let's hear it for maintainenance

Lyra89

I've been maintaining in the same 5-10lb range for two years now!

What I have learned:

I can have a bad day here and there & treats in moderation and I wont gain.
I must eat lots of fruit & veg and drink lots of water to keep myself feeling good.
I must do at LEAST 30 minutes of activity each day...even if it is just a walk.
My original goal weight (120lbs) is too thin for my body type/my frame...I weigh the same as my slim 14 year old sister, who is built the exact same way as me, and I'm 23! (125lbs - 135lbs depending on the month) So I gave up that number-chase!
I never make myself feel guilty if I eat a take away or lots of chocolate or whatever and I never 'restrict' food the following day.
I am sure to follow a balanced diet: broccoli is good for the body, but cookies are good for the soul
OH, and lots of sleep...also, keep stress to a minimum. Yoga works wonders for this.

Lyra89

Bumping to read later.

I'm supposed to be maintaining but what that actually translates to is losing and then gaining back about 5 pounds.

That IS maintenance...nobody weighs the same number every day (normal people who aren't trying to 'lose weight') as long as your weight balances out within a 10lb range over a long period of time, you're fine. Water weight/hormonal fluctuations/constipation/muscle etc etc...SO many things to consider when talking about 'weight'.

sijomial

I'm only 4 weeks into maintenance so good to read some of the success stories on this thread. My weight is now back to where it was in my twenties. I've spent a lot of the last 30 years being fat and fit but I'm really enjoying being slimmer and fit.

Just finished slowly increasing my calories up to a net of 2000/day and really enjoying the wider food choices! Also seeing benefits in the gym now my calories aren't restricted.

I'm still following the 5:2 diet (2 days at 600 cals) partly for the health benefits and partly to support my wife who isn't at goal yet.

My targets have changed from losing weight to reducing body fat and increasing strength - trying to get down from current 22.5 to 19% fat. Switched some cardio to weights but still training for a century bicycle ride in the summer.

neandermagnon

I'm maintaining my weight. I'm still working on improving my body composition though. I'm currently at 22% body fat, aiming for 20% or maybe I'll go down to 18%, see how it goes. I'd also like to put on 5lb of lean body mass. In order to do this I'm alternating between bulking and cutting phases, while doing weightlifting.

Exactly where my weight ends up will depend on how much lean body mass I can gain, so I could end up weighing the same as I do now, or less, or slightly more. My ideal would be to be in the "overweight" category of BMI with 20% or less body fat Just because I hate BMI charts so would like to be living proof of them not applying to everyone (I already have a high lean body mass for my height and I'm not that experienced at lifting as there are women who can lift far, far more than me)

mmddwechanged

Bump

aliciab307

bump!

JenNuma

Bump

3foldchord

I am still eating under my TDEE but am maintaining the past 3 weeks. Now, I am in maintenance for my weight, so I am not upset about not losing... So, I am wondering if it's just a case of TDEE not being exact for everyone.. Maybe my actual TDEE really is less than the calculators?
Or have I messed up how my body works and it decided to work on less.

kcallas88

bump

Timshel_

Great thread. Can't wait to get back to maintenance!

WAHMto5

Great thread! Close to maintence so trying to get it figured out. Just started to slowly up my calories.

aliciab307

For everyone that has gotten to their goal or in maintenance, once you hit your goal did you just drastically up your cals or did you up it gradually until you stopped losing weight? Did any of you use any calculation websites for reference of your TDEE? If you upped it gradually, how much did you up it to and how long did you keep at that level before upping again? thanks

jsd_135

bump

LaurnWhit

Bump!

Lyssa62

YAY I'm there.!!!

Deipneus

I would like to hear from some folks who are maintaining their weight loss and how it is going. After all, it is not simply about losing .

I've been on maintenance since last May. This was my second go around. The first time I blew maintenance because I thought I'd crossed some kind of finish line. I found out that for me, there is no finish line.

For some people, logging food is a temporary thing and that's fine since we are all different. For me, I think logging food is forever if I want to maintain.

I wrote a whole blog on this subject recently. http://bit.ly/maintainweightloss

StefPayne

I hit my goal last November and have stayed within a couple of pounds of it since then. Due to an injury, I had to stop all exercise three weeks after maintenance so I didn't increase calories. I am now exercising half of what I was while I was losing and I am eating maintenance calories that MFP has set for me. I struggled with it at first, mentally, because of not being able to exercise, but now I am doing great. I love the way that I look and feel and cannot imagine going back to the old me

saltedcaramel86

I've been on maintenance for a few months at 133lbs but the scales seem to have dropped down to 130lbs in the last few weeks. MFP had me at 1810 but now that I've introduced strength training, I've upped my calories to 2000 and see how I get on. I'm trying to make a more concious effort to hit my calorie goal as I wasn't always before.

swagtier

bump for later

Mita19

bump.....for later