question to those who are maintaining

Anya06

Firstly congrats to those who ate successfully maintaining....I have only been maintaining for 2 weeks but find it scary...MFP is telling me I should consume 1970cals but I dont know how much do I actually eat?I have been trying to stick to not go over 1300-1400 whilst also exercising....but i dunno if thats right as I feel frustrated that I have reached my goal weight yet nothing changed...please help with advise and share stories x

Anya06

any advise?

psuLemon

If you are trying to maintain 1400 calories won't be enough. Heck, if you are trying to lose, 1400 calories won't be enough. Most active women I help are around 1700-2000 calories to cut, which would put them at 2200-2500 to maintain their weight. So are you trying to maintain or do you want to cut more fat?

hippychickuk

I've been maintaining for 6 months! Oh wait no, it's just a really long plateau. I've accomplished this by eating about 1700-1800 cals/day, sprinkled with the occasional 1400-1600 days. Minimal exercise.

I'm getting back to the gym now and more rigorous with my diary, so hope to see some more downward trending now.

SuffolkSally

Sorry - I've reached my first goal weight, but not yet where I'd like to be. I'm concerned about maintenance too, so interested to see the replies...

TavistockToad

i am not sure what you're asking?

you have reached your goal weight but nothings changed?

if MFP says that is your maintenance calories, then that is what you should be eating. i upped my cals from losing to maintenance by 100 per week, that way you can get a bit more used to eating more.

i dont know what sort of things you eat now, but you can ditch anything 'low fat' and go for the full fat version- i did this with cottage cheese for example. and nuts are a good high cal snack to increase your cals too.

praoenator

Hi Anya,

I am no expert, but what I try to do is leave behind about 300 to 400 calories. In other words, in your case you would eat about 1500 to 1600 calories a day. At the end of the week, you have a calorie deficit of about 2000 to 3000 calories which is slightly more than half a pound. I am sure there are better approaches, but this works for me!!

Good Luck!!

leslie0422

I have been at my goal weight for about 2 months and my total calories for the day is set at 1540 to maintain. When I exercise I always eat back the calories burned while exercising. Also 1 day per week I eat pretty much whatever I want. So far that has worked for me and I have not gained any back and my body is continuing to look more tone every day with the weight lifting and cardio exercise that I get in 5 - 6 days per week.

Congrats on reaching your goal weight!

cmj444

Ha! Me too! Gotta laugh!

JMNealer

I am at or a little below goal weight. I have added calories back in but still losing just a little here and there. I am back to 2,000 calories a day and I hate to add more.

Thanks

kuger4119

I'm not really "maintaining" since I'm trying to slowly gain back 10 lbs of muscle since August. I went from 177 lbs to 160 lbs and then decided to hit 150 lbs just to prove that I could. Now I'm trying to get back to 160 lbs. I set my intake to gain 0.5 lbs per week. What I found is that it was difficult to eat what I should to gain weight and struggled to gain anything. I've went on a few trips where I ate unhealthy and have gotten in the habit of actually eating the calories that I'm supposed to and I've gained 6.5 lbs in 11 weeks so I'm tracking pretty close to what I should now.

When I really set to maintain, I'll shoot for about 1900 net calories and eating back my exercise calories. Since I switched gears, I've taken to being more conservative on my calorie estimates from exercise though and estimating low when I'm eating back.

runnerchick69

Don't be afraid. It is going to be a bit of trial and error when you first start but you will figure out what works best for you. I've been maintaining for a few years now and it was hard at first and I had some of those same fears. I work out 7 days a week and I aim for 1800-2000 calories a day. Like Leslie said below, I have one day where I eat what I want and I take a bit further and don't make myself log that day either. For one day I need a break, a little breathing room and to not worry about every single bite of food going in my mouth

