Maintaining after so long...

It was hard for me to change into Maintenance mode. It's a big change to lose weight, and a big change to maintain it! I started off slow(doing this weekly). I started by adding an extra 150-200 calories daily for a week, then would add an extra 50 to that to make 250, and so on. Slowly making the adjustments gave my body time to adjust, and avoid and weight gain, etc.

Congrats on being so close to your goal and thinking ahead!!

I keep reading that it is harder to maintain than lose. The biggest problem is people go back to old habits - that's why people yo yo.

Things that research say help are maintaining a very narrow acceptable weight range and going back to a deficit if you get out of it, exercising an hour a day, and continued logging at your new higher calorie goal.

My big change for maintenance was getting a fitbit so I am more accurate in my net calories (I am not a gym person - I just walk, so the steps really help me). I really push myself to hit that 10,000 step goal every day.

I'm really new at this and so far what I'm doing is eating TDEE - 10% plus all my exercise calories. I seem to be up and down a few pounds, but I started a little too low, that's the truth. I had trouble putting the breaks on and stopping the deficit, so I needed to gain back a little bit.

I found the easiest thing to do was to start eating all my exercise calories. That's gotten me used to eating more. I also went up 50 calories at a time until I got to TDEE-10%. I seem to be holding steady now. We'll see. I was afraid, but then realized that if I gain too much, I'll simply go back to a deficit for a week.

I'm enjoying eating all this food so much, that I've started exercising a lot more, too. Maintenance is kind of fun that way. Lots of energy to do the exercises, and then lots of calories to eat up. And round and round it goes. As long as I don't get lazy, I'll be fine. Or rather, on my lazy days, I hope I can manage to exert self control to limit my calorie intake.

I would love a fitbit, btw. Such a great way to be accurate on those exercise calories.

I am slowly adding some calories at weekends, getting to my goal. I was afraid of it, have tio admit:)

Staying active is a big key to maintaining the weight loss as well as any amount of muscle tone.

This is definitely true, and adding calories back gradually. You'll find a sweet spot.

The previous poster is at 1600 to loose at their present weight, but that would be their TDEE once they reach Goal due to needing fewer caloreis when thinner.

Sadly unless your very active the mythical oft quoted 2000 calorie requirement for maintenence in the modern woman (2500 for a man) is a myth.

Probably the reason so many of us are overweight, if we use that as a guide, as that would equate to overeating 400 kcals a day for the poster which would put on roughly 0.8lbs a week (not enough to notice), but over 40lb a year!

That may account for the yo-yoing I have done for most of my life. I had put on 62lb since 2009, so not being a pig just on average overeating by 4520 cals a month/1043 a week/149 a day (that's a doorstep of bread, large banana, two large Apples etc).

So you can see how little is the difference between maintaining and gaining, and actually a brisk 30 - 45 minute walk every day over what we now tend to do (so blame the car) would cover it.

Been in maintenance for 2 weeks shy of a year now... I started adding in calories slowly the first week, adjusted up 100 calories a day and then check my weight for the week and continued this approach until my weight stabilized. But nothing else has changed. I still workout the same amount just eating more to maintain my weight is it for me..... Best of Luck

I don't intend to up mine. I am doing fine and intend to make this a life long routine.