Goal weight achieved...now what?

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lharri0209
lharri0209 Posts: 128 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Hi! This is my very first forum post of which I created. I have had great success with mfp and lost 75 lbs within the last 7 months. I was on a 1250 cal a day goal though. I was ok with that too and felt satisfied. Now that I just want to maintain, I am struggling with knowing how much to increase my daily intake to. I don't want to gain any weight back on of course. Mfp says to increase to about 1580 cals a day given 2 -60 minute workouts each week and being sedentary...which currently I am. What is your advice?

Replies

  • indianarunner76
    indianarunner76 Posts: 108 Member
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    Don't stop counting or exercising.
  • Auzziedoggie
    Auzziedoggie Posts: 66 Member
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    You might continue to lose weight if you adjust your calories slowly. THAT IS OKAY. You will gain it back quickly once you find the right intake for you. Don't let yourself get discouraged now. This is the hard part. Congratulations for losing so much weight. You have what it takes to keep it off. Enjoy your success and monitor your weight carefully and consistently! You can do this. Expect some fluctuations while you get used to your new body.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,472 Member
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    you want to maintain that weight, i do not want to lose anymore,..,
    just stay the way i am.
    stay smart
  • lharri0209
    lharri0209 Posts: 128 Member
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    Thanks for the feedback. I guess my other question is how do I up my calories? Do I jump straight to the 1580 or do it more gradually?
  • EatTrainWin
    EatTrainWin Posts: 13 Member
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    Congrats on reaching goal! If you are nervous about additional calories, then add half of the recommended for a week and analyze your results. If you lose, add more until you get up to the suggested number. Be patient, you will need to go through some trial and error.

    Monday - Friday, I eat slightly above my weight loss calories. On the weekend, I allow myself planned indulgences. This has made my 3 years in maintenance easy and enjoyable. I'm sure you will find a method that works for you, too.
  • ShannonMpls
    ShannonMpls Posts: 1,936 Member
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    Thanks for the feedback. I guess my other question is how do I up my calories? Do I jump straight to the 1580 or do it more gradually?

    I'd go up 200 this week, then the remainder the following week.

    stay off the scale at first! You might see some initial weight gain. Don't worry, it's not fat.

    After a month at the new level you'll have a good idea if your new goal is working.
  • ShannonMpls
    ShannonMpls Posts: 1,936 Member
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    Monday - Friday, I eat slightly above my weight loss calories. On the weekend, I allow myself planned indulgences. This has made my 3 years in maintenance easy and enjoyable. I'm sure you will find a method that works for you, too.

    This is what I do :) Works so well and it's made maintenance feel almost effortless!
  • techgal128
    techgal128 Posts: 719 Member
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    Celebrate...with a piece of cake. lol

    Nah... what you need to do is focus on exercise. If you build up muscle, it will help you maintain your weight. Don't forget to do cardio as well since it's good for your heart.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    congrats on hitting your goal weight..

    You may want to consider dropping another five pounds before you go to maintenance, the reason for this is that when you go back to maintenance your glycogen, that has been depleted, is going to replenish itself which will lead to an increase of about five pounds.. Now, this is not fat, it is mainly water weight but it will show up on the scale…so a lot of people say to go five pounds below your goal and then slowly add 100 calories a week back until you are at maintenance..

    I would also suggest finding a new goal = body fat %, body recomp, heavy lifting, etc….you want to keep yourself engaged in the process so that you do not gain….

    good luck ...
  • sassabella
    sassabella Posts: 98
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    The way I see it is that you slowly increase your daily food intake... so only increase by 100 or so at a time and see if your weight changes or not...that's what I did and it seems to have maintained pretty well :)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    Congrats on reaching the starting line of the real race...it's a much longer and harder one. Make nutrition and fitness a habit and intrinsic part of your life...these shouldn't be "extra" things that you do, they should simply be a part of who you are. The only difference between losing and maintaining is a handful of calories...that's it. Also realize that coming out of a deficit you are likely to put on 3-5 Lbs worth of water and glycogen weight.

    Set new goals for yourself...you're no longer going to be able to find motivation by watching the scale. I recommend that you continue to weigh yourself regularly so that you can track trends...if you start steadily trending up, you need to pull back...it's much easier to nip it in the butt than let it go and have to go through the entire process again. I recommend tracking your maintenance calories for awhile in your diary until you get a feel for them. I personally don't need to log in maintenance and if you've effectively taught yourself proper portion control and moderation and in general how to eat you shouldn't either...but a lot of people do. You should at least track for awhile though to get a good handle on what maintenance food and amounts look like day to day.

    Realize that maintenance isn't a static weight...you will have fluctuations. I fluctuate between about 178 - 185 but my 9 month average is 182 which I consider my maintenance number as a trend over time.

