Maintenance calorie without gaining weight

Wingg

I've reached my goal weight and I want to increase my calories intake to maintenance level. How am I suppose to do it?? I am scared that I will gain the weight that I have lost back when I start to increase my calories intake.

I will really appreaciate your advice.

davert123

This depends on a lot of things. These are my guesses (you will get a lot of guesses from people who claim them as fact and some people who will know what they are talking about so if you get a lot of posts filter them).

1) If you lost weight relatively quickly and/or are doing cardio your body will be in a slightly different equilibrium to when you go to maintenance. You may be running at a slight deficit and when you go back to normal you may increase weight by a couple of lb because you are taking on more water (this isn't fat just H20).

2) If you are exercising then you may build up muscle. Your weight may drift upwards slightly week by week but this is great - its lean mass and if your goal is to keep trim you want loads of this because it burns calories for you.

I'm not there yet but I would taper for a week or two. Try and have a smaller deficit and see what happens with your body. Just keep monitoring and tweaking. nothing drastic just monitor and tweak. If your weight goes up quickly it will just be water so gradually bring it down again by running a deficit

Just my thoughts anyway and well done for getting to your goal.

ehsan517

i judged using the mirror....started upping my calories by 100 every week. i was at 1800 and wasn't gaining weight until i hit 2400-2500. then i pushed further into a lean bulk and am on 2750 as of today with some good muscle gains and little bit of fat gain(visible abs so i cant complain) gonna go upto 2800/2850 till end of 2013 then cut to my ideal weight goal.

so, what happened when i was reversing to 2400? I gained weight. fat? nope. water? perhaps. muscle? maybe a little(i hope!!) but definitely no fat gain. thats just my personal experience. i believe this will vary for most people.

Seesawboomerang

My own experience is that problems occur when you get complacent, and stop counting, not when you stick to maintenance calories.

That said, it takes a little tweaking to settle on a maintenance figure. Really though don't panic, just watch your weight and measurements and recalculate after a couple of weeks if there's a steady gain or continued loss.

Wingg

Thank you for your advices! But, how will i know if the weight gained is water or otherwise?

Seesawboomerang

Measure yourself once a month, it gives a truer picture than the scale.

If I'm holding water weight it either shows as a bloated belly, or I know from logging that I've not drunk enough water, or had too much salt in my diet.

Blokeypoo

I've been maintaining since Feb. I use my Fitbit to be sure I've earned at least what I eat. I eat 1500 in the week but burn 1750 to get a deficit and pretty much what I like at w/e to utilise the deficit. It is a big head change at first and takes some getting used to. I could eat more every day but prefer the freedom at w/e so choose to monitor closely M-F.

You can't maintain an exact wt so need an acceptable window or you'll drive yourself nuts.

jenilla1

I've been on maintenance for over two years now. When I was ready to transition, I plugged the numbers in for maintenance calories, then slowly started eating more and more over the next couple of weeks until I was finally eating at maintenance. I actually still kept losing for several weeks, so I just adjusted my calories up until I reached an equilibrium and the scale didn't move anymore.

I have been at the same stable weight (literally within a pound or two) all this time because I still count my calories (I skip big events and holidays, backpacking trips, etc. because they aren't that often.) It's been super simple for me to keep logging. I eat most of the same foods from day to day so they're all in my frequent foods list. A few clicks and a few minutes everyday is a small investment to me. It's like showering and brushing my teeth. I just do it - it's habit now. :drinker:

Wingg

Let say I increase my calories intake by 100 calories, how long should I maintain the increase before proceeding to adding another 100calories?

ehsan517

try one week. i wanted to be extra safe so i upped my calories by 100 every 2 weeks( i only just remembered). now in bulking mode i up my calories by 100 every month. but for you, to get to maintenance safely, start with 100 ...gauge it by your progress...weight reports, mirror, comparison photos, etc.

Wingg

try one week. i wanted to be extra safe so i upped my calories by 100 every 2 weeks( i only just remembered). now in bulking mode i up my calories by 100 every month. but for you, to get to maintenance safely, start with 100 ...gauge it by your progress...weight reports, mirror, comparison photos, etc.

Thank you for the info! After you reached your maintenance did you gain weight??