1lb from goal, now what?

teacher205

Hi,
After months of diet and exercise i'm finally close to my goal weight. I've been eating healthily and doing a mix of cardio and strength training, i'm even lifting the same weights as my boyfriend!! Only thing ia I still amn't happy with my belly, I still find its quite flabby, and i'm now terrified to start eating over 1200 regularly in case I start gaining again!!! Any advice please?? How have others done this?
Thank you

sblair77

I've been 1lb away for months too!

I am just happy that I seem to be maintaining. :-)

Phanessa917

good job! Just maintain. You're already on the right track. If you start working out your abs and gaining more muscle, your weight won't really matter. It's how you feel that matters. If you're happy

bjshields

Okay, NOW is when you need to regroup. Figure out what is working for you, what got you here, and what's going to KEEP you here. Take it from somebody who went from a size 16 to a 7/8, then worked her way back up to a 12 by (mindlessly) going back to old habits. Maintaining is the key. Good luck, and congrats on your success!

kimmerroze

You wont gain your weight back... yes it might flucuate as you up your calories but you wont gain the fat you lost back...


And quite possibly you will lose even more weight bumping up your calories. that is what happened when I upped mine..

My suggestion is to up it by 100 calories every week/week and a half and see what happens. I think I will always try to eat at about a 100 -150 calorie deficit for the rest of my life. that way I have a little buffer room

DKev

I'm at goal too and am not completely happy with my stomach either. I've had 2 kids (enough said). BUT I have seen huge improvements in it. I switched my weight loss from a pound a week to a half pound a week just to make sure I don't put any weight back on and instead of doing so much cardio I am doing more strength training with less cardio. Not sure if you've done the 30 day shred but I lost 4 inches from my stomach in my first 30 day round of it.

Bellyroll

Pilatis?

mauryr

I'm at goal, and I'm not quite happy with my stomach - and although I've had a kid, I can't really use that as an excuse as I'm a boy. But I must say, I still have the extra skin left over from before the birth. Hope it tightens up after a while.

DKev

I'm at goal, and I'm not quite happy with my stomach - and although I've had a kid, I can't really use that as an excuse as I'm a boy. But I must say, I still have the extra skin left over from before the birth. Hope it tightens up after a while.

lol...

SHBoss1673

get some new goals, body fat % or exercise related goals, distance related goals or some kind of time goal (for instance, a new mile time)

ChantalGG

well you can always do some crazy ab workout, it might bring some muscles out.

somigliana

I'd also suggest adding in 100 calories each week until you reach maintenance calorie intake.
When I made the transition, I actually lost more weight when I started increasing my calories towards maintenance, but it levels out eventually

Well done!

mfpchris

Congratulations. I *hope* I am about a month or so away from where you are.

Lot's of good suggestions, and clearly a lot of folks find themselves in a similar situation.

What I am doing is that I told myself that I have a two part goal

Part 1) got to a number that I'll call my interim goal weight.
Part 2) Stay almost exactly there for six months. And after this decide my *real* goal weight.

When I picked my interim goal weight it was almost inconceivable being close to a hundred pounds away.
I thought, how can I make a good informed decision on what I should way when I'm currently about 80% away from this weight..
I can't.

So, it sort of a mental thing. I knew, and I know, that being about 1% or 2% away from a goal weight I'll really be able to tell what a great number is for me.

So how does that sound. Stay exactly where you are, learn to live with zero calorie deficit, enjoy your new lighter weight by being active. After about six months really evaluate what you want...gain 3 pounds of muscle, or lose 2 more pounds of fat, or some combination of the two. Makes this a healing and learning time after your big effort at initially losing all the weight. Don't be afraid this is just part two, of getting to a really great goal weight and fitness level.