Maintaining.

Shayyy01

I have a question on it.
I am still 10-15 lbs away from my goal. ( i cant lose any more or my wedding dress wont fit and they cant alter it to much =/ )

So when i do get down to my goal, what do i do?
I know that sounds like a stupid question but i am honestly not the bright crayon in the box.

:blushing:

Right now i work out everyday. I would like to continue to run daily even when i hit my goal.
I usually eat around 1100-1200 calories a day.

Will i gain weight if i stay at 1100-1200 calories a day and run 4 days a week? ( Instead of running 7 days and doing insanity?)

I understand how to lose weight the right way, but i have no idea how to maintain weight.
Thanks

MJ7910

Girl I am totally with you. I have about 5 lb to go but I'm wondering the same thing myself.
i'm thinking that I'll slowly increase my calories up to whatever they recommend for maintenance level on here. and then continue exercising and eating healthy. and then just monitor every week or so... it if goes up maybe try to get it back down... if it stays the same then i'm good... and if it goes lower then maybe increase calories a little... it seems like it will be a guessing game until the perfect fornula of calories/exercise is discovered.

when i say slowly increase calories i mean try like 50 more a day for a week and see if i'm still losing or maintaining... and then adjust a little if need be.

sareligra

I am interested in any replies to this topic - I am in a similar boat.

GalaxyDuck

Once you reach your goal, you will need to UP your calories to maintain your weight. You do NOT want to keep your calories the same and work out less. Continue to work out how you are now if you enjoy yourself. Just go in to your "Goals" here on MFP and switch to maintenence to get an idea of how many calories you will be eating.

When I reached my goal weight, I did this. My daily cal limit went up a lot more than I thought it would and at first I was nervous about eating those calories and had trouble getting them in. Now I've got the swing of things though and haven't gained a bit. I exercise less than I was while I was still losing weight, and I eat more calories.

Feel to free to msg me if you have any questions!

Edited to add that I've been on maintain mode since the middle of August so I've made it a few months now without experiencing a gain.

You can do it and congrats on your progress so far!

Sidesteal

Will i gain weight if i stay at 1100-1200 calories a day and run 4 days a week? ( Instead of running 7 days and doing insanity?)

I understand how to lose weight the right way, but i have no idea how to maintain weight.
Thanks

You won't start to gain weight at that intake unless your TDEE drops below this, which it wont. That being said, you may stall out eventually due to various hormones dropping.

TDEE/maintenance = number of calories you need to eat to "break even". Right now, you're eating below this, which causes weight loss. To maintain, in theory, you eat at this number.

There are various ways to find your maintenance, but in your case, it might make sense to just add in calories each week and monitor weight change.

meg7399

yes, change your goals. There is a maintain option. It will give you higher calories and you can still work out as much as you want...just eat those calories back! I changed to maintain while I was training for my half marathon so I could eat more and it worked!

sjcply

Maintenance is the hardest part!! But what I do is eat really well during the week and splurge on weekends If I want something (within reason) so far it is working, I have a 5 lb window....if I go over that 5 lbs (which i flucuate @2- 3 lbs each week anyway) I start back eating good regardless if it is the weekend or not. I still run and workout like I always have. Nothing has really changed except I allow myself a couple cheat meals on weekends, then starting Monday it back to the grind!!

momma3sweetgirls

Make the change gradually. For instance, if your goals are set to lose 2 lbs a week right now, when you get closer to your goal (around 10lbs from) change it to lose 1lb a week, then when you have about 5 lbs to lose, set it for 1/2 a lb a week. I wouldn't recommend you increase your intake in one fell swoop.

1RBelle512

I've had trouble with this, too. I felt my body sort of coasting into my goal weight, naturally wanting to eat a hundred or so more calories than MFP was telling me, and then one day I woke up and was UNDER my goal weight! It was actually a little scary. So I'd recommend starting to slow down sooner, and maybe look at switching up your exercise from running every day to doing some strength training--pilates has been great for me. Building muscle rather than doing cardio all the time will help your body adjust to its new weight for the long-term. And don't be afraid to eat a little more now. You might want to go in and change your MFP goals to losing 1/2 lb per week or something, if you have it set higher than that. It'll probably recommend you eat 1,300 calories/day, rather than 1,100-1,200.

And congrats on your wedding!

Rae6503

1200 is pretty darn low. You are probably going to have a hard time going into maintenance. If you enter maintain into MFP's guided goal, what value does it tell you? I'd recommend building up to that level 200 or so calories a week.