Maintenance

I reached my goal weight (130lbs) and am now at the maintenance stage. I was on 1200 cal to get to my goal and I"d exercise 4 times a week (burning off around 2000-2200cal)

My issue is that I'm having problems finding a balance. I get really paranoid that I'm going to put on weight. Instead of eating the 1660cal a day MFP recommends for maintenance, I was sticking to 1200-1300,' then being a bit more relaxed on the weekends.

Then I thought I'd stop tracking for a while and do it on my own. Well that was a disaster. I lost all accountability and went nuts. Now I'm back tracking my food intake again.

I don't want to have to do this forever. How did you find a balance?

Replies

  • manda1978
    manda1978 Posts: 525 Member
    bump
  • theglencoegirl
    theglencoegirl Posts: 69 Member
    congrats on reaching your goal wt!! i have also reached my goal wt and changed to maintanance--but i also felt like i would gain--so i changed it back to lose 1lb per wk-and now know i can have 200 cals over to stay where i am
    i weigh only once a wk or so--and adjust accordingly!
    good luck
  • manda1978
    manda1978 Posts: 525 Member
    I've done a similar thing, left my MFP goal at 1200cal so I try to stick to that during the week and relax on weekends.

    I'm actually trying again to not log food this week and see how I go.
  • stines72
    stines72 Posts: 853 Member
    now that im 1-2 pounds from maintenance, since ive been eating 1000,1,100 claories the past few months i decided to do it slow... i upped my calories to 1200 and then 1300 (once a week, 100 more calories) right now im at a little over 1300 a day and havent gained weight so far, still losing in fact edit: just a little slower
  • hazymary
    hazymary Posts: 190 Member
    WOW.....sounds so familar...I reached goal....added 200 calories a day for 3 weeks, then added 100 more for a few weeks.....then I lost all control when I stopped logging......so before things got too out of hand I came back and have been logging for 35 days. When I stopped logging I stopped going to the gym too, that was a HUGE mistake. I'm back at the gym lifting heavy and keeping my calories about 1700....now I'm maintaining.
  • Krisengel
    Krisengel Posts: 161 Member
    I would like to find some balance. I reached my goal in June and stopped logging sometime this summer. Now I've gain almost half of it back! This time around I'm finding it really hard to stick with the logging again. Good luck to you and congrats on reaching your goal!
  • pkw58
    pkw58 Posts: 2,038 Member
    I am on maintence as well .. I have just decided to log the rest of my life
  • jzammetti
    jzammetti Posts: 1,956 Member
    I am on maintence as well .. I have just decided to log the rest of my life

    ^^^^ This is what I will have to do too. I am ok with it - it keeps me accountable.