For those maintaining

ladybg81

I am TERRIFIED!! I am a pound away from goal and my maintenance calories will go up almost 500 calories. I am having a hard time now eating my 1280 a day and am usually under. What on earth am I going to do with 500 more. I am a HUGE milk drinker so I was thinking I can just add a glass to each meal and that will be almost 300. I still want to eat quality foods instead of adding in full fat junk to fill in the gap. I'm not a fan of nuts or avacado. Any other maintainers have any advice. I just do not want my maintenance to put my back into bad habits.

starboardzor

I was thinking about maintaining (since I did reach my original goal) and I even tried it out for a week. I think it's a psychological thing for me, because I had NO problem eating the extra calories. In fact it terrified me, because I'm so accustomed to going over a couple (or even 100-200 every once inawhile) I started thinking "Oh god, I'm going to gain weight" because then I was eating maintenance calories and THEN SOME. So now I'm back in weight loss mode, but I eat over a little most days and I've found I'm maintaining well that way. I'd like to get down to 120, but no real rush! Maybe even over the course of the year...

Anyway, try it out and see how it goes. Adjust if need be!

WifeMomDVM

Try a protein shake. It will give you protein, and if you choose the right brand, won't have alot of sugar. And you can just drink it for a quick 300 cal I'm not really hungry but need to eat more cals pick me up!

My favorite is vanilla protein powder (sweetened with stevia), almond milk, PB2 and cocoa powder. Rich chocolatey peanut buttery deliciousness!

Robin1117

Hi! I had been given the advice to go up slowly--starting w/only 50 or 100 at a time per day, and then see how your body reacts for a few weeks, then adjust it accordingly. I have been maintaining for 10 months and still am not at the "maintain" level MFP told me to use--it really does vary by individual.

Check out the "maintenance thread part 2" and read over some of the discussion and please join in!!

Buckeyt

Don't add all 500 at once. Add over time and see how your body reacts/adapts. Maybe you'll find that 300 extra is what works.

mjheinrich

I agree to go up slowly. Personally I keep my daily targets only about 100 more than I was doing when I was losing but I allow myself a few days a week to go significantly over (like with company or eating out). It balances out in the end but then again I've NEVER had a problem of eating all my calories and have to continue to watch the count even on maintenance.

jennylynn84

General advice on getting there:

Don't go up all at once. You'll shock your system, which has a much lower metabolism right now than it will need for maintenance calories. Go up a little at a time until you find the calorie intake that allows you to maintain. My best maintenance is actually around 50-100 calories a day less than MFP gives me for maintenance.

My next advice is an mental adjustment you need to make for maintenance:

You should not expect to weigh your goal weight every day.

Your goal weight should be a range, actually. Because calories burned and eaten is not really an exact science AND plenty of things can cause your weight to fluctuate, you should keep a general goal range in mind and you're doing good if you're in it. I'm maintaining and most days I'm between 142-147. If I start heading up 146 I try to reign it in a little, etc. Its going to be exceptionally difficult for you to maintain in a way that where you get on the scale and be the same thing every time. It's a huge mental adjustment to not go "S***, I gained a pound!!!" but you will get used to it.

Good luck!

atomdraco

Thanks for the info!

Nigel99

I reached maintenance mode around 3 weeks ago, and I know exactly what you are talking about. My daily goal is nearly 2400 cals, so if I work out (still doing P90, and I've been runing two months now), I'm usually adding at least another 400-600 calories on top of that. I already eat nuts, fruit, and everything else, but I still find that I will usually end up a good bit below my daily goal. Sure, I could scarf some cookies, and soda, but trying to pack on the calories, and still eat healthy -that is the challenge. On days when I have mowed the lawn and worked out on the same day - forget about it - never going to reach 4000 calories. I'm just not that hungry!

I'm really not into the whole protein shake/supplement thing, so that is pretty much right out the door.

I do find that adding a cup of Kashi cereal (the fiber, twigs, and puffs kind) to my occasional Greek yogurt is good at adding calories, and protein (25g or so between the two), and I like the crunchy texture in the creamy yogurt.