kinzytg

I have been "maintaining" for 2 months, and let me tell you it feels weird after a full year of compulsive logging of everything! I log in everyday to support my pals, I log all exercise (so I don't get lazy) and I weigh myself everyday (but have only recorded it about every 2 weeks). I go back and forth on logging in the food. Some days I do it, other days I do not. I am 5'3" and weight ABOUT 130 (I say that 'cause it fluctuates a bit). I am trying to focus on eating healthy, exercising, and allowing for a range for my maintenance weight. I only get 1590 cals to maintain , so I try to be active and get more so I can eat about 1900. It took a while to realize I could eat a bit more than I had for the last year and stay where I am. I am trying new exercises like yoga. I think you have to experiment with what works for you. After taking exactly 1 year to lose weight I did not log in one day and reset my log in, so I will know again when I have spent a year "maintaining" and see how that goes.

kristen6022

If you continue eating 1300-1400 calories daily AND working out, you'll keep losing. Eat what MFP tells you to eat and ENJOY it. I've been maintaining with 1850+ since May and have only seen a 2-3+/- pound difference since then.

Anya06

saying nothing changed I meant in terms of my life i.e still exercising daily and limiting food...i also find myself panicking when I make plans witj groups of friends to go out etc or when there are any social events coming up,as I know that these will usually include drinking and eating (foods i limit)...its hard to explain how I feel but I want to get some normality in my life and not feel anxious about having a small piece of chocolte or feel guilty for having a glass of wine...I see this whole journey as a lifestyle change and not a quick fix,but seem to be heading a bad path of over thinking it all....hope this makes some sense as to where my confusion is coming from.sorry if i ranted on

Anya06

Don't be afraid. It is going to be a bit of trial and error when you first start but you will figure out what works best for you. I've been maintaining for a few years now and it was hard at first and I had some of those same fears. I work out 7 days a week and I aim for 1800-2000 calories a day. Like Leslie said below, I have one day where I eat what I want and I take a bit further and don't make myself log that day either. For one day I need a break, a little breathing room and to not worry about every single bite of food going in my mouth

thats something my husband is telling me to do...to allow a treat day i.e when we r out with friends or its a drinking occassion...to relax and not log everything...I should really try it

Anya06

i am not sure what you're asking?

you have reached your goal weight but nothings changed?

if MFP says that is your maintenance calories, then that is what you should be eating. i upped my cals from losing to maintenance by 100 per week, that way you can get a bit more used to eating more.

i dont know what sort of things you eat now, but you can ditch anything 'low fat' and go for the full fat version- i did this with cottage cheese for example. and nuts are a good high cal snack to increase your cals too.

thats a good idea as my fat itake is quite low and while i dont mind most foods being low fat my pet hate is low fat mayo that i always buy....maybe switch for normal

TavistockToad

saying nothing changed I meant in terms of my life i.e still exercising daily and limiting food...i also find myself panicking when I make plans witj groups of friends to go out etc or when there are any social events coming up,as I know that these will usually include drinking and eating (foods i limit)...its hard to explain how I feel but I want to get some normality in my life and not feel anxious about having a small piece of chocolte or feel guilty for having a glass of wine...I see this whole journey as a lifestyle change and not a quick fix,but seem to be heading a bad path of over thinking it all....hope this makes some sense as to where my confusion is coming from.sorry if i ranted on

i can understand where you're coming from, but at the same time, you dont want to make yourself crazy, or ill, by obsessing over a pudding once a fornight when you're out with frends, or a few glasses of wine on a friday, if overall you are eating well and exercising regularly! its 80/20 - be good 80% of the time, and enjoy the nice things 20%!

i totally found it weird having to eat more when i first got to my goal weight. but now i love that i can eat 2000 cals a day (with exercise) and not put on weight! mantenance is great!!!!! its the time when you can enjoy all your hard work and know you look good!!

sgthaggard

I guess you could say I'm in maintenance. I hit my goal weight and now I'm going to try adding some muscle through heavy lifting. I've gradually increased my calories from where I was when I was losing to where I need to be to add/maintain. It's not an easy thing to do, psychologically, after months of limiting my intake so I get where you're coming from.

