What are your real maintenance calories?

bunnylion

Hello everyone.
I'm still a long way from reaching my goal weight but I am curious about a few things:

What are your real maintenance calories compared to what MFP calculates to be your maintenance calories? How long have you been maintaining?

Sometimes I hear stories from people needing to stay at 1200 cals forever in order to maintain. Sometimes you hear stories about eating several thousand cals to maintain. I am aware that by building muscle the maintenance calories can go up and by dieting in extreme ways you might ruin your metabolism. But I'm here to hear some real stories from some real people ;-) How do you manage to maintain? Is MFP's prediction about maintenance anywhere close to reality?

TavistockToad

MFPs maintenance cals are about 2-300 too low for me.

firebloom

A lot of people find this TDEE calculator more accurate for estimating maintenance calories.

http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

I'm not on maintenance yet but for me it estimates my maintenance calories to be 1800 before accounting for exercise and I currently eat between 1300 and 1400.

sijomial

I am aware that by building muscle the maintenance calories can go up.

The effect is tiny and totally dwarfed by your activity and exercise levels.
It's a great ambition but don't expect a few extra pounds of muscle to make an enormous difference to your calorie allowance.

MFPs maintenance cals are about 2-300 too high for me (the same way that MFP's predicted rate loss was optimistic for me) but by exercising a lot I get a perfectly sustainable number of calories. I've not found maintenance difficult at all but I'm very accepting of normal weight fluctuations which seem to give some people a lot of anxiety.

I lost weight slowly and had quite a few periods of maintenance so it feels "normal".

cwolfman13

What are your real maintenance calories compared to what MFP calculates to be your maintenance calories? How long have you been maintaining?

It's always going to change as per your activity level. There isn't a set number. In the spring when I'm training for endurance rides I eat and maintain at around 3500 calories per day. In the summer when I pull my training back it's more like 2800. It goes up slightly in the fall to about 3,000 when I'm racing cyclocross and then back down in the winter...I don't do much cardio work in the winter so I'm usually more like 2,500 calories to maintain but I eat around 2,800 and do a slow bulk in the winter before going into my spring endurance season.

I would add to that, you're not going to have a set number that if you go over by a little bit you're just going to start packing on weight. Your true TDEE is going to be a range, not a specific number. Also keep in mind that the number you get from any of these calculators is based on your perceived level of activity...a lot of people are more active than they think they are, particularly if they've been doing this awhile and really gotten into fitness.

rosebette

I'm one of those rare people whose maintenance is probably around 1200. I am older, small, and female --55 and 5'1.5". According to MFP, if I get to my goal weight of 114, my maintenance could be between 1320 and 1480, which really isn't much over 1200. I've been netting 1200 for a long time with one "Cheat day" a week, and I've been plateau'd at 120 for about 3 months, which tells me those maintenance numbers are about right.

kelly_e_montana

I'm maintaining on 2700-2800 calories per day and MFP is a couple hundred calories too low for me.

bunnylion

Thanks for sharing your experiences!
I't really interesting to hear how everyone differs... I must admit that I'm a bit scared of ever reaching my goal because quite a few people have told me that maintaining is even more difficult than losing...

Francl27

The reason a lot of people think their maintenance is lower than it is is because 1) they are afraid to increase calories, 2) they increase their calories and gain weight, which is normal because your muscles replenish their water reserves, and freak out, so they decrease their calories.

pkw58

MFP puts my maintenance calories at 1530 with my everyday activity. I have my goals set to lose 1/2 a pound a week. that puts my daily food calories at 1230. I generally eat between 1200 and 1600 every day, not taking into consideration any exercise. I do record my exercise burn from my nike fuel band.

Graelwyn75

Mfp would have me on about 1690 net to maintain, it is closer to 2000 for me, excluding exercise.

bunnylion

Thanks guys! It's great to hear that some of you can eat way more than MFP estimates :-)
I know activity is a big part of maintaining but with a busy office job there is only so much I can do... Hopefully I can figure something out once I get there.

Emmmmmmmmmmmmmmmie

i maintain at 2552 calories and lose weight on around 2000 calories a day...
mfp is way too low for me i follow my TDEE and work it all out from there.

jenilla1

I've got 1700 calories PLUS exercise. It has worked for me at that level now for over 3 years and counting. My weight loss calories are between 1300 and 1400 PLUS exercise.

ETA: In answer to your question: Yes, MFP's calculations have worked perfectly for me for both weight loss and maintenance. I don't use the TDEE method because my TDEE isn't consistent enough. Some weeks I'm totally sedentary, the next I'm hiking 20 miles in one day or running a half marathon. I'm too lazy to recalculate a new TDEE all the time. Just sticking to one stable calorie level and then adding calories burned when I DO work out works WAY better for me. My weight has not fluctuated more than 2 pounds up or down throughout my years of maintenance. It's like magic for me. :flowerforyou:

Laura3BB

MFP puts my maintenance at 1750, plus exercise; I eat around 1900-2000 and exercise rather little, and am maintaining ok

The_Enginerd

Thanks guys! It's great to hear that some of you can eat way more than MFP estimates :-)
I know activity is a big part of maintaining but with a busy office job there is only so much I can do... Hopefully I can figure something out once I get there.

