let's hear it for maintainenance

arikag

This thread has been really helpful.

I hit (passed) my goal I think four or five weeks ago. I have been increasing my calories each week, so now I am up to 300 more in food calories and 100 less in exercise calories, so an added 400, and I am still loosing weight. Its not rapid but it is still happening. Its been really interesting watching the calorie number go up but my butt shrink haha. I think maybe I will take another day off exercising to see if that levels the loss off.

This is a helpful tip, as far as adding calories back little by little and reducing exercise a bit. Thanks!

geekyjock76

The last cut I did, I ended at 154.5 lbs using a 250 calorie deficit below 2850. I began at 11% body fat and ended at 7% so I couldn't afford a large deficit. After reaching my goal, I gradually upped calories by 100 the first two weeks and then 50 the final week. The key is to gradually decrease the deficit as your fat mass is reduced (closer to goal). If you added additional activity during your fat loss journey, you should reduce that periodically as you up calories. During weight recovery, I gained about 4-5 lbs of water weight due to reintroducing an extra 200 grams of carbs (grains) into my daily diet. After two weeks, my weight settled with only a gain of about 1 lb or so due to extra water during maintenance.

claresusan

Bump, for future reading

Sambo004

Hi,

Love this thread!

I'm 5ft 4", 32 years old and 118 pounds. I reached my goal weight 9 months ago and have been able to maintain this weight consistently. I workout 5 - 6 times a week doing HIIT training for around 40 - 50 mins a time (various workout DVD's).

About a month ago I started to increase my calories slightly. I was sticking to 1200 cals and eating back around half of my exercise calories. A lot of my MFP pals have given me some great encouragement and advice to consider upping my calories. I won't lie, I'm scared. I have now upped my daily calories to around 1550, but probably eat around 1400 on average and 1800 on weekends. I had my first loss in months 2 weeks ago. It's since gone up slightly again, but it is still under the weight I have been hovering at for since I hit goal.

This still makes me nervous, but I am slowly getting my head around the concept of eating more to maintain. I am very curious to hear how everyone progresses and to see if I'm going to struggle over the festive season or not.

sandyinsc

Bumping for later. Reached goal a few weeks ago and am scared to eat!! Still at a wee deficit and losing a bit, but plan to balance that with heavy lifting. (5"6', 129 lb,)

Noni2863

Thank you for this thread.:flowerforyou:
Bump for future reference.

tiarapants

Bump to read later x

KazzaLee13

Bump for later

kinzytg

I have been maintaining since late August. It is a different way of thinking. I do not log food every day, but I do record everything least a few times a week just to make sure I don't excessive over OR under eat. I do log ALL exercise (that habit I want to keep and hold myself accountable) and I do log in and check on my friends every day at least for a minute. I know I have still lost inches since some of my new clothes are a bit loose, but my weight is actually stable. It takes some getting used to when you swing 3-4 pounds in a week and it is just a normal variation and not actual loss or gain. I try and think about things more on a weekly basis than on a daily basis when I was losing weight. I am at 5' 3" and 130, and at the age of 50 I will take that.

FITnFIRM4LIFE

5'3-47yr
I lost 37 pounds by July 2011 and have maintained 115-117 since.
I workout 3-4 times a week.2-3 days lifting heavy. Rest of the days, I stay active biking, gardening or walking my dog.
I eat 1800-2000+ zig zagging and a Spike day Sundays.
I follow 80-20 rules-80 percent I eat very well and the rest I enjoy going out to eat or beers/wine etc. I am in this for life
It has worked for me:-)

Natashaa1991

i am maintaining!!

kristen6022

I've been maintaining since July (which really isn't long). I met my goal in at the end of May (157), and continued eating/working out like I was when I was losing and feel to 143 pretty quickly. In July I realized 143 wasn't good on my 5'11 frame and let myself gain 5 pounds back. I'm at a happy weight now - fluctuating from 148-146. I'm good to go if I keep it a bit under 150 IMO.

I don't workout much, but I'm active - I keep my weight where it is by my diet which is about 1830 calories or less daily.

JeanneTops

I lost 95 pounds in 20 months and have been maintaining for 16 months. This is my 3rd MFP anniversary.

I'm 5'6", I weigh between 145 and 149 and I'm about to turn 61.

I track what I eat every day faithfully as I eat it. I either run, swim, bike or elliptical every day for at least an hour.

How you maintain has a lot to do with how you gained weight in the first place. I can only speak for myself - I started gaining weight when I was in high school and I spent the next forty years at an unhealthy and obese BMI. There were some significant weight loss diets in there where I got down to where I am now and there were equal weight gains which took me back.

I'm not that careful about my exact calories but I keep to between 1800 - 2200. I weigh myself daily but I only record it once a week. It fluctuates within this four pound range. When I'm at the top of it, I'm extra careful about what I eat and I try to say "no" more often.

I'd love to lose another five pounds - I did this summer when I was in training for a sprint triathalon. I figure I'll probably lose it again next summer when I go back into training.

Maintenance is harder than losing because:

1. You exercise all the same self-restraint that you do when losing and it doesn't get much easier to do;

2. You don't get any of the thrills of losing - no lower numbers, no smaller clothes, no excited compliments. You and everybody else get used to the way you look. Life becomes normal.

3. There is skin sagging somewhere on your body.

4. Life has the same hard/sad/devastating moments that it always has. You can't comfort eat your way through them anymore so you have to find new strengths.

On the other hand,

1. You never look in the mirror, see a photo, catch a glimpse of your reflection and have that automatic cringe response. Lots and lots of times, you have a "looking good!" response.

