What do I do now?

hiemerapril

Okay, I've been eating better and exercising and I've lost all the weight I want to loose. I'm at my goal weight. =O) I am very happy with the weight I have lost, however I want to tone. I still have problem areas and I have started strength training this week. So, I do strength training and up my calories? I don't want to loose much more weight, if I lost 5-10 lbs more I would be fine, but I want to be at a maintainable weight. I don't want to stop cardio exercise, I enjoy it too much, but if I am working out still I will continue to loose, correct? I have never been to this point, just loose then stop and gain! And I am worried about being able to eat enough calories... 1500 to 1600 is a lot when you've been doing 1200 to 1300! Okay, I feel like I have just talked myself in circles and not really gotten to the point. The point is that I don't know what maintenance is and how I incorporate toning into it. Any good tips or advice is welcome!

Sidesteal

You can try using various online estimation calculators to establish your maintenance calories.
Or You can just arbitrarily increase your calorie intake by about 300/week for 3 weeks and monitor weight fluctuations. Keep increasing until you find the point at which you stabilize (if 300 isn't enough, I'd increase by 100-150, not by another 300). Both approaches are valid.

Also, you will likely need to intake more protein assuming you were using MFP recommendations, so a good portion of your calorie increase will likely come from protein (I can't say this w/o viewing your log, but I just want to caution you on that).

Lastly, to anyone else reading: There seems to be a lot of people who think that losing the fat via cardio FIRST, and THEN lifting weights, is the right strategy. It's actually far more time consuming. Lift weights NOW, while you cut. You'll prevent a whole lot of lean mass losses and in the long run you'll end up with a better physique in a shorter time. To the OP: Congrats on your progress and the previous comments were in no way meant in your direction. I'm just pointing it out as it's a common misconception.

aquasw16

No, just because you cont. working out doesnt mean you will cont to lose weight. You can use MFP and put in that you want to now maintain your weight..it will tell you how many calories you should consume accordingly. Just as you did when you lost weight, same with when you want to maintain. It may seem harder to eat 300 calories more (gee i wish it was hard for me lol) but like he said, eat more protein and it may not seem like so much.