How long have you been at your goal weight?

farfromthetree

What Sushi said!! I am 5'4'' and stay between 125 and 130 lbs. This has only been for about 2 months? maybe a little longer. I weigh daily so if I am creeping up towards 130 I cut back a little. So far it has worked.
I have days when I am a bottomless pit. I just try not to go too crazy and usually the next day is better.Protein shakes help a little.
I do CrossFit 3 times/week and try to do walk/run intervals the other days.

Edited to add...I am not a fan of intermittent fasting. Just my opinion. I have nothing to back it up with, it just seems too regimented. On 500 calorie days I might kill someone.

tremroy1

I dont think tall woman are permitted to comment on this topic. They cannot relate to shorter women's problems. Now I know men know nothing about mentrual cycles and such. lucky for us we have internet and You Tube and the Discovery channel.

PaytraB

I've been maintaining for 1.5 years now. I allow a range of +/- 5 lbs. I find that I've never gained more than about 3 or so before dropping down again but I also never drop below my goal weight more than a pound. So, basically I'm maintaining well.
At times I find it easier than other times. There are days on end where I'm constantly hungry and have to be careful about better food choices and other days where I'm not hungry very much. It all balances out, though, is what I'm finding.
I run 3x a week and do a little bit of tai-chi, consisting of one class per week and some practice.
I am 5'10", 160 lbs, 56 yrs old and aim for approx. 1700 -1800 calories per day (average).

rand486

I dont think tall woman are permitted to comment on this topic. They cannot relate to shorter women's problems. Now I know men know nothing about mentrual cycles and such. lucky for us we have internet and You Tube and the Discovery channel.

Alright, alright... let's chill out a bit. I think the point has been made (and drilled into the ground).

There's some great advice in here, from men and women alike. Fact of the matter is, we (men) do get to enjoy about 300-500 calories more per day, so I can understand how a woman in her 50's would be struggling, given some of the guys in here get to eat literally double what she does...

I never intended to make this thread so polar...

bkw61

I reached my goal weight in July (so maintenance for only 2 months). I have actually dropped another couple of pounds during maintenance as I try to figure out my maintenance calories. This still keeps in me within the healthy BMI range. I am 56, 5 -'4.75" (small body frame), fluctuate between 118 to 120, eat 1600 to 1800 (some days 2000), and workout 5 to 6 days a week. I lift weights with 1 or 2 days of cardio (30 minutes). I log but not diligently (don't want to rely on having to log forever); just enough to make sure that I stay within my maximum calorie allowance and macros (still learning this).
Yes, there are days I am ravenous and crave sweets! My ultimate goal is to gain more lean muscle so that I can eat more calories. I eat 3 main meals a day with 3 snacks (10 am, 3 pm, and 8 pm). I tend to overeat when I go too long between eating. I find the key to maintaining my weight is exercise. I am working on eating better.

This is simulair to me ^^^^^. I have been maintaining a bit longer- since May. But have also lost a few more pounds while figuring it out. I also use fitbit to gage my calorie burn. I am 53, 127lbs. Med. body frame, 22bmi and stick to 1650 calories a day. I do not eat back my exercise calories. I eat three meals, three snacks a day, and am close on macros. I walk between 100-13k a day, and do light wieghts and pilates three times a week.

SyzygyX

The men in this thread.



Your tears are so sweet.

auddii

Ok, I'm not at goal yet, so take this with a grain of salt. But, most people I know who do 5:2 intermittent fasting are doing it to create a deficit. Since you're maintaining, wouldn't it be easier to eat the same amount each day? As it is, you are maintaining on less than 1200 calories a day, which for a lot of people is less than what they need to eat to lose weight.

Have you been maintaining long? Are you actually maintaining at that calorie level or are you continuing to lose? What does MFP say is you maintenance levels? If that is your maintenance level, I would think it would be difficult to maintain long term just because it's pretty low calorie. If your maintenance level is that low, I'd agree with others and try to add in some more exercising, even if it's just going for walks. Something to get your calories higher so that it will be easier for you to stick to long term.

libbydoodle11

bump

RaspberryTickleChicken

Edited to add...I am not a fan of intermittent fasting. Just my opinion. I have nothing to back it up with, it just seems too regimented. On 500 calorie days I might kill someone.

ahhm yea I'm right there with you ... we would be cell mates & I don't look good in fluorescent orange! :laugh:

mamadon

I'm 52, 5'4 and weigh 145. I've been maintaining for about 7 months. I don't do a lot of formal exercise and I maintain at about 1850 a day. I tend to eat around 1300 to 1600 during my work week, and around 2500 a day on the weekends.
ETA: I find it as hard as losing, except I get to eat more.

