Anyone out there at their maintenance level

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  • gatorginger
    gatorginger Posts: 947 Member
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    For those of you who are successfully maintaining...was it scary/stressful for you to add back some calories? I am in this mindset that I must keep my calories low, but I don't really need to lose any more weight. Also, do you see a lot of weight fluctuation or is it pretty stable?

    For me it hasn't been scarey adding calories back because I want to be able to eat more but I have been adding them back slowly by only adding 100 calories more a day and staying that way for 2 weeks before I add more and I have lost more weight so I have to have a cheat day to gain it back but I have been enjoying doing this. So it hasn't been scarey at all for me
  • gatorginger
    gatorginger Posts: 947 Member
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    Thanks everyone for responding I really do appreciate everything you wrote here because I feel the reason I've been sucessful is from reading in the forums how different things worked for everyone and experimenting to see what would work for me so thanks for your input
  • kluvit
    kluvit Posts: 435 Member
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    For those of you who are successfully maintaining...was it scary/stressful for you to add back some calories? I am in this mindset that I must keep my calories low, but I don't really need to lose any more weight. Also, do you see a lot of weight fluctuation or is it pretty stable?

    I've been on maintenance for a couple of months, but it took me about a week to gain enough courage to adjust my goals. I moved to 0.2 lb per week loss to retain a slight deficit just to give myself some cushion, but I've lost an additional 3 pounds. I don't really want to lose anymore as I've already bought a whole new wardrobe, so I'm thinking about adjusting to true maintenance. (EDIT: I just reset my goal to "MAINTAIN!")

    I still follow the same course as when I was losing, but I'm more confident about eating back my exercise calories. Now, I can enjoy a breakfast taco or omelet for breakfast or a slightly larger lunch, or a mid-afternoon snack where I was keeping breakfast to a minimum (fappachino light or yogurt) and very small (350-450 calorie) lunch, so I could eat a small portioned "regular food" dinner/dessert in the evenings.

    I struggle with exercise motivation now that I don't feel like I "have" to earn more calories in order to eat what I want, but I'm still doing at least light cardio (walking) most days with running/toning 2-3 days per week. My goal is to bump up the "real" workouts to 5 days per week...any ideas on motivation (other than more food)?
  • whiteheaddg
    whiteheaddg Posts: 325 Member
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    Questions for the maintenance team (in long story form)

    I'm guessing I have about another month before I hit my goal weight. My concern is that my bf is not quite where I want it. Using tape measurements and the calculator at www.gymgoal.com/dtool_fat.html I am at 16%, but would like to be 12%. I don't think three more pounds of weight loss will get me there.

    What can I expect from the maintenance phase if I maintain my current workout sched (M/W/F strength and T/T cardio)? I know I won't gain muscle mass because I'm not eating at a surplus, but will I just stagnate at current body composistion? Do I need to start planning some bulking/cutting phases?

    Ultimately, my goal is to see some ab definition (I can tell I'm getting close) without dropping too much weight (I'm 5'10") and getting berated by my spouse. Thanks to all.
  • whiteheaddg
    whiteheaddg Posts: 325 Member
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    ***please ignore above - asking in new thread***
  • stuffinmuffin
    stuffinmuffin Posts: 985 Member
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    I have been maintaining for around 9 months and it was tough and scary at first but because of my caution I lost a few more pounds in maintenance.

    I think the main thing is working out where you want to be - don't pick a number to stick at, allow for a bit less and a bit more, e.g. my maintenance range is 107-10lb. I couldn't weigh in every day - for me the 'diet' part is over and even though I keep account of my food, like someone else said, I have more days off now that don't make any difference so long as I get straight back to normal afterwards.

    Through weight loss I zig-zagged calories, eating lower cals mid-week and then saving my exercise cals to consume in bulk at weekends. This is something I carried through to maintenance and it works, though never weigh in on a Monday! But by Friday I'm generally back to the same weight I generally stay at.

    It is a learning curve and you eventually find your groove. I think the hardest moments for me in maintenance were feeling like I was endlessly on a 'diet' so now I only weigh in about once or twice a month. If I'm following the programme and not going over my weekly net cals - I know I'm not gaining weight!

    Best of luck! xx

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