The transition from losing weight to maintaining weight?

amolina0810
amolina0810 Posts: 106 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello all. I am just nearing the end of my weight loss goal. Since August of 2011 I have lost 50lbs overall. With 40 of them being in the past 4 months (I averaged about 10lbs per month). Now that I am at my goal weight of 130lbs (I am 5'5"), I am looking for some information on maintenance. How did you maintain your weight? Did you tweak your diet or exercise? I started slowly increasing my calories a few weeks ago. I did really well for the first week or so and then I fell back again because I felt so sick and full all day long. Right now I am hovering at around 1200 calories a day. I do at least 45 minutes of running 5 days a week and then 2 or 3 days a week of strength. This week I am picking up the strength and thinking about lowering the cardio down to about 3 or 4 days a week. I have been looking around online all day to try to put together a maintenance plan, but I am still lost to what it takes to maintain the weight. Obviously, to lose, there has to be a caloric deficit. Here on MFP it says to maintain, I would need to consume 1800 calories a day. But at the same time, I want to increase my strength in order to build lean muscle mass. But then I have also read that you can't build muscle on a deficit. So what is considered a deficit? Sorry if I sound dumb, but I am really new to this and need some help!!!!

Replies

  • clarechieri
    clarechieri Posts: 60 Member
    I keep trying to maintain then freaking out and cutting my cals so am interested to see peoples answers.
  • FireBrand80
    FireBrand80 Posts: 378 Member
    Do everything the same, just increase calories by 10-20%. The scale may spike a bit, but it's just water/glycogen from an increased carbohydrate intake.

    If you don't have any experience with maintenance, you might have to play with your cals a little bit before you find your sweet spot.
  • KravMark
    KravMark Posts: 308 Member
    Congrats on both of your success ! I am just starting out so I wont give any advice . Good luck in your journeys you inspire us newbies ;)

    Mark
  • amolina0810
    amolina0810 Posts: 106 Member
    I am right there with you! The thought of it kind of intimidates me!
  • hippietofugirl
    hippietofugirl Posts: 430
    Make MFP's maintenance calories your goal cals, and if you can't eat that many, just eat until you're full. There's no sense in eating if you're not hungry. If you want to build more muscle, eat 2g of Protein per pound of your body weight every day that you work out. You won't be able to build muscle at a calorie deficit, so if that's really what you're aiming for, you may need to eat more calorie dense foods like peanut butter, eggs, cheeses etc. to get all your calories in without feeling overly full.
  • orishp
    orishp Posts: 214 Member
    First of all congratulations on 50 lbs lost, that is awesome!!!!!!

    I haven't done maintenance yet, but I think I would start calculating your TDEE (google it), that should be the amount of calories you need to maintain your current weight at whatever level of exercise you want. I would do it very slowly, like upping cals by 100 each week, until you either reach that TDEE or you start seeing weight increase. If you need to go back down, lower your calories again, and so on and so forth ......
  • amolina0810
    amolina0810 Posts: 106 Member
    So it wouldn't be abnormal for me to continue losing a little until I figure out what I need to be eating? I wouldn't mind it because it would give me some lee-way in figuring this all out!!
  • amolina0810
    amolina0810 Posts: 106 Member
    And thank you all so much for the congrats!! I am proud to say that all of the hard work and dedication payed off, even though at times I seriously thought it wouldn't!!
  • mogletdeluxe
    mogletdeluxe Posts: 623 Member
    Bump! I thought the hard part was over...
  • apriltrainer
    apriltrainer Posts: 732 Member
    Maintaining now! It's a struggle that's for sure. I found a sweet spot though. At 1450 cals with just 3 strength workouts for me...I am at a weight I love. Bringing my cals slightly down or maybe keeping cals the same but adding in cardio...I then have an event look. I found my maintenance weight not too long ago but am training for a specific contest now but it's good to know that I know what my maintenance look, weight and cals are.

    Anyways, Welcome to the Maintenance CLUB!!
  • ShannonMpls
    ShannonMpls Posts: 1,936 Member
    Congrats!

    I'm bumping this - maintenance is right around the corner for me, and my plan is to continue logging food/exercise but I'll probably increase my daily calories to 2400 every day, which is just shy of maintenance, but will allow for more indulgent weekends :) I'm currently at 2100 per day.
  • apriltrainer
    apriltrainer Posts: 732 Member
    Forgot to add..one of the hardest things for me after I got down to my goal weight was motivation. I had tons of motivation while losing...at my goal weight I lost it and took it too far down past maintenance and then rebounded. I now have maintenance goals i.e. do more pushups, run a specific race...etc..something not weight based as motivators.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    I've been maintaining about the same weight and body size for over a year now, and my advice would be to track your progress through measurements, how clothes fit and through photos, rather than the scale.

    My initial goal was 135, then 130. I continued to lose a little more and I was 125 in October. I'm currently 138 and wear the exact same size. I don't look any bigger in photos, except my bum looks better in a bikini. :happy:

    Just remember that nothing is carved in stone. If you eat more and start to noticeably gain (not just an increase on the scale), cut back a bit. if you eat more and continue to lose, eat a little more higher calorie foods.

