Did you get enough to eat at your goal weight, or did your food allowance make you grumpy?

pony4us

I basically did the same thing. I ate at goal weight maintenance and got to goal. I figured if that amount of calories would make life too hard I needed a higher goal. At my age (mid 70s) I wasn't going to spend the fewer years I have left stresing about somethig silly like calories. Almost a year in still working.

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mtaratoot

tiaamyom wrote: »

@mtaratoot

mtaratoot wrote: »

@tiaamyom

For sure maintenance is tough. If you haven't already, think about setting a maintenance RANGE. You're sure to have your weight go up and down over and over again. That's maintenance! If it's still within your range, maybe plus or minus three or five pounds depending on your comfort level, just pay attention. Take action if you bounce out of it. Mostly, just keep sticking to it.

I appreciate the advice and yeah I guess I hadn’t considered seeing it as a range. My daily weigh-ins dont usually deviate more than 1-1.5 pounds up or down but even those worry me sometimes because I cycle between the same foods throughout the week for my meals. Would the 3-5 pound deviation range be for weekly averages or daily weigh-ins though?

It's not common, but I've seen a five pound jump in ONE DAY. I also have seen longer wavelength cycles that last a week or four. Many people have a number that, if they see, they move back to a deficit to keep from going any higher.

The two main things to consider in my opinion during maintenance are to STICK TO IT and also be patient. Observe. What is the very worst case scenario? You gain some weight. If you are always observant, it won't be much, and you know what to do to remedy that situation. It's a life-long journey; we might as well enjoy it!

If you're interested in sharing your successes, struggles, celebrations, and frustrations, feel free to join a group I'm involved with called "Lose 1 Pound a Week and Keep it Off!" The group is private, so just request to join, and you WILL be approved.

The group really just has two requirements, and they would work really well if you're looking for accountability. First, you have to record your starting weight and your goals for the end of each quarter of 2024. That's not hard. The other is you have to post a weighing-in at least once a week. That's not hard either! We have some ongoing challenges that are intended to be fun that also can help you hone those good habits. We try to have some "special" challenges most weeks to. All of these are optional. The only requirement is the start-up and the weekly weigh-in. Come on over and join me!

HoneyBadger302

I just want to say that I really appreciate this thread, and @herringboxes your stories in particular.
My #1 goal this year is to get to, and enter maintenance at my goal weight. I have a number in mind, but I am willing to settle above that if I feel I have reached the level of "trim" I feel I should have due to potentially carrying a little more muscle mass now than when I was previously at my goal weight.
I know through experience the types of diet/macros that work best for me (higher protein and fat, lower carb but not low carb); I know exercise is key to not feeling like I'm starving all the time; I know cardio makes me ravenous the next day (plan accordingly sweetheart lol).
Several times in the past 10 years I've dropped within 10 pounds of my goal weight, only to end up falling off the wagon and putting back on everything I lost. Reasons have ranged from understandable to horrible excuses, but the facts don't lie - I have yo-yo'd many times, and primarily because I almost always feel like I'm starving once the scale starts to get below my body's "happy weight" (which is still clearly more weight than I should be carrying). A few years ago (just before covid hit) I was feeling like I was close - like 5 ish pounds from what I really wanted, but then totally fell off that wagon with the pandemic.
Fighting through that to get where I want is a battle I already know I will have to face, and know what I need to do. How to not fail upon getting into maintenance, however, is my biggest concern since that will be "new territory" to navigate.
Just for reference, even at my heaviest, I was about 35ish pounds over my goal - overweight for sure, but I haven't battled with obesity.

frankiesgirlie

I refused to change my goal weight of being 145lbs at 5’ 9”. I’m currently in maintenance and have stayed within 2 lbs of 145 for 5 months now. I started with 30 lbs to lose.
I’ve been on MFP for 9!!!! Years now. I did get to 145 once before when I first came on here.
But, I feel I did it all wrong because I restricted calories big time and cut out my favorite foods. As soon as I had hit maintenance weight it was like all heck let loose and I literally couldn’t eat enough. I was “sleep eating”. waking up to find protein bar wrappers around me and not remembering eating them. I saw a doctor who basically told me to restart my metabolism by not tracking calories for 6 months. Our course I gained back the weight plus 2 more pounds.
The reasons I think I’ve been successful for 5 months this time is varied.
1. I get more sleep than I used to. This took some life changes but I used to sleep 5-6 hours a night and now I sleep 7-8.
2. I used to do a lot of HIIT type workouts. I think they have their place and I still do one 10 minute high intensity workout per week. But for me, they made me famished.
My workouts now are strength training, Pilates, and walking for about 5-6 hours per week of movement.
3. The bulk of what I ate was homemade. I think KNOWING what’s in your food is beneficial. I even wonder if the lack of preservatives and GMOs, and artificial colors and flavors help.
4. I eat my favorite junk foods but not by themselves. So, if I eat chips on the side of a sandwich instead of out of the bag and when I’m starving, I’ll eat less. I lost weight, and I’m maintaining it with still eating some “bad” foods.

So, no. I didn’t raise my goal weight. I’m 62 years old and several people told me “maybe you’re just not supposed to be that weight at your age.”
I feel younger, cuter, healthier, fitter at this weight, and it’s where I intend to stay for the rest of my life.