Understanding maintenance

Rawfoodsho

So when you first start losing weight, its like your bmr is 1800 and its easy to make a deficit, but the more you lose the lower that number becomes, meaning what? How do you live by lowering your calories? Also I am like 175 and if I ate 2000 calories a day I would gain weight. So its odd to see people maintain at like 2000 calories when they are 125. The bmr and tdee doesn't support this. Also it gets confusing because I think I am dealing with bigger people when really its ED teens eating 4000 calories a day and coming here to cry about it...Sorry I cant relate.

So how do you maintain when the number keeps dropping, eventually you will be at like 1000 calories if you want to maintain like 120 with out working out? Also how do you people who weigh like 140 eat 2300 calories a day to maintain? That doesn't match up the tdee information on that weight.....Most of the maintenance calories I see people talk about here dont add up when I put their exact info in the BMR meter. Most are eating well over their bmr, not working out and still losing?

Now I am 5'8 175 29 years old. According too a tdee calculator I looked up my Basal metabolic rate is 1569. How do I make a deficit from that to lose weight? PLUS what about when it drops? When I do lose down to 150 I will be able to eat what? 1200 calories a day with out working out? How does this all work to where when I am 135 I can still EAT?

stumblinthrulife

Your maintenance calories reduce as you lose weight, and as you age. Unfortunate and highly inconvenient, but it's unavoidable.

They increase if you are more active, and if you are a lower body fat percentage at a given weight. Someone 200 pounds at 8% body fat will have a higher maintenance than someone 200 pounds at 40% body fat - all other factors held equal.

I can maintain at nearly 3000 calories a day because I run a lot and lift weights.

If you want to maintain at higher numbers, get active.

stumblinthrulife

Don't confuse BMR, RMR and TDEE, by the way.

BMR is bare minimum your body uses to function. It's literally what you burn when in a coma.
RMR is conscious but sat/lying down all day.
TDEE is everything you do in a day. That includes exercise and non-exercise activity.

MFP uses a NEAT (non-exercise activity) calculator to figure out your maintenance calories. The deficit is then applied to that. If you never exercise, that's the end of it. If you do exercise you can consider that as 'earning' more calories to eat while maintaining the same deficit.

Rawfoodsho

Your maintenance calories reduce as you lose weight, and as you age. Unfortunate and highly inconvenient, but it's unavoidable.

They increase if you are more active, and if you are a lower body fat percentage at a given weight. Someone 200 pounds at 8% body fat will have a higher maintenance than someone 200 pounds at 40% body fat - all other factors held equal.

I can maintain at nearly 3000 calories a day because I run a lot and lift weights.

If you want to maintain at higher numbers, get active.

Clearly they reduce when you lose weight. The number I stated was my TDEE. The numbers are almost the same though and barely differ so that doesn't matter to me. Eventually my number will become to high and it will require me to eat 1300 calories to maintain a low weight while inactive. So obviously I have to work out. I surely dont want to eat 1200-1300 calories a day for the rest of my life.

stumblinthrulife

Your maintenance calories reduce as you lose weight, and as you age. Unfortunate and highly inconvenient, but it's unavoidable.

They increase if you are more active, and if you are a lower body fat percentage at a given weight. Someone 200 pounds at 8% body fat will have a higher maintenance than someone 200 pounds at 40% body fat - all other factors held equal.

I can maintain at nearly 3000 calories a day because I run a lot and lift weights.

If you want to maintain at higher numbers, get active.

Clearly they reduce when you lose weight. The number I stated was my TDEE. The numbers are almost the same though and barely differ so that doesn't matter to me. Eventually my number will become to high and it will require me to eat 1300 calories to maintain a low weight while inactive. So obviously I have to work out. I surely dont want to eat 1200-1300 calories a day for the rest of my life.

I think it's pretty unlikely that your TDEE is 1300, unless you are a bed ridden dwarf. I don't mean that to be rude, just to illustrate that it's unlikely.

sijomial

You seem very confused about the difference between BMR and TDEE - that's why your numbers don't look right. You don't have to eat at a deficit from BMR to lose weight.

