let's hear it for maintainenance

I've been maintaining for over a year now and so far its all good. I went to my all time low weight this February and right now I'm almost 10 lbs. heavier but lost one dress size from size 4 to size 2

Workout is 90% heavy weight lifting twice a week at the gym doing full body with the vast majority of it on the compound movements that targets multiple muscles. The rest are 15-30 min cardio sessions that I do at home with either jump rope, stationary bike or workout DVD's and the sports I play that I also log in as my workouts. I used to workout 6 days a week but now I reduce it to 4-5 times a week since I feel my body needs more resting time for my muscles to recover as I'm doing more heavy weight lifting now. I realized that we don't need long workouts nor working out 7 days a week just to keep weight at bay. Muscle is the key.

As for my diet, since doing my program, my diet has changed. From eating a measely 1200-1400 I'm now eating at 1700-2300 calories.

Not to mention that my quarterly football (soccer) game and twice a month swimming sessions also motivates me to continue training.

REMEMBER THIS: IT TAKES SOME TIME TO LOSE WEIGHT BUT IT TAKES A LIFETIME TO KEEP IT OFF.

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.

I've been in maintenance since August. At that point, I decided I could go it without MFP, but the weight crept up by a couple pounds, and so I jumped back on here. I'm almost 54, and it seems as though it's easy to gain weight without trying at this age.

I'm 5'9.5" and this morning hit 146 for the first time since my wedding day almost 27 years ago (didn't log it, b/c it's not the "official weigh-in day"). I've been trying to maintain at just under 150, the weight that I remembered fondly for a long time. I am getting about an hour of exercise most days. Right now my husband and cook is out of town, and I always lose weight when he isn't around to take care of me, so I am trying to eat as much as I can. We'll be together at the holiday, so I will be making up for lost time.

When I got close to goal, I left my settings to lose 1/2 pound a week. I haven't moved it from there, giving me about 1580 calories, but I have always eaten back my exercise calories, and that means I'm logging what looks like about 2100 a day right now. I'm getting a little lax about measuring things, so I may well be eating a couple hundred more than that. I'd rather not have to measure everything, so this setting feels like it's working for me right now. I weigh myself every morning, because I don't do those wild rides I hear about from others. Most days I'm exactly the same. But if I have gained, I know to step back from my food. If I have lost, I know to try to eat up to my limit that day.

While I don't find maintenance so difficult, I am mildly frustrated that I can't go it alone. I've spent all my married years going up and up, down a little, then up some more. MFP was the first system that helped me really understand what I was eating and how it related to my daily activities. For all the questions I see on the different groups about when to eat, whether to eat exercise calories, how to figure the proportions, I think that the slow-and-steady 1/2 pound a week loss is generally the best, and that by following MFP guidelines most of the time, success is likely in most cases. I would like to be able to apply what I've learned and not be spending the time that I do here. Luckily there are many wonderful people signing in, so I have a nice group of fellow rowers and a few maintenance friends to keep support running strong.

Maintenance for close to six years, but did drop a few pounds (and develop some muscles) since joining MFP in March. It is so much easier to track here than in my little notebook. And I love the support. I do not own a heart rate monitor - I have actually been successful with the MFP numbers. (Although I do tend to overestimate calories eaten and underestimate calories burned a wee bit...)

Age: 44
Height: 5' 5"
CW: 126
Calories: 1530 PLUS exercise (usually 2000 - 2100)

I exercise 6-7 days a week, cardio and strength

I love maintenance, but for me, it is still a lot of work and balance.

I have been maintaining for awhile know. I eat 2000 calories a day, run 3 times a week, cross train 2 times a week and yoga once a week. My weight has stayed very consistent.

Age: 36
Height: 5' 6"
Weight: 123
Body Fat: 23%

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this makes me want waffles.
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pass the maple syrple please? thanks
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Me too! EVERY TIME I see a post!

Lost 40lbs in the beginning of 2009
Maintaining 135-138lbs for almost three years now. It started out difficult because I think my metabolism took some damage eating low-calorie for a few months, but it's easier now and I've increased my calorie limit. I don't log as much as I used to, or weigh myself as often, which for me is a great part of the process because obviously I don't want to have to count calories every day forever.

Maintaining is SO MUCH EASIER when you are actively maintaining your musculature by strength training (for me it's mostly boxing). An active person who makes regular exercise a part of their life is not going to fall off the wagon in terms of weight maintenance.

been maintaining/bulking/cutting per my whim for a while now.

^^^ Same as this guy... I lost nearly everything before MFP. Back-dated my numbers and have maintained for over year. I'll stop logging when it suits me, and then come back to it, if it creeps up.

I'm on maintenance. When I joined mfp I was set at 1500 and it was too low, raised activity level and put me at 1600, raised it to the highest which put me at 1700. Decided to use a TDEE calculator and set it to 1800. I lost 4 pounds during my time on mfp, so raised it to 1900, then 1950. Now I go between 1950 and 2200 (more once in a while). I think during the summer months I will be leaning more towards the higher amount. I dance, do yoga, strength train. If I notice weight loss, I increase my calories. My fitness is continually improving. I should mention that I am petite (and mid thirties).

5'8" 129 lbs 54 years old and have been maintaining for about 3 weeks... I set my lifetstyle to maintain and try to eat at least my calories before exercise...i eat out a lot so estimating calories is always dubious...

I want to be fitter with more lean toned muscle so while I feel great and enjoy wearing size 6 and 8 jeans... I want to run a consistent 10 minute mile and be able to take adult ballet classes.. So I like to think of my self as maintaining my weight but improving my fitness..

Bump...I'm still a bit away from maintenance, but looking forward to using idea's generated here.

Great topic..

5'3", 110 lbs., 47 yrs. old. I have been maintaining since Oct. 1, but I actually reached my goal in late July, just kept losing while I was learning how to maintain. Cut out a workout day during October because I'm training to walk a half marathon in February, so I work out 5 days per week, weights x3 and cardio x3 (both on Saturday). I eat between 1900 and 2300. My macros are set at 25p/30f/45c but I often go over on protein and fat. I have a BodyMedia Fit Link, so I have a pretty good idea what I'm burning and I try to eat pretty close to my TDEE every day.

ETA I'm about 20% body fat and would like to maintain that, too, or even reduce it by a little, but going to concentrate on that more after my half marathon.

Love to check on this later. I was maintaining at 120 for awhile, and then a year ago fell off the maintenance train. I'm around 128 and still haven't been able to get back to my goal weight. But haven't given up hope!

Love this thread. I see that a few of you didn't like the very low calorie restrictive diet (I'm assuming 1200). I'm 5'2 174lbs my goal is to lose 44lbs. Any tips or suggestions? How much was your calorie intake when you were losing? I'm strongly considering increasing my calories to 1500.