any maintainers?

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sparklebritches
sparklebritches Posts: 46
in Motivation and Support
I've been working out since January and tracking calories on MFP for 25-days with no weight loss. I've lost maybe a 1/2" on my hips and some jeans I grew out of fit again.

I decided to go on maintenance for a bit to see if I really can maintain. Does it really work? Anyone ever go to maintenance and start gaining?

FWIW, my calories were set to about 1500 before workouts and I usually eat most of my exercise calories. I'm not interested in going lower because I can't maintain that for a long period of time. :tongue:

Replies

  • Lady_C_the_1st
    Lady_C_the_1st Posts: 208
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    I'm a maintainer, but only as of today! I have 1660 calories before exercse but am hoping I do not gain! xx
  • Desiderata
    Desiderata Posts: 91
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    same here. im going to blame it on muscle increase, because i did move down a dress size, but at the same weight. when i look in the mirror, i see a difference, just not on the scale. fortunately, thats just as good for me :)
  • sparklebritches
    sparklebritches Posts: 46
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    Yay everyone! *high five*

    My maintenance calories are in the 1900's--I have it set to lightly active. I hope I'm not goofing it up. I've checked my BMR about 5 times and it always says the same.

    Eating these exercise calories will seem like a feast. In fact, I am used to such smaller portions I hope I don't go back to my old habits of big portions and mindless snacks to fill the gap. I think I'll just eat as I'm hungry since I would definitely be okay with still losing a few.
  • sassydot
    sassydot Posts: 141
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    I'm kinda of on Maintenance. I have my calories set to maintenance mode, I'm not so bothered by my weight, despite technically being "overweight" I just want to slim down some, so am trying to eat to maintain and then exercise on top of that to help tone my muscles and that will hopefully eventually result in some more cm lost but not much more weight lost, if that makes sense!
  • dwalden
    dwalden Posts: 77 Member
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    I have been maintaining for about 4 months now. I average about 2400 calories a day and burn about 700 calories every day. I have been at 200lbs for these past 4 months but have dropped body fat by almost 10%.

    It is a hard balance to do loosing fat and gaining muscle, but I truly believe it can be done.
  • courtney_love2001
    courtney_love2001 Posts: 1,468 Member
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    I don't know how I feel about maintenance. I eat a lot as it is. I can't imagine eating 400-500 MORE calories a day, and that's without exercise cals (I'm at 1400 now, maintenance would be 1800-1900, even more with exercise). I eat 3 full meals and 1 snack a day, and I just don't know how I could fit in those extra cals. I have been at the same weight for a few weeks now, and that's at my current 1400. I'm looking to tone now and not so much lose. Dunno where to go from here really...
  • LawBug17
    LawBug17 Posts: 26
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    i HATE maintaining! i went from 152 pounds last year to 127 (at my lowest, which was a little skinny for me), and i try to stay about 130. i've kept following my 1/2 pound a week target, instead of maintaining, because i usually cheat at least twice a week. i feel like if i let myself more calories for "maintenance," i would gain weight back because i over-indulge more frequently than i used to. i seem to have up-down weeks (i weigh in weekly)... i.e. one week i'm 130 or 131, then i'm 133 or 134. i need to get back on track a little bit! it's hard to maintain once you reach your goals, at least in my opinion. good luck to you!
  • jmathews
    jmathews Posts: 196
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    I have been maintaining since September...didn't join MFP until January. I like the fact that I can log my food and be held accountable for what's going in my mouth, it really makes me think before I indulge. I have1550 calories before exercise and I log anywhere between 400-800 exercise calories a day-6x a week. I take Sundays off to give my body a rest. I have lost inches but really haven't lost any pounds due to the fact that I exercise so much. I'm addicted to logging everything but It's all good b/c I never want to go back to where I was before.
  • bbear
    bbear Posts: 96 Member
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    I'm a 'maintainer too'...My caloies are set for 1500 or so but most days I stay around 1300. I'd be careful about eating back ALL of your exercise calories...I've heard other maintainers say to eat ~1/2 of these to avoid weight gain. Best thing to do though is keep an eye on your weight/inches. If they increase, all it takes is a mouse click to go back. Best of luck.
  • fitinyoga14
    fitinyoga14 Posts: 448 Member
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    i agree with courtney_love. i'm currently working on maintaining my weight at 105. i was losing with a 1200 calorie allowance so i decided to try to up my calories little by little to see which number would work best for me. i'm adding about 30 calories at a time. this is week one and i'm eating 1230 calories before exercise, and when i exercise, i don't think i'm going to be able to eat much more than i already do! i think its just all about finding a number that you're naturally comfortable with. and if you are upping calories, i would suggest breaking it up into about 50 calorie incriments. it will take the body about 2 weeks to adjust to the change in intake.
  • sparklebritches
    sparklebritches Posts: 46
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    Luckily I've enjoyed staying 1600-1900 calories which would put me right under maintenance. Exercise could put me up to 2200, which I wouldn't even get to anymore even on a cheat day.

    I weigh every morning so I should be able to catch any lbs pretty quickly.

    I guess this is just taking the mental pressure off, if I'm not going to be losing anyways. :laugh: My starting weight is fine but I could always use more muscle.
  • sparklebritches
    sparklebritches Posts: 46
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    I lost 3.5 pounds this week :noway: upping the calories from lose one pound per week to maintaining. I also added one more day of rest to my workout routine.

    Freaky. I guess it could be water weight after 30-days? It seems too good to be true.
  • kwardklinck
    kwardklinck Posts: 1,601
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    I've been on maintenance for about 2 weeks now. I usually have about 1500 cals plus my work-out cals. It's hard to say whether it works or not because I've been bloated all week. I'm still up about a pound from last weekend. I think once the water is flushed from my system I'll still be what I was when I reached my goal weight.
    When I got within my last 5 pounds, I was eating about 1500 cals a day plus exercising (not eating extra cals for that) and it came off at about a pound a week.

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