    Continue to get your fitness on. One of the biggest mistakes people make is stopping their fitness...they so closely associate it with weight loss that they slack in maintenance and ultimately just stop altogether...I can pretty much guarantee you'll put the weight back on if you cease to rock your fitness; IMHO it is far more important to maintenance than it is to losing.
  • buzzcockgirl
    buzzcockgirl Posts: 260 Member
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    congrats on hitting your goal weight..

    You may want to consider dropping another five pounds before you go to maintenance, the reason for this is that when you go back to maintenance your glycogen, that has been depleted, is going to replenish itself which will lead to an increase of about five pounds.. Now, this is not fat, it is mainly water weight but it will show up on the scale…so a lot of people say to go five pounds below your goal and then slowly add 100 calories a week back until you are at maintenance..

    I would also suggest finding a new goal = body fat %, body recomp, heavy lifting, etc….you want to keep yourself engaged in the process so that you do not gain….

    good luck ...

    This sounds spot on!!!
  • lharri0209
    lharri0209 Posts: 128 Member
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    Thank you all for your feedback. It does help me a lot. I still do workout but, cut back because the scale was continuing to go down. I am down to only a couple of days a week. When I figure out my maintenance caloric need, I will increase it to 3 days a week. Again, thanks so much!
  • spoiledpuppies
    spoiledpuppies Posts: 675 Member
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    Monday - Friday, I eat slightly above my weight loss calories. On the weekend, I allow myself planned indulgences. This has made my 3 years in maintenance easy and enjoyable. I'm sure you will find a method that works for you, too.

    This is what I do :) Works so well and it's made maintenance feel almost effortless!

    This is what I did as well to keep off a 50-pound loss in the past. I didn't plan (or count calories) at the time, but life just worked out this way. And yes, it was really easy. Now, I reached a new goal weight, and I want to actually gain some. I'm working with a trainer to do it the right way. He said that consistently eating the recommended calories will make a huge difference for building the muscle I want. So for now, I'll log and try to just stay at maintenance every day. But eventually, I expect to get back to the different weekends/weekdays.
  • lizzyclatworthy
    lizzyclatworthy Posts: 296 Member
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    I am really lucky in that the weight loss was only half my journey. I now want to get stronger and more defined. This is a new starting point for me!
  • chantels1
    chantels1 Posts: 391 Member
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    You may initially have an increase in weight when you start eating at maintenance because your glycogen stores will replenish and that makes up on average about 5lbs of body weight. My initial goal was 119 lbs, but I moved it down to 114 to make up for this. Will be hitting that goal in the next week or two, and I am not sure if I am ready to be 119 again. Will you be ok 5lbs heavier than you are now? You may want to consider the glycogen stores and lose a few extra. Then slowly increase your intake over a few weeks. Good luck!
  • lharri0209
    lharri0209 Posts: 128 Member
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    You may initially have an increase in weight when you start eating at maintenance because your glycogen stores will replenish and that makes up on average about 5lbs of body weight. My initial goal was 119 lbs, but I moved it down to 114 to make up for this. Will be hitting that goal in the next week or two, and I am not sure if I am ready to be 119 again. Will you be ok 5lbs heavier than you are now? You may want to consider the glycogen stores and lose a few extra. Then slowly increase your intake over a few weeks. Good luck!

    That is good advice. Thank you :)
  • Spiderkeys
    Spiderkeys Posts: 338 Member
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    I've only been maintaining for over a week, I had to skip the "prepare" mode because I didnt want to lose anymore, its gonna look like a LOT of food, and for me it still does as I increased my calories from 1380 to 2300, expect to gain a few pounds also, but obviously it's not fat so I don't take too much notice off it, and if the gain bothers you, you can always lose a few more pounds under your goal weight before you switch.
  • Laura3BB
    Laura3BB Posts: 250 Member
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    Well I stopped when I got to goal (did not go 5 pounds under) and have been happily maintaining since - in fact lost a couple more pounds.

    As for how to increase cals, I went from 1400 to 1800 and it felt fine for me!

    Good luck for maintenance!
  • themedalist
    themedalist Posts: 3,212 Member
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    You've gotten a lot of good advice already. To me, what's essential is having and implementing a plan for maintenance. Maintenance doesn't just happen. You need strategies and you need to test them and possibly tweak them over time. Eating a little less during the week to allow a weekend splurge is one strategy. Weighing yourself regularly and making adjustments to food/exercise should your weight exceed a certain range is another strategy. So is trying on a tight pair of jeans once a month for a reality check. Whatever seems reasonable and doable for you, you need a PLAN.

    I blogged about my maintenance plan, if you are interested:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/themedalist/view/what-s-your-maintenance-plan-624676

    The fact that I've been in maintenance for almost two years isn't good fortune. It's my maintenance plan in action.

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