Maintenance mentality

hitmeister
hitmeister Posts: 11 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
OK, so I've reached my goal. I've lost 60 lbs over 2 years. I've reset my goal on MFP to "Maintain Current Weight". I know exactly how many calories I'm supposed to consume each day. The problem is that it's virtually impossible to hit the exact number. I'm always going to be over or under by a little.

The problem with this is that it's hard to accept going over. I'd always rather err on the side of being under. But if I stay under every day, even a little bit, I'm going to slowly keep on losing weight instead of maintaining. Yet, I'm afraid that, if I start allowing myself to go over, I'll start getting into bad habits and get back into overeating.

Know what I'm saying?
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Replies

  • kae_blah
    kae_blah Posts: 180 Member
    This is one of the best features of the mobile app. There is a weekly view so you can balance out the under and over amounts across 7 days,

    This is much more realistic as there are always the days where you eat out for dinner, and days where you eat light and exercise a lot.
  • kluvit
    kluvit Posts: 435 Member
    As 'kae' said, look at it on a weekly basis, and just make sure that you're under for the week. Also, continue to weigh; set a "maximum acceptible weight," and adjust your calories to a deficit if you reach that limit to ensure that you don't continue in the wrong direction. I still weigh almost daily, and if I'm up 2-3 pounds for a few days in a row, I drop my calories by about 100 per day to get back on track. Also, just for buffer, I set my "maintenance" calorie goal at about 90 calories under my calculated maintenance calories. At this rate, I should lose about 0.2 pounds per week -- a cushion to ensure maintenance if I go over slightly.
  • caseythirteen
    caseythirteen Posts: 956 Member
    I agree with looking at it as a weekly whole. Our bodies don't operate on 24 hour clocks. It's really the big picture that matters the most. Also, if you feel like you struggle with going over the calorie limit but want to stick to the maintenance level, than a suggestion would be to customize your numbers and add maybe 50 calories to maintenance. That way you can be under and mentally be glad for that, but still be closer to actual maintenance.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    OK, so I've reached my goal. I've lost 60 lbs over 2 years. I've reset my goal on MFP to "Maintain Current Weight". I know exactly how many calories I'm supposed to consume each day. The problem is that it's virtually impossible to hit the exact number. I'm always going to be over or under by a little.

    The problem with this is that it's hard to accept going over. I'd always rather err on the side of being under. But if I stay under every day, even a little bit, I'm going to slowly keep on losing weight instead of maintaining. Yet, I'm afraid that, if I start allowing myself to go over, I'll start getting into bad habits and get back into overeating.

    Know what I'm saying?

    you may also want to consider that MFP estimates low for maintenance, my maintenance figure is actually about 200 cals above what MFP would have me believe.

    try looking at weekly or even monthly figures, not daily... you need to eat 3500 calories OVER maintenance to gain a pound of actual fat... going over a couple of times a week by 200 cals will not make you gain weight....
  • kristina1709
    kristina1709 Posts: 119 Member
    I never thought to look at my calories as a weekly whole. Thank's for that suggestion! Time to sit down and figure out numbers! :)
  • brynnsmom
    brynnsmom Posts: 945 Member
    Try not to worry so much about hitting a number, just make sure you track everything. I really like to let my calorie intake fluctuate. Having days when I am under means I needn't feel guilty on the days I exceed my goal.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    I do know what you're saying, but you won't keep losing if you really are at a good natural weight for you. You'll get hungry and eat a bit more. When you're starting to get too thin your body tends to hold onto calories more dearly and you won't keep dropping. It's why we all slow down when we get close to our 'ideal' weight.

    WORRY ABOUT THE WEEK GOALS not the day. You can't average at your target calories unless some days you're over.
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    I agree with looking at it as a weekly target rather than a daily one, and the fact that it is unlikely to be exactly what MFP suggests anyway (it underestimates my TDEE).

    Other than that, the best way to learn that it doesn't matter if you go over that number a little is to prove it to yourself. You're just going to have to do it, as uncomfortable as it is, and prove to yourself that going over by 10, 50, 100 calories in a day isn't going to make you suddenly gain weight. Your daily needs will fluctuate, as will your weight. Look at it as a goal weight range, and a daily calorie range, and you'll be much more relaxed. When you're maintaining, you really have to let go of absolute numbers or you'll drive yourself crazy.
  • NovemberJune
    NovemberJune Posts: 2,525 Member
    oops double post
  • NovemberJune
    NovemberJune Posts: 2,525 Member
    I never care about going over for a day, but try to be under for the week. So I'm under half the time and over half the time. If you are always a little under, or if you are still losing and don't want to, you might want to manually up your calories by 100-200 and see how your weight does after a few weeks of that? Congrats on meeting your goal! :smile:
  • hitmeister
    hitmeister Posts: 11 Member
    Thanks, everyone, for the great suggestions. My next question is: How do you get those graphics to appear in your posts?
  • callandert
    callandert Posts: 26 Member
    Go to the Community Tab, then go to Settings. Once you hit that..it will ask you to a check a box to have your Tickerbox show up after your posts. Congrats on reaching your goal!
  • callandert
    callandert Posts: 26 Member
    Me again...they actually refer to it as My Fitness Pal Ticker (not tickerbox)...LOL
  • hitmeister
    hitmeister Posts: 11 Member
    Thanks. Now, let's test it out. The only problem is that I'd been on a weight loss program for about a year before I found MFP, so my ticker won't show the total amount that I've lost.
  • annakow
    annakow Posts: 385 Member
    I am nearly at my goal and thinking how to do it, I am struggling to eat 1200, what about more to keep my weight? lol its going to be a challenge, nice post!! thanks
  • Seesawboomerang
    Seesawboomerang Posts: 296 Member
    I would certainly advise getting past that mentality that going in the red is bad - the same way you shouldn't focus too heavily on a scale reading.

    Think of it this way. Your goal weight loss - if you went past that you wouldn't get upset would you? So your daily goal is just that. A goal. You can fall short or go over, it doesn't matter.

    As long as you are being more or less regular in the calories you take in and burn it's all good. Like others say, watching the week's progress is easier.

    It's just that big red bar the moment you make zero. It doesn't help the panic, but a few 100 cals either way is really not a problem, especially if the food is all nutritionally sound and you are exercising routinely.
  • leadiax3
    leadiax3 Posts: 534 Member
    Yes. Me too. I stay under my cals and i lost 2 pounds that should have stayed on my body. Its hard to accept meeting ur cal budget and harder to accept going over it! Remembering that if you did gain a couple pounds it is easy enough to lose them again helps my mentality.
  • leadiax3
    leadiax3 Posts: 534 Member
    I like that idea!
  • JenNuma
    JenNuma Posts: 52 Member
    Bump... I'm getting close... Will watch this thread for ideas. Good Luck to you!
  • Evamutt
    Evamutt Posts: 2,310 Member
    set yourself a maintenance range, it can be 5-10 lbs because our weight fluctuates every day. If it's in that range it's all good. example is if your 150lbs, your rate can be 150-157. The weekly one is good too. If you get the Happy Scale app, it does it for you

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