What happens when you hit your goal?!

DapperKay

Serious question. We all have different goals and sometimes they change. But when you do reach that number, how do you shift mentality from weight loss to weight maintaining? I think it will be very difficult after all the hard work of sticking to no more than 1200cals a day to suddenly saying hey 1800 or 2000 is fine, you know? And what will that do to the body?! We all know we have to continue working out, that is the fun part, but the food part just confuses me and I can't find much resources that explain the gradual shift from weight loss mode to maintaining what was lost....

Ainar

Serious question. We all have different goals and sometimes they change. But when you do reach that number, how do you shift mentality from weight loss to weight maintaining?

I celebrate that I have reached it, what I think is very important, and then set a new one.

Maintaining isn't really a goal and it's boring. You need something more fun than that to look forward. After I had reached my fat loss goal I set a new one and now I'm working to build muscle mass. From fat to skinny fat, to just skinny and now trying to get sknny ripped. After than just ripped. Will take a few years but at least it's more compelling than just maintaining. And my vision of one day building anough muscle to have a body like a fitness model is what keeps me going now. Even if I don't need it, I love how I look now and I am healthy, but if I would just sattle for maintaining then I'm afraid I would slip back in bad habits and become fat again, hehe. So my new goal of perfect looking body is actually what keeps me maintaing my healthy eating and working out.

You can always set a new fitness goals to keep you going. And I think you should. I partly blame people who lose tons of weight and then get fat again for not doing that. Cos if there are no new goals, when they have reached their old goals, drive and motivation fades away and they bacome fat agin.

And what will that do to the body?! We all know we have to continue working out, that is the fun part, but the food part just confuses me and I can't find much resources that explain the gradual shift from weight loss mode to maintaining what was lost....

It won't do anything to body, really, you will just maintain. Stick to your maintenace calories and not go in deficit or surplus and your weight and body will not change, simple.
It might be that sometimes if you were in too huge calories deficit once you go back to maintenace you might gain a couple of pounds, cos your metabolism is slow and the maintenace isn't your maintenace anymore. That's why I like to increase calories slowly over period of time to let your body adjust.

55in13

Remember when your life did not revolve around being on a diet and fitness plan? You get some of that back, but you still keep an eye on what you are doing. I switched calorie levels gradually. I had 55 to lose. I lost 45 doing the 1200 daily routine then started upping calories to lose the last 10 slowly. Most people will not stay right at a specific weight but will fluctuate within a range, so you will probably be doing little "mini diets". I do calorie cycling because it is easier for me to just change the mix of low days versus high versus roughly even than to keep trying to tweak the roughly even days to be exact (hint - they never will be).

lin7604

there will always be a new goal my goal was 120, but when i hit it, i still didn't "look" the way i thought i would, so on went a new goal of 115. So when i was creeping downward again ( it was super slow) i realized it's not the number to look the way i want it was body fat i needed to lose, so now i am only focusing on losing body fat! I currently hit 114.something lately and still don't have the look i want, my goal is not to lose more weight but just body fat, but both seem to be happening. I am losing the body fat slowly and am getting close to my final goal. I was 23-24% body fat and now between 22-23%. my final goal is to be inbetween 20-21%. Once i reach that, i have to maintain that, i know what ever weight i will be, will be easy to maintain but it will be learning on how to keep that % of body fat without gaining that will be the challenge. I also slowly crept up to close to maintenance cals over the last 6 months, so my body could adjust without gaining. my maintenance is between 15-1700 cals and i do around 15-1600 now.

LorinaLynn

Maintaining is every bit as hard, maybe harder, than reaching the goal.

The only thing that's easier is that you have a little bit more leeway with calories, but if you're gradually tapering your deficit, it's more a difference of going from 1800-2000, not 1200-2000.

Otherwise, it's the same amount of exercise, the same amount of watching what you eat, the same amount of meeting your calorie and macro goals.... WITHOUT the emotional rush that you get from seeing yourself shrink. Without watching the number drop on the scale, without realizing you need new pants because these are falling down, without people complimenting you on how good you look. No one ever says, "Congrats on staying the same size for the past two years!" :laugh:

I joke that it's like playing Candy Crush Saga. The first couple dozen levels are a breeze, and it's fun. You're whipping through those levels left and right, and you can't understand why anyone says it's hard. Then you get stuck on a level for a week or so. And it's no longer fun. It sucks. It's frustrating. You're expending the same amount of effort you were before, but there's nothing to show for it. That's what maintaining is like sometimes. Working hard with no tangible benefits. That's the hardest transition.

