My goal weight is approaching

cookieinbk82

I'm 7 pounds away from my goal weight. To get to my goal weight I worked out 2 hours a day 4 days a week and ate 1200 calories a day. To maintain my weight would I still have to work out 2 hours 4 days a week and eat 1200 calories or should my habits change? I don't mind working out and eating a low calorie diet I'm just wondering if I should change anything to maintain my weight loss.

logg1e

I would (and am) upping my daily calories by 100 per week.

mommyofjan

MFP says my maintenance is about 1700 which is 200 more than what I've been losing at. I'll continue to exercise and try to slowly increase my calories.

rsclause

I pretty much eat the same as I did before but added some beer to the mix. I workout a little less and after two months I quit logging because I was maintaining so well. I am just not as hard core about it now.

becs3578

When I get to goal (very soon) I am going to add 100 calories a day (for a totally of 1800 calories mon-fri) and 2100 on sunday (low run day). I will see how I am at those numbers and play with it from there. It has been trial and error for me since I started this journey 19 months ago.

SezxyStef

My reverse dieting started with 100 calories a day for a week then switched it to 50 calories a day for a few weeks.

But no if you lost on 1200 you don't maintain on that...you need to up your calories slowly to the point where you are neither gaining or losing...and expect flucuations. Set yourself a maitenance range and allow for that as you will still probably have water weight etc.

I don't flucuate much...mainly down lately but I am still in my range so all is good.

nxd10

You need to up your NET calories to stop losing.

Why don't you go to Goals, set in your weight, set your goal to 0 weight gained or lost, and see what it says. You need to net that (what you eat minus your exercise). That will give you a starting point.

What you write doesn't sound like maintenance, it sounds like a full time job! Healthy, but a lot of work.

ianthy

My reverse dieting started with 100 calories a day for a week then switched it to 50 calories a day for a few weeks.

But no if you lost on 1200 you don't maintain on that...you need to up your calories slowly to the point where you are neither gaining or losing...and expect flucuations. Set yourself a maitenance range and allow for that as you will still probably have water weight etc.

I don't flucuate much...mainly down lately but I am still in my range so all is good.

Same here I took the long route back up at 100 cals a week. Good idea to see maintenance as a range and not a specific number - the scales will move +/- a bit some weeks. I now eat at 1800 cals plus eat back some of my cals - so far so good.

cookieinbk82

Should I continue to work out as much as I am now when I reach my goal weight?

cookieinbk82

I'm really scared of gaining the weight back.

jrline

If you want to keep working out that much you will need to consume more calories or continue losing.

gregpack

Assuming you don't like working out that much, I suggest you change your workout routine from maximal calories burned to enhancement of health. 8 hours a week in a gym is WAY more than you need to accomplish that. 2-3 hours is plenty to maintain good health.

Be warned, you will gain some water weight back when you caloric intake normalizes. It is not fat, it is your glycogen stores being replenished. You're going to have to overshoot your goal weight by about 5 lbs if that number is important to you to maintain. Your weight gain will level off after the glycogen has been replenished.

skittle316

if you eat clean and stay active it won't back, be proud with how far you've gotten