Maintenance or Deficit after Holiday

catelyn1

Hi everyone,

I am trying to plan ahead after my holiday. I currently maintain on 1500 calories and would like to be able to revert straight back to this and avoid the scales for a month to give my weight chance to go back to normal (I know the truth would be temporary but get me down all the same)

I would prefer not to go into a deficit and build back to 1500 again (fingers crossed this plan will work and I can monitor my weight using my clothes to guide me).

When playing around with figures and assuming a 7lb holiday gain I noticed that if I revert straight back to maintenance at my current weight as opposed to maintenance calories at say a 7lb gain that the difference is only 280 calories a week, which will not shift the scales either way. The same goes for if I tried to lose 0.5 a pound a week, which would also be very insignificant difference between the 7lb weight difference but would still lead to a loss overall all the same.

This reassured me, however, my worry is that if I do gain 7lb or more that I will maintain this weight rather than my weight gently easing back into my original maintenance weight and will have to go into deficit for a while.

Hope I'm making sense.

Has anyone had experience of going back to maintenance calories rather than deficit after a holiday gain?

Thanks.

WinoGelato

I hit Maintenance in March/April of this year, but I didn't change my habits or goal, just sort of relaxed about going over by small amounts. I then spent a month in Italy in June and ate all the food and drank all the wine. We also walked everywhere. I came back to the States about 2.5 lbs over my maintenance number and was thrilled that it was under 3 lbs gain. We were busy getting back in the swing of things and I pretty much kept on with the eating/drinking habits I had while on vacation, so another pound and a half came to visit. The first week of July I got a little more serious, but with the more relaxed approach - trying not to exceed what I think my TDEE maintenance number is, but not minding if I go over a little on MFP for the day/week. Things stabilized. Then for the last two weeks I've tried to tighten it up even more, adhering more strictly to my previous goal which was I think about a 200 cal deficit. The weight is dropping, slowly...

I'm not that worried about it, because I know maintenance is a range, and I thoroughly enjoyed my trip and have been enjoying my summer. I know I could really buckle down, but it hasn't been a priority yet.

Good luck!

catelyn1

Thanks for your reply Krugerri :-)

All the best to you too

Fuzzipeg

I would vote for maintain on holiday.

You could be someone who is actually more active, not taking a beach holiday and you will need the calories and less stress than trying to make the sums fit. Stay level headed and go for it.. If you have been working at this for a while you will have a very good idea how you work.

Have a good holiday.

catelyn1

Thanks Fuzzipeg,

Going to give it my best shot, sensible but not too restrictive :-)

sijomial

When "playing around with your figures" how much of your projected 7lb gain did you assume was fat?

If all of it then that would be a truly epic amount of over-eating! Could you really eat 3,500 above maintenance every day?
My one week holiday gain was 9lbs and that was roughly 8lbs of temporary bloating and 1lb of fat gain.
The bloating went just by getting back to my normal routine and just left 1lb of fat to lose via a temporary calorie deficit.

Have a look at this if you want to see my numbers.......
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1304777-please-don-t-fear-temporary-weight-gain

catelyn1

Thanks for this sijomial,

I reckon that some of this could be fat gain as when I set my mind to it I can easily pack in the calories, especially after being in diet mode for years however I wouldn't imagine more than 1 or 2lbs. I very rarely let myself slip for long and have never really experienced holiday gain because I have always tried to stay within my calorie range even if that means on holiday that I ditch the good stuff so I can have empty calories I usually limit, I am going to let myself relax a little this time but just wanted to have a strategy worked out for when I come home.

From past experience when I have allowed myself to go off the rails for a day now and again I have ended up eating too much or eating everything just because I can and because I have deprived myself for too long. I think I am starting to get my head around getting the right balance between being too strict and making my tummy hurt because I have allowed myself to eat whatever I want and at large quantities. This always makes me feel rubbish physically and mentally so I now feel as though I have mastered moderation and will look forward to putting this into practice when I go away.

Thanks for your reassurance guys, you are ace :-)

walleymama

I agree with sijomial.

I've been on maintenance for several months now, and I have found that after a holiday or a few days of excess my weight can go up by about 3 pounds. I start tracking my calories (at the same maintenance level) and within 2 days it's all gone. So obviously I've gained water, not fat.

This time around though, I know I have gained fat and have temporarily put myself back on a deficit. I'm only 7.5 pounds above my goal/end weight, and given the normal 5-pound fluctuation one expects around maintenance it isn't that bad. But rather than being an "uppy-downy" thing I have noticed the scales creeping steadily up over the last few weeks, which is why I think it is true weight gain and not just water.

But this is what I LOVE about this method. I feel 100% in control of my weight! I don't feel discouraged about gaining a bit because I know EXACTLY how to get it back, and it's only going to take me about a month to be back in "the zone" of maintenance. No big deal! :-)

catelyn1

Thanks for your advice walleymama.

All the best :-)