How to maintain weight

antonywalsh

I have no where near reached my goal weight yet but I have started to think about what happens when I do. I am currently eating 1350 calories at the moment and I 99% am always within this amount eating quite healthy meals 3 times per day. I am never really hungry which makes me think how many calories will I need to eat to maintain my weight?
I don't want to have to eat for the sake of it or increase my portions when I don't need to eat that much. Can anyone advise what you do when you have concentrated so much to maintain a 1350 calorie diet how you then go to say 2100 calories.

Thanks

faerybun

to maintain your weight, find your BMR and eat that many calories per day!

taso42_DELETED

to maintain your weight, find your BMR and eat that many calories per day!

Not exactly correct. BMR is basal metabolic rate - it's how much we would burn if we were laying in bed all day. Our daily calorie burn is higher that that because we get up, brush our teeth, move around etc.

To the original question, I am not quite sure yet because I'm not there yet, but man I can't wait to start adding some cheese to my breakfast in the mornings

AngiMoss

Maybe things like having low-fat items instead of fat free and things like that. It won't feel like your portion is any larger so it won't feel excessive in your belly.
Or adding things like nuts & croutons to salads.
Cooking with olive oil instead of fat free cooking spray.

I know for me, one meal out at a restaurant can sabotage my weight loss efforts for the week, but I really do love to go out for dinner once & awhile. While trying to lose weight, I never do it...but when I go into maintenance mode, I think I will still eat very healthy during the week, then maybe go out for one meal at some point during the weekend.

kathleenmccool

The best thing to do is to add calories on gradually. If you add that many calories back into your diet at one time, you will gain weight because your body is not used to it.

If you increase your calories by 100 each week, or every couple of weeks, your body will have time to adjust. This will make it nice for you too, because you won't be thinking about suddenly having to eat an extra 750 calories each day!

Adding calories back slowly will be the best way for you and your body to get used to eating more.

Good Luck!

Beach_Chica

This is post I will need to come back to. So glad someone asked this question. I was thinking about it today. I had lost a lot of weight and I gained all of it back due to not knowing how to maintain my weight. It's a shame, but it's a learning process.

robin52077

to maintain your weight, find your BMR and eat that many calories per day!

This is SO wrong it isn't even funny.

My BMR is 1100 and my MAINTENANCE is 1800-2000.

Your BMR is the calories your body needs just to breathe, beat your heart, etc, what you need even if you are in a COMA. You should never eat less than that.
Then you take your activity level, active, lightly active, etc, and add it to your BMR, and this is your TDEE.

your TDEE is the number your body uses living your normal life, walking around your house, cooking, cleaning, going to work. Mine is around 1700.
This would be my maintenance on a "lazy day" and is what I have my diary set at.

Then if you EXERCISE, like a purposeful WORKOUT, not a stroll around the mall, you have to add THAT in too, which brings me to about 1800-2200 depending on the workout.

THAT is your MAINTENANCE (or TDEE), NOT your BMR. Eating your BMR every day is STARVING yourself, NOT maintaining, because as soon as you stand up in the morning, you already need more than your BMR.

123456654321

to maintain your weight, find your BMR and eat that many calories per day!

Not exactly correct.

Not correct at all actually.

People are actually advised to eat their BMR's to lose weight at a healthy pace. Try punching in your stats to a maintenance calculator and then into a BMR calculator, there should be a pretty big difference.

....If being too full is an issue, try small things like adding olive oil, nuts and nut butter to things. You would be surprised how many calories you can add by just adding a little something to each meal. Also I don't think you necessarily have to jump from 1300 to 1700 in one day, take it slow if you need too.

iTim__

I plan to use the same goal setting tool here in MFP that I'm using now. It has a setting called, "Maintain my current weight." I plan on doing that. Then, if my weight fluctuates more than 2lbs in any week, I'll simply kick MPF's weight loss goals back on.

This is fitness for life. So, I only plan to use the site until I die.

antonywalsh

Thanks for everyone's reply but now I am really confused. Some people are saying that I should be eating my BMR just to function properly so why does MFP give me a calorie goal of 1350 per day when my BMR is 1803? This is the way I see it and everyone can correct me If I am really wrong.

I have been eating 2500-3000 calories per day (this is why I have been putting on weight and I need to lose 32lbs)
My BMR is 1803 (If I want to maintain my weight I need to eat 1803 + any exercise that I do)
MFP says 1350 calories (This will allow me to lose weight 1803-1350=453 calories lose per day + exercise)

That's the way I see it. So Once I have lost my weight I will eat 1800 calories + exercise(300?) to maintain it.

