Reaching Goal Question

citylegend
citylegend Posts: 408 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
OK, today I reached my goal (whoooohoooo!!!), but I now have a question about moving onto maintenance.

So, when you reached goal, did you instantly move to maintenance calories, or did you gradually make the change? I have been moving gradually to the lose 1lb per week calories, but i'm just wondering if I should go to maintenance from now or build up slowly.

Thanks for any responses in advance!

Replies

  • Groovyca2022
    Groovyca2022 Posts: 21,378 Member
    WTG Andy....

    bumping to read later.
  • PaytraB
    PaytraB Posts: 2,360 Member
    Congratulations on reaching your goal weight!

    When I reached goal weight, I raised my daily calories by 300 per day. I was a bit nervous about regaining the weight. Turns out that I didn't have to be nervous because I kept losing weight. If I were to do it again, I'd go straight to maintenance calories; not edge upwards. My MFP setting was to lose 1 lb/week.
    Each person is different and you'll have to find your own maintenance calorie limit. Just remember that maintenance isn't a specific weith (ie: 150 lbs) but a range (ie 145-155 lbs). That's a hard mindset to overcome (as you may find out when you first see the scale move up a pound).
    As you go into maintenance, you may find that you gain approx. 3-4 lbs. This is a normal weight gain as your body rebalances it's water and glycogen levels. You'll see the difference on the scale but you won't see the difference in your body. Your true maintenance weight is the weight that you level out to.
    Trust what you've learned while losing weight. Trust yourself. You did great at losing and you'll do great at maintenance.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    Congratulations!

    Personally, I stayed at deficit for a month to make sure I really had stabilized there and then went up. No reason, I was just more comfortable. I raised my calories at that point by 250 and stayed at the same weight and was comfortable, so have just kept at that. I did buy a fitbit to more accurately count my activity calories, so although I net the same, I am actually eating more. The zip is only $39.
  • jhmomofmany
    jhmomofmany Posts: 571 Member
    Congratulations!! I'm interested to see replies to your question as well :smile:
  • twixlepennie
    twixlepennie Posts: 1,074 Member
    Congrats!

    I started eating at MFP's maintenance calories and continued to lose, and actually had a beast of a time getting my weight to stabilize. I finally figured out my TDEE maintenance calorie number and that was spot on-finally got the weight to stabilize/stopped losing, and officially start maintaining a few months ago :) I used this calculator-enter your info and then compare it with MFP's number, and then experiment and see what works for you-
    http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    112lbs lost - wow! Congrats.

    I simply slowly added calories week on week until I found my maintenance calories. You will have a rough idea what your calorie deficit was from your recent weight loss so that will give you a guide what your maintenance calories end up as.

    Couple of tips:

    Accept that your weight won't be a constant so think of a weight range that you consider maintenance.

    Set some new (non-weight related) goals to replace that sense of achievement you have been getting from seeing your weight drop.
  • perseverance14
    perseverance14 Posts: 1,364 Member
    OK, today I reached my goal (whoooohoooo!!!), but I now have a question about moving onto maintenance.

    So, when you reached goal, did you instantly move to maintenance calories, or did you gradually make the change? I have been moving gradually to the lose 1lb per week calories, but i'm just wondering if I should go to maintenance from now or build up slowly.

    Thanks for any responses in advance!
    Congratulations! That is what I like about the weight loss plan I am on, it has 1 year maintenance and they help you gradually find what works to keep the weight off. It seems to me like it should be a gradual thing unless you are going to work out more, just MHO.
  • peejay34mason
    peejay34mason Posts: 131 Member
    I absolutely agree with sijomial, set some new goals first and foremost!!! As far as calories I did slowly begin upping my calories to what ended up being about 380 calories more overall (I did this over about a three month timeline). I will say I was not one that ate the minimum of 1200 calories a day to lose weight to begin with! It definitely was a process trying to determine what maintenance calories needed to be but once I felt I had mastered it I continued to maintain over one year's time. As I am currently doing body beast for my second go round, nutrition is still a HUGE variable and I can not seem to eat enough calories as my intake is supposed to be around 3000 calories for my build and bulk phases. Once upon a time I could have easily consumed 3000 calories in about one sinful sitting! Eat clean and train dirty! You will continue to be amazed with your body as you chisel it into the shape that YOU want it!
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
    Like others have said, figuring out your maintenance is a process in and of itself. You may have luck with what mfp calculates for you, you may have to tweak it a bit. When I started "maintaining" I found that mfp's calculations were too low for me, I kept losing. You might find this to be true, or you might find that it over-estimates just a bit. Everyone is different, and you have to find what works for you. Just don't try to change too many things at once. Give it a good two weeks to see how you are leveling out.
  • spoiledpuppies
    spoiledpuppies Posts: 675 Member
    I'm also transitioning to maintenance--hit goal a week or so ago. I increased my daily goal by 100 last week. Tomorrow, I'll increase another 100 for the upcoming week. Will do the same next Monday, and so on until I find maintenance. I expect to continue to lose a bit more this way, but I think it's the best way for me to go. I think that if I bumped up right away to an estimated maintenance number, I might be more tempted to eat crud. Adding just 100 at a time helps me to incorporate the extra in a healthy way.
  • citylegend
    citylegend Posts: 408 Member
    Thanks guys, your experiences are invaluable!!!

    I'm going to try and set some new goals, just unsure what yet, I'm been focused on weight alone for so long, so suggestions would be great.

    I have increased my calorie goal to maintenance on MFP, which is 2030kcals, it is lower than I expected, but I'll see how it goes.

    Thanks again for your messages, hope to keep seeing you guys around for my next stage inspirations!

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