Setting new goals helps. Running faster, lifting heavier, etc. But even that gets to the point where you're not seeing any changes worth celebrating. And that's the point I'm at now, where I can't keep having weight or even fitness goals be a major priority. I know that I'm OCD enough that if I keep making new physical goals, I'll become (if I haven't already) too consumed by it. So exercise is something I still do, something that's part of my life, but no more a part of my life than showering or shaving my legs. It's something I do because I have to do it, not because it's who I am.

bwogilvie

One thing that will probably happen is that you'll put on a few pounds as your muscles start to fully replenish their glycogen stores and the associated water that's stored with them. I plan to reduce to around 5 lbs. below my target weight before switching slowly, over 3-4 weeks, to eating maintenance calories.

Francl27

If you've been eating 1200 calories for a while, well, to be fair, you'll gain at 2000.

For me maintenance is going to be increasing from 1600 calories to 2000. Not a big deal at all. And I probably won't eat all my calories for a while.

BigGuy47

how do you shift mentality from weight loss to weight maintaining?

You don't. You shift the mentality to fitness.

What's your view of food?

Is it, "Food makes you fat so you need to limit the amount of food you eat".

or

"Food is fuel, it gives me energy and builds muscles."

Both instances can be true depending on the amount of calories and energy expended in a day. But the view that food is fuel will help you get past the fear of the additional calories.

Work hard and eat well.

jlapey

I've never had to do it because I'm not there yet, but I would think that you wouldn't just jump up to maintenance calories all at once. Maybe add a couple hundred, eat at that level for a month and see how it affects you, if your not gaining, add some more. Rinse and repeat until you reach a level where you are not gaining or losing. Hopefully, the gradual changes will help you adjust mentally as well.

skylark94

The mentality doesn't really change at all if you have established healthy habits. I'm in maintenance now. I was eating an average of 1800 when losing, now I eat 2200 most days. It's not hard to get those extra calories in. A little more peanut butter on my toast, or more milk in my cereal will get me there pretty quick.

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Hannah_Hopes

No one ever says, "Congrats on staying the same size for the past two years!" :laugh:

I joke that it's like playing Candy Crush Saga. The first couple dozen levels are a breeze, and it's fun. You're whipping through those levels left and right, and you can't understand why anyone says it's hard. Then you get stuck on a level for a week or so. And it's no longer fun. It sucks. It's frustrating. You're expending the same amount of effort you were before, but there's nothing to show for it. That's what maintaining is like sometimes. Working hard with no tangible benefits. That's the hardest transition.

I love this :laugh:

Boogage

I'm struggling with this at the moment. I almost reached my goal weight but was not happy with my body. I decided to give up on that last lb for now and start strength training and increasing my cals a little. I've gained 1 3/4lbs in the last 2 weeks and everyday has been a mental battle to convince myself that the strength training should make much more difference to my shape than those couple of lbs. It's tough seeing the scale go back up and an increase in my tummy and thigh measurements but I'm trying to stay committed to my new plan and figure in a few weeks I should start tightening up and the scale and measurements should come down again as that's the way its meant to work right?

DapperKay

Wow, really awesome insightful replies. Thanks MFPers for the fresh ideas.

BTW, that Candy Crush Saga analogy is gold, love it!

paleojoe

Once I hit my goal weight and body comp I started going for more performance goals. I like how I look and am working on raising my level of fitness. It really is a journey to be honest with you. Enjoy the ride

jdm_taco

Maintaining is every bit as hard, maybe harder, than reaching the goal.

Its much easier and much more enjoyable to me. I'm not as hungry and stronger in gym.

55in13

One thing that will probably happen is that you'll put on a few pounds as your muscles start to fully replenish their glycogen stores and the associated water that's stored with them. I plan to reduce to around 5 lbs. below my target weight before switching slowly, over 3-4 weeks, to eating maintenance calories.

That's what I have been doing. Even though I hit goal, I am still losing slowly a little further because you do end up maintaining in a range. I want my range to be goal-5 to goal, not goal to goal+5. If I decide 5 isn't a big enough range, then I have to lose more, not allow myself to go higher. It also means that when someone asks if I have been able to stay at my goal, I can just say yes, not launch into an explanation about how being near it is the same thing (sorry, in my mind it is not).