Another dumb reason maintenance is hard

Linnaea27

(she says after saying for months that it's not)

If you are over 500 calories a day while losing weight, you'll just stall because you've just lost your deficit.

If you are over 500 calories a day on MAINTENANCE you're going to gain. No deficit to buffer you.

It may obvious to everyone else, but it wasn't to me.

I was just thinking about this last night. I'm just starting the maintaining process and am slowly raising my calorie goal-- first from 1360 to 1400 a couple weeks ago, then last week from 1400 to 1500. Aaaand now if I'm 140 calories over my goal, I am told I will have gained a pound in 5 weeks if I keep eating that way. So the maintenance goal is one you can't go over AT ALL or else. :sad: I wonder if it might be easier to give oneself a slight deficit goal so when you go over sometimes, the net result will be maintaining!? I'm thinking of using that approach since I suck at consistently meeting the goal-- I'm usually a hundred or more under or 100-300 over!

Iwishyouwell

This is why I think there is some great merit to:

A. Picking a weight maintenance range, not a singular number.
B. Cutting weight slightly below your goal to allow for a nice buffer.

It seem pure lunacy to me for somebody to get to a single goal weight, and then work the rest of their days to stay at that one number.

nxd10

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I was just thinking about this last night. I'm just starting the maintaining process and am slowly raising my calorie goal-- first from 1360 to 1400 a couple weeks ago, then last week from 1400 to 1500. Aaaand now if I'm 140 calories over my goal, I am told I will have gained a pound in 5 weeks if I keep eating that way. So the maintenance goal is one you can't go over AT ALL or else. :sad: I wonder if it might be easier to give oneself a slight deficit goal so when you go over sometimes, the net result will be maintaining!? I'm thinking of using that approach since I suck at consistently meeting the goal-- I'm usually a hundred or more under or 100-300 over!

You can turn off the 'you're going to weight X' on your profile OR you can just not close the day and you'll never have to see that.

Sharon_C

This is why I track my calories on a weekly basis as well as a daily. As long as I'm under for the week I keep maintaining. That allows me a day or two over calories as long as I balance it with a day or two under.

mxmkenney

It is easier to maintain though because you get to eat more calories daily. If you do go over 500 calories one day, just make up for it throughout the week with eating at a slight deficit for a couple days or get in an extra workout.

You might gain a pound one week, but if you continue to eat at your maintenance calorie goal, it should even out by the next week.

montana_girl

....you can just not close the day and you'll never have to see that.

^^This! I stopped hitting the button about completing my day because the estimated number drove me crazy! LOL

YesIAm17

Feel free to correct me, because I am still cutting and have more homework to do about maintaining and bulking but.......

Would it not be much less of a concern if you spent an adequate amount of time picking up and putting down heavy things while maintaining? This would then more likely result in muscle gain if you go over rather than fat, which would then increase your fat burning potential making it even easier to maintain, no? And a slight surplus here and there while lifting should pose no risk of the ladies getting supah bulky right?

I'm already doing some strength training (T25 Gamma) while in deficit, I would imagine this would also mean that if I went over my deficit and beyond maintenance for a day or two here and there that any weight I gain would be more likely to be muscle than fat and ultimately improve my fat burning ability, no?

Are these not very strong arguments for strength training regardless of if you are cutting, maintaining, or bulking?

IDK!

Someone smarter than I should comment on such things :drinker: