Need to stop losing weight and maintain - HELP

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tonimanuel
tonimanuel Posts: 7 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I started MVP approx 7-8 months at 72.7kg. I am 45 years old and 5ft 5inches tall and exercise 2-3 times a week. I am now weighing in at 58.9kg. My issue is I am finding it hard to get my head and tummy around increasing my calories. I have been having 1200 all this time, well up until 3 weeks ago when I increased to 1300!! I usually struggle to get up to the 1300 without adding in minties or other treats to just add calories. Is there anyone out there who can understand how I am feeling? I don't need to lose any more weight I don't think but I am unsure how much I should be eating to maintain. I'm sure when I looked it up it said 1700 or so but there is no way I could eat that much without it being really crappy food. Please help.:smile:
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  • Jagreene62
    Jagreene62 Posts: 4,782 Member
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    Very good question...in similar situation. Would like to read responses. :happy:
  • poohpoohpeapod
    poohpoohpeapod Posts: 776 Member
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    oh please add 2 tbs peanut butter or an avocado and your there. I am amazed at these posts, a protein shake 110 scoop plus 2 percent milk 150 a banana 110 and some pb 200 there almost 600 calories right there. sure you dont have an aquired ed?
  • tonimanuel
    tonimanuel Posts: 7 Member
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    What is acquired ed?
  • michable
    michable Posts: 312 Member
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    I've been increasing my calories to maintenance level for a few weeks, too. I've been stoked to have larger portions of everything at each meal! A bit more rice or pasta, a bit more bolognese sauce, a bit more stir-fry, extra tuna on my sandwich, more taco mince on my tortilla, extra breakfast cereal, more fruit, more yoghurt. Easy to up calories by a few hundred.
  • tworthen79
    tworthen79 Posts: 1,173 Member
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    What is acquired ed?
    eating disorder.
  • tonimanuel
    tonimanuel Posts: 7 Member
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    Eating disorder - don't think so but I do know I am really anal about counting and loading my calories!!!!! So maybe a little. Can anyone tell me what the realistic maintenance amount would be please? It's obviously not 1300 lol
  • lovemuffin6
    lovemuffin6 Posts: 49
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    I'm moving in to maintenance, and I think its easier to transition if you do it slowly, but often stuff like replacing diet foods with normal versions will help like skim milk for full fat etc. aside from that the above poster is right, avocados, peanut butter, dark chocolate and other high calorie foods will really help. Maybe work one high calorie thing into each meal or have several smaller snacks.
  • unFATuated
    unFATuated Posts: 204 Member
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    Look up reverse dieting for more in-depth reading, and maybe use the search function in the forums, there might be some good threads, but basically you need to add more calories very gradually (maybe by 100cals per day for a week, then add another 100cals the following week, and so on) and see how your body reacts. There are calculators out there which might give you an idea of what your maintenance is, but you need to go on how you feel. By doing it gradually it doesn't feel quite so overwhelming, and will get your body used to eating more, little by little.
  • tonimanuel
    tonimanuel Posts: 7 Member
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    Thanks for the useful tips - gradually increasing seems to be the way to go:tongue:
  • tropicaltiger
    tropicaltiger Posts: 254
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    Good luck on your journey to maintain your weight-just try to increase slowly-you got use to eating a certain amount-so that is what your body is use to-it is hard to increase calories-I had a hard time even being at 1200-and when I hit my goal weight 5 years ago- I still a hard time-today I just try to do my best-I also workout a lot-good luck to you :smile:
  • boroko
    boroko Posts: 358 Member
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    Can anyone tell me what the realistic maintenance amount would be please? It's obviously not 1300 lol

    I'm the same height as you and 48 years old. When I started to try to maintain my weight kept dropping even though I was eating what seemed like quite a bit more than when I was trying to lose weight. People started asking if I was ill so I was working hard to get back up to a comfortable weight. I made little changes like eating full-fat yoghurt instead of fat-free, having 2 eggs instead of one for breakfast and adding healthy snacks like avocado, nuts etc. These changes helped and eventually I found that I need to eat at least 1700 net calories to not lose weight. Do make sure you are eating back your exercise calories if you want to keep your weight stable.

    It took me a lot of trial and error to get to this and I understand that you may not only feel that eating more is difficult because you are used to eating what is really very little and also because you may be afraid of undoing all the good you have done to get to where you are. As others have said, gradually increase more calories and see what happens. Believe me you aren't going to pop if you eat more and you aren't going to suddenly get fat - keep exercising, eating healthy food and being aware of what you are eating and you will find the right level for you.
  • Seesawboomerang
    Seesawboomerang Posts: 296 Member
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    Nuts and cheese.
  • boroko
    boroko Posts: 358 Member
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    Eating disorder - don't think so but I do know I am really anal about counting and loading my calories!!!!! So maybe a little.

