The panic of the first day of maintenance

Silent1980

"Goes on laptop"...."opens MFP"....."checks Home"....."1650 calories remaining"...."still sleepy and thinking...I exercised in my sleep...? why so many calories?"........."sees 0 Food - 0 Exercise"........."realises" OMFG MAINTENANCE STARTED!!!!!! "panicking" I diet for 5 years!!! How it is not to?????? HEEEEEEEEELP

Really......I am used to eat less, I am used to exercise, I am used to eat "clean" most of the week (Hey...I am a human...I want my sweet some times...) Guys..... how you do it???

watto1980

There is no reason you have to stop exercising or stop eating clean. Keep exercising and eat back the calories burned with healthy whole foods. You still receive the health benefits of exercise without losing weight.

Silent1980

Thanks for the advise. I would never go back to my old unhealthy ways but I fear maintenance has the trap..So I will try to find a new balance :flowerforyou:

TavistockToad

just enjoy all the food!!!!

if you want the odd treat you can have it, you wont put on weight if you eat a doughnut if its within your cals! Just make sure you are still getting all the good stuff and hitting your macros first. i started by making slightly bigger portions of the stuff i ate while losing weight, and added in an extra snack of almonds - lots of cals for not much food - while i was getting used to eating more.

i also found that MFP estimates low for maintenance, it has me at 1600 plus exercise cals, but i actually maintain at 2000 plus exercise cals.

Domane1963

Welcome to maintenance.... I'm a week in and it IS terrifying! Losing the weight has been my life and now that I'm there, it is very daunting. Previously I have re-gained and yo'yo'd.... but this year I changed my lifestyle and eating habits for the first time in my life so I'm really determined NOT to gain this time. But I have to admit, the thought terrifies me.....

chani8

I've been doing this maintenance thing for a little while now. It was terrifying. Now I just enjoy being able to eat, and look forward to getting in some cardio so that I can eat even more.

There really is nothing scary here. Well, if you're like me and are stilling going to log, then it's not scary or all that hard. You're still counting calories and logging, you just get to eat more.

I found nuts were a quick easy way to get those cals and not feel stuffed. As if anyone would feel stuffed on my 1400cal maintenance plan. Just be glad for every bit of that 1650 now, because every year that you get older it goes down, unless your activity goes up.

Congrats!! This is cause for a celebration, you know!! You made it!! You set a goal and here it is 5 years later and you did it!! Well done!!

iechick

The first couple weeks of transitioning were really rough for me-I felt totally lost and overwhelmed. I realized I needed new goals to work towards and started exercising and 'clean' eating as things to work towards as part of my maintenance plan. I think that's a big part of succeeding-always having a goal to work towards, whatever it may be.

Now I've been at it for a few months and I still don't have it totally figured out (hit a new low last week :laugh: ), but I'm not as overwhelmed anymore. I have several things in place to keep me in check and so far it's working out really well. I still have moments where I worry that I'm somehow doing it wrong because I'm not tracking calories anymore, but then I look at what I am doing and know that it's working for me so why mess with it. I can always reevaluate and tweak down the road as needed!

Juggernaut_D

I'm so glad to see this post! Ive begun maintainence last week, and I have been obsessing over the scale every day! I am still eating clean and exercising regularly, but I added 200 calories, so I'm just fearful my body will explode any day now! I am trying really hard to gain muscle, but if I see half a pound up on the scale, I panic. These posts are a good comfort.

allprobeginner

Say it with me, lifestyle change.
a marathon, not a sprint.

Chill out. If you don't want to do maintenance, don't.
Alternate between bulking and cutting.
No need to hit the panic button.
Focus on your training goals.

gregpack

For those of you starting maintenance I will warn you you might put on a few pounds of water weight as your glycogen stores in your liver and muscle top off and store water with it. So don't panic, it should level off after a few pounds...

Some experimentation is in order to find what works best for you. Just eating a little less than I did before didn't work as well for me as I hoped. So I'm finding it's easiest to do a couple of things to maintain. If I start the day with a big meal it just sets up a day of careless overeating. I found it easier to eat lower calorie meal at breakfast and lunch, resembling what I ate while on weigh loss regimen. Supper and after dinner snacks are much more relaxed and enjoyable- I can eat what I want within reason and still not exceed maintenance caloric intake.

