Questions on maintaining

tupperkatz

Hi everyone. I've just joined your group. I have been using MFP since March of last year and am down 75 lbs. I have about 5-10 lbs more to lose, not really sure yet, but am beginning to work on how to maintain so that I know what I am reaching for once I get there.

I read another post on maintenance and there was some good advise. My question is how do you know what your maintenance calories should be? Someone mentioned that MFP said 1700 is what she would need to maintain. How did you figure that out? Also, in the discussion, I noticed that many of you "bank" your exercise calories...how do you do that? Is there a way to keep them "moving forward" on your daily intake or do you just track it on the side?

I've gone online to "how to maintain your weight after weight loss" sites and many of them state that for my age, height and weight I should eat around 2,000 calories a day (some were higher). I am currently at 1200 a day with MFP + exercise calories. I work out Mon/Wed/Fri/Sat at Curves, with an extra 1/2 hour of Zumba on Saturdays, and I try to walk for sure on Tues/Thurs/Sat and most time on Sundays. I do occassionally fall away from this, but try to get in at least 5-6 days a week.

Any advise you can give is greatly appreciated. I've been up and down all my life and have never done/succeeded in weight loss with exercise and calorie counting. I've been successful in doing both, and am glad that I have MFP to work with, plus a network of friends that have helped me along the way. I look forward to learning how to maintain and what is right for me. I also am planning on having a 5-10 pound weight ratio for going up and down depending on your days, which is why I really want to lose another 5-10 pounds as I don't want to be above where I am currently at.

Thanks everyone...look forward to hearing from all of you! Have a great day!

The_Enginerd

I bank my calories mentally and using the weekly average.

For maintenance calories, I put my weight loss at 0 lbs per week in MFP and used the suggested calories. I then kept weighing myself weekly to look for a trend. Your weight will naturally fluctuate, so use something like a moving average. I still lost slightly at the 2150/day net calories MFP suggested, so I upped my calories slightly by 100 calories/day.

tupperkatz

So if you go to "my progress" and input "record today's weight" as 0 it will give you the amount of calories you need or do you have to put 0 under the section where it requires your weight to start the weight loss? Or, if/when you reach the "goal weight" you have input under your profile, and you meet that "goal weight" does the system then tell you what amount of calories you need to eat at that time to maintain? Sorry if that sounds "quirky" but just making sure I understand :blushing: . Thank you!

P.S. How do you get the MPF weight loss bar @ the end of your posts?

:happy:

The_Enginerd

Go to "My Home" at the top, then click "Goals" on the tab underneath that.

At the very bottom, click the "Change Goals" button. Leave Guided selected and hit "Continue". In the future, you can select Custom to fine tune your goals.
(This shortcut should take you there: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided )

At the bottom where it states "What is your goal", change to "Maintain my current weight". Hit "Update Profile" and you are done.

I originally had mine set to 1 lb/week, then changed to 1/2 lb/week when I was within 5 lbs, then to maintain my current weight when I hit my goal. Different sights will give you different maintenance calories, so you'll have to go through some trial and error to find yours. I found the MFP calculation was pretty close for me. Another sight gives me 2050/day, but I'm I found I'm closer to 2250/day.

For the ticker, Click Community at the top right, than look right about the message board area where it says "Home" "Recent Posts" "My Topics" "Setting" "Search". Click settings and it will take you to the page where you can turn on the ticker.

The_Enginerd

Oh, I should add that the instructions I gave you will change your goals when you are ready for maintenance. If you just want to see what your maintenance calories are according to MFP, go to "My Home" at the top, then click "Goals" on the tab underneath that. At the right, your Diet Profile will tell you how many calories your burn from normal activity (Your TDEE as some call it).

tupperkatz

Awesome! Thank you so much for breaking this down for me, I really appreciate it! I will definitely do as you have noted below. I was getting kind of worried because I didn't know how I was going to handle maintenance - didn't know if MFP kind of "worked that into their overall program" so this is really good information!

Thanks again!