I need to eat how many????.... Maintanance

mbvenske

Okay, I am far from my goal, but have been "peeping" at different threads. It appears to me that once I lose my weight and hit maintance that my calorie intake will increase. Stands to reason. And I KNOW before I started this rollercoaster that I could easily eat 4000 cals a day without blinking an eye. But, now that I am eating healthier and watching/counting everything that goes in my mouth, I sometimes have a hard time reaching my net goal. And I'm not hungry, so I don't want to eat extra, where pre MFP I would have.

So, my question is this,,,, How do you eat all them calories, do it in a healthy way, and not feel guilty? No wrong answer her, just curiosity on my part.

chevy88grl

I've learned that I HAVE to eat in order to maintain or lose weight. As strange as it sounds, I HAVE to do it. I allow myself a treat each day because I feel like I deserve it. Otherwise, I just need food that is decent in calories per serving and good for me.

taso42_DELETED

Eat good clean food about every 3 hours or so. If you're having a hard time hitting your goal, calorie dense foods like extra virgin olive oil and nut butters are an easy way to increase cals without adding much volume in your belly. Play around with pre-planning meals for the following day to create a sensible menu and fit it all in.

annacataldo

eating healthier high calorie food. Nuts, guacamole, raisins, prunes, rice, beans, peanut butter (on apples is my fav; also celery, or just on toast, etc), bananas r a higher calorie fruit--so if ur eating lets say a low calorie fruit all u have to do is replace it with a higher calorie fruit, and eating full calorie items instead of low calorie items (like no fat salad dressing might only be 20cal per serving and no fat, but full calorie has far less sodium and a little bit of fat--and if ur like me, who is always way under on fat, then id rather have a bit more fat than high sodium)

stanvoodoo

Eat lean protein and veggies and when you get to maintainance you increase calories until you stop losing. So you might have more lean protein and veggies! Of course don't forget your fiber and water!

You can do!

aejbx4x7s

I often don't meet my calorie goal when I exercise, but usually I am only 100-200 calories under. If this keeps happening, try eating a healthy, calorie dense snack like whole milk yogurt, nuts, or granola. Alternatively, you could treat yourself (in a healthy way) with something like dark chocolate - delicious and fine in moderation.

damonmath

60 percent of my diet is liquid nutrition, because:

A) I can't eat that much in one day
It's faster and easier
C) It makes me look damn sexy

LorinaLynn

As I reach my goal, I've been slowly adding more calories, so it isn't a big jump when I do switch to maintenance. Plus, as we weigh less, or maintenance calories become less, too.

mbvenske

.... C) It makes me look damn sexy

HEHEHE the affects of drinking it or the act of drinking it!!

chrisdavey

If you are set to 2lbs loss a week and it is working well for you, then as you get closer to your goal weight you could drop that to 1lb/week which would add 500 cals per day. Start with this and you can add larger portions or add in a treat or 2 or some healthy fats as suggested. Then when you feel ready switch it to maintenance and slowly add another 500/day. Then you just need to measure the results ie. if you start to gain weight then it's possible that the bmr or activity calculator is not 100% accurate (or the logging) so adjust it down a bit. If you are still losing weight when you up the cals then you may need to up them a bit more.

I think a lot of people get to their goal "weight" then are't 100% happy so decide to go on maintenance cals but with more body recomposition in mind than losing weight.