FINALLY! Now what?

LiveMore101

So, I just went in for a check-up at the doctor's (I hadn't weighed myself for about a month and the ONE day I go to the gym to weigh myself, the scale is broken. What luck.), and apparently I have REACHED MY GOAL!
I'm sorry… It just feels SO good to say that! YAY! At 5 feet and 1 1/2 inches, I am 100.5 pounds (don't add in the calories I ate over this Easter weekend. Yikes!)
I'm actually 2.7 pounds lighter than what I was planning on being, but oh well! I'll accept this!
The thing is… Now that I've reached my goal, I'm not sure what to do.
What I'm really asking is: What's the best way to maintain this weight?
I've been doing the method where I have a deficit during the weekdays, but then kind of make up for it on the weekends, but I was wondering if any of you had any other advice? Those of you who have maintained for a while now, what's your secret?

Sadly, I didn't take a picture of me before this time… But, I've lost nearly 20 pounds, so it's definitely made a difference! I look different! But the important thing, I think, is knowing that success IS possible. Hey, I'm a girl with little motivation and determination (no, really! I'm actually quite lazy), but I managed to lose 20 pounds in little under 4 months!

If I can do it, YOU CAN DO IT!

RaspberryKeytoneBoondoggle

I have been maintaining for about a year. I just *try* to eat at maintenance most of the time. I usually fluctuate by about five pounds. I had a depressing month or so last September and gained five pounds that seemed to stay, so I just did a four week slight deficit and I've continued to maintain since. I still track my intake.

heybales

How much have you lost over what period of recent time? Like looking at last 3 weeks say?

With that and how much you've been eating, if logging accurately - you can come up with your real TDEE now.

And then raise calories slowly to that level.

Can also divide and conquer that TDEE value to still allow weekend fun time.

Oh, you should gain fast water weight. Everyone starting diet loses fast water weight, you get it back.
Just carb stores in muscle with water attached. It'll increase your LBM and metabolism slightly - so no worries.

mjglantz

The best advice for you is to keep doing what you were doing. Maintenance is a continuation of the healthy eating and exercising you did to lose the weight and you basically want to keep it up. continue to track your food and weigh regularly. If you are happy with the weight (and it sounds like you are! Hooray for you) then gradually add in 100 calories more/day each week or so and see what that does.
I hit my goal in April 2013 and have maintained since then; actually lower but at a healthy weight and one I had hoped to reach but never dared I'd achieve.

You can do this!

alpine1994

Yayyy congrats!! I've been in maintenance since March 2013. Honestly I haven't been doing much different in the past year and when I was losing weight. I was a little more strict with myself when I was losing, but I am eating a lot of the same things (I like to cook dinner at home and prep my lunches to bring to work, etc). I log maybe 80% of the time now. If I see my weight creeping up, I will cut back and log 100%. It took me so long to lose the weight that the habits just kind of stuck, but it doesn't mean I don't need a pint of ice cream every now and then!

Again, congrats!!!! You should be proud!

ottermotorcycle

Congratulations on getting to your goal!

Maintenance should be easy. You can still keep using your system - just lower your deficit on weekdays to even out with the surplus you're getting on weekends. You may find you need to raise or lower your calorie goals from what MFP says your maintenance is. That's fine, just take it slow and you'll figure it out.

What are your goals now? Got fitness goals? Figure out what your nutritional (not just calorie) needs are from here on out and keep improving! That's what it's all about, right?

nxd10

Congratulations!

Now, you can keep on going as you're going and eat at goal and maintain. I would just add 100 calories/day extra for a week and then add another 100 the next week until you get up to what MFP says is your maintenance. OR you can set new goals and get really fit in the slim new body of years.

Enjoy it!

SusanBT1954

Not there yet, so cannot offer advice, but do want to congratulate you on achieving your goal. Yay for you!!

iPlatano

Congratulations

What you want to do now is slowly increase your calories by 100 every week until you can maintain your weight for whole week.

Amylynne11

Firstly, Congratulations on reaching your goal! I have been asking myself the same question lately, as I am about 11-13 lbs away from my goal and hope to reach it in a few weeks. I really appreciated all the good advice that everyone gave! We Rock!

bombshellcertification

Congrats Authoress! Im inspired by your enthusiasm and achievement!! :drinker: :flowerforyou:

bikinisuited

Mind sharing what your calorie consumption during your last pounds? My CW 106 and hoping to fight the last 5 like you. This is a forever chore, happy to see your encouragement!!

salvyhead

Congrats! Good news, you've given yourself an excellent start. Bad news, maintaining is harder than losing (in my opinion). You may be one of the lucky ones who finds it not too troublesome. Good luck. My advice, FWIW:
- Keep counting.
- Find your true TDEE (the online calculators are merely guidelines, everybody's unique.) You'll know by trial and error.
- Eat the food you like, just try to hit a weekly calorie goal (instead of daily, every day). It's easy to track if you use the smartphone app. That gives you wiggle room to treat yourself, go out to eat, have a beer, etc. As long as you hit your weekly goal, you'll maintain and having that freedom to go over a day or two a week can help save your sanity.

LiveMore101

Thanks everyone, SO MUCH for the advice!

Maintaining does seem to be difficult. I feel like I can eat whatever I want now, but then I realize that would put me back to where I started in January... Not good. It's all about keeping a balance, so I'll see what works best!