maintaining weight?

Connie_Wynne

how do you go from losing weight to maintaining weight?
I wasn't fat to start with but have recently lost quite a bit of weight due to exercise and eating less.
I have reached a point i am happy with and don't want to lose anymore. how do i maintain weight not lose it? do i change my eating and exercise or have i got to continue this in order to stay this way?
to lose weight i went to the gym twice a week and did a bit of cardio daily (excluding saturdays) does this change when wanting to maintain instead to lose weight? do anything need to change diet wise as well?
any replies would be greatly appreciated,
thanks

Booda101

Have you tried one of the various calculators to determine your TDEE? Once you know your TDEE, eat at that level. If you eat above it, you'll gain; below you'll lose weight.


There's no need to cut back on exercise unless you want to. As far as the diet, you may end up with more calories to consume.

Connie_Wynne

thank you,
if i cut back on exercise will i gain weight instead of maintaining it?

iLoveMyPitbull1225

if you eat at a surplus you will gain weight instead of maintaining it.

Connie_Wynne

apologies for my cluelessness but what is surplus?

MsBetteDavis

apologies for my cluelessness but what is surplus?

"Surplus" means anything extra. So in terms of calories, a surplus is any amount that you eat over your TDEE. For sample, my maintenance cals are about 1760. So if in a day I ate 1900, my 'surplus' is 140.

deksgrl

You create a calorie deficit to lose weight (eat less calories or exercising or a combination of them both)

You create a calorie surplus to gain weight (eating more or exercising less or a combination of them both)

TDEE = total daily energy expenditure (also called "maintenance calories") this is the amount of calories where you would not gain or lose any weight. Your activity matches your calorie intake.

Booda101

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/931670-bmr-and-tdee-explained-for-those-needing-a-guide