Maintanence

skinney1357

Hi Everyone!
I have lost about 37 pounds and think that my body is where it needs to be now. I am right in the middle of my BMI normal range and I think i look good at this weight. Now that I am switching to maintanence mode I am really worried about gaining weight back. I listened to the calorie and exercise guide before and lost all the weight and the same should work for maintanence. Going from 1200 calories to 1900 calories seems like a huge change! I am happy to be able to eat more but I am very worried that I will gain the weight back and have to go back on the 1200 calorie program again.
Are there any people just maintaining their weight out there? Was it a struggle or was it relatively easy? Do you have any suggestions or advice for people who are trying to maintain right now? Thanks so much!!!

beethedreamer

i'm not on maintenance (far from it), but i think gradually going up in calories until you reach 1900 would be the way to go. maybe up it 100 calories or so every week so it isn't such a shock to your body.

congrats on your weightloss!

erickirb

congrats on the progress and reaching your goal. It is better to add the calories back slowly. Try switching your goal to a 1 pound loss per week and stay there for 2-4 weeks, then switch to 0.5/week for 2-4 weeks then switch to maintenance. This way you will not shock your system with a large increase in calories all at once. Over the course of switching to maintenance you may lose another 2 pounds or possibly gain 1 or 2, you can adjust your intake as you go along. Good luck.

sjcply

Slowly add your calories back. I have been on maintenance since July 2010. I upped my calories from 1200 to 1400/1500 and I am exercising @ 4 days a week and I am holding my weight pretty well. Everyone is different tho, so I suggest adding 100 or so calories a week, and if u start to gain then go back and stay at that number of calories.
Good Luck and congrats for losing 37lbs!!

lexbannister

My advice: Don't change what you eat!!! Just eat more of what you've been eating! If you actually start to change your diet completely, then most likely you will gain weight!

smuehlbauer

Personally - I think that I might be at my maintenance calories at 1490.
As scary as that sounds.
With exercise and eating my exercise calories I have fluxed with in 5lbs for the past month or so.
I think this might be where I am suppose to stay at.
Everyone is different. There isn't going to be one magic number for everyone.
Good luck on the maintenace!
You should be very proud of yourself!
Steph

TateFTW

2 answers;

1. There's nothing that says you can't fade from one to the other. This is how people find their own maintanance number, especially those not using a site like this. You're used to 1200, so shift up to 13 or 1350 for a few days, maybe a week. Then shift up to 14 or 1500 and see how it affects you. If you keep your weighings in the same time frame you've been using, you'll be able to detect differences within a couple weeks.

2. If you do gain a lb or 2, just go back down and lose it. You've proven that you CAN lose, weight. That's not something you forget, especially with this site telling you what numbers to follow and helping you figure out how to fill them.

skinney1357

Thanks so much for all your help! You guys all make a lot of sense. Adding gradually sounds right and just eating a little more of what I am already eating. I am so used to eating 1200 calories that I am not ever hungry. I am glad I just didn't up it to 1900! That would have been quite the shock! Thanks again for all your help

TateFTW

I'm planning on doing a bodybuilder style diet, which means once I'm happ with my fat levels I'll actually go above maintanence to promote muscle growth. I'm looking forward to it, but it's going to be a struggle to get 3500 calories/day of good real food. I've heard some bodybuilders say they eat upwards of 7500 calories/day. Can you even imagine? I wouldn't get to leave the table.