How to maintain my weight??

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michaelraine
michaelraine Posts: 17
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I am finally where I want to be,well I was until I started losing more weight. I workout every day for an hour. I have my calorie intake set at 1,340. But once I workout my net goes down. It is so hard for me to believe that I should be eating back my calories burned. If I eat the 1,340 plus the calories I burn while exercising I would be eating 1,748. My net is always really low cause I never eat those calories back cause I feel like a would be a fatty. It took me almost a year to get to my happy weight and of course when your losing they say you do not want to eat those workout calories back. I am having a hard time getting my hard head to understand that I need to eat those calories back and take in a certain amount. =(So, should I be eating those calories back every day? I feel like if I do though I will be putting the weight right back on,but I guess if I do not eat them I will continue to lose. The maintaining part seems harder for me then the losing. Hard to understand how I can eat so many more calories and stay at my happy weight.
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Replies

  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    The only way to find out is to do it. If you're this hesitant about it, why don't you try increasing your calories slowly to give your body some time to adjust. You may see a slight gain as your body retains some water due to the increased calories, but that will taper off quickly. Try adding 100 calories a week and see what happens.
  • KipDrordy
    KipDrordy Posts: 169 Member
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    I agree. It is hard to maintain. I'm not sure about the not eating back the exercise calories. 1340 calories is a low calorie diet to begin with. You probably had it set there in order to lose weight. Why would you continue to eat in deficit if you're looking to maintain? Obviously, everyone is different, so there is no absolute answer. One problem I encountered is that I lost my weight through calorie reduction and a lot of walking. That calorie reduction not only makes you shed fat, but some of that is calorie burning muscle. I think the trick is to get that muscle back.

    I also made the mistake of not logging my intake. I even promised myself that I would be logging for life while I was in losing mode. I broke my promise. I won't let that happen again.
  • EpsilonGamma
    EpsilonGamma Posts: 96
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    Maintain can be hard because you don't get any reinforcement like when you do when you are losing weight.

    I would say, increase your calories slowly. If you know your exercise burns 400, how about eat 200 of it. try it for two weeks. two weeks is a good gauge. If you "ARE" over eating, then you might have gained 0.3kgs over 2 weeks which is probably not even significant (could be water).

    But if you keep losing, then you definitely know you have to eat more.
  • Whiskeytub
    Whiskeytub Posts: 96 Member
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    I am a 5'2 woman and 1380 is the recommended number of calories for me to eat in order to lose half a pound a week, and that's with eating back all of my excersize calories, which I do.

    What I'm saying is that you should probably be eating a lot more than 1340 calories if you want to maintain. Have you calibrated your goals on MFP?
  • michaelraine
    michaelraine Posts: 17
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    I sure did. I put in that I wanted to maintain my weight. When it ask about your activity I selected sedentary. I have a office job. I do workout every day. Did I select the wrong daily activity level for me? If so then I am not eating enough to maintain my weight and for sure not eating enough with working out every day. Thank you all for helping me figure this out. :)
  • mitchiejo
    mitchiejo Posts: 179 Member
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    I am at maintenance as well and work out everyday or almost everyday. I have my recommended calories set to 1700. I eat back my exercise calories. I have been maintaining for 4-5 months this way. I do strength training 3 days a week, cardio on other days and yoga/pilates at least 3 days. I cut way back on cardio since I started strength training and have been very happy with my results.
  • sheepysaccount
    sheepysaccount Posts: 608 Member
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    I'm gonna say you're no eating enough. You lose when you eat a a deficit. If I were sedentary and maintain at 60 kg, I should be eating around 1800 cals. So you definitely need to up your cals. And eat those exercise cals back, too. Right now you eat 1370 cals minus the exercise cals. That's less than the recommended 1200 cals you need to have at least if you lay in a come. Try it, up your cals by 100, then in two weeks 100 more...Until you find the right number where your weight doesn't budge.
  • lisab64mfp
    lisab64mfp Posts: 89 Member
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    Transitioning to maintenance is hard.... I ended up losing an additional 9 pounds (in 4 months) before trusting that I could eat more calories. I love the advice about slowly upping your calories but if you do decide to jump right up to eating what you burn plus your exercise calories -- be careful (ie watch the scale). Especially if you are using MFP or the piece of equipment to get your calories burned number cuz they overestimate the burn alot. I did an experiment last Sunday (didn't want to get on elliptical - doing the experiment got me on there). During my 48 minute workout the elliptical said I burned 507, MFP said 480, my heart rate monitor said 394, and my BodyMedia Fit (BMF) said 194. Based on my experience (3+ years w/BMF), I believe it is the more accurate number - huge difference.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    I am a 5'2 woman and 1380 is the recommended number of calories for me to eat in order to lose half a pound a week, and that's with eating back all of my excersize calories, which I do.

    What I'm saying is that you should probably be eating a lot more than 1340 calories if you want to maintain. Have you calibrated your goals on MFP?

