How did you change your workouts once you hit your goal??

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Replies

  • kimmymayhall
    kimmymayhall Posts: 419 Member
    I lost most of my weight with running as my main exercise. As I neared goal I realized I wanted to be stronger, not just skinnier. So now I do mainly lift weights with some cardio. It depends what your goals are, but I don't think you have to change your exercise if what you are doing is working for you.
  • stevesilk
    stevesilk Posts: 204 Member
    My workouts reflect the goals I have for my body. Ultimately, some workouts are just because I love doing those things (like my tennis). But as my focus changes (BF% vs weight loss), I am migrating from cardio and weight training to more weight training, with adequate recuperation times. That way, I give my body a chance to recover and rebuild.
  • kacarter1017
    kacarter1017 Posts: 651 Member
    I kept mine the same because I enjoy eating the extra calories. I also enjoy the workouts.
  • SteveJWatson
    SteveJWatson Posts: 1,225 Member
    stop working out
    start drinking lots of booze.

    Sounds like the kind of plan I like.....:drinker:
  • Mcgrawhaha
    Mcgrawhaha Posts: 1,596 Member
    my work outs stayed the same, only difference is i upped my calories now to maintain...
  • FitCanuckChick
    FitCanuckChick Posts: 240 Member
    I think I actually worked out more becasue I learned the benefits of excercise outside of losing weight - it is such a stress releiver and, once you hit your goal weight and hit maintenance mode, the more you excercise the more food you can eat. It also keeps your metabolism boosted.
  • Sarah0866
    Sarah0866 Posts: 291 Member
    I didn't. I exercised the same way but ate a little more
  • chezjuan
    chezjuan Posts: 747 Member
    Once I started maintenance, I started working with a trainer who has been tailoring my workouts to meet my fitness goals. This means incorporating more lifting than I had been doing and mixing up my cardio routines (I used to just run, now I've added rowing, elliptical, stationary bike, and others depending on what he has me working or just how I feel on a particular day.

    This was more of a timing coincidence rather than a set plan to do at maintenance, but I find that it really fits well.
  • skeen11
    skeen11 Posts: 1
    Definitely continue working out but maybe switch them up a bit to something more challenging or focusing on toning...
  • TeraTW
    TeraTW Posts: 9 Member
    The first time I reached my goal of 25lbs lost, I gradually stopped working out and fell back into old eating habits and gained 13lbs back! This time I know I need to keep up with exercise for maintenance.
  • DesdemonaRose
    DesdemonaRose Posts: 190
    I like eating and want to be able to eat some of the tastier higher calorie things that I like more often... so I will keep working out and (when I get there) just eat maintance calories. Yummy yummy calories (haha).
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    why would you change your fitness regimen at maintenance? use your diet for weight control (lose/maintain/gain); exercise for fitness.

    One of the big reasons people put the weight back on when they hit goal is that they stop working out and/or substantially decrease their workouts (resulting in a considerably lower TDEE than they had when they were dieting)...they associate working out with weight loss and that is all. This is just about the biggest mistake you could ever make. Your fitness regimen is far more important during maintenance than it was for losing weight. This is why it is so imperative to set actual fitness goals that go beyond weight loss and burning calories.
  • BeachIron
    BeachIron Posts: 6,490 Member
    I changed my goals and kept going
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    I changed my goals and kept going

    Ha ha! It's funny because it's true.....
  • pat_asai
    pat_asai Posts: 21 Member
    I've been at or below my goal weight since the beginning of the year. I have been eating more and workout 6 days a week. I am on a cardio based program at this time, but plan to get back into weights soon. I think that has gotten me the most desirable results at this point in my journey.
  • Jess830409
    Jess830409 Posts: 285 Member
    Love this - absolutely keep up the exercise just adjust your calorie intake. I am very close to having to do this myself - enjoy the extra healthy food!! :-)
  • auntiebabs
    auntiebabs Posts: 1,754 Member
    It's all about living a reasonable life... Some folks go at this weight loss thing HARD and see amazing results quickly. I've been less concerned about fast and more concerned about something I can maintain.

    My main focus has always been a sustainable life-style where I won't over-indulge, but I won't feel deprived. I don't want to live my life in the gym (I do love being strong though and don't feel the need to cut-back because I hit a certain number on the scale) and I want to be able to go out to eat with friends and family. (Although I find myself inviting folks over more so I can make something tasty and healthy).

    So it's all a trade-off..
    Do you like going to the gym? Even if you don't, do you like how it makes you feel? Does it give you more energy?
    Go as often as you'd like... being strong is AWESOME and always amps up my confidence. And that leads success in other areas of my life.

    Do you hate going to the gym?
    Do what you can... I never wanted the gym to feel like torture or a punishment... I gave myself permission to leave if I was miserable. I give myself 10 minutes to work past it.... If I've been there for 10 minutes and still feel miserable... I can leave.

    ALSO
    I don't have to work out at the gym... When the weather is nice, I get off the train a stop early and walk and extra 2 mile home.

    I always believed in getting exercise through fun activities... Ice skating, roller blading, paddling, hiking, bicycling, swimming, whatever.