I am eating 1350 calories per day and feeling pretty good from it but now I am worried with what everyone is saying that if I dont up my calories to 1800+ I will keel over.

How does MFP work out my calorie goals then?

taso42_DELETED

There is a common mistake people make where they confuse BMR with maintenance calories (aka daily calories burned). Is 1803 your BMR or your daily burn rate? They are very different things, but they are correlated.

For example, my BMR is estimated to be 1,569 (with MFP's calculator), and my daily burn is somewhere around 2400-2500 (found empirically).

It is a good idea to never eat below your BMR.

The number MFP tells you to eat is your estimated daily burn rate PLUS exercise calories MINUS some deficit (based on your settings)

If you are in maintenance mode then your deficit is zero so you'd be eating your daily maintenance calories plus exercise.

If you are new to this, just follow the MFP numbers for several weeks (at least a month), then evaluate your progress and potentially make changes if needed.

robin52077

Thanks for everyone's reply but now I am really confused. Some people are saying that I should be eating my BMR just to function properly so why does MFP give me a calorie goal of 1350 per day when my BMR is 1803? This is the way I see it and everyone can correct me If I am really wrong.

I have been eating 2500-3000 calories per day (this is why I have been putting on weight and I need to lose 32lbs)
My BMR is 1803 (If I want to maintain my weight I need to eat 1803 + any exercise that I do)
MFP says 1350 calories (This will allow me to lose weight 1803-1350=453 calories lose per day + exercise)

That's the way I see it. So Once I have lost my weight I will eat 1800 calories + exercise(300?) to maintain it.

I am eating 1350 calories per day and feeling pretty good from it but now I am worried with what everyone is saying that if I dont up my calories to 1800+ I will keel over.

How does MFP work out my calorie goals then?

no, your BMR can be found by going to Tools -> BMR calculator.
You are confusing BMR with TDEE (maintenance calories).
Eat TDEE to Maintain (if you choose "maintain" instead of 1lb or 2 lbs per week loss).
your BMR is much lower than your maintenance. BMR is the bare minimum of what you should eat for most people, below that is unhealthy.

antonywalsh

Taso42

Yes 1803 was my (MFP) BMR rate and the calories that MFP is telling me to eat per day is 1350. The settings I used was sedentary as I don't do bugger all besides work on my computer. I said that I wanted to lose 2 lbs per week which I thought would be fair.

I Have now been dieting weeks and lost 15lbs after I have been eating properly and following the calorie intake. I actually fell really good with what I am eating and I am never really hungry which really surprises me because I am sure that I was eating 2500-3000 calories a day before.

Thanks

hpsnickers1

Thanks for everyone's reply but now I am really confused. Some people are saying that I should be eating my BMR just to function properly so why does MFP give me a calorie goal of 1350 per day when my BMR is 1803? This is the way I see it and everyone can correct me If I am really wrong.

I have been eating 2500-3000 calories per day (this is why I have been putting on weight and I need to lose 32lbs)
My BMR is 1803 (If I want to maintain my weight I need to eat 1803 + any exercise that I do)
MFP says 1350 calories (This will allow me to lose weight 1803-1350=453 calories lose per day + exercise)

That's the way I see it. So Once I have lost my weight I will eat 1800 calories + exercise(300?) to maintain it.

I am eating 1350 calories per day and feeling pretty good from it but now I am worried with what everyone is saying that if I dont up my calories to 1800+ I will keel over.

How does MFP work out my calorie goals then?

You will have to eventually increase it. You can change your goals here as you lose weight. 2lbs to 1lb. Then from 1lb. to .5lb. Then to maintain. This will give you a gradual increase and let your body adjust to the change slowly. You might not have to eat up to that every day. When you are on maintain you can eat those calories and any calories you burn during exercise. If you don't exercise that day then just eat your maintenance (kind of like the same thing you would do when losing).

What you are saying is your BMR is actually your maintenance calories (my BMR is 1188 - there's a calculator under Tools here on MFP - and my maintenance calories are 1480. 1188 + my activity level (sedentary) = 1480. But this will change from day to day. I burn an average of 2000-2300 per day. On a really lazy, lazy day - lie in front of the TV kind of day - I burn around 1600-1700.

I'm 5'2" and 123lbs. And as you increase your lean muscle mass (though weight lifting - diet and cardio decrease your muscle mass) your calorie requirement will increase.

Lanfear

Bump to add to my topics

willowglimmer

Bumping

After having lost almost 4 stone and only having 1 to go I'm interested in how to move from weight loss to maintenance without piling it back in again 