Question for those of you on maintenance...

Annie5859

I have 7 more pounds to lose until I am at my goal weight! I am very excited but also very anxious because this is not my first time losing the weight. I have two questions for all of you on maintenance. First, how long have you been maintaining your weight and second, what is the most important piece of advice you could give to someone just learning to maintain their weight?

kr3851

I'm super interested in the answers to this question. I've got serious losing before I even think about maintenance, but understand that this new counting calories and recording everything will probably be my life for a long time...

kthom

I have been maintaining for six months and I would like to lose a bit more but am ok if I stay where I am. I log everything and some days I am over and some I am under but find the weekly tool on my phone helps keep me on track. I don't worry about each day but try and keep the bad days not too bad and not too often.

Annie5859

I have been maintaining for six months and I would like to lose a bit more but am ok if I stay where I am. I log everything and some days I am over and some I am under but find the weekly tool on my phone helps keep me on track. I don't worry about each day but try and keep the bad days not too bad and not too often.

What do you mean by the weekly tool?

Swimgoddess

I'm set for maintenance now though I still intend to lose another 11. Because my body fat is where it is, my true BMR is 1599 to MFP's 1,476. I plateaued at both MFP's BMR and once I leaned out at my true BMR. Now I'm in a "eat more to lose" scenario and MFP's maintenance level is only 241 calories higher that what I'd need to survive laying in bed all day. It's an ongoing process.

Just keep logging; zig-zag a little - but not much, keep up with strength training 2x/wk so your body composition doesn't go down the tubes, DO NOT stress monthly water weight fluctuations, and enjoy those calories!

KayJayKing

bump (so I can read again when there are more responses)

LJCannon

I have been at my Goal Weight for 8 months (since October 2010). I think it is an on-going process, you can eat more, but you still have to exercise. I still log everything every day and I am trying to figure out how much exercise I REALLY want to do every day.
I am not sure I can help you much because I still feel like I am new at this.

Jeannie

Elzecat

bump!

musica814

bump

TakeOne

Well first off, congrats to you! You're really close to your goal I have been maintaining for a year now. In a way I feel like its a bit trickier than trying to lose the weight in the first place. As far as advice..please note I am no expert...I'd say that once you reach your goal it's really important to not get caught up in celebration. For me there was this whole "You earn it" and friends and family def. encouraged me to celebrate by having something to eat or drink. But it was really important to me to remember that that was what got me in the situation of needed to lose the weight in the first place. I'd also say its a good idea to set some other goal. Like tone up or run a certain whatever. That helps me to stay focused on making sure I stay in my maintenance range. If this is your second time losing the weight, it may be a good idea to think about why you gainned it back and then make a plan to avoid those things/people/place or whatever it was. Oh and KEEP LOGGING!! Its been a whole year and I am just now giving it a try w/o logging my food intake..lol! Best of luck to you on your journey!!

kendf60

Continue to have fitness goals other than weight loss. Train for a race, start a new sport ( I just started surfing with my son at 51). Having a goal keeps me motivated to keep working out and eating healthy.

NikkisNewStart

I've been in maintenance for about 4 months now... there is really no "cut off" between losing weight and beginning maintenance... it is just a continuance of living a healthy life. Sure, you get to eat more calories- but you have the knowledge now to make those calories come from the right sources to fit into your new lifestyle. I weigh every now and then... think the last time I weighed was last week sometime? It is such a non-focus for me now... now I spend more time strength training, some light cardio, and just enjoying being healthy. I eased into maintenance as I started getting closer to where I wanted my final weight to be... it made it easier to wrap my head around it if that makes sense.

Robin1117

Hi Annie-I know you read my post on maintenance that I wrote last week. If anyone wants to check it out again...my words of wisdom after maintaining for the last year....

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Robin1117

But please head over to the Maintenance Thread and join the conversation. We have a nice group of folks who check in and talk about it, as it's really challenging. And we would love some new input.....

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/191617-maintenance-thread?page=7#posts-3392363

Oishii

I've only been maintaining since February and I'm equally nervous about putting it all back on.

The biggest lesson for me has been that maintenance calories are very personal. I can't maintain with mfp's suggested maintenance calories, I just continue to lose. I think now that my maintenance, pre exercise calories, must be round about 2300-2400, while some people are maintaining on 1500! I'm still experimenting with this, as I think staying with calorie counting will be the best way not to see history repeating itself.

I'd recommend joining the maintenance thread too. It's great to have somewhere to go where you can feel comfortable to complain if you lost weight, or complain if you put on a few pounds, without feeling petty.

kthom

On my phone it gives me the option to see my daily nutrients or my weekly calorie goals and intake. I don't have that on the computer though.

dls06

I have been maintaining for a couple of months. I still log on everyday and watch what I eat. In the beginning I was affraid to up my calories but had to because I was losing too much and people starting asking if I was sick.
I have increased my calories for 1200 to 1430 and try to stay within goals. Sometime I'm little over and sometime a little under. But I think to maintain you have to make it a lifestyle and that is what I am trying to do.

kelsully

Number one...you have to keep exercising and logging...second...start adding calories to you maintenance goals 100 at a time...I found mfp maintenance goal to be about 110 too high for me and I gained a few pounds...I reset it a little lower and I hover within a good 3 pound range.

M_lifts

hello
well done on getting this far

i have been maintaining for 2 months now and its a learning curve still. i find cycling calories or zig zagging helps me quite a bit. I was afraid to eat my full maintainance calories when i first stared and continued to lose weight. but now i can eat between 1600- 2000 calories and still maintain.

I agree with the logging, it certainly helps me. i log on my phone mostly so its done straight away! force of habit now! I am still very active- i started couch to 5 k 5 weeks ago and that is my new focus. I also go to zumba once a week and do the shred dvd when i cant run. i also do some weights too. i have also decided to only weigh in once a fortnight or once a month- was starting to obsess about the scale a bit too much!

I would say up the calories by 100-200 a week if you want until you get to maintainance if u find it too much to begin with and ease yourself in gently. i set myself to lose 0.5lbs a week when i had 2-3lb left to lose.

Most of all, enjoy it! you have worked very hard and shouldnt feel too guilty about treating yourself. as long as its within limits. I have found loads of people on maintainance who still worry about eating all their calories as they are afraid of putting on weight. As long as u are active, make good food choices u wont gain. plus u can always alter your calories if u feel u are starting to gain!

Annie5859

Thanks everyone for your responses. I decided to make a blog of what I learned from you. Here is a link if anyone is interested. It's a little easier to get the great ideas people have provided from the thread.

Much appreciated!

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Annie5859/view/what-i-learned-from-you-about-maintaining-weight-110700