    Now that I'm on the other side of 50 I have to go to the gym so I am capable of doing the fun stuff when I get the chance.
  • carlaj12
    carlaj12 Posts: 2
    I just started trying different modes of exercise. Yoga, dance, horseback riding, run a 5K. There's no need to do less but open up to trying other things
  • hollymartin90
    hollymartin90 Posts: 57 Member
    I am getting close to hitting my goal weight (yay)...hopefully in the next few months. I am curious as to how everyone who is at maintenance has adjusted their workouts? Are you working out as much as you did while you were losing your weight or have you cut back a bit on the exercise? Did you cut back on the cardio and add more weight training in place of the cardio?

    I currently do 3 days cardio / 3 days lifting per week myself.

    Thanks everyone!!

    Im nearly at my goal weight as well was thinking once I get there to work out the same but slowly increase my calorie intake??Make sure I don't start gaining again ,I do realise shouldnt think of it as a diet but a life style change but hopefully can treat myself more once I get to goal weight.any help?
  • maureenec
    maureenec Posts: 34 Member
    I've been maintaining for over a year, and I kept doing the same exercises - running and Jillian Michaels dvds. Now I'm seeing that out of sheer boredom I should change things up. I agree with many others that I need to increase strength training and dump a little of the cardio.
  • harleygroomer
    harleygroomer Posts: 373 Member
    I don't think I have really set my goals. My trainer changed my thinking from DIET phase to a LIFESTYLE CHANGE. So many people fail at diets and this is for the rest of my life. SOOOOOOO---I still work out, I still watch what I eat, BUT I do let myself have a few snacks now and then. Look at it this way--skinny people eat --so should we. It is all second nature to me now. I swear I can look at food and count the calories in it !!! So, be realistic, you will have ups and downs, just don't let yourself go wild.
  • whitebalance
    whitebalance Posts: 1,654 Member
    I may be an odd case because reaching my goal weight coincided with getting a surgical procedure. I had been taking it easier up to about a month before that time, mainly walking and some light strength work on machines because I thought I had an injury. Once I found out I was wrong about that, I spent a month pushing myself hard on the strength work and then went in for the op. After the op I spent about a month ramping my activity back up to that level, then decided I wanted to do more and could.

    My workouts now are sort of like my earlier workouts, but more intense and less gym-centric. Where I would normally have gone to a nearby building and climbed 40 flights of stairs, yesterday I sprinted up 68, two flights at a time. Where I was working out on machines, I'm now lifting free weights at home. Where I was walking for an hour or two on a treadmill, I'm now training to run a 5k without stopping or walking. A month or two from now, I have a 2-month groupon to try out a Crossfit studio. Once that expires, I hope to move on to combat training at a local MMA studio -- something I've wanted to do for years.

    So yeah, new goals, like I want to squat triple digits and bench half my body weight. I'm logging calories in/out and calling it "recomping," but really I'm just having a blast finding out that in my mid-40s I can do just about anything I darned well feel like doing. I wasn't very healthy or active as a kid, and a year ago I'd get winded just climbing the stairs at work, so this is all new and fun to me. :)

    Current "routine" is probably what the OP was looking for, so...
    Compound lifts (squat/bench/deadlift/press) 2-3x a week
    Assistance strength (e.g., fly, row, chin/dip, abs, arms) 1x a week, usually coinciding with the third compound day
    Run 2x a week (once for 5k endurance, once just for fun)
    General lighter cardio on other days (walking, rowing machine, stair climbing, or whatever)

    And sometimes I hop on the treadmill just to outrun my spoon... I loooove my frozen yogurt.
  • spfldpam
    spfldpam Posts: 738 Member
    I had been doing cardio and strength training while in the loosing weight stage. Now in maintence since around April 2013 I do less cardio and more strength training. I still do cardio but maybe just not as much as I was before. My nutritionist told me to do less cardio and more strength since I don't want to loose more weight but just maintain.
    Good luck!
  • harleygroomer
    harleygroomer Posts: 373 Member
    I haven't changed my workouts at all--I enjoy the ME time from them. I do my 4 miles every day and my weights and take in a Zumba class once or twice a week. These are ME times in my busy life. You will find that as well, and it also keeps me in check.
  • Cheeky_0102
    Cheeky_0102 Posts: 408 Member
    stop working out
    start drinking lots of booze.

    somehow that happened to me.

    Somehow even more miraculously, I'm not gaining weight.

    in all reality, i have revisited my goal, and will be working toward other things. The ultimate goal for me is to get up on a surfboard.
  • balancedbrunette
    balancedbrunette Posts: 530 Member
    When I was loosing weight always made sure I did at least 3x workouts a week, some weeks more, so I've kept to this since switching to maintenance, my workouts were mainly Julian Michaels and kickboxing classes now I'm focusing more on strength alone as I want to work on my body comp, going to resistence classes now and at the moment doing free weights at home. Reading the starting strength book so hoping to get started on an actual programme in the future. :)
    I just love the feeling after a workout, that buzz is amazing and i'm really getting that from my weight classes more than I was from JM so going to stick with it!
  • Holly_Lynn81
    Holly_Lynn81 Posts: 13 Member
    I am not changing my workout routines P90x, Insanity, and running) now that I am at my goal weight because I enjoy them, but I am now able to eat 200-300 more calories a day to fuel my workouts and maintain. Just making sure that my calories are healthy calories and not junk food when I can, but allowing myself a cheat meal once in a while.
  • jen4relient22
    jen4relient22 Posts: 46
    i seriously LOVE all of my workouts... so i've just been eating more to find the amount where i don't lose anymore.

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