YoYo1951

Bump

HMVOL7409

I have been maintaining since June, so 5-6 mths, and its trial and error and honestly harder sometimes than losing. Right here is why I always suggest the TDEE method when you get closer to your goal weight and maintenance. It builds your base up and you eat more bc activity like exercise is included so you are not guessing everyday. I'm sorry but 1300-1400 is very low for maintenance then to not eat more with exercise?? I maintain around 1900-2100 and have 1 day a week where I allow an overage.

Anya06

I have been maintaining since June, so 5-6 mths, and its trial and error and honestly harder sometimes than losing. Right here is why I always suggest the TDEE method when you get closer to your goal weight and maintenance. It builds your base up and you eat more bc activity like exercise is included so you are not guessing everyday. I'm sorry but 1300-1400 is very low for maintenance then to not eat more with exercise?? I maintain around 1900-2100 and have 1 day a week where I allow an overage.

No i try not to go over on exercise days (5-6 a week) either as i am petrified to put weight on.i know its stupid but i panic if I go over 1600 to a point where I will b down all day blaming myself for eating.my thinking is that i am currently exercising and eating under 1400 cals and not losing (which i wudnt want to anyway) so if i was to eat more I then would end up putting weight on....its prob wrong thinking but does that make sense?

GoMizzou99

Ease up to the new calorie goal over a few weeks.

Increase your caloric intake by about 150 to 200 calories/day and do that new level for a week.
Repeat.

Use the scale as your guide and mentor.

BinaryPulsar

You look beautiful! I agree with others about slowly increasing your calories. You will continue to lose rapidly if you eat that low amount. I'm maintaining also.

palmerig88

I'm maintaining at 2600 + currently.

KittieLea

I reached my goal in March! Since I have made goal, I really just eat when I'm hungry, and I have continued to do strength training 5 days a week and cardio 2-3 days a week. I focus on eating clean instead of a set number since I truly believe that not all calories are created equal. Some days I eat 1500, some days I eat 2000.
I also pretty much threw out the idea of weighing myself. I go by how my clothes fit, and how my ab definition is. If my abs are looking good, I'm on the right track. If not, it's a sign I need to clean up my eating.
Good luck and congrats on making your goal!

Micklord

Very long thread, so if this is a repeat, sorry.

If you have plateau'ed for a month or so and you have been tracking your intake accurately and religiously, then you know FOR A FACT what your BMR+TDEE is - that is the answer. That is better than any calculated estimate.

For every 500 calories/day you subtract from that number, you will lose one pound per week. Simple as that.

But the key is to be honest with your tracking and track EVERYTHING!

slimfitnessmoms

I have been maintaining at 1700 calories.

DrMAvDPhD

I'm maintaining around 2000-2200 calories. Eat more. If you are afraid to jump up so quick, start by increasing by 100 calories every week. Add high protein, low sugar snacks into your current diet. Keep increasing until you stop losing.

yoovie

start by finding out where exactly you are right now, track everything for a couple weeks (or at least one if you really dont want to) so you know where you are and only then can you make a real plan.

I eat this much a day
I average this much burn per day
I eat this much protein
I eat this much fat
I eat this much carbs
I do this much cardio
I lift weights this much time and these many plates
I tend to want to eat bad after __________
I tend to punk out on my workouts when ___________
I know my strengths are ________ and that usually means I do/do not want to do them
I know my weaknesses are ___________ and that usually means I suck in those areas as well as __________

So...........

Here's my plan for the NEXT 30 DAYS! Woohoo

_________fill_____________
_________out_____________
_________your____________
_________plan____________

Stick it to the wall, your blog and your workplace desktop.

OWN THAT!

After 30 days, assess what you did then start making goals to level up in each of those areas - but not ALL THE AREAS! We have all the time in the world now- great perfect time for exploring the world of fitness without the pressure to lose weight and taste great.

good luck darlin :flowerforyou:

jojo4cats

I ended up getting a BodyMedia armband for the very same reason and hoping it will ease my mind.