question about maintain

Fineraziel

Maybe a stupid question... but I've been wondering.... so I decided to ask!

Once you reach your goal-weight, what happen next ??? :huh:

I mean... If you just want to "maintain" without gaining back the fat and loosing muscles, what to do ? Do you basically stick with the same routine and lifestyle you were on when you were on the "loosing weight process" ? Or can you train a bit less, eat a bit more ?

I would like answers and experiences from people who had been there. Thank you!

DanOhh

You can set MFP to maintain. I've been maintaining since the end of August.

PoeRaven

Hi!

I've been on maintenance for about 3 months now. Here's what works for me:

1. I switched my "goals" on MFP to maintain current weight. This basically gave me an extra 200 calories a day. Which is nice especially on those days I decide not to exercise I don't have to be "as concious" of every thing I eat.

2. I still log in my exercise, but not necessarily all my food. I've been at this for almost a year and have a pretty good idea of how much I can consume in a day without going over my calorie goal. If I feel I have OVER-DONE it, I log in everything for a few days so I can get back on track. :glasses:

3. I still exercise at least 4 days a week and most weeks 5 days. I don't HAVE to workout as hard or as long but I do want to stay in shape for next summer! Actually I want to stay in shape for the rest of my life so I just do it.

4. I weigh myself about twice a month. So far, so good! :bigsmile:

I hope this was helpful, If you have anything else to ask about maintenance, you can add me...we'll talk.

Good luck!
:drinker:

Robin1117

Hi! Congrats on your loss and reaching the goal!

This is so exciting but, I'm sorry to say I have found maintaining to be even harder than losing the weight! I have been on maintenance since May of this year. I didn't really know how low I could go initially, so kept adjusting the weight down until I just stopped naturally. I didn't change anything w/exercise or with the amount I was eating. The weight loss just stopped. So when I started playing around with maintenance goals, I was afraid to eat the 450 more calories MFP told me I could eat on maintenance. I believe I have it at "lose 1/2 lb a week" now, and this has me at about 200 calories more a day.

I still exercise 5-6 hours a week and try to burn around 2000-2500 calories. I still feel like I'm on a diet and log most of my meals in. During the week I try to eat on plan, but when I go out to dinner every few weeks I don't worry about it too much.

I started getting more obsessed with the scale readings because when you reach a certain weight, you don't want anything to change. When I saw the normal ups and downs of the scale I started to stress out that I was gaining again. It occupied my mind way too much. With some advice from MFP friends I put the scale in the closet back in October. Now that I have new clothes in my maintenance size, and have thrown away any bigger sizes, I use these clothes as my guide. Pants too tight = Need to eat better for the next week. Clothes still fitting= Great, all is well. Buying clothes in a bigger size again = Not an option!

Anyway good luck with everything. I'd be happy to help if you have questions....