Maintainence

Msdirection
Msdirection Posts: 54 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey everyone! So this morning, after 3 months of following through on this lifestyle change, I hit my goal weight. So exciting and looking forward to starting eating at maintainence level soon. However, I have no idea how to start! Hoping people might have some tips for someone transitioning into maintainence and give me an idea of what to expect!

A big question for me is how to up my calories. I know that sounds stupid - just eat more! - but I guess I don't want to up them too suddenly and put everything back on! I'm planning on gradually uping my calories - say by 100 each week - until I get to a point where my weight is staying relatively steady. Any thoughts?

Thanks guys!

Replies

  • Msdirection
    Msdirection Posts: 54 Member
    I'll also add that I'd be happy to accept friend requests from others who are also logging their food while maintaining! :)
  • theycallyoumister
    theycallyoumister Posts: 222 Member
    That's pretty much what I'm doing. I still show a slight caloric deficit so as not to shock my body. I believe a gradual transition is needed for successful maintenance. I'll let you know! :smile:
  • The_Enginerd
    The_Enginerd Posts: 3,982 Member
    I did it in just two steps, but I've seen quite a few people up by 100 Cal/day per week until they hit their maintenance calories. This sites maintenance calorie calculator or the ever popular one here: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ will provide a good calorie baseline to move up to. Once you are eating your maintenance calories, look for long term trends in weight to tweak you intake values. I did it with a running average since I'm a numbers guy. An easier approach that many use is to give themselves a range (e.g. plus or minus 3 lbs) and tweak their values if they fall out of that range.

    I had my weight loss set for 1 lb/week until I was within 5 lbs of my goal weight, then I changed my goal to 0.5 lbs/week of weight loss until I hit my goal weight, then switched my goal to maintain my weight. That was a 250 Cal/day jump each time. I watched my weight over the months and had a slight loss over the long term. I had to up my calories by 100/day to maintain.

    This is an awesome blog post on long term maintenance: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Robin1117/view/maintenance-is-a-choice-my-2-years-of-maintaining-263772
  • QueenofScott
    QueenofScott Posts: 305 Member
    I am getting close to goal, and I plan to see a nutritionist when I do, for help in learning how to maintain. I need to not only learn how to go about adding back some calorie, and also how many calories I need to burn each day to maintain.
  • Msdirection
    Msdirection Posts: 54 Member
    Thanks for the great responses guys! It glad to get some different opinions and see there are different ways of managing it. I guess I'll just have to do what works for me!
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Thanks for the great responses guys! It glad to get some different opinions and see there are different ways of managing it. I guess I'll just have to do what works for me!

    i have been maintaining for a while - when i was 4lbs from goal i upped my cals from losing 1lb per week to losing 1/2lb per week, by just adding a morning snack (about 150cals) of nuts - almonds or macadamias (yummy!!!)

    when i got ot goal i upped my cals 100 per week, just by making my portions slightly bigger, until i got to MFPs maintenance number. but i found this figure was too low, so i kept adding cals till my weight was stable.

    I still use MFP to count cals, and eat back all my exercise cals, but you could use scooby and a TDEE calculation, if you exercise regularly.
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    Well, you won't put *everything* back on eating at your TDEE, or it's not really your TDEE! You can expect to gain a couple of pounds - the additional food you will be eating will add a bit of weight, and it will also make you retain a bit more water. It's not a bad thing, it's normal, and kind of the opposite of how people lose a few pounds in the first week of restriction.

    On the other hand - you might find you drop a couple more pounds as you up your calories - that happens to quite a lot of people.

    I would gradually increase 100 at a time like you have planned. It can take a little while to work out your true TDEE, it takes a bit of trial and error. MFP and other online TDEE calculators give you a good guide, but you'll only know when your weight stabilises.

    For me, the biggest challenge of maintenance is mental. It can be difficult for some people to stop losing weight, and to no longer have the motivation of seeing the scale go down and watching your body change. I've found it really helps to make new goals that aren't to do with weight, to keep me motivated.

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