Question about calories /reaching and maintaining goal weight

rhannahbrown12

Hey there! I recently lost 20lbs and recently gained back about 5-6lbs over the holidays. I did it by eating in a calorie deficit and eating highly nutritious food so I wouldn’t be hungry. I’m 5’4 and was 129/ bordering on 130lbs. I’m 29. I got down to 110lbs which was my goal weight. The range for my height is 110-140lbs and I wanted to be on the lower side to feel more nimble and I also found I have more energy in this way. So my question is… I ate 1200 calories daily to get to 110lbs- I’m now at 116lbs- once I go back down to 110lbs what range of calories should I eat to maintain that? I’ve looked this up many times but couldn’t find an exact range of calories to eat once I get to maintain my 110lb weight. Anyone know? Thank you :-)

tomcustombuilder

It will depend on your rate of loss as you reach 110.

When you get to that weight see what your cal amount is and adjust accordingly. If you were losing say 1\2 lb per week and still are then you want to add about 250 cals a day back in. Sit there for a few weeks and re adjust if necessary.

If you've had no loss for 3 weeks or so there's a good chance your current numbers when reaching 110 are your new maintenance. If so don't be temped to go back to your old eating habits which caused the weight gain. If you DO want to take in a few extra calories you can offset things by being a bit more active

Calculators can be off so use your personal information based on your caloric experience.

Rockmama1111

You can plug your numbers into an online TDEE calculator to get an estimate based on your activity level.

Lietchi

Rockmama1111 wrote: »

You can plug your numbers into an online TDEE calculator to get an estimate based on your activity level.

That is a valid approach, but it's just a starting point based on statistical averages, which then requires monitoring real life results to adjust if necessary.
The approach above is (in my opinion) better since it's based on real life results from the start instead of statistical averages.

Rockmama1111

Lietchi wrote: »

Rockmama1111 wrote: »

You can plug your numbers into an online TDEE calculator to get an estimate based on your activity level.

That is a valid approach, but it's just a starting point based on statistical averages, which then requires monitoring real life results to adjust if necessary.
The approach above is (in my opinion) better since it's based on real life results from the start instead of statistical averages.

True. I think Tom and I were responding at the same time. His is a more thorough answer.

rhannahbrown12

Thanks for all your answers! Let’s see… I began losing weight around end of august of last year and continued into September and by mid/late October I lost 20lbs. I think it was maybe 1/2 a week?

tomcustombuilder

rhannahbrown12 wrote: »

Thanks for all your answers! Let’s see… I began losing weight around end of august of last year and continued into September and by mid/late October I lost 20lbs. I think it was maybe 1/2 a week?

For someone your size that's a comfortable rate of loss however that timeframe works out to 2-2.5 lbs a week

PAV8888

You try certain numbers for a while *usually a full monthly cycle to account for non fat weight fluctuations during that time* and then you adjust based on results.

The numbers ARE rough, even when based on personal evidence, and they also change dynamically from time to time which means that you DO have to continue to observe and adjust.

Whether you "target" to eat 1200 (or 1600, or 2000) Calories doesn't matter. For the calculation to be meaningful you would have to figure out what you ACTUALLY consumed.

Generally calories consumed are higher than our target, and the accuracy of our number depends heavily on our logging prowess and consistency!

You can estimate your "effective" deficit during your previous weight loss by:

amount of weight change in lbs * 3500 = effective caloric imbalance that you created

effective caloric imbalance that you created + whatever you actually ate and drunk = average total daily
energy expenditure = approximately what you would have had to consume to have maintained your weight instead.

as mentioned these numbers are somewhat dynamic and change but they work quite well as starting points to aim for.

As Tom mentions, 20 lbs in about two months is closer to 2 or 2.5lbs a week than 0.5lbs a week. Contrary to what he mentions, I would consider that to be rapid weight loss for someone within the normal weight range and aiming for bottom end BMI.

Have you considered just maintaining at your current position of -14 lbs since the end of August?

Repeat loss and regain, while common, is still fairly stressful to the body--will the six lbs provide health benefits?

tomcustombuilder

PAV8888 wrote: »

You try certain numbers for a while *usually a full monthly cycle to account for non fat weight fluctuations during that time* and then you adjust based on results.

The numbers ARE rough, even when based on personal evidence, and they also change dynamically from time to time which means that you DO have to continue to observe and adjust.

Whether you "target" to eat 1200 (or 1600, or 2000) Calories doesn't matter. For the calculation to be meaningful you would have to figure out what you ACTUALLY consumed.

Generally calories consumed are higher than our target, and the accuracy of our number depends heavily on our logging prowess and consistency!

You can estimate your "effective" deficit during your previous weight loss by:

amount of weight change in lbs * 3500 = effective caloric imbalance that you created

effective caloric imbalance that you created + whatever you actually ate and drunk = average total daily
energy expenditure = approximately what you would have had to consume to have maintained your weight instead.

as mentioned these numbers are somewhat dynamic and change but they work quite well as starting points to aim for.

As Tom mentions, 20 lbs in about two months is closer to 2 or 2.5lbs a week than 0.5lbs a week. Contrary to what he mentions, I would consider that to be rapid weight loss for someone within the normal weight range and aiming for bottom end BMI.

Have you considered just maintaining at your current position of -14 lbs since the end of August?
Repeat loss and regain, while common, is
still fairly stressful to the body--will the six lbs provide health benefits?

Yes 2-2.5 for that size person is too fast I was referring to .5 a week as comfortable so sorry for the confusion

AnnPT77

Good advice above.

May I suggest that as you approach goal weight, you may want to take a look at the threads in the Goal: Maintaining Weight part of the MFP Community, especially those in the "Most Helpful Posts" section there. There's some good info there IMO, and it helped me quite a lot to read things in that area before quite getting to maintenance, so I could learn from others' experience.

Just a thought!