PunkyRachel

My goal was 130, I was losing weight to be able to conceive and carry. I have PCOS, a history of poor health and many miscarries. Well I got down to 135, and then found out I'm pregnant (8 weeks now). I never made it, was very close though lol I'm gonna try and not gain more than 30 lbs, so it will be easier to drop in 7ish months from now. :happy:

jenilla1

I've been maintaining at my goal weight of 130 pounds (give or take a pound or two depending on time of the month) for over 3 years now. - I'm 5'7" - I find it's very easy for me. Once you find your maintenance calories, all you have to do it stick to them. Logging calories is just another quick and easy habit like brushing my teeth, so it's only a minor hassle and totally worth keeping up.

I follow my calories most of the time but don't even stress if I take a day off now and then. I haven't been exercising as much as I usually do (hot weather) but I try to make sure I get some in just for health reasons. Exercise doesn't affect my weight much, other than to give me extra calories for dessert. With the weather cooling down, I'll probably be outside hiking and running again soon. Good luck! :flowerforyou:

jenilla1

My goal was 130, I was losing weight to be able to conceive and carry. I have PCOS, a history of poor health and many miscarries. Well I got down to 135, and then found out I'm pregnant (8 weeks now). I never made it, was very close though lol I'm gonna try and not gain more than 30 lbs, so it will be easier to drop in 7ish months from now. :happy:

Wow! Congratulations!

WalterWhitey

I'm a guy but I don't care because the numbers are kind of fun. I've maintained between 140-145 as a 5'10 male for 10 years (I'm 28); I was smaller as a teen. I eat 3000-3500 calories a day, and my exercise is just doing 65 minutes on my stationary bike at 265-280 watts, and walking 4.5 miles every day. I sometimes lift but nothing hectic. Some of these low numbers of calories scare me .

steff274

Lol loving how the guy's are getting there knickers in a twist about not being included!! I am 35 been maintaining since Christmas I am a shorty 5ft 2.. My weight is anything between 104 and 110.. I find it easy I excersize loads and I eat loads too my diary is open feel free to nose yesterday I did a 5 and a half hour climb with my otherhalf and consumed nearly 3000 calories!! I have a physical job I work with horses without excersize my maintenance is 1830.. I go to the gym 4 to 5 times a week on 2 of those days I do 2 hours

Patttience

Thanks to all the women who replied. I want to befriend you all. And congratulations on your achievements.

Yes, i need to find the right maintenance calories, although i don't consider myself in maintenance quite yet. But close.

Re exercise. I want to avoid the need for doing a lot of it. Past experience has shown, I can't sustain it beyond a few months. Hence i like to make everything as easy as possible. I will be going on a cycling journey early next year. When i come back and stop cycling will be very tricky period for me. Again past experience shows this.

These days I only do exercise for health so i try to do what seems to be a paleo-type exercise regime - plenty of walking about during the course of my day and recently started a minimal HIIT skipping program (I was going to do running but i couldn't get it together to start). I like skipping because its all over pretty quick, i don't have to leave home, it costs nothing and getting ready is as easy as changing my shoes, putting on a bra and then a quick shower to freshen up afterwards. I aim to do it about 3 times a week, more when i feel like it.

I think my calories averaging below 1200 may be the issue here. I am going to increase them.

I started 5:2 fasting because when i came off my short experiment (6 weeks) with low carb it was a struggle to readjust back to normal macros without going over my calories. I decided to do a one day water fast as i'd done at the beginning of the year. It failed by lunch time. Some forum friends were doing 5:2 and i decided now might be the time to give it a shot.

I do 2 days of consecutive 500 calorie fasting. I don't usually find it difficult. And if i screw up one day, i have another go next day or wait until the week later. Usually after two days of fasting, by day 3 my appetite is low from low carbing. As all the successful fasters maintain, the keys are good food choices (protein and vegies mainly), keeping busy, not staying up late at nights, keeping hydrated. Most people find two meals later in the day better than starting off with breakfast and or eating smaller meals throughout the day. Some of the successful fasters even eat less than 500 but that would be tempting fate for me. I want to eat as much as i can get away with.

Sometimes i feel that my diet difficulties are caused by drops in seratonin levels. I've been well below my current weight in the past. Been as low as 55kg and maybe even more. At my current weight (165cm/5'5" and 60.8kg/134) i've still got about 27% body fat - most of it on my lower body.

Today's a fast day.

auddii

Sometimes i feel that my diet difficulties are caused by drops in seratonin levels. I've been well below my current weight in the past. Been as low as 55kg and maybe even more. At my current weight (165cm/5'5" and 60.8kg/134) i've still got about 27% body fat - most of it on my lower body.

