Maintenance vs deficit calories

kcfaber

So originally MFP set me at 1200 which was clearly crazy talk. Then I calculated my numbers from the book which gave me 1800 to eat at maintenance with the thought to eat about 200 more on lifting days. So then I am still trying to get to my pr-preg weight of 127 (okay youngest is 3 1/2 ) but always got to this number after my other pregnancies so still have that in my head as an appropriate goal. Now I can definitely see my body changing and muscle definition and clothes are mostly fitting better but no movement on scale. So I had set my MFP to 1500 as a 300 calorie deficit. And I'm eating any calories from HIIT. I'm hitting my macros of 40/30/30 most days. Not seeing much scale movement for at least past 4-6 weeks. Thoughts on this? I am intrigued by this group on here called Eat More to Weigh Less. should I just up to maintenance and see what happens? It's not like I'm walking around hungry and deprived at 1500. Is everyone else eating at maintenance? Anyone at a deficit?
Or just say throw out the scale fool. I know I know.

kcfaber

Going to up to maintenance for a month. Scale be damned. Reset my MFP goals to reflect that.

kag1526

I think doing that for a while would be a good thing to try if your close to your goal. I stayed with my original goal on here that is a 500 calorie deficit but I'm obese (and the book in the section on eating as quite a few places where it says "unless your obese"

I'm more wanting to make the muscle I have stronger and make sure I don't lose much muscle while I lose weight at the moment. I'll work on gaining more muscle when I get closer to goal.

barefoot76

The book thinks I should eat 1500 calories a day, but that was not working for me at all. I felt bloated and heavy and tired. I tried 1000 cals (I am 4'9", so that's above what other weight loss formulas calculated!) and that was too little. Now I am doing 1200 with a 1800 spike once a week and that seems just right. I'm losing about .5 lb every other week now.

meshashesha2012

im eating at a deficit. this is my second time doing the program and the first i fooled their calorie advice. i gained lots of strength but lost very little weight and went from a size 20 to a 16. at the time i want necessaily coming to lose weight.now i am so i'm eating at a deficit daily.

i think their diet advice is best followed if you are close to your goal weight, but if you're obese and want to lose weight you will need to eat at a deficit. not a huge one but a deficit nonetheless.

i cycle between 20-30% below my maintenance and am loosing about 2 lbs a week. i already have quite a bit of muscle mass thanks to years and years of weight lifting so at the moment im just looking to keep the muscle i have, gain strength,lose fat and lise scale weight.

@kag gaining muscle while on a deficit will be very very hard. i think that's one of those situations where most of your calories would need to be from protein and fat, but im not sure about that

kmorris246

Right there with you kcfaber! I just upped my cal intake to maintenance too! I'm going to lock the scale away, and just pay attention to how my body looks and feels in clothing. That way I'm not playing any mind games with myself and the weight that the scale shows. I also just updated my macros- Holy Cow, how am I gonna eat all that protein :-)

kcfaber

Thanks all! So love this board and everyone's support and advice. Moved scale to garage. Way too cold out there to risk getting naked so think that is a safe spot. Will check back in with results related to eating more.

tlhorsley

I am eating at the maintenance calorie suggested by the book and then more of lift days. This is my 3rd week of it and already I have seen a little difference in my clothes -a little difference but am surprised I am seeing anything so soon!

I think it is a matter of trying different things and seeing what works for you.

I do like that you moved the scale to the garage! Funny!

jarrettd

I started the program already at goal weight, and chose to eat at a 300 cal daily surplus for the first half, plus exercise cals. I projected a net gain of 7.9 pounds, but somehow, only gained 3. My measurements are down from baseline and I've seen huge strength gains. Overall, I am pleased.

I'm starting stage 5 this week, stepping down to maintenance for a week, then to a 300 cal deficit on April 1st. I'm hoping to trim a little body fat % while still preserving muscle. I'm open to making adjustment as I go if my energy/lifting capacity suffers.

Nelski

I just started this and I'm about 10 lbs from my goal weight. I know that actual goal I have in my head may be different as my body changes and I eventually gain muscle. Right now I'm trying to eat at about a 10-15% deficit. I like to have a 'cheat' day or Spike day so my plan is to have 1 day where I eat high calories and not really care if I'm eating the bad(but oh so tasty) foods. So then the rest of the week I cycle what calories I have left, so it should look like this: 1600-1700 on lifting days, 1300-1400 other days(unless I get in a high calorie burn from cardio so I'd eat more), then around 3000 on my Spike day which will usually be Saturday.

I want to eat at a deficit because I still have fat to lose but don't want it to be too low because my muscles need the calories and protein.

lizzy00125

I'm about 1 month in now and have been eating at maintenance 1850 on non-workout days and 2050-2200 on workout days. I plateaued for a bit and was suprised when I stepped on the scale recently and saw I dropped 2 lbs this month despite eating at maintenance. I am feeling pretty good too. I have plenty of energy while working out and afterwards. I'm just going to continue eating at maintenance until I get to my goal weight (5-9 lbs to get into my goal range) and if I keep losing after I will just up my calories again.

Beeps2011

Please post your progress after 1 month at maintenance, kcfaber.

I haven't weighed myself since Feb. 26th, so I'm not sure where I'm at. I have projected a 0.3 - 0.4 lb weight loss per week. And yet, by end of Feb. (i.e. 2 month mark), I had lost 5 lbs.

Then I went on vacation....

So, I'm sure my end of March numbers won't be particularly favourable. But, that's okay. I think I'm eating about 250 calories a day deficit and I feel the weight will still come off....it will take longer and I'm okay with that.

You know, I *used* to weigh EVERY DAY. And, it drove me nuts. Then I tried and tried to do it once-per-week....but I'd still cheat and do it more often. With NROL4W, I've simply mandated myself to ONLY weigh at the end of each month when I'm also taking measurements and photographs. Much, MUCH easier on the psyche!!!

jwallace1024

ok, first post, noob to NROL4W (on Stage 1, 2B), sorry for posting repetitive crap that everyone knows and has had answered before, blah, blah, etc. i've seriously searched this section and the regular section, and i still want more info.

any of you maintenance/deficit people have any updated results on weight loss? i really do like the program so far, and i so want to stick with it, but i'm also scared. i have about 20 pounds until i'm in a "healthy" range for my height, and i'm not ready to totally throw the scale out the window. i know i'll change shape, i know i'll lose inches/lose clothing sizes, etc, but i also still need to lose WEIGHT. i am prepared for this to slow the process, but we all feel a little bit more secure when others have blazed the trail before us.

so, any updates on people who have kept losing WEIGHT while doing this? particularly people with around 20 lbs to lose? i guess i'll rephrase it to this (geez, i'm needy and demanding, aren't i??): i know there are those of you who were essentially at your goal and you fluctuated up or down a couple of pounds, but totally changed your shape. i get that, and it's AWESOME, and i hope to be you one day. I also know that there are people who are far from goal and lost a little and are ok with that. what i want is people who had about 20 pounds to lose and lost it (or most of it) during the program while eating at maintenance or a deficit. OR noobs like me who are going to TRY to lose 20lbs while doing the program. i'm not ready to stay this weight, but i AM ready to be strong. am i just asking too much? i know i won't get AS strong if i'm eating at a defecit, but i basically want someone to hold my hand and tell me it has been done before and that i can do it. humor me. please.

Kmsnomaha

Bump