Time to maintain, but I'm honestly a little scared...

Add a few hundred calories each week until you start to gain. Then back it off a little. Your body is going through change and now you need to find the middle ground.

I don't worry so much now about how many calories I eat, but the exercise has to be there in order to maintain the weight loss for me. I definitely don't eat like I use to. My habits have changed, but exercise is what keeps me maintaining.

I was netting 1230 (yes, that's really what MFP calculated for me, not some arbitrary number). I added 250 calories to begin maintaining. That's easy to add - a glass of whole milk and a pear. Butter some toast. A bowl of rice. Half a bagel.

I also bought a fitbit when I started maintenance to measure my activity more accurately.

Same advice as above. Eat the same. Add a nice extra. In the end, we all give in the cheese.

I too had a goal weight of 110. I am 5'0 and my weight for the past few months has been about 116 lbs. My goal of 110 does not seem as important, am very pleased how my clothes fit. I have been doing 1200 calories a day for maybe 3 days a week, and going over the 1200 by no more than a few hundred on the other days. Staying around the same weight. I feel it is important for me to continue the daily logging, especially with the holidays coming.

There's nothing wrong with the maintenance numbers on here for most people. Feel free to use them. Word of note: there are some boring journal articles I saw linked on the forum a while back that talk about water weight associated with replenishing sugar stores in the body so if you "gain" a few this might explain it.

Your BMR measures calorie expenditure if you did nothing but literally lie down for 24hours. Even 'sedentary' lifestyles include getting up to pee. Up your cals.

I'm far from goal but my plan is to follow the 5:2 plan and keep an eye on the scale. If I go up 5#s, I will immediately use the 5:2 plan to take it off. If you are not aware of the 5:2 plan, pick up a copy of The Fast Diet by Dr. Michael Mosley.

I reached my goal weight almost one year ago and have kept it off beautifully. I had to go from 1,475 cals to about 1,850 and like you, I was extremely nervous about that. I'm happy to tell you that the higher number was EXACTLY what my body needed and I've kept everything off with absolutely no problem.

I echo everyone's suggestions to bump it up 100 cals at a time, either each week or every other week. I tried eating all of it at once and got ill - it was too much!

Another reminder is that you can bump up those cals without bumping up VOLUME of food - in other words, if your stomach is comfortable with the *amount* of food you normally eat, then consider upping those calories with non-volume items such as oils, butters, high-cal dairy products, bacon, sausage, wine in your cooking, handfuls of nuts, that sort of things. We've foolishly been led to believe those items are "bad", but they're not - in moderation. And the great thing about these ingredients is that not only will they bring your calorie level up to where it needs to be - they are DELICIOUS and will add some zest and spice and yumminess to your diet!

Congratulations and ENJOY your new-found freedom and health!

You are very wise to be concerned. I have reached my goal weight just to gain it all back. I like the idea of gradually adding calories each week. If your used to eating 1200.....try 1350 for a week....if you lose weight add 50 more each week until you are just maintaining.....thats my plan for when I reach maintenance. I wish I had done that before, instead of acting like Yes! Ive made it now I can eat what I want, when I want. I should have known how that would end. I just convinced myself I knew how to lose weight and could stop before it got out of hand. Good Luck....stay motivated.....I think maintaining is harder than losing. when you are losing people are talking about it all the time....that is motivation.

My goal was never to be really skinny, but really fit. Now that I am looking to maintain, I'm honestly a little scared to try to do it. I have gotten so used to a 1200 calorie limit. I calculated my BMR on multiple websites and the lowest one I was given was 1560. That seems like such a drastic change from what I've been eating up to this point. I was wondering if I could get some advice from people who have successfully transitioned into maintaining their weight and have managed to keep it off? Suggestions from short people would be especially helpful! Should I really be eating that much? Should I gradually add calories to my goal so my body doesn't freak out? Any help, advice, tips, and suggestions are welcomed!! Even if it's something I haven't mentioned but you would like to suggest, go for it!

I think the fact that you've already noticed your at your happy weight without keeping on cutting just to get to a specific number on the scale shows you are on the right track, yes the scale is great guideline but how you look and how you feel in your clothes are just as important. ..I was in the same boat as you last may, I have to say I was afraid aswell, for so long I was used to the concept of 'loosing' and reaching my goal that when I reached it I was stubborn almost to let go of the way I had been living I suppose because I was happy with my success and finally reaching my target.

That being said I have been maintaining now since may and haven't put anything back on. I gradually introduced a little bit more calories into my diet, while cutting I was eating around 1350 where possible, when I got down to my desired weight (112) I like you, started to read up and came for advice on here how I could get my body used to maintenance, I started to introduce just a little more food...for example instead of the apple as a snack to keep me going during the day i may have an apple and a yoghurt, for me i found extra fruit a good way of just hedging that calorie count up a bit more or snacking on nuts, one thing though is to always remain accountable where possible as nuts can be quite high in calories and it is easy to eat quite a lot and not realise.

This may not be the best advice but eventually your body just finds its balance, you think by eating above what you had been that its just going to go back on but it won't, I can maintain at about 1680-1700 I suppose nowadays (5ft3) there is days i'd have more/less but it always balances out. I exercise minimum 3 times a week, a lot of people do more so depending on that it van bring your maintenance up. Resistence training can also be very beneficial for this! Best of luck! There is great advice in topics on this thread.