Slowing down weight loss to ease into maintenance. Opinions?

jennk5309

I'm looking to maintain for life once I get to my goal (another 10-15 pounds), so I want to transition out of the "all or nothing mentality" that I've been in for years. By all or nothing, I mean that I'm either all-out going at diet and fitness, or all-out overeating (though not binging since I don't have that problem, thank goodness).

I want to avoid extremes and be able to comfortably maintain, so I've increased my calories and actually eat my exercise calories too (If I did that before, I considered it "cheating" and felt guilty). I'm expecting to only lose a half a pound or so a week, so that means it will take me at least 20 weeks to finish losing!

Do you think that's stupid and that I should just keep going at it strong until I hit goal, or do you think it's a wise idea?

The other reason I am doing this is because I am also trying to get pregnant and am afraid that my large calorie deficits were affecting my ability to get and stay pregnant (we lost one recently). I know that getting pregnant means putting off losing the rest until after the baby is born, but I don't really mind. I'm technically only 6 pounds overweight. I don't think that will affect a pregnancy as long as I eat decently and exercise.

I also want to learn to maintain so that I can stay balanced with eating and exercise while pregnant.

What do you all think?

JesterMFP

I think it's a great idea, for all your stated reasons. Anyway, half a pound a week is ideal when you only have a little left to lose.

briabner

Maybe try this out for 4-6 weeks and if you are getting frustrated because you want to loose the last bit of weight then you can always refigure what you should be eating calorie wise.

oc1timoco

I think its a good idea.

ekaustin7

Worked wonders for me. I did it very, very slowly, and kept losing until one day I started maintaining. I added about 100 calories to my goal on the first of every month after I hit my goal weight, then lost an additional 9 pounds before finally hitting the maintenance number. Of course, if you dont' want to lose additional weight below your goal, then you should add calories on faster (200 on the first of every month, 100 every two weeks, 100 every week, etc.) until you find the right balance.

geekyjock76

Please do. Probably the biggest benefit of reducing the deficit as you lose fat mass, aside from preservation of lean mass, is from a psychological perspective. Read a lot of comments from people who maintained the same static caloric intake the entire time, thus increasing the deficit %, and many are quoted as being quite terrified at eating back up to maintenance because the difference is so large. Who do you think is going to be more paranoid? The person who upped calories as they lost weight and only need to increase it by a mere 250 calories to hit maintenance - or the person who didn't up calories throughout the process and are possibly looking at 500 calories or greater to return to maintenance?

Phoenix_Warrior

I love this question and have been taking this approach too. I've been gradually upping to ease on in for a smooth maintenance landing

Kari121869

Great question and I'm appreciative of the answers as I only have about 15-20 lbs left to loose as well and have been starting to wonder how I 'transition' out of loosing state to 'maintaining' without shocking my system too much and gaining.. which would TOTALLY put me in a depression lol

melsinct

I lost 30 pounds total. I started using the "1 lb/week" setting, then for the last 10 pounds, I set MFP for 0.5 lb/week loss. It did work well for me. I didn't have to make one of those all too common panicked "OMG!! MAINTENANCE, WHAT DO I EAT!!" posts because when I was done losing weight, I wasn't faced with suddenly incorporating an additional 500 calories a day. Transition to maintenance for me was as easy as adding a snack into my day and I really haven't struggled with it at all. I have now been maintaining for almost 2 years and haven't had any setbacks. I don't even log anymore, as eating reasonable portion sizes is so natural to me now.

I vote for the slow and steady route!

nxd10

Maybe try this out for 4-6 weeks and if you are getting frustrated because you want to loose the last bit of weight then you can always refigure what you should be eating calorie wise.

I was thinking the same thing 10-15 pounds is actually quite a lot of weight left to lose.

Good luck with the pregnancy planning and have fun!

P.S. I always lose weight for the first trimester and DUMP weight with 3 years of breastfeeding. It's when I' m not pregnant/nursing that I get in trouble.

svsl0928

Good questions. I was wondering also because I have about 15 pounds that I want to lose.

popsicklestar

I would go by how you feel. I upped my calories slowly from 1200 to 1520 as I was losing, mostly because eating 1200 is really hard for me. I lose pretty slow at 1520 because it's not too big of a deficit since I'm within 5 pounds of my goal, but eating less than that on days I don't workout is pretty difficult for me. I don't think you need to up your calorie goal until you get to within 5 pounds of your goal, but if you're more comfortable eating a little more and you don't mind prolonging your weightloss, then why not?

MelissaPhippsFeagins

I have 17 pounds left and have been planning to start adding calories back at 8-10 lbs from goal, which I hope will happen at the first of the year. For purposes of the health screenings at work that make my insurance premium higher or not, I need to be 150 in May. I know I can do that, even losing half a pound, but I'd like to be there before my kids Spring Break in April. We are planning a beach trip...ah, vanity...

maryrx59

This is exactly what I did...have been maintaining now for 3 months!!! I usually eat around 2,000 calories a day and am really satisfied with that!!!

Good luck to you!
Mary

ShannonMpls

I did this. I gradually *increased* calories during the last 8-10 months of my weight loss phase (which was 15 months total).

All I really did when I hit "maintenance" was increase calories incrementally. In fact, I still log most of my weekdays at my last "losing" goal of around 2100, but I have a lot more leeway for special occasions, weekends, holidays, etc. Transitioning to maintenance was a breeze.

toutmonpossible

I would hold on to the "all-or-nothing" mentality, just change the goals.

sijomial

OP - I think it's a great idea.
It takes a while for habits to become normality so easing yourself down to a soft landing makes perfect sense to me.

Think about changing your goals to health or fitness goals to harness that willpower and drive.