2. You feel great physically. Your doctor loves you. You can read every article on "how to eat healthily" and think, "Yup. Got that one." You have bursts of joy when you run/bike/swim or just move. You don't get out of breath unless you want to get out of breath. You start taking up activities that never even crossed your mind before just to see if you'd enjoy them.

3. You have deep down pride in yourself. You're living life the way it is meant to be lived. You start applying what you learned about yourself to your other problems. You start owning your life.

To have those last three, I'll log every bite I eat and work out every day for the rest of my life. With a song in my heart.

Jeanne

funkycamper

JeanneTops, I think I love you.

NiSan12

I have been maintaining for 5 months now. What helps is always being aware what my clothes feel like when I put then on: like are they tighter than last time or looser or the same. I weigh myself 1x a week. I MAKE SURE I LOG INTO MFP.

nellyett

bump for later

mitch16

This is great to see. I've been pretty successful at losing, now that I've set my mind to it. I'm terrified about getting to maintenance! So terrified, in fact, that as I've approached my goal weight I've dropped it by 5 lbs a couple of times now just so that I can delay maintenance! I know that the hard work is not going to end when I achieve my goal, but there's definitely a mindset about it to which I will need to adjust!

Brandei

I hit my initial goal in October 2011; I'm 5'5" and I weigh 132. I actually fluctuate between 131-134, but within the last couple months have averaged on the low end (some days at 130). My original goal was 133 lbs. I would like to get down to 125, but I think maybe this will never come since I have found it difficult to maintain my original goal. I am not a religious tracker anymore, but I still do track on more days than I dont'. I find that when I switch up exercise (try something new), I do see a change (but temporary). I have a problem with sweets (candy in particular) and won't deprive myself. I agree maintenance deserves something!

SARgirl

I've been at maintenance since July/August but like others have mentioned I too lost a couple "extra" pounds trying to find that magic number. I generally fluctuate 3 pounds a month and weigh myself once a week. I still log every day but I'm not as strict with my logging (if I eat a handful of pretzels I might not log it). I generally net between 1700 and 2300 a day depending on my exercise for that day. I generally do cardio 3-4 days a week, lift 2-3 days a week and do yoga 1 day a week. I'm 35 and am 5'5".

marekdds

I made my original goal of 145 in Feb 2012, reached my dream goal of 135 in May. Went on maintenance and dropped to 128 by August. Now I fluctuate @ 130.I am 60 yo and 5'6". I never was crazy drastic, only did what I could maintain forever. Love my sweets and I eat them, just not bucketfuls like when I was fat (over 215). I exercise (cardio-weights) 4 x wk for an hour. Random other things on weekends. Binge occasionally, not gonna beat myself up for it, just start fresh the next day. I am still on here to keep myself straight and hopefully help others realize it can be done. It was a lifestyle change for me and I love the new clothes and shoes I HAD to buy. Congrats to all you who decided to change their lives. Best of luck. It takes patience & perserverance, but you can do it.

NJL13500

Bump...need to check the responses when I have more time. I've been struggling with this for a couple of months now.

BCSMama

Excellent advice! I am also working on maintenance. I say working on it because I don't think I've found my sweet spot just yet. Like others, I am afraid of upping calories, so am doing it slowly. I have lost some from my original goal, so kind of have some wiggle room if I do gain. I'm 5'10" and last time I checked was around 138. I exercise 5 days a week usually with mostly HIIT and cardio. I try to do some lifting when I can, but find it difficult without going to a gym.

rjacob1214

I always choose to maintain during the holidays. Trying to lose, with all of the dinner parties, happy hours and lovely treats, it is just unrealistic for me to continue losing. That is a choice, or course.

I just stick to around the same calorie goal as when I'm trying to lose, with about a 300 cal wiggle room, and maintain at least 4 work outs a week. Maintaining is self control. If you don't have it, continue to log. If you do, than you'll be just fine.

yancymichele

bump

pg3ibew

I it my goal of 170 in late September. Because of massive ours at work, I dropped to 162 a few weeks later. I have been maintianing since then.

It is nice to have that 8 pounds to play with. I am currently up to 165. I weigh myself once a week. It fluctuates a pound or two, up or down, every week. I just eat the way I want and stay within my calories. If I feel I gained too much weight, I adjust accordingly to get back down to my weight.

86rollyb

Bumping for later! I'm trying to do a metabolism reset so I've been eating at TDEE for about a week & have gained 3 lbs :-/ I'm sure it will come off when I start to cut again but I can definitely see how maintenance will be a challenge!!

BluthLover

Bump

tmauck4472

My plan is to lose below goal so that I have room to gain while learning art of maintance. That's my plan we'll see how it works out when I get there, but love all the comments so far

keeponkickin

I lost 110 pounds by my one year anniversary on MFP. I will be celebrating my 2nd MFP anniversary in two weeks. Solid maintenance for a year now. I would like to lose another 10 but I am pleased that I have held onto the loss with no gains and I'm eating more freely without logging food daily.

Sul3i

I've been at goal since march. I'm 5'9" I bounce between 157 & 162 I weigh once per week n I'm 29 yes old. Its nice but still hard. I'm at a point where I want to tone up the jiggly areas but its hard to stay motivated when progress is so much slower n harder to notice. In clothes I look n feel great but not so loving the nude me... I still have days where I want to eat like there's no tomorrow n although my tastes have changed I still want sweets.. I have an addiction to sugar I fight against. I am almost 10 lbs below my goal n when I lose in big chunks I readjust my calories. I'm usually active but some weeks or months r less or more lol. I eat around 1800 to 1900 cals n am not at all strict about clean or raw diet... I just try to stay within calories eat food that I feel good about workout n get my protein to stay satisfied n build muscle. I am still learning...:-)