New to maintaining

RoyalMoose11

Hey all,
I'm new to maintaining and it seems like my calories per day is very high. At 6'5, 218lbs my base is around 2,900 (not to mention on my long run and long swim days it could add 500-1000 calories).

For those who have been on maintenance do you find your calorie suggestions to be good for you or did you adjust them? I find it tough to hit that number some I'm wondering if folks have go-to foods to recommend.

To folks counting macros are you doing 40(p)/40(c)/20(f) or something else? I'm pretty active (swimming and running every other day and lifting three days a week) and I've gotten some good advice on the fitness side about eating back calories so thanks to those folks.

sijomial

I custom set my calorie goal quite early in my weight loss so that I saw the results I wanted/expected and continued to do the same when experimenting to find maintenance. The calories I need to lose weight and then maintain weight are always lower than MFP estimates (sadly!).
You could try calculating your maintenance calories based on on what you ate to lose your weight - so if you ate X calories to lose a pound a week your maintenance level is likely to be around X + 500.

Macros - my percentages are nominally set at 40/30/30 but really I work from total numbers rather than percentages:
1g of protein per lb of LBM (minimum)
0.35g of fat per lb of total body weight (bit more relaxed with this goal, varies day to day)

So really I'm prioritising in the order: calories then protein then fat and rest can fall wherever it falls.
Only exception would be on a big cycling day when I concentrate more on carbs.

TavistockToad

Hey all,
I'm new to maintaining and it seems like my calories per day is very high. At 6'5, 218lbs my base is around 2,900 (not to mention on my long run and long swim days it could add 500-1000 calories).

For those who have been on maintenance do you find your calorie suggestions to be good for you or did you adjust them? I find it tough to hit that number some I'm wondering if folks have go-to foods to recommend.

To folks counting macros are you doing 40(p)/40(c)/20(f) or something else? I'm pretty active (swimming and running every other day and lifting three days a week) and I've gotten some good advice on the fitness side about eating back calories so thanks to those folks.

i found MFPs maintenance figure a bit low, however the scooby calculator was pretty accurate, but its all estimates really.

my advice for maintenance would be to have a range not one number to account for fluctuations... also i look at my weekly calorie goal more than daily - that way if you have one high or one low day it still balances out over the week.

twixlepennie

I had to up my calories, above what MFP suggested, in order to get my weight to stabilize/stop losing. I'm not tracking right now, but I'm easily eating over 2,000 calories a day (female/5ft, 6in 35 yrs old, 119ish pounds, 5 days a week of 30 minutes moderate exercise). I did the TDEE calculators and they put me in the 2,250 calorie range to maintain. Your number doesn't seem that high, considering you're a guy, taller/bigger than me and work out more intensely

RoyalMoose11

I too did custom goals to lose weight and it was so varied I don't know the math for calories:pounds lost. Especially because of my weigh ins varying and not doing my diary every day

To get to 2,900 will be tough unless I decide to eat less healthy, higher calorie goodies again! Anyone have any good high calorie foods to try to work in? As much as I don't like them I may be adding in avocados for their high calories count.

Thanks again.

nxd10

Add cream or cream cheese instead of milk. Cheese. Nuts. Whole grains. Add oil or butter. It's easy to add 1000 calories to your day. Fat.