Another tactic if my weight starts trending up that worked well was a weekly "diet day" every Monday. I eat about 1000 calories less than maintenance. It's only one day so it's quite easy to do and helps make up for any indulgences I had over the weekend.

I do continue to weigh daily and don't worry about small fluctuations. I have pre determined "lines in the sand" that will institute a short term weight loss program. For example, I float around 215. If I step on the scale and see 220 three days in a row, then I start a one-two week diet. This gets me back where I need to be.

Inshape13

Totally agree with the above poster about glycogen stores and weight gain in the beginning. If the calorie count that you are changing to is drastically above what you are used to, then don't make a huge jump. You can increase in an increment of 200 calories first and whatever is left to increase up to hit your maintenance total to let your body adjust. It is not all or nothing with the increase. Do what feels right for you and see where it takes you, it is not set in stone that you MUST stick to that number, it is what it calculated for you. You will find your happy number and just go from there.

JoRocka

I was on a crazy insane cut for a photoshoot- when I upped to maintance I spent like 2 weeks pigging out trying to get over my mental fear of getting fat- so intead of just eating my calories- I went OVER BOARD in paranoia. It was the strangest thing.

that was after September 14th... I've ironed out eating 1700 with some wiggle room... it just takes some time to adjust. it's hard- I have a pretty healthy relationship with food- and I even freaked out about it.

it's okay- just keep working on it!

themedalist

OP, congratulations on succeeding in your weight loss goals....that's a tremendous accomplishment and you should be very proud!

Now deep breaths. Using that same determination and commitment that you had for weight loss, channel it to maintenance. You will succeed there as well, I'm sure!

To me, what's tough about maintenance is there is no end point. You'll be maintaining your weight for the rest of your life. But aside from that, I really haven't found maintenance that difficult. A little more food, portion control, and regular physical activity. Like the above poster, I think "lines in the sand" are important. A point where you say "If this happens, I will do ____". Otherwise, it can be a slippery slope. You don't want to fall into the "Oh, it's just 7 pounds" trap.

Everyone's maintenance strategy is different and needs to be tailored to them. For some, it may be daily logging, for others daily weigh-ins, and for some people maybe exercise and portion control are all that's needed. Or some combination thereof. When you have your maintenance plan in place, test it, and tweak as needed. You'll be good to go!

Best wishes and congrats again as you enter this very rewarding phase of your life!

KinoM

I just started maintenance yesterday & it's a bit scary alright. I'm going to slowly up my calories without eating back exercise cals for now & see where my real maintenance level is. Ideally it'll get to the stage where I don't have to monitor everything every day, and it'll all come from habit. And I thought the hard part was done!

RHSheetz

Just a word of caution, slide into maintenance slowly. Slowly start increasing your calories like 100 a week and monitor your weight. Good luck, and keep watching as you transition.

WendyTerry420

I am on my second round of maintenance since "the journey" began. For me, maintenance means being able to stay the same weight without logging or stressing over what I'm eating. I enjoy it. I plan to go back to cutting in next week. I am confused as to how it would be panic-inducing. For me, it's a blessed time.

sklebar

Yup, MFP says my maintenance with lightly active is 1900 and moderately active is 2100, so I eat 2000. It's perfect.

JoRocka

I don't get it.

I can't relate. Why is maintenance so scary to everyone. I couldn't wait to increase my calories to something more normal and reasonable.

it's a mental fear- it isn't about the actual calories you're eating- it's about the effect- you spend all this time cutting- I was getting good abs- seeing great cuts... upping it by an entire other meal just felt wrong. And on top of that.. you get SO used to being hungry (least I did - but I was eating below my BMR)... feeling NOT hungry makes you 'feel fat'

you aren't. but it's a mental thing. purely mental.

geekyjock76

Usually, the people who freak over transitioning to maintenance are those who didn't periodically increase the calories they eat as they lost fat. Instead, they maintained the same static intake all the way to goal weight and, as a result, see this massive difference in what they are presently eating and what their adjusted TDEE may be and go full paranoid.