just abit stuck with maintaing

donnadondon
donnadondon Posts: 16 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Hi I have recently reached my goal weight and had a look at what my maintenance calories would be iam on 1420 at the moment and mfp has said 1880 thats a huge jump for me so was just looking for tips on how to start this off what do people eat for the extra caloires without putting weight back on :)

Replies

  • smerkord
    smerkord Posts: 101 Member
    I have seen most people recommend increasing 100 -200 calories at a time while your body gets used to the increase. Like go to 1520 for a week or two and see how that does and adjust from there.

    Edit: as far as extra calories: easy to hit with things like nuts and avocado.
  • climbamnt
    climbamnt Posts: 190 Member
    Sloooowly increase your calories every couple of weeks, watch the scale and what your body is telling you and find your happy calorie place.
  • donnadondon
    donnadondon Posts: 16 Member
    Thank you for the advice :) I have been thinking about doing this for a while but wasnt sure about going about it as I was scared of putting the weight back on
  • auntiebabs
    auntiebabs Posts: 1,754 Member
    add 100 calories back at a time over see how your body reacts, if you are still losing add back another 100 and keep going... if you start gaining then take away 50....

    Just remember MFP is only a guide

    For example
    MFP tells me that @ 51 y.o. I get 1590 calories to maintain 140 lbs.

    But at 1550 I'm maintaining @ 145 lbs.
    Now...
    either my metabolism is slightly different than the model MFP uses
    or
    I haven't been tracking as accurately as I thought.
    or
    both

    BUT, It doesn't matter if I'm tracking exact number of calories accurately as long as I'm tracking everything and tracking it consistently. I'll be able to look at what I'm eating and see cause and effect. I will be able to look at when I stress eat and scale back if I know a stressful event is coming up or compensate a bit afterward (I not even going to go to the I'm cutting out all emotional eating from now on. That's just setting myself up for failure)
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    What did you lose the last 3 weeks?

    What did you really eat in total those last 3 weeks on daily average basis?

    lost lbs x 3500 / 21 = deficit from maintenance that caused the loss.

    Avg eaten daily + deficit = real maintenance.

    Slowly increase by 200 cals daily for a week at a time.

    You will gain most of the water weight you lost at the start - that's glucose stores with water being topped back off.
    That is an increase in LBM.
    That is an increase in metabolism.

    Don't worry about it, it won't change the way you look.

    Now, if you wear a scale around your neck with current weight and goal weight plastered on it for everyone to see, that may effect you mentally.
  • NewMnky1
    NewMnky1 Posts: 264
    I am just starting maintenance and I am upping my calories by 50. I know it isn't much but I want to do it slowly and see what works, I don't want to increase it by a lot and have to work it back off. So I plan to increase it by 50 calories every 2-3 weeks until I feel it is stabalized and at a good place.
  • donnadondon
    donnadondon Posts: 16 Member
    I am 5ft6 and weigh 140lbs I lost 1bl this week and a few weeks ago lost 2lb the weight loss has slowed down but tjink iam now losing inches I still want to lose inches but just abit worried about losing more weight I normally have between 100/300 calories left on non exercise days and I dont eat exercise calories back
  • jen4relient22
    jen4relient22 Posts: 46
    i've been increasing my calories by 100 each week. haven't gained, haven't lost either even though MFP thinks i should be losing still. i think my body is just adjusting, though. you'll find the amount that is right for you. i thought that 1900cals/day sounded like so much, but once my metabolism rebounded i could easily eat more than that.
  • morticia16
    morticia16 Posts: 230 Member
    I'm trying to find a way to maintain for a few weeks now. I am increasing gradually, for some 100 per week. I kept loosing so I boosted up a bit more. I cannot do much larger meals than I normally do, so I increase with more chocolate (yeah, cannot live without it....), nuts, avocado and, if I fancy, some bread.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Thank you for the advice :) I have been thinking about doing this for a while but wasnt sure about going about it as I was scared of putting the weight back on

    There's nothing to be scared of !!
    It's just food. :smile:
    You know how many calories you need to eat to lose weight and just have to discover the calories needed to maintain. It takes a little bit of experimenting and time but the bonus is you can eat more food that you enjoy.
    The principles are the same, be accurate with your logging and don't get upset over perfectly normal daily weight fluctuations.

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