Feeling Trapped at Maintenance

What about the days I dont do anything but sit like a lazy *kitten*?
I dont always walk her every day for 30 minutes, theres some weeks that I literally do nothing.

Since TDEE doesnt have you eat back exercise calories, Im not so sure if its right for me.

I might just try upping my calories slowly.

TDEE factors in those down days-I don't do anything on Sundays, and that's already factored in You don't eat exercise calories back, because it's already factored in. That's why I love it-simple and effective. Also, you say you don't do anything some weeks-does your dog walk himself on those days? I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit, for the exercise you're doing

When I hit maintenance, I bought a fitbit zip. It counts all my daily steps. If I make an effort to walk during the day, I earn a few hundred extra calories a day without going to the gym. It was worth the $39 I paid on ebay for that alone.

I would also look at good easy low cal breakfasts and lunches you enjoy so you make sure you can get snacks, dinners, and desserts you love. I do plain yoghurt, fruit, coffee, and granola for breakfast for 200 calories and a roast beef rollup with coffee for lunch. 500 calories total, so I have 900+ to play with for snacks, dinner, and dessert.

I happen to like both those meals, but you may find others that you like. Look for the calories you don't care about, drop those, and prioritize the ones that make you feel like you're living again.

Good luck.
something doesn't seem right. I am 5'10 and mfp gives me 1500 to lose a pound.

P.S. I am 5'10" and I only get 1450 to maintain. Which is why I really want those easy calories.

What about the days I dont do anything but sit like a lazy *kitten*?
I dont always walk her every day for 30 minutes, theres some weeks that I literally do nothing.

Even on days when you "literally do nothing" you are not actually sedentary. Almost no one should be using the sedentary setting, unless they are actually bedridden.

The physical activity factor that MFP uses for "sedentary" is 1.25, which is well below the activity level of a person such as yourself, who is young, able bodied, has a job (even if you are sitting at the job all day) and who walks a dog, even occasionally.

You should be using the "lightly active" setting at worst.

Keep upping your cals and see what happens. Maintenance is a range, and online calculators are often wrong. Besides, I'm 5'2, not overweight and 1400 is my BMR.
Exercising is good for your overall health and everything, but "earn your calories with cardio" is a slippery slope to madness, IMHO.

What about the days I dont do anything but sit like a lazy *kitten*?
I dont always walk her every day for 30 minutes, theres some weeks that I literally do nothing.

Since TDEE doesnt have you eat back exercise calories, Im not so sure if its right for me.

I might just try upping my calories slowly.

TDEE factors in those down days-I don't do anything on Sundays, and that's already factored in You don't eat exercise calories back, because it's already factored in. That's why I love it-simple and effective. Also, you say you don't do anything some weeks-does your dog walk himself on those days? I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit, for the exercise you're doing

+1 - I double-checked her work and also got 2,017 for maintenance (factoring in the same 30 mins walking the dog each day + 1-3x of cardio a week).

If that's too scary, we could simply use the 1-3x a week of cardio in the formula (i.e., skip the dog) and we STILL get 1,789 a day for maintenance.

Sooooooooo..... my thought is, average out those two numbers for a total of 1,903 and HAVE AT IT, girlfriend!

Just keep up with walking the dog and your regular exercise (on more some weeks, off more others) and you'll be fine.

What do you think?

I think it sounds too good to be true!

I had to get over the mental part too, when I started playing with the numbers. Start slow to get used to it, maybe do an extra 100 calories a day for a week, and then add another 100 the next week etc, until you get to there

This is my maintenance plan. Weigh yourself every day at same time ( naked or same weight clothes ). On days your below your goal weight, eat as much as you want. On days your above, calorie count and exercise, and stay below your 1450 number. It is sort of mini yo-yo dieting, but over time you'll figure out how much you can eat daily. I've been doing this for about 15 years. If I get lazy, I'll gain 5-10 lbs a year, but then use myfitness pal ( used to use sugar buster diet ) to get back to goal weight.

What do I do with my exercise calories.

Re: too good to be true. LOL! I know!! I thought the exact same thing! I'd been told since I was TWELVE years old when I joined weight watchers for the first time, that 1,200 was the 'magic number' for losing weight. When I started my REAL weight loss journey in 2012 (66 lbs down and at goal now), I was floored to learn that I was supposed to eat 1,875 - to lose 1.25 lbs a week! I was like, "whaaaaat?!" And then....it worked!

Give it a try.

So here's what you do.

1.) Go into your MFP profile and manually adjust your calories to whatever you decide here to pick.
2.) Only eat that, as close as you can.
3.) Done.

For the exercise calories - do not eat them back. Feel free to record them in MFP for posterity, but pay NO attention to the calories it tells you that you're gonna get back. I wanted to see my exercise because it made me feel good about myself so I recorded it. But I'd do it at the very end of the day so that I didn't get confused nor tempted to eat back the cals. Then I'd hit "submit", and go to bed. Boom.

What do you think about *that*?

I meant if I'm adding 100 calories a week, do I slowly wean down exercise logging or just get rid of it.

I'm still so nervous because I'm not losing at 1400-1446 calories I'm afraid of gaining at 1700

We know it takes approximately 3,500 calories over our true maintenance calorie allotment, to gain 1 actual pound. If you're adding a 100 calories a day, for a week and then adding another 100 calories in week two etc etc, when you're most likely UNDER your maintenance calories yet, it's pretty much impossible for you to gain actual poundage here The scale may fluctuate a bit at first, but that's normal. I actually lost a couple extra pounds as I transitioned into the higher calories, which is why I'm now below 120lbs and maintaining that-wasn't my goal weight, but yet here I am

Transitioning into maintenance is all about experimenting and pushing the limits, to see how far you can actually go.

Eat your exercise calories.

You want to be NETTING your maintenance (or deficit) calories. That means you eat what you eat, subtract exercise calories, and compare that number to your goal.

I thought if you use TDEE you don't though?

AHHHH.

My bad. You're right.

This may also be why 'we' (the forums) get into silly discussions about what's too few or too many calories. I only worry about net, so say I 'eat' fewer calories than many other folks. But I eat a lot more than I net. That's why I love (and still recommend) the fitbit. No thought to it.