How did you decided when to go into maintenance?

sadiegirl32

So, I have this number in my head, 150. That is/was my final goal. Started this journey at 355 and am at 168 now. 150 is a nice round number, accountants like that...lol But as I get closer to my goal, and I look at my body, I'm like...do I really want to lose 18 more pounds? My shoulders and back are so BONY...which is bizarre just to think about, let alone say, I've never been bony in my life!

So, for those of you that are at maintenance, how did you decide when to stop losing?!?

Agate69

I never really decided. My body just got to a loss of 92% of excess weight! and I stopped. No amount of calorie counting, calorie tweekin, increase exercise, made a change for 36 months. Now after a TT and getting rid of bad belly fat metabolism is changing. I have added calories and am now losing very slowly, about 1/4pound a week. Decided at 30 months to stop stressing and concentrate how I feel, by how active I am.

Face is my deciding point, when I start to look GAUNT ( tee hee). I have never been gaunt. I add calories. When skinniest jeans are too snug, cut back on carbs or salt. +\- 2 pounds is my swing. I am still tethering between obese and over weight, but dexa scan showed 20% body fat! and excess skin shows up as fat. I lift heavy 3-4 x week, so lot of muscle weight. When my rings start sliding off, then I am too thin, but still at normal weight by weight charts. BOGUS CHARTS?

jmwolffyy

I obviously don't know the answer to this either, but I am commenting so I can see what other responses you get! I had originally had 165 in my own mind, but now I am hovering right around 150 and I feel like if I go under I am like PP in that my face starts to look gaunt, but if I go over my slacks feel tight. I hate the excess skin thing because it just feels like it throws everything off - scale says 150, which is a good number, but if I were to remove the skin, I wouldn't still feel fat when I see it hanging down. Definitely a discussion to have with the NP at the 18month follow up visit in my case!

DJRonnieLINY

I am starting to get close to my goal so I have been giving this a lot of thought. My family doctor has given me a target where he feels I will be most healthy. At that point we will pay close attention to waist measurement, body fat and blood work to determine where I should aim to settle in.

I still have MFP set for a 2 pound weekly loss and will adjust that to maintain once I hit the doctor's goal. After that it's more about health and fitness!

JoelleAnn78

I decided when I weighed 399# that my best girlfriend looked great -- she weighed 180. I have been shooting for 180 for 4.5 years. I am at 182/183 and I am quite happy. I have a whole lot of excess skin and I believe if that were removed I would be well under my 180 goal. My hip bones, shoulder blades and collar bone are very prominent, and I have made the choice to maintain at this point. I believe it has to be a personal choice - and I have never though the charts/dr recommendations/fitness tests were accurate for their suggestions on what I should weigh.

I was concerned in the beginning that I would not know when to stop. That I'd never been skinny and would I know when to call it quits on losing and just enjoy being healthy. Now that I am here... honestly, I don't want to be focused on weight loss anymore. I want to focus on living. Best of luck to you.

sadiegirl32

Thanks for all of the great answers! It is very helpful!

bikrchk

My *hope* is to get to a "normal" BMI of 25 or below which will give me a bigger break on my insurance premiums next year. I'm considered "overweight" today. My doc told me I could go as low as 130, (I'm 5'6), but my initial goal is 140. That's about another 35 lbs. We'll see what happens. If my body wants to go that far, I'll re-evaluate when I get there. If I keep working out at the rate I have been, I'll be solid muscle. I can't even imagine what that will feel like. I can wear a (tight) size 8 now!

risskie

Wow, that IS a good question - I guess I am not sure it was a decision I made. When I reached 150lb loss, my surgeon told me to maintain 1200 calories a day, which I have with some days less than that. Most of the calories were protein calories. I noticed my weight loss began to slow down - despite exercising. At my next surgeon apt., he said not to expect to lose much more - just maintain 1200 calories. He added that most of the weight left was the hanging skin on my arms, legs and abdomen. When/If I had that skin removed, I would be at my target weight. So since late summer 2013, I've maintained 1200 daily calories - concentrating on a modified vegetarian diet - lots of grains (flax,chia,wheats,etc),vegs, fruits and yogurt. If I eat meat, it's a little chicken, and no sugar or caffeine. Very easy to fill up the calories on protein - so I guess between my surgeon's observation and my selected diet, I am maintaining my calorie input and exercise output but not concentrating on a focused weight loss anymore. If my body loses more weight, great! If I begin to add weight, I probably fell off the 1200 calorie wagon. Thanks for making me think that out, Hope it helps others!

grim_traveller

I had gone past my surgeon's goal by 50 pounds, then went past my own original goal by 25 pounds, and hit a normal BMI and under 200 pounds at the same time. So I started to increase calories, then increasing some more, and kept losing, albeit slower, for a little longer. When I hit 15 pounds under normal BMI I increased calories enough to maintain. I've been within 5 pounds of that weight, 185, for about five months.

godsgrl33

Not quite there, but close. I am basing it on my weight in high school. It's funny, because back then, I thought my legs were fat, but I realize now that they weren't. I'm going to focus more on body composition (body fat %).

Laura8603

I'm 5'7" tall and was 339 at my highest weight. I weighed 140 when I was in my 20's and liked how that looked on me so that is what I chose for my goal weight.

I think we all look a little gaunt when we are at the end of the losing phase, but it does seem to redistribute a bit.