If your BMR and TDEE are very close then you must be almost entirely sedentary. That doesn't mean you have to necessarily "workout" but becoming more active will help you have a higher TDEE and also be good for your health.

loulamb7

You should use your TDEE number to calculate your potential weight loss. Your BMR at "no exercise" is 1569. Your TDEE at the same setting is 1883. This is the number you use to create a deficit. So at the suggested 15% deficit, you would start at 1601 calories. Also don't forget that these number are only estimates or a starting point. You tweak your calories up or down based on the results. Once you are off eating at a deficit you will return to a higher caloric number. For example at 150 lbs your TDEE would be 1746

Just_Scott

You seem very confused about the difference between BMR and TDEE - that's why your numbers don't look right. You don't have to eat at a deficit from BMR to lose weight.

If your BMR and TDEE are very close then you must be almost entirely sedentary. That doesn't mean you have to necessarily "workout" but becoming more active will help you have a higher TDEE and also be good for your health.

^^THIS^^ When this guy writes a post OP, just follow it, saves me from having to read just about anything else.

Rawfoodsho

You seem very confused about the difference between BMR and TDEE - that's why your numbers don't look right. You don't have to eat at a deficit from BMR to lose weight.

If your BMR and TDEE are very close then you must be almost entirely sedentary. That doesn't mean you have to necessarily "workout" but becoming more active will help you have a higher TDEE and also be good for your health.

Yeah except I used a website and calculated them both and they were almost the exact same under sedentary.

Rawfoodsho

Your maintenance calories reduce as you lose weight, and as you age. Unfortunate and highly inconvenient, but it's unavoidable.

They increase if you are more active, and if you are a lower body fat percentage at a given weight. Someone 200 pounds at 8% body fat will have a higher maintenance than someone 200 pounds at 40% body fat - all other factors held equal.

I can maintain at nearly 3000 calories a day because I run a lot and lift weights.

If you want to maintain at higher numbers, get active.

Clearly they reduce when you lose weight. The number I stated was my TDEE. The numbers are almost the same though and barely differ so that doesn't matter to me. Eventually my number will become to high and it will require me to eat 1300 calories to maintain a low weight while inactive. So obviously I have to work out. I surely dont want to eat 1200-1300 calories a day for the rest of my life.

I think it's pretty unlikely that your TDEE is 1300, unless you are a bed ridden dwarf. I don't mean that to be rude, just to illustrate that it's unlikely.

No I was saying at around 135 pounds I would have to eat very little. I checked my bmr and tdee on 4 different websites and got 4 different results.

sijomial

You seem very confused about the difference between BMR and TDEE - that's why your numbers don't look right. You don't have to eat at a deficit from BMR to lose weight.

If your BMR and TDEE are very close then you must be almost entirely sedentary. That doesn't mean you have to necessarily "workout" but becoming more active will help you have a higher TDEE and also be good for your health.

Yeah except I used a website and calculated them both and they were almost the exact same under sedentary.

Then the answer remains you need to move more! The more you burn through simply being active and preferably getting some exercise as well will increase the difference between BMR & TDEE.

It's obvious if you are going to be sitting down all day you are going to have to eat less calories than someone more active.
Life is full of choices and this is one of them - want to eat more? Then move more.

cwolfman13

Basal metabolic rate is 1569. How do I make a deficit from that to lose weight?

You shouldn't be making a deficit from BMR...you make a deficit from TDEE. You BMR is just the calories you burn being alive...your body would burn those calories if you did nothing except sleep all day.

Example..my BMR is 1780 but my TDEE (which includes my exercise) is around 2700 calories....without exercise it's 2300 - 2400. I cut from the 2700 number to lose weight...I lose about 1 Lb per week @ 2200 calories.

Springfield1970

That's the beauty of MFP. If you're patient,log meticulously and do your research here, you can figure out your own personal maintenance levels. I am female, 124lbs, 43, 5'7" and maintain currently on about 1800 before exercise. I train 9 hours a week for triathlon though, and don't seem to burn very much during exercise unless I'm above threshold as I'm now small and efficient. On rest days my body is repairing so I think this is why my maintenance number is high. I also am carrying little fat and don't sleep much!

