But that's 13lbs from ultimate goal - tentatively, and with a solid 10 of those being at a healthy bmi just going lower for, basically, vanity reasons. When I was obese? I'd certainly have lost faster than I actually did with MFP set to lose a pound a week - and had a lower calorie allotment than what MFP gave me for that loss.

So it really does just come down to looking at it and what feels okay for you.

and frankly I've eaten a lot of maintenance for my various weights along the way.

nanastaci2020

In theory yes.

It is math, actually. Let's say your current maintenance level is 2400 and your goal weight maintenance is 1850. If you need to lose weight, then your future maintenance (at lower weight) will be lower than current maintenance (at higher weight) thus creating a deficit.

The gray area comes in around whether or not your activity level will change as a result of weight loss, lifestyle changes, etc. If & when your activity level changes, you could always re-evaluate your needs & goals.

cwolfman13

Yes, it is possible. Where I have seen people have the most difficulty with this is when weight loss slows to less than a crawl due to your calorie requirements shrinking as you lose weight and shrinking the deficit you had to start with when you get closer to your goal...and I'm not necessarily talking about the last 5 to 10 Lbs. Like my maintenance calories at 180 aren't drastically different than they were at 200 Lbs...basically, my deficit had I done that at 200 Lbs would have been about 140 calories.

But yeah...to lose weight you need to be in a calorie deficit, and that's it.

sijomial

What you are describing is exactly the premise behind the diet part of the Alan Aragon / Lou Schuler book "The Lean Muscle Diet".

It's an awful title but a very worthwhile read from two people who know their stuff.

Thoin

XxAngry_Pixi wrote: »

I have a lot of weight to lose and a history of yoyo dieting .

I'm wondering if I just work out the maintenance cals for my goal weight and eat that from the start will I still lose weight at a sustainable level?

Thinking rather than always adjusting the amounts I could just get used to eating what I would be eating for the rest of my life once I hit maintenance anyways.

This is mostly a good idea, however to lose the last amount you will have to eat under maintenance.

GigiAgape1981

sijomial wrote: »

What you are describing is exactly the premise behind the diet part of the Alan Aragon / Lou Schuler book "The Lean Muscle Diet".

It's an awful title but a very worthwhile read from two people who know their stuff.

Indeed a great book on the subject!

It definitely works but you have to be very diligent with logging accurately. As others mentioned the difference between lose/maintain and "gray areas of NEAT" is small when you get closer to your goal. It's a great way to start practicing maintenance from the get go!

callsitlikeiseeit

I BASICALLY do, in theory at least, but I have a fairly large amount of weight to lose (50 pounds). My maintenance calories are LESS than what most of the calculators say, so I'm an outlier in that aspect. My calories are currently set at 1400. I lose anywhere from a half pound to a pound (and on rare occasions 2 pounds) a week.

I somewhat frequently eat over my calories a bit, but less than maintenance.

mlsh69

Yes thats how l actually lost close to 50lbs. Ate my goal weight maintenance. It doesn't work for everybody because the weight loss is super slow. It took years. But it can be done. Best of luck

leiflung

Theoretically you would but it would slow considerably the closer you got to your goal, because it wouldn't be much of a deficit. But our best indicator of what your maintenance cal/day is would be whether you lose weight. All those calculators are just making educated guesses.So there's no great way to even test the theory.

ahoy_m8

Yes! And at 1lb/wk in the early days, it sounds like a really good strategy for someone with a long term view. Certainly puts your mind in the maintenance-for-life frame. Best of luck to you, OP!

Fflpnari

I basically did this!!!! my deficit calories at my highest weight are pretty close to my maintenance at my goal weight. I struggled with an eating disorder so this really gave me a chance to learn how to eat. I dont eat just to diet and to lose weight. INstead Im trying to eat to fuel my body. Ive lost 100lbs and eat 2400 +/- 100 calories.

vanmep

I didn’t do exactly that. But I did set it for a modest weight loss of 1/2 pound per week. Like you, I was not interested in the quick loss per se, but wanted something I could keep doing in the long haul. And something that would be a lifestyle change.

riffraff2112

If your maintenance calories at goal weight are less than your typical intake...it will of course work. For me the rate would have been too slow to keep me motivated to continue (I really need to see progress or I question what I am doing).

Now that I am almost there, my maintenance calories allow me to enjoy more food while still losing at a slower rate (which I am ok with now...because I don't have much more to go anyway and am happy with my new look).

The mindset is so important to success that you really do need to find what works for you. If consistency is the key, and more manageable I say go for it.