MFP initially had me at 2150 to maintain, and I found I needed a minimum of 2200 to maintain. After a bulk/cut and losing more weight, MFP has me set to 2100 to maintain, but now I need about 2300 to maintain This works out to 2700-2800 a day with my exercise. I work in an office and spend all day sitting.

Mischievous_Rascal

MFP's calories are about 600 too low for me. I've been maintaining on 2500 since last December.

Anonycatgirl

I'm still trying to figure out my ultimate maintenance, but MFP is at least 200 calories too low, and probably more. I also lost faster than predicted, so I think I'm more active than what MFP considers moderately active, despite having the ultimate desk job. (I'm an author.)

bikrchk

I use the BMR caluclator in MFP to set my calorie level. I also wear a ViVo Fit that tracks steps for general activity and hooks to a HR monitor for deliberate exercise so I get a pretty clear pircure of actual burn for the day. The ViVo syncs its activity to MFP which adjusts my intake on a daily basis based on my activity level. I've been in maintenance for about 6 weeks now after a 92 pound loss and have not deviated more than .5 pounds week to week so I guess it's working!

FitPhillygirl

I maintain at 1800 to 1900 calories per day, which is what MFP recommends. So far it's been working great.

SnuggleSmacks

I have a Bodymedia band to help me determine the correct amount to eat according to my activity on a daily basis. It's pretty accurate. Lately I have not been very active, as I'm mourning the loss of a pet. According to Bodymedia, I'm burning around 1860 calories per day on average. It's usually closer to 2000. If you're concerned, a fitness tracker can be a huge help.

bunnylion

Thanks for all the answers. I find it very reassuring that MFP seems to be correct or too low for many people. :-)

arrseegee

About 100 cal higher than what MFP calculated and 250 cal higher than what was calculated for me by IIFYM.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

MFP's estimated maintenance is too low for me by about 150 calories.

I ended up getting a Fitbit and it seems really close for me, although others have told me that it's not accurate for them. I maintain on 1900-2300 calories, depending on activity level for the day. MFP gives me 1730 for lightly active.

For a long time though I maintained on 1900 with no activity tracker, I just adjusted my intake manually if it seemed too high or too low. I like having Fitbit because, as you can tell, it helped me to increase my maintenance calories. Basically 1900 is maintenance if I lift but don't do much else.

otter090812

Thanks for sharing your experiences!
I't really interesting to hear how everyone differs... I must admit that I'm a bit scared of ever reaching my goal because quite a few people have told me that maintaining is even more difficult than losing...

I used to feel like this - I'm not maintaining yet, but hopefully in a few months, and it used to worry me a lot. More lion, less bunny. Don't be scared, you have the tools and advice at your disposal to make this work.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Thanks for sharing your experiences!
I't really interesting to hear how everyone differs... I must admit that I'm a bit scared of ever reaching my goal because quite a few people have told me that maintaining is even more difficult than losing...

I think it's important to set new goals when you reach maintenance. It's easy to get complacent if your only goal is to stay the same. A lot of people (myself included) have success with setting fitness goals in maintenance. So I'm not just trying to maintain my weight, I'm trying to lift more weight or run longer distances or whatever it may be.

dortilolma

I worked out my maintenance with http://www.fat2fittools.com/tools/

After I lost about 7kg I moved up the maintenance level for the weight I wanted to be (65kg). This has resulted in much slower progress but it's working out pretty well and I do feel I could keep up this level of intake indefinitely.

I'm currently eating a base amount of 1700 calories. I add exercise but I track it pretty closely with a HRM and tend underestimate. This still gives me nearly a net of 2000 calories a day - which is plenty for me.

amusedmonkey

My maintenance is about 90% the calories MFP suggests as my maintenance (I have PCOS). That's about 1800 without counting in any exercise.

nosebag1212

MFPs maintenance cals are about 2-300 too low for me.

this, real maintenance for me = 2500 (measured using a bodymedia device and after weeks of eating at maintenance and not gaining or losing) , mfp has me at 2200, mfp consistently underestimates my tdee

runnerchick69

Typically I eat about 2000 a day. If I'm training for a marathon I'll eat more, just running/biking/gym I stay around the 2000. I would say overall though that MFP does tend to say I can eat more than I'm comfortable with.

amusedmonkey

Thanks for sharing your experiences!
I't really interesting to hear how everyone differs... I must admit that I'm a bit scared of ever reaching my goal because quite a few people have told me that maintaining is even more difficult than losing...

It really is not. I maintained for 6 months before continuing weight loss, and it was super easy. I basically was on a perpetual yoyo. If you try to stick to maintaining a certain weight it will be near impossible (weight naturally fluctuates throughout the day and from day to day).

What I did was give myself a 5 pound leeway range below and above my chosen weight, ate at will what I intuitively felt was a good amount of food, and measured myself every day. When I reached beyond the higher limit of my chosen weight range, I counted calories again dieting down until I reached the middle of the range (my original goal weight), if I reached under the lower limit I dieted up on a surplus and once I hit the middle again I stopped counting, and so on. In my case it took about 2.5 months to reach either end of the range, and about 2 weeks to a month to diet down/up. In the 6 months I had to diet down once and up once.