How much under goal should I go?

kiwilaurie
kiwilaurie Posts: 41 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Hi all,
I am pretty close to my goal weight now (yay!) but I know that as I increase my calories again, I will have a bit of a bounce back in weight. How much under my goal weight should I go so that I level out roughly where I want to be?

Goal is 54kg (about 118lbs) and I am 159cm - not sure if that makes a difference. Thank you!!

Replies

  • beebeeto
    beebeeto Posts: 24
    Is it really nessesary to do this?
  • Kr1ptonite
    Kr1ptonite Posts: 789 Member
    I reckon once you hit your goal weight, maybe just increase the calories slowly over the weeks, and i think you should be good, instead of having to go lower. But i could be wrong lol.
  • Slim_strategy
    Slim_strategy Posts: 199
    Well I initially gained 2lbs maximum when I went into maintenance for a while
  • toddis
    toddis Posts: 941 Member
    It might be a good idea to just reduce your deficit gradually over time till you are eating at maintenance.
  • morticia16
    morticia16 Posts: 230 Member
    I reduced my deficit gradually and still kept loosing, so I went below my goal without really intending to. I also maintain at below my initial goal weight because my weight just sort of stabilized there. I wouldn't worry much, I would recommend gradual increase in intake and then you can see where it takes you. Good luck!
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    I had a goal range (5 pounds), went to the bottom of it, and upped my calories. I've been at the bottom 3 pounds of it since then. I like the range idea because you're going to move around in it just because of daily fluctuations. The idea is to stay in the 'box'.
  • The_Enginerd
    The_Enginerd Posts: 3,982 Member
    It depends on the person. I actually lost another 5 lbs over a month after switching to maintenance, some people gain several pounds. Pretty much have to experiment and give yourself a goal range.
  • fleetzz
    fleetzz Posts: 962 Member
    I would shoot for 3-5 lbs below goal, when you up your calories you may end up retaining a bit of glycogen and water which is normal. Your goal is pretty low, so maybe shoot for 3 lbs under. When you up your calories (slowly) you should be able to hit goal weight pretty easily.
  • animalldy
    animalldy Posts: 140 Member
    Congrats on getting so close to your goal!! I initially gained about 2 pounds when moving to maintenance levels, but lost those in a few weeks and stabilized. My maintenance range is about 3 pounds total, so +/- 1.5.
  • Bun_Ya
    Bun_Ya Posts: 174
    Bump for reference.
  • kiwilaurie
    kiwilaurie Posts: 41 Member
    Thanks guys for all the replies. Increasing intake slowly is a good idea. Given I have lost the 10kg (22lbs) over about 16 months I guess I should expect some time getting it right.

    I also have a Fitbit and am wondering if anyone knows how reliable the calorie count on that is? I haven't linked it to MFP as when I did I was not losing at all. If it is reliable then I guess that's a good way for me to maintain.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    typically people say five pounds under, because when you start eating at maintenance your body will replenish glycogen which tends to be about five pounds..give or take...
  • kiwilaurie
    kiwilaurie Posts: 41 Member
    Wow, 5lbs is a huge amount for me. I dunno if I could go that much under my goal (given I am now sitting just on 54kg). Maybe I will aim for half of that and then try to slip into maintenance. I am a bit scared tbh!
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    When I started maintenance, I stopped my deficit right at goal. I slowly increased my calories over a 2 week period. I didn't gain anything back. In fact, over the next couple of months I kept slowly losing, ending up under my original goal weight, but still in a good place. I had to readjust my maintenance calories up by another 100 (yay, more food) above what MFP gave me to finally even out and maintain. You have to experiment a little to find that maintenance sweet spot. I've been at the same level for almost 3 years now. :flowerforyou:
  • scubasuenc
    scubasuenc Posts: 626 Member
    Thanks guys for all the replies. Increasing intake slowly is a good idea. Given I have lost the 10kg (22lbs) over about 16 months I guess I should expect some time getting it right.

    I also have a Fitbit and am wondering if anyone knows how reliable the calorie count on that is? I haven't linked it to MFP as when I did I was not losing at all. If it is reliable then I guess that's a good way for me to maintain.