Today's a fast day.

If you're still doing low carb, that may affect your seratonin levels as carbs naturally increase seratonin release. It's one of the reasons people tend to binge on bread products when they emotionally eat. I know I could go through an entire loaf of bread, and it was so much harder when I was depressed. You may want to try only doing low carb on your fast days (it would be hard to include carbs and still eat a reasonable amount of food on those days) and see if you can incorporate more carbs on your "normal" days. And upping your calorie goal in general may help as well.

Good luck with finding the maintenance that works for you!

Patttience

Thanks audio - I didn't read this link completely but what i did read supports my inclination which is that increasing carbs as a means to dealing with low mood is not a great idea, especially when on a diet.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evolutionary-psychiatry/201203/do-carbs-keep-you-sane

It may be true that one craves refined carbs when in a low mood but i have always found that eating a ton of carbs only keeps me bogged down in the mire. Any lift i might get is short term and shallow usually followed by more low mood because of all the damage i've just done to my diet. On the other hand, eating vegies and healthy foods makes me feel a lot better and/or reflects an improvement in my mood.

My diet isn't seriously low carb though. Its just moderate low carb and very low in refined carbs.

pkw58

Here goes:

55 soon to be 56 years old 5'8" Female 125-135 pound target weight range, Today I weighed 126, but I ran in 5k charity event yesterday, so I will eat to get back to my narrow target range of 128 to 131 over the next month. My weight flucuates between 126 and 131, but my height allows that to be manageable and I wear my clothes fitted, not tight. The 126 is first thing in the morning, and if I chose to weigh my self every night, it is generally 3-5 pounds heavier depending on how much I exercise and keep my self hydrated... so I don't. When I buy clothes I always allow for swelling as I live in the sweltering south with drastic temperature changes and it is just a fact of life.

How Long have you been at your goal weight? I have been at this range since June of 2012.

Side bar on my weight range: The charts and original on line coaching program set my healthy goal weight at 139. This is pretty consistent with a few prior attempts to maintain with WW, Jenny Craig, etc. When I overshot that goal and continued to lose weight, I went to performing arts doctor, he set my range at the 125 to 135 range. I have solid dense bones, but they are long and thin. I just started weight lifting training with a PT, He believes 135 would be a good weight to maintain.

I have effectively eliminated stress eating from my life. Just say no. If I focus on what I need to, and get my steps and barre3 and training in, it all comes together. but it is a daily discipline of logging. I eliminate obsessing about it by wearing a Nike Fuel band and I use that calorie burn. I log my food intake as well. it takes less than 15 minutes a day and it is my safety blanket.

dorothy2512

Patttience wrote: »

This question is for the girls only. I figure whatever is going on for guys has not so much relevance to my situation.

And First up let me clarify: The goal weights i'm interested in are pretty low goal weights, say somewhere in the mid range of your healthy weight range for your height or less.

How long have you been able to maintain this weight? How much exercise are you doing to maintain it? And what are your daily calories, height age and weight. (sorry i sort of need all that info to make sense of anything you might report if you are going to offer any info at all about yourself).

But mainly are you finding it hard? Do you ever get surges in appetite that seem difficult to manage over a period of time. and that you can't really pin down to stress, overwork, poor diet, and the only explanation seems to be your body's resistance to being a low weight?

I've just about hit goal but i'm also just starting to struggle with my appetite. My food is really healthy. My macros are pretty good. I ve been doing the 5:2 fasting diet for about 8 weeks i guess. I feel like my body is starting to fight back.

My weight is… was 60.8kg/133-134 pounds at lowest, my height 165cm/5'5", my daily calories are 1400 and 500 on 2 fast days. I don't do much exercise but i have just started doing HIIT skipping which is only a few minutes a few times a week and trying but not always succeeding to do 10000 steps a day. i'm not quite 51 and female.

Thanks for any advice or insights.

You sound just like me !!
I am 51, 5 FT 5"tall, I started my weight loss journey about 2 years ago at a starting weight of 215 lbs, I lost weight at say, 30 lbs, then stopped and maintained that for a month or two, then started again and lost the same until I got to the top end of what I should be for my height (120 lbs - 150 lbs ) I stuck at the 150 lbs for a while, then my dad died suddenly, and I lost 10 lbs, and found I liked myself better at a lower weight, so I carried on, and as of today, I am 135 lbs and even though I am happy with being a uk size 8, ( I started off at an 18) I would still like to reach 124 lbs, but family and friends are stressing at me, not to lose any more weight.