Maintenance...I Need a Strategy

YvonneCT

I met my original goal. But have a tough time maintaining it or going beyond it, as would like to do. I can't see myself consistently eating less or even consistently exercising more. The key word here is "consistently". I can do both sporadically. But I want to live and enjoy it. I don't want to start any regimen I cannot maintain.

I am comfortable at my current weight. I wear the size I wore 20 years ago. So I am trying to just accept this. But I need some advice on finding a good maintenance strategy. Any ideas?

juggernaut1974

Congrats on meeting your goal! It's a great feeling isn't it?!

How long ago did you make your goal? My advice is to creep into maintenance slowly. Add 100-200 calories to whatever you were doing for a few weeks and track your weight. If you continue to lose a little, add a couple hundred more until you find that equilibrium.

I find that the mindset is quite similar between losing & maintenance. Be fastidious with logging, measuring, and exercising...it's the same as you've been doing...just that your daily calorie goal is somewhat higher.

ernielaurie

I've been maintaining for about 10 months now. What I did is give myself a 5 pound spread, so I can be up or down 5 pounds from my goal, then the trick is to weigh everyday. My weight has never gotten away from me because if its up I'm more careful and if its down I keep doing what I'm doing. As I've said this has worked for 10 months and I've never gone over the 5 pounds.

AntWrig

You should always be disciplined that being said, during my offseason (which I was at maintenance and slowly moved up), I was still diligent but I did have "grey area" meals. Those were meals that I didn't track. I did that once a week and it worked very well. People think you can let go of themselves, but I tend to find the maintenance phase much harder than a fat loss phase.

sarafischbach9

I agree. I'm trying to maintain. It is very tricky, because my activity levels are different from day to day. I consider myself active most days, but there is about 1-2 days a week where I do not exercise. I want to be able to eat the same amount each day, so finding that number is tricky. I've been slowly losing since i hit my goal weight around Easter ( lost about 4 lbs since then ) and I've been slowly increasing.

The guy above me said to slowly increase. That is what I've been doing. You will continue to lose a little like how I've done until you finally increase to a number that you completely stop losing at. I think mine might be around 2000 for most days, but there are days where I run/jog 10+ miles where I know I'm burning 2400-2500 for the entire day.

Just previously I'd say I lose about 0.5-1 lb every two weeks on 1800-1900, but it's hard to say with daily weight fluctuations. I'm almost there, but I agree with increasing your calories by like 100 every couple weeks. Give your body time to adjust.

Chickaboo2014

Congrats on meeting your goal! It's a great feeling isn't it?!

How long ago did you make your goal? My advice is to creep into maintenance slowly. Add 100-200 calories to whatever you were doing for a few weeks and track your weight. If you continue to lose a little, add a couple hundred more until you find that equilibrium.

I find that the mindset is quite similar between losing & maintenance. Be fastidious with logging, measuring, and exercising...it's the same as you've been doing...just that your daily calorie goal is somewhat higher.

This is a topic that I'm interested in as well; I'm not quite to goal but it's just ahead.

"I find that the mindset is quite similar between losing & maintenance. Be fastidious with logging, measuring, and exercising...it's the same as you've been doing...just that your daily calorie goal is somewhat higher."

That sounds like just the advice I was lookin for. Thanks!!

juggernaut1974

What I did is give myself a 5 pound spread, so I can be up or down 5 pounds from my goal,

This too...maintenance doesn't mean exactly the same weight every day forever...

CorlissaEats

I'm supposed to be taking a full break right now, but my body is dropping pounds still. Maintenance IS tough. I tend to stick with a few really good days where I stay on target, a few where I go under, and few where I go over my caloric goal. I'm still collecting data to find my more accurate tdee and I know I'll have to go thru this again once I reach my goal, but I think calorie cycling will help me have a level of consistency that sticking to one goal hasnt.

So basically out of 7 days: a base of X calories with 3 days hitting it, 2 days being under by 350-400 cals, and another 2 days going over it by 350-400 cals. That is my plan anyways. "Splurge" days seems to work for me and occur naturally. If that doesnt work I will break my monthly cycle in to 4 weeks and tackle it that way since I already know I have 2 sections within it in which I have an uncontrollable urge to eat, one normal hunger levels, and another where I lose my appetite. those are the 2 strategies I am considering. Hope this helps!

Also- what another poster mentioned. I will also adhere to a scale range. As long as I am within a 5lb span I am ok.

YvonneCT

I've been maintaining for about 10 months now. What I did is give myself a 5 pound spread, so I can be up or down 5 pounds from my goal, then the trick is to weigh everyday. My weight has never gotten away from me because if its up I'm more careful and if its down I keep doing what I'm doing. As I've said this has worked for 10 months and I've never gone over the 5 pounds.

I like this strategy. I have to try this. Thanks!