How to maintain my weight??

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Relatively maintaining a certain weight range can be easy or hard depending on how you went about the weight loss process.

For example, people who designed their fat loss strategies to closely mirror how they eat and exercise in maintenance have an easier transition. Additionally, those who increased calories as they lost weight demonstrate a more positive mental state and healthier relationship with food and exercise compared to persons who waited to up calories at goal weight. Also, continuing to weigh and measure food and drink intake helps ensure proper tracking.

I do agree with others: Consuming 1350 calories while exercising an hour everyday is awfully low at goal weight. Are you still losing? If so, how many lbs per week? Should be no greater than 0.5 lb loss. If your weight hasn't changed much, you likely are eating more than you think.

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.

Maintenance is terrifying!!! Suddenly you go from a very simple principle of eating to a set amount every day with exercise calories being eaten almost as a reward for the hard work you put into it, knowing that you will lose weight. Then suddenly you're told to eat a heap more calories and all your exercise calories and there's suddenly no buffer of a calorie deficit to fall back on.
Trust me, I felt the same when I reached this stage.

Whilst I can assure you that you wont gain weight from eating 1340 cals PLUS your exercise calories, only you will learn this through trying it.

I would say to start slowly - 1340 sounds very low as it is, so maybe up this by 100cals a week to see what happens. As an example my stats are...107lb and 5'3", I'm generally quite active and I eat nearly 2000 calories a day and I do not gain weight. I LOVE eating my calories back and you will reach this point too! My starting point for calories each day (if I were to lay in bed all day) is 1460 calories.

Just dip your toe in the water and be brave...you will find the happy medium when you get there - and trust me - you will love all the extra food that comes with it!

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.

Maintenance is terrifying!!! Suddenly you go from a very simple principle of eating to a set amount every day with exercise calories being eaten almost as a reward for the hard work you put into it, knowing that you will lose weight. Then suddenly you're told to eat a heap more calories and all your exercise calories and there's suddenly no buffer of a calorie deficit to fall back on.
Trust me, I felt the same when I reached this stage.

Whilst I can assure you that you wont gain weight from eating 1340 cals PLUS your exercise calories, only you will learn this through trying it.

I would say to start slowly - 1340 sounds very low as it is, so maybe up this by 100cals a week to see what happens. As an example my stats are...107lb and 5'3", I'm generally quite active and I eat nearly 2000 calories a day and I do not gain weight. I LOVE eating my calories back and you will reach this point too! My starting point for calories each day (if I were to lay in bed all day) is 1460 calories.

Just dip your toe in the water and be brave...you will find the happy medium when you get there - and trust me - you will love all the extra food that comes with it!

While I agree with you on eating all your calories, the thing is that there is no way 1360 is her calorie level for maintenance. It's likely 1800 or more due to exercise. Using the MFP method, she must eat the maintenance calories plus her exercise calories. By the TDEE method, she'd most likely eat 2000 or more due to the daily cardio.