Help with maitenance ..please

SweetCheekszx0
SweetCheekszx0 Posts: 478 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
How do you begin the maitenance process?.... Do you up your cals by 100 every week 50 200 every 10 days... Someone please lol anyone... No clue where to start and deff don't wanna jump into just eating everything

Replies

  • shadowsaround
    shadowsaround Posts: 76
    I would start by using a calorie calculator to calculate you calorie needs and eat to the number and monitor your weight to see if you gain or lose weight week over week and then adjust accordingly.
  • MostlyWater
    MostlyWater Posts: 4,294 Member
    Add back what you really want and work from there.
  • lewcompton
    lewcompton Posts: 881 Member
    I would start by using a calorie calculator to calculate you calorie needs and eat to the number and monitor your weight to see if you gain or lose weight week over week and then adjust accordingly.
    Exactly what I was going to say... Just like weight loss... calculate and stay within a target window... My wife is doing a week on and a week off and its working for her...
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    Gradually up your calories until you stop losing. 100 calories per week is reasonable. It may take a bit of experimentation.
  • LadyRhodes01
    LadyRhodes01 Posts: 88 Member
    Hello, I am currently maintaining. I was on a 1200 cal plan to start, then bumped to 1320 lasted one day went up to 1400. MFP wants to up me to 1800 cals, I didn't want to do that drastically. Imagine how much weight I would gain going from 1400 to 1800 suddenly. So, I increase cals by 100 every month so it can slowly adjust. I'm not sure if I'm going to hit 1800 or just stop at 1700. If your body is okay with uping 100 cals every week or 10 days that's fine. I didn't because I wanted to give my body time to adjust, so I could monitor if I was gaining. (Of course I didn't).

    I also have a pal that is maintaining as well, her plan is set at 2000, of course she doesn't consume that many. She usually does between 1200-1500. We're all different, you gotta find what works for you. Just cause you change calorie intake doesn't mean you have to consume them all.

    Congrats! On reaching your goal. I'm sure when you started you only dreamed about maintaining! You perservered til the end! Feel free to add me if you'd like.
  • SweetCheekszx0
    SweetCheekszx0 Posts: 478 Member
    Yes I've been waiting for this.. Being able to eat more who wouldn't? Lol.. I just started is week by bumping up +100 cals I was gonna d +100cals every week.. How can I tell the difference between water weight and a real gain... ? So I dnt over react when I see a difference on the scale... What amount of +lbs do u guys think would be a cause for concern over a period of 4 weeks? & seriously this for all the great advice
  • theconstantgardener
    theconstantgardener Posts: 59 Member
    just jumping on the bandwagon here, which website is most accurate please? I'm so worried they'll tell me I can have more than I really should! thank you :)
  • rachelilb
    rachelilb Posts: 179 Member
    I have been maintaining for a couple weeks now. So far I have gone up 100 every week. Feel free to add me. I am new to it as well so maybe we can share some ideas :)
  • SARgirl
    SARgirl Posts: 572 Member
    I've been trying to maintain since July. I just set my calories to maintence on here and see what happened (I was only going from 1530 calories though to 1750). I actually continued to lose about 5 more pounds and have now been truly maintaining for the past two months. I generally fluctuate 2 pounds any given month. It is nice getting to eat more but I can definitely see where you could easily slip back into old habits!
  • SweetCheekszx0
    SweetCheekszx0 Posts: 478 Member
    I've noticed even with upping just 100 cals since I've basically adapted t low cal and high volume that I feel full! It's my 3 rd day upping 100 and I'm kind of getting comfy with it.. I wonder if dieting pinched my stomach a bit lol. It's like if I added a higher cal snack I could easily go higher easier. But I dnt wanna do this because I've actually changed my eating habits dramatically and I like the change .. Ad I know my taste buds appreciate the more natural flavors lol. .. I was wondering the same different sites give me different maitenance cal goals.. I'm sure either way it varies on the person ... What I'd really like to know from someone who has maintained for quite a while is... What amount of gain in a week is too much while upping cals? If any and is it just water weight how do u know :0 lol... And how much of a gain is too much over a 5 week span ? .... I'm quite terrified not of eating just of undoing all of my precious hard work I don't want to lose anymore weight but I definitely don't want to gain 1 or 2 lbs of a gain over a 4/5 mth maintenance period I would assume would be fine and wouldn't freak me out any lol as long as every 5 mths I don't keep gaining those 2 lbs lol ... Did I lose anybody with my rant here? Sorry there's just so much I want to know lol
  • cbirdso
    cbirdso Posts: 465 Member
    Actually my maintenance calories are the calories I ate to get to the weight I am now. Sad, I know.
  • GoMizzou99
    GoMizzou99 Posts: 512 Member
    Creep up or zoom up...either way, enjoy the rewards from all of your hard work. Congrats for getting there.
  • BurtHuttz
    BurtHuttz Posts: 3,653 Member
    I've been in maintenance for three or four months. I have to keep upping my calories. Basically, until I stop feeling cold but before I start gaining weight, I'm going to keep increasing. I can tell in the recovery time from my workouts when I haven't eaten enough and I'm really shocked to be up at 2600 daily and not gaining. I lost weight over thanksgiving weekend for pete's sake.

    So, just take it slow, keep measuring yourself, and if you hit a lifestyle you feel good and are comfortable with - - - stop changing it!!
  • katevarner
    katevarner Posts: 884 Member
    I've been in "maintenance" for a while, but still haven't found the sweet spot. Upped mine about 100 at a time. Was still losing, so had to eat what I considered above maintenance for a couple of weeks about a month ago and finally stopped the loss, but since then, I have started to lose again. It's hard to convince yourself that you can eat that much, and some days I still get a little too freaked out and leave a deficit. Usually when I do that I lose half a pound or so the next day or so. I actually added in a day of rest from working out so that I wasn't burning so many calories.

    That said, I was never eating as low as 1200 calories.
  • SweetCheekszx0
    SweetCheekszx0 Posts: 478 Member
    Upping by 100 every week seems like the magic number, I could see how it's easy to track and adjust to since I'm currently doing it lol... I just don't know when I should be like oh no maybe I should stop upping my cals because I gained 3 lbs or whatever in a month lol. I've always been horrible with tracking how long it takes for my water weight to diminish lol... Sigh... I really just would like to not gain any of the weight back -_0 .. I wouldn't fret over a 3lb gain lol but 5 6 or 7 I'd deff freak...

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