maintaining mode

Kristie18

So as I am nearing my goal, I am also getting scared about maintaining. Those of you have already began maintaining, do you eat the calories mfp suggests? mine would be over 1600 and I just felt like that was a lot. Should I start to slowly add back my calories? I don't want to go from 1280 to 1600 and then gain. I am so confused. Any suggestions would be appreciated. thanks

soccermom004

I have been maintaining for a couple of months now. It is actually scarier than losing. One thing I have found is I weight myself every morning now and make adjustments as needed. You kind of need to fine tune what will work for you. I still log my food and have found that to be really important. My goal was 125 and I allow myself to fluctuate between 124 and 126. So far so good!

TavistockToad

when i got to within 4 pounds of my goal weight i changed my weight loss to 1/2 a pound which gave me 1380 cals instead of 1200. when i get to my goal i will then add 100 more each week for 3-4 weeks, as MFP has my maintaining cals as 1600ish and see what happens!

CraftyGirl4

I am at 1630 calories just to maintain, and then yesterday I had a great run where I burned almost 400 calories so I had over 2,000 calories to eat. Eat all of your calories!

NikkisNewStart

I have been maintaining since April. I also suggest bumping up gradually starting now. It will help you adjust psychologically. My maintenance cals are 1810 and I eat all my exercise cals which can sometimes push me up to 2400 cals a day. I haven't gained and I'm enjoying every second of it!

aj_rock

Some recent studies have suggested that exercise is incredibly useful for maintaining your weight.

After you exercise, your body continues to burn calories at a rate proportional to how much you eat!

So basically, eating after a good cardio workout will keep your body in homeostasis.

Kristie18

thank you all so much for replying. This is so scary for me, but hearing that it is working for you all is making me feel more at ease :happy:
I can't imagine being able to eat over 1600 since I have been eating 1200 for 8 months. LOL~ That will be awesome~

melcowenfitness

I far surpassed any weight loss I thought would be possible. Once I lost a significant amount of weight (28 pounds), I knew I didn't want to lose any more, so maintenance had to include eating plenty of calories. For about a year now, I've been eating 1900 cals/day and have kept that 28 pounds off.

The trick is to balance how much you eat each day on average with how much physical activity you do on average. You wouldn't want to eat that many calories day in and day out if you weren't exercising. However, if you're putting in the workouts, eat away!

ecreigh2

I have been maintaining since April. I also suggest bumping up gradually starting now. It will help you adjust psychologically. My maintenance cals are 1810 and I eat all my exercise cals which can sometimes push me up to 2400 cals a day. I haven't gained and I'm enjoying every second of it!

This!

I started maintenance 5 months ago by slowing bumping up my calories 50 - 100 every 2 - 3 weeks while monitoring my weight. I try to keep it between 135 - 140. I'm usually pretty consistent at 137. The past 2 months I was at 1950cal daily before exercise cals and I still lost 2 pounds so I bumped it up to 2000 cal daily. With exercise (30 mile weeks) it means I can eat an average 2430 cals a day. BTW, this seems huge compared to everyone else here! But, I monitor what I eat and my weight and adjust based on that. Not on anything else since everyone's body is SO different.

kdiamond

As the OP said, gradually increase, don't go from 1200 to 1600 in one day. Start with 100 daily a week, until you get to where you are comfortable and not gaining or losing. It takes a good month to find out your true maintenance, MFP gives only an estimate.

Kristie18

I am so glad that I posted this. I love hearing how you all are managing. THanks