    I currently eat about 1600 plus exercise calories. I don't log my food on weekends, though, and during the summer, the weekends have a lot more opportunities to indulge, like being invited to my brothers' the other night to help him get rid of the extra alcohol and munchie foods he had left over from a party the weekend before... I :heart: summer... But the rest of the year, I maintain around 1750-1800 plus exercise calories.
  • RaeN81
    RaeN81 Posts: 534 Member
    Hi, I have been maintaining for a couple of years now. First off, join the maintenance group in the groups section (they will have tons of good things to say and someone will have similar stats to you and be able to give you a better answer on the cals question). Also, increase your calories gradually as you were doing before. Decide if you want to keep logging or not and have a plan of how you will phase it out if you choose to do so. Give yourself a 5-10 pound range for your goal weight so that you have wiggle room to go up and down which will happen. Best wishes on this new chapter and congrats on your loss!!!
  • MissFuchsia
    MissFuchsia Posts: 523 Member
    Congrats on losing 50lbs! I've been maintaining since feb. I was having about 1400-1500 cals per day before I reached my goal. I've kept my cals the same for about 2 weeks. Then I increased them by 100 each week. I usually between 1700 -2000 at the moment but may increase them again. I workout 4/5 days per week but did this whilst I was losing as well.
  • claire7090
    claire7090 Posts: 67
    I am on maintainance now and it was scary moving from 1200 calories.

    To begin I just went up to a 1500 target and when I was still losing slightly I lifted it to 1550 for a couple of weeks, again I lost abit each week. Am now at 1720 a day which is what MFP recommended for me but found it easier from the eating point of view to go there slowly! Like you the idea of eating 1720 after eating 1200 was mind blowing and felt like I was overeating, changing it gradually helped my body to adapt to eating more again.

    Interestingly I have dropped a little size wise since maintaining although the weight has stayed the same - when I reached 146lbs I was a UK 12 (occassional 10) now I am still 146lbs but a UK10 (occassional 12) which I guess is because I have continued to go to the gym and try and improve body toning.
  • FitForLife81
    FitForLife81 Posts: 372 Member
    My maintance is around 2000-2200 =) Add me if you would like =)
  • kajpen
    kajpen Posts: 120 Member
    Bump
  • Colofit
    Colofit Posts: 177 Member
    I lost a grand total of 18 and have been maintaining for a month now! I was really nervous to start increasing my cals and still bounce between 1400- 1800 (while losing I stayed around 1300) I still work out at least 4-5 times a week! So far so good!! No gains! I still keep track because if (if) I was to start gaining I would like to be able to look back and see where I started to go wrong! Congratz for your loss!!! Good luck to everyone!!!
  • metalvegan
    metalvegan Posts: 133 Member
    Bump. Getting close to this point too! Yay (and yikes)!!
  • AGGUK73
    AGGUK73 Posts: 91 Member
    I'm also interested in this as I'm 2.5lbs off maintenance. I'm interested to know if anyone still follows diet cals in week (I'm on 1200), but eats as they please at weekends? I ask this because I find the weekends do difficult. After working all week I want to relax & enjoy my weekends, which may include socialising at the pub or going for meals out. I find it so hard to keep within a calorie goal & can easily consume double of what I'm supposed to! I'm considering sticking to around 1300 4/5 days a week & then the other 2/3 days not worrying what I have. Does anyone else do this, or do you think it will work long term? I find eating 1200 easy during the week, it is enough & with work keeping me busy, I have a good routine going.
  • KimKramer
    KimKramer Posts: 44
    I have a question, all of you that are maintaining are you eating back your exercise calories or just sticking with the number range you mentioned!?! I am getting close to the maintenance zone and noticing I am already loosing my focus and drive :/
  • Anya06
    Anya06 Posts: 95
    I'm also interested in this as I'm 2.5lbs off maintenance. I'm interested to know if anyone still follows diet cals in week (I'm on 1200), but eats as they please at weekends? I ask this because I find the weekends do difficult. After working all week I want to relax & enjoy my weekends, which may include socialising at the pub or going for meals out. I find it so hard to keep within a calorie goal & can easily consume double of what I'm supposed to! I'm considering sticking to around 1300 4/5 days a week & then the other 2/3 days not worrying what I have. Does anyone else do this, or do you think it will work long term? I find eating 1200 easy during the week, it is enough & with work keeping me busy, I have a good routine going.

    i kinda done this all way thru my weight loss and it works for me ;)
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
    Forgot to add..one of the hardest things for me after I got down to my goal weight was motivation. I had tons of motivation while losing...at my goal weight I lost it and took it too far down past maintenance and then rebounded. I now have maintenance goals i.e. do more pushups, run a specific race...etc..something not weight based as motivators.

    I fell right off the wagon when I reached my goals. I actually got a little despondent about the whole thing. I'd been lifting for 6 years and I had a totally new body...reached my goal bf%, pant size, and almost my goal weight. Now I've taken almost a month and wasted it doing nothing! :P Definitely keep coming up with new goals. My problem is getting bored, so I have to keep up with creating new workouts and different ways of training.

    Maintenance means eating more of the same healthy foods. If you want to put on muscle mass, you have to eat a little more, maybe 100-300 extra calories a day while lifting hard 3-5 days a week. That means really fatiguing your muscles with each set and staying away from long bouts of cardio which stop genes that make you grow.
  • amolina0810
    amolina0810 Posts: 106 Member
    Thank you all so much for your replies!! I have a lot of information to work with now, so I am going to put together some new goals and stuff today!!!
  • Christi6604
    Christi6604 Posts: 247 Member
    bumping. Hopefully, I'll need this soon.

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