    I thought this at first, too, but if you check their previous posts you can get the OP's stats. His TDEE isn't going to be much more than 1400 + exercise calories.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
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    I am finally where I want to be,well I was until I started losing more weight. I workout every day for an hour. I have my calorie intake set at 1,340. But once I workout my net goes down. It is so hard for me to believe that I should be eating back my calories burned. If I eat the 1,340 plus the calories I burn while exercising I would be eating 1,748. My net is always really low cause I never eat those calories back cause I feel like a would be a fatty. It took me almost a year to get to my happy weight and of course when your losing they say you do not want to eat those workout calories back. I am having a hard time getting my hard head to understand that I need to eat those calories back and take in a certain amount. =(So, should I be eating those calories back every day? I feel like if I do though I will be putting the weight right back on,but I guess if I do not eat them I will continue to lose. The maintaining part seems harder for me then the losing. Hard to understand how I can eat so many more calories and stay at my happy weight.
    Let me get this straight. You are at maintenance but your daily calorie intake before exercise is set at 1340? Something is not right here. You calories should be WAY above this, even without exercise.

    I'm in maintenance now, exercise six days a week (3 heavy lifting, 3 running) and my base calories are 1990. I eat back only half of my exercise calories for weight lifting (woo hoo, that's a whole 50-75 extra calories) and all my running exercise calories (thought I might spread the calories over the week), and I'm still slowly losing weight. Besides this, I am 52 years old.

    If you are trying to maintain, you need to allow MFP to reset your maintenance calories for you, and then from there it's all trial and error.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
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    I sure did. I put in that I wanted to maintain my weight. When it ask about your activity I selected sedentary. I have a office job. I do workout every day. Did I select the wrong daily activity level for me? If so then I am not eating enough to maintain my weight and for sure not eating enough with working out every day. Thank you all for helping me figure this out. :)
    I have an office job, workout every week day plus one weekend day, but my activity level is set to active. I had to reset it early on because I was losing weight too fast.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    You seem so anxious you really aren't thinking straight! Weight loss, maintenance or gain is all about calorie balance - it's no more complex than that.

    Yes you should account for your exercise calories whether losing, maintaining or gaining otherwise you won't find that balance.

    You can't magically put all the weight you lost back on unless you eat at a surplus over an extended period of time.

    It sounds like the TDEE method would be less stressful for you, eating the same amount of calories every day. There are a load of calculators you can find on the web or alternatively walk up your calories week by week until you find your maintenance calories by trail and error.

    If you have been eating 1,340 and losing a pound a week your maintenance calories are likely to be around 1,840.
  • michaelraine
    michaelraine Posts: 17
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    I did let MFP set my calories. I have it set to maintain and sedentary. I have a office job. I assume THOUGH I need to change the sedentary level?
  • michaelraine
    michaelraine Posts: 17
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    Thank you! Yes I am very anxious. I have worked so hard to get where I am at and always want to make sure I keep my eating under control.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    I did let MFP set my calories. I have it set to maintain and sedentary. I have a office job. I assume THOUGH I need to change the sedentary level?
    The MFP way would be set goal to maintain weight, activity setting of sedentary but logging and eating back exercise calories.

    That's why I think just a simple TDEE set calorie amount every day irrespective of exercise logging would be much more simple and less stressful for you.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
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    I did let MFP set my calories. I have it set to maintain and sedentary. I have a office job. I assume THOUGH I need to change the sedentary level?
    I also work an office job, but I had to change my setting to active early on because I was losing weight faster than what I had figured out with my goals. I exercise 5-6 times a week with heavy weight lifting (3 days) and running (2-3 days), so I believe the intensity of those workouts are why I had to raise my activity level.

    Everybody is different, though, and you will find your maintenance calories through trial and error. You may lose a bit more, gain a bit more, but you will be able to figure it out. I found while trying to find maintenance calories it helped me to weigh teach day.
  • EatTrainWin
    EatTrainWin Posts: 13 Member
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    I think maintenance is easier and more rewarding that weight loss mode. The extra calories make me happy. I eat more and exercise less in maintenance than when I was in weight loss mode three years ago. It's a much more relaxed state.

    How can I help you?
  • michable
    michable Posts: 312 Member
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    I agree with sijomial about using TDEE method instead of MFP way.

    I use the TDEE method to maintain my weight because I prefer to have a consistent total to shoot for every day. The TDEE method gives you a daily calorie goal that accounts for your exercise / activity level, so you don't eat back exercise calories. Use an online calculator to find out your TDEE. Make sure you enter your activity level honestly (i.e. don't put in sedentary if you are exercising 3-5 times a week), and see how much you can eat!

    I am 5 ft 4, weigh 50 kg, running 4 times a week, squash once a week, strength once or twice a week and I am eating over 1900 cals a day. With this method, you have to adjust your TDEE up or down if your exercise / activity level changes significantly.
  • nickpapagorgio
    nickpapagorgio Posts: 16
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    you may have got your metabolism fired up, so you do need more calories to maintain. 5 or 10 lbs either way wont matter that much. just keep it healthy
  • michaelraine
    michaelraine Posts: 17
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    I wish I could feel like you. I am scared to gain the weight back. I workout every day still because it makes me feel good. I get scares to eat more. I feel that when I do I will gain. I know I will not gain all the weight back overnight. I have a hard time knowing how many calories to eat and all to maintain. It took me almost a year to get to my happy weight, so I am having a hard time switching to maintenance mode and realizing it is okay.

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