Maintenance, feel fat and bloating.. Confused

I have had and am having similar issues (my hunger, now that I have upped the calories, is nearly out of control too). I think, by past experience, that it's the mind having to catch up on the truth of having lost the weight. Having spent so much time eating less and loosing, now that we have reached our goal it's as if our mind is "showing" us that we are eating too much, but it's not true. Forget about the feelings, keep an eye on the measurements, and concentrate on toning up. Beware though that toning up might show a scales increase as muscle weighs more than fat. Ignore the scales (if you are still eating right) and just like at the tape!

BTW You might actually be eating food that bloats you up (tomatoes for me, for example). Keep drinking lots of water, and good luck!

bump! I feel the exact same way and have also been experiencing weight fluctuations (temporary losses and gains)... plus have the constant feeling of looking bigger (not only bloated but my arms, legs and tummy actually look bigger).

For me, maintaining is harder than losing!! I have to be careful not to let the weight come back on as now I don't say no to everything. I try to have a little of some things. I am tracking calories and exercise. I fluctuate +/- 2-3 lbs and if it starts to trend up, I get the weight back off right away.

What have you been trying when it comes to maintaining?

Eating more food to up calories.. But when it's healthy it's often low in calories.

Well, that isn't bad for you. However, you should just try and maintain the same calorie intake you have been on or add maybe 100 or 200 calories back into it. Most of it is trial and error until you find out what works for you. Your body will respond if it is right for your body.

I have been on maintenance for over two years with a fluctuation of 2lbs max. Often going down rather than up. I lost my weight (11lbs), slowly and by not eating my exercise calories, or just eating few of the calories.

I know that this is totally opposite to what is recommended in this forum; however, being a small/short person and not so young anymore, my metabolism may work different so this approach worked for me.

After reaching my goal weight I upped my daily calories to 1300 and I started to eat most of the exercise calories (not always), but I reduced my carbs and I increased my protein intake. This change in macros has made a good impact in my maintenance. I am also lifting more weight, but since I don’t do intense cardio or very high impact exercises, my exercise calories are not very impressive, considering what other people post.

Sometimes we need to figure out what works for us and be willing to change until we find the right fit.

Since I've been maintaining my current weight (around a week or two) I have felt huge!
I am not eating tonnes more calories then I was with losing but my tummy is just constantly bloated looking!

I am still eating healthy, all the food I did whilst losing just more of this and that to get the calorie intake up.. It's really getting me down though I feel like I'm ruining all my hard work I didn't lose weight to end up with a horrible bloated belly.. I just look like my tummy is so flabby..

I am confused at the reason though because the difference is only by 300 Ish cals ..

Does anyone have experience maintaining or advice about why this is the case.. I am determined to maintain but it's annoying me so much and making me so conscious I feel like I need to switch back to losing again to get it back to normal :-(

Firstly, your picture looks amazing! Well done in reaching your goal weight

I'm not the best person to give maintenance advice as I have experience of yo-yoing between weights, but I have reached my goal weight (too many times) and had this exact same issue. I honestly just think it's your body adjusting to the extra volume of food. Like you know how when you first started to lose weight, the water weight came off really quickly and over the first couple of weeks you pee a lot and seem to lose some general bloat? I think it's just the reverse effect when you change to eating a bit more again - your body holds onto the extra water and bloats you out somewhat. Maybe your digestive system has gotten used to processing a certain amount of food (when you think about it, when else does it ever work on such a set quantity day-in,day-out?) and needs time to adjust to processing more.

This is just speculation, but don't worry! This has happened to me every time I've upped my food consumption volume after an extended period of following a set diet. It'll pass!