    I have found the FitBit to be pretty accurate for step based activities like walking when I compare it to my HRM. I have MFP set to sedentary and I do sync the two accounts (positive adjustments only from FitBit). Unless I go over my 10,000 step goal, FitBit consistently has a lower daily calorie estimate than MFP. So if you only do step based exercise it might be close enough that you could maintain on its estimate. However if you do non-step based exercise (e.g. swimming) you would need to estimate the calories and enter it into your FitBit to avoid under-estimating your calories.
  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,088 Member
    I originally had my goal weight set at 137, I went to 135 and then stopped logging to see how id do on my own, and I bounce around between the two, but I'm always somewhere close. I would increase slowly, like everyone else said and you should be okay. (I'm back to logging now, but was proud I was able to stay within my box for the time frame that I stopped)
  • FoxyLifter
    FoxyLifter Posts: 965 Member
    Maybe don't focus on the scale too much. Stay within a range but as long as your clothes fit well, you're good!
  • Jestinia
    Jestinia Posts: 1,153 Member
    This is a little too scale-focused for me (I'm such a hypocrite, I worship my scale!). Anyway, if you like how you feel and look when you hit goal, I wouldn't worry about some water weight gain.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    Wow, 5lbs is a huge amount for me. I dunno if I could go that much under my goal (given I am now sitting just on 54kg). Maybe I will aim for half of that and then try to slip into maintenance. I am a bit scared tbh!

    five pounds is only an "average' for some it may be less or other it may be more ..I know for me it tends to about three to five pounds…

    there is nothing 'scary' about it and all it is water weight/glycogen and it is not fat …so I would not be worried about it...
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    Thanks guys for all the replies. Increasing intake slowly is a good idea. Given I have lost the 10kg (22lbs) over about 16 months I guess I should expect some time getting it right.

    I also have a Fitbit and am wondering if anyone knows how reliable the calorie count on that is? I haven't linked it to MFP as when I did I was not losing at all. If it is reliable then I guess that's a good way for me to maintain.

    I use a fitbit zip, eat back the calories most of the time and haven't gained at all. I bought it when I went to maintenance.

    You'll need to log things it doesn't do well - bicycling, swimming, lifting, etc. But anything involving walking/running it does well.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    It might be a good idea to just reduce your deficit gradually over time till you are eating at maintenance.
    This.

    BTW - not everyone is glycogen depleted, depends on many factors including size of deficit and eating patterns.
  • Blokeypoo
    Blokeypoo Posts: 274 Member
    Thanks guys for all the replies. Increasing intake slowly is a good idea. Given I have lost the 10kg (22lbs) over about 16 months I guess I should expect some time getting it right.

    I also have a Fitbit and am wondering if anyone knows how reliable the calorie count on that is? I haven't linked it to MFP as when I did I was not losing at all. If it is reliable then I guess that's a good way for me to maintain.

    I use a fitbit zip, eat back the calories most of the time and haven't gained at all. I bought it when I went to maintenance.

    You'll need to log things it doesn't do well - bicycling, swimming, lifting, etc. But anything involving walking/running it does well.

    Ditto. I have used my Fitbit to maintain for over a year now. I use MFP to log but take my cal allowance from what Fitbit says and it's been bang on if my wt is anything to go by.

    I keep a 250 cal deficit on Fitbit site and here and eat a min of 1500 cals M-F plus whatever I've earned through activity then I eat more freely at w/e. I don't need more in the week so choose to keep that in check in order to not have to think so hard at w/e when with Hub or eating out etc.
  • The_1_Who_Knocks
    The_1_Who_Knocks Posts: 343 Member
    I have a goal weight, but the more important goal is how I want my body to look. If your body looks the way you want it to look and you feel the way you want to feel then I wouldn't sweat if you land exactly on your goal weight.
  • kiwilaurie
    kiwilaurie Posts: 41 Member
    Thanks everyone for the thoughtful, helpful replies. I think I will slowly increase and also keep an eye on my Fitbit for some additional guidance.

    Unfortunately I am at goal, but not entirely happy yet with how the body looks, so now I need to focus on toning and strength. But my plan is to continue logging and eating back my calories burnt. I find MFP underestimates my cals burnt, hence the question about the fitbit.

    Really appreciate the replies - and well done to those of you who have been maintaining for a while. :)
  • proudjmmom
    proudjmmom Posts: 145 Member
    Once I was within 5 lbs of my goal weight, I slowly started to bump up calories, to hit maintenance. Once I hit my goal weight, and continued to bump up calories, I continued to lose weight, and lost another 8 lbs, then my body seemed to settle where it was most comfortable. I've been comfortably maintaining for about 5-6 weeks now. I also no longer log calories.

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