    I have been thinking more about your post and realised that one of the things that helped me shift to eating more was a change in how I counted my calories. I too am a bit anal about it so I switched from weighing out a set portion to a pre-determined weight to serving what I thought I would like to eat and then weighing it. Often as not the amount I want to eat is what I would have been eating previously, but sometimes I would have a bit more - these bits all add up and are what I am comfortable eating. This way I'm not forcing myself to eat more and I'm still keeping an accurate track of what I am eating.
  • kennie2
    kennie2 Posts: 1,171 Member
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    please if i can eat 1500+ calories of raw food you can eat 1700 calories of normal food.
    eat bigger portions
    have an odd banana here and there
    have a smoothie (thats around 250 calories for a normal person)
    nuts are a very good one!
  • jchadden42
    jchadden42 Posts: 189
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    I have been dealing with the same issues. I actually eat about 2300 calories/day! People who make snarky responses don't necessarily see that. MFP says that I should be getting 1800 calories/day. If I add in exercise, I'm at an average of 2400 calories/day. That is A LOT of food for me. And one of the reasons it's so much is because I don't want to replace quantity for quality.

    I add nuts, avocado, and full fat yogurt and cheese to my diet. That helps, but it's still a struggle. Good luck to you.
  • j1wright
    j1wright Posts: 286 Member
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    Can anyone tell me what the realistic maintenance amount would be please? It's obviously not 1300 lol

    I'm the same height as you and 48 years old. When I started to try to maintain my weight kept dropping even though I was eating what seemed like quite a bit more than when I was trying to lose weight. People started asking if I was ill so I was working hard to get back up to a comfortable weight. I made little changes like eating full-fat yoghurt instead of fat-free, having 2 eggs instead of one for breakfast and adding healthy snacks like avocado, nuts etc. These changes helped and eventually I found that I need to eat at least 1700 net calories to not lose weight. Do make sure you are eating back your exercise calories if you want to keep your weight stable.

    It took me a lot of trial and error to get to this and I understand that you may not only feel that eating more is difficult because you are used to eating what is really very little and also because you may be afraid of undoing all the good you have done to get to where you are. As others have said, gradually increase more calories and see what happens. Believe me you aren't going to pop if you eat more and you aren't going to suddenly get fat - keep exercising, eating healthy food and being aware of what you are eating and you will find the right level for you.

    ^^^^Very good advice. I too lost more than 10 pounds on maitenance. I had to just stop counting. I was anal about counting and decided one day that I needed to give my mind a break and hopefully my body. Anytime I felt bad about what I ate or if I didn't like what I would see on the scale I would start counting again. I also weigh myself on a daily basis so I know when I have good days and bad without having to calculate. I do think MFP calculates low for me, as I should eat more than what they say I should to maintain. Perhaps you should give yourself a break from counting and slowly start trusting yourself with food again.
  • acogg
    acogg Posts: 1,870 Member
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    I am 5'5" and maintenance for me is about 1550 calories with minimal exercise. I adjust up for exercise. Yes, I do understand how you are feeling. I stopped logging when I reached my goal and then under ate because of my fear of gaining and ended up losing more than I felt was healthy. I started logging again to make certain I was getting enough calories and protein. When I had a mental image of my new healthy diet, I quit logging again. I have been maintaining successfully for several months. I am back again because I hope to lose a couple of extra pounds before a vacation splurge. The splurge is going to happen, my two pounds off may not. LOL! Yes, it does take time for the weight loss habit to subside. Congrats on your success!
  • colortheworld
    colortheworld Posts: 374 Member
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    Add 50-100 calories a week til you hit your maintenace point. Eat higher fat foods.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    I started MVP approx 7-8 months at 72.7kg. I am 45 years old and 5ft 5inches tall and exercise 2-3 times a week. I am now weighing in at 58.9kg. My issue is I am finding it hard to get my head and tummy around increasing my calories. I have been having 1200 all this time, well up until 3 weeks ago when I increased to 1300!! I usually struggle to get up to the 1300 without adding in minties or other treats to just add calories. Is there anyone out there who can understand how I am feeling? I don't need to lose any more weight I don't think but I am unsure how much I should be eating to maintain. I'm sure when I looked it up it said 1700 or so but there is no way I could eat that much without it being really crappy food. Please help.:smile:

    Go here: http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

    Your BMR (basic metabolic rate) : 58.9
    Your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure): 1694

    Based on stats your provided, the 1694 number is more or less the amount of calories you need to maintain your weight.

    You can eat that many calories, you just add in some higher fat foods instead of increasing your volume of food. For example, add 1/2 avocado to your salad, or have 1 ounce of nuts with your healthy lunch.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    Go here: http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

    Your BMR (basic metabolic rate) : 58.9
    Your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure): 1694

    I'm sorry, I copied over the amounts for BMR and TDEE, and I did not translate them correctly, especially the first one.

    Your BMR (basic metabolic rate) : 1217
    Your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure): 1680

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