Interesting stuff!

DesireeNL

Your maintenance calories reduce as you lose weight, and as you age. Unfortunate and highly inconvenient, but it's unavoidable.

They increase if you are more active, and if you are a lower body fat percentage at a given weight. Someone 200 pounds at 8% body fat will have a higher maintenance than someone 200 pounds at 40% body fat - all other factors held equal.

I can maintain at nearly 3000 calories a day because I run a lot and lift weights.

If you want to maintain at higher numbers, get active.

Clearly they reduce when you lose weight. The number I stated was my TDEE. The numbers are almost the same though and barely differ so that doesn't matter to me. Eventually my number will become to high and it will require me to eat 1300 calories to maintain a low weight while inactive. So obviously I have to work out. I surely dont want to eat 1200-1300 calories a day for the rest of my life.

I think it's pretty unlikely that your TDEE is 1300, unless you are a bed ridden dwarf. I don't mean that to be rude, just to illustrate that it's unlikely.

No I was saying at around 135 pounds I would have to eat very little. I checked my bmr and tdee on 4 different websites and got 4 different results.

You're not really listening to the point people are making: your numbers are incorrect. BMR and TDEE are two different things and the numbers are not similar if you calculate them correctly. At your weight and height your TDEE should be much higher.

Also you seem to believe that you have to drop down to 1000-1200 calories to keep up with the weight loss and then stay at 1200 in order to maintain that weight.

Your TDEE doesn't drop that drastically while you lose weight. You don't even have to adjust your numbers as long as you are still losing weight. When you notice it's slowing down, then it's time to recalculate and tweak your numbers. So you don't go from eating 1800 to 1600 to 1200 in order to eat at the same deficit because your TDEE doesn't lower that much with your weight.

As an example, I'm 5' and 115lbs. My calculated TDEE is just below 1800. I eat 1500 to lose weight. I'm about as short as it gets for an adult female and there's NO WAY I'll be maintaining at 1200 calories. Once I'm at goal weight, I'll up my calories to figure out at which number I truly maintain. So NO, you don't have to eat very little to maintain your weight! If you are 5'8 and 175lbs your numbers should be much higher than mine, even when you are at 135lbs.

SherryTeach

It is highly inconvenient that we small, older people (especially women) can't eat as many calories as the younger, bigger folks. Fortunately, my hunger seems to be matching what is working out for maintenance. I think that most of us to have hit maintenance have played with the numbers long enough to figure out a plan that leaves us satisfied while staying in our weight range.

rosemary98

I wouldn't stereotype "teen ED people". that is an issue in and of itself.

that being said. I maintain 98 pounds at just under 5'6'' at 1450...without exercise. I am in my mid-thirties. it comes down to the food options you choose to make.

pkw58

Here's my deal. If you are given any notice around MFP or any weight loss site, it says to lose weight you have eat at a calories deficit. That worked fine for me as well as getting on a the right balance of protein /carbs/fat to lose the excess pounds. I upped my activity level as well. Mostly walking in 10 to 20 minutes spurts 2 to 5 times a day. (for full disclosure , I followed the Dukan plan through all 4 phases but also logged my calories)

But Maintenance --- My personal experience is you eat right but MOVE/STRENGTH TRAIN a lot more to maintain. Add body strengthening of some kind - I do a combination of yoga, pilates and Barre called Barre3. As I develop more muscle and lose my fat (not changing how much I weigh), my calorie needs seem to be higher. I tolerate the occasional celebration meal or treat (and I do mean on special occasions only - birthdays, weddings, etc)

Your mil ease may vary, but by making myself focus on adding activity, I am not losing the ability to eat more calories. it's a balancing act, but it works for me.

pkoll

I agree with OP that your BMR will go down as you lose weight, but not that significantly. I did not change my calorie goal. Yes, my weight loss is slower, the smaller I get, but if I exercise I sometimes actually have to work at eating more. Never thought I would ever have the opportunity to say that in my life! I try to stay between my BMR and my TDEE.