Do you ever eat at maintenance to avoid falling off the wagon?

Losingthedamnweight

I’m home today. I’ve had a bad day. Normally when I’m in a bad mental state I go off the rails and order a pizza or something and end my day at like 4-5,000 calories eaten. Today I was thinking about just having an additional 700 calorie meal which would bring me up to maintenance.

I feel kinda bad about not sticking to my calorie deficit, but eating at maintenance. At least I’m not totally screwing up eating everything in the kitchen right?

Lietchi

I've had many of those.
Eating at maintenance delays reaching your goal by a single day, which is surely better than overeating and undoing multiple days or perhaps even a week worth of calorie deficit, no?

Suffering is optional when losing weight and it's not a race 🙂

pony4us

Last year I was with in 5-10 pounds of goal weight when we left to snowbird for two months. For those two months I ate at goal weight maintenance, logging to the best of my ability. Sort of maintnance in training. Like a miracle ... without the benefit of a scale or weighing my food I was at goal range when we got home. You are not screwing everything up, maybe after a few months try a test drive at goal weight maintenance and see how it will be. You will still be under your current maintenance and will still lose some weight. Otherwise remember it is the long term average that counts, not just one day or one meal. I still check the weekly report and average my weekly calories even in maintenance.

MsCzar

All the time! It really helps me stay on track.

tamisteffens

Something I heard a weight loss coach say, that has really stuck with me, is "It's not what you do ALL the time, it's what you do MOST of the time". One day of maintenance (or even over) is not going to derail your entire progress. Do what you need to do, then get back into your routine.

tomcustombuilder

Maintenance or over is inevitable sometimes. Once in awhile is no big deal in the big picture although it does throw your weekly numbers off.

Since Fatloss is a product of a consistent weekly calorie deficit, a higher calorie day can be offset somewhat by slightly lower calories the other 6 days just don’t make a habit of having surplus days otherwise you’ll just spin your fatloss wheels.

ddsb1111

What a great post. During that time of the month I would eat at maintenance for a week. It was far more productive than fighting it and going over board because of willpower and guilt. Your body is telling you something important sometimes, it’s okay to listen when you need it. It’s also an important practice for maintenance.

csplatt

YES

PAV8888

Future maintenance is still weight loss. Current maintenance is awesome because it hurts nothing and keeps you going with a minimum delay. Planned overage is fine too in that it gets some social or personal stuff done, it is a deliberate trade off and you remain in the game while enjoying the benefits and detriments (i.e. you are empowered by owning both the benefits and consequences of your decisions)

But, giving up and deliberately going out of your way to *kitten* around because "idgaf" reminds me of coming out to the parking lot to discover that your left front tire is flat and in response looking for a knife to go slash the other three.

glassyo

As someone who clearly hasn't learned how to mindlessly not eat yet, I just want to say that not going overboard and deliberately sticking to maintenance calories is a HUGE *kitten* WIN in my book.

Even if you may or may not have set yourself back a day by not eating in a deficit, this took self control and will power and you get a million gold stars for it

BrightEyedAgain

Yes, I totally eat at maintenance when I need to. It's a great strategy for those times when a deficit just isn't going to happen. Not only does it keep you from going off the rails, it's good practice for the time when you reach maintenance weight for real. Then, too, sometimes you just need a mental break from trying to lose. Eating at maintenance is a good way to recharge your soul without losing ground. You may not lose, but you don't gain either.