Pre-Maintenance

I pulled some of the tips people have given us here and compiled them into one post.

1. Keep exercise -don't stop. Build it into your normal routine for life.
2. Increase cals slowly 100k cals a week until you stop loosing weight
3. Weigh regularly - normally i weigh weekly but on maintenance i weighed twice a week.
4. Plan you day/meals - no shopping without a list or going beserk at restaurants. You can have treats but need to earn them.
5. Keep tracking on myfitness plan food and exercise. If poss find a maintenance buddy.
6. Accept that some foods will not be part of your future - for me it was bread and cheese - they are like a red rag to a bull. Ijust can not help myself. So i just cut them out completely and only by exception would I select/eat them.


One of my friends said she does well to maintain weight by eating about 1800 calories a day with the exception of two meals, a dessert, and two drinks each week. She indulges just here a there with these "exceptions" but it's balanced with the set calories most other days.


I lost 60+ pounds and maintained it for about 12 years by continuing to log everything I ate, exercising most days, and sticking to a net calorie intake that I calculated based on my weight and gender. Something like this: http://www.builtlean.com/2010/03/14/how-to-calculate-your-calorie-burn/


I actually weighed daily, and if I saw an increase of more than a couple of pounds, I went back on a lower calorie plan until I lost it. It seems obsessive, but it's what I had to do to maintain. Once it becomes part of your life, it's not a big deal to do it. And this was all before online food and exercise diaries, which make it much easier.

For example, at my current weight, height, and age, a woman will burn 1416 calories/day just by living and breathing. If I add in moderate exercise five times a week, I can take in 2124 calories/day and maintain my weight.


As someone who has been in maintenance for just a few months, I'd say to make sure that you have realistic expectations. It is highly likely that you will gain back a couple of pounds when you go into maintenance- because your body will replenish its glycogen stores. DON'T PANIC! This is normal.


A lot of people lose a few extra pounds before going into maintenance just for that reason- so say you want your maintenance weight to be 130. You could consider losing a few extra pounds down to 127 before going into maintenance, knowing that you're going to rebound back up to 130. No problem!

My other tip would be to expect your weight to fluctuate. Most people have a 3-5 lb band that their weight fluctuates in. As long as they're within that band, then they know they are maintaining. If they go over or under that band then they can eat less or more to fix the fluctuation. For me, that band is 126-129. If I weigh in at 130, I would double check to make sure I'm not overeating. If I go under 126 then I make sure that I'm eating enough to account for my exercise.

Good luck with maintenance! Enjoy the extra food!


I've maintained my 50 pound loss for almost 2 years.

My strong suggestion is to develop a plan for maintenance, just as you had a plan to lose weight. My maintenance plan has been tested and tweaked and it's a good fit for me. It's just not possible for me to regain the 50 pounds that I've lost if I stick with my plan.

I wrote a blog post on the importance of having a mainteance plan, if you want to take a look: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/themedalist/view/what-s-your-maintenance-plan-624676


I am 2lbs from maintenance and it's my first time here....Yah.

I have my plan and feel it is sustainable...

in 2-3 weeks when I hit goal I will start increasing my calories to my TDEE (which I know based on my own intake, weight loss etc)

So 4 weeks after I hit goal weight I will be at maintenance...I will keep track here on MFP...logging, weighing, continue with my workouts etc and watch the scale.

If it continues to go down I will up my calories...if it goes up I will lower my calories...

Fail to plan...plan to fail.


Personally maintenance last summer was easy for me. I reduced my cardio to 1 day a week if that... and then just kept lifting weights on a daily basis. The longest break I took was 4 days away from the gym.

There is no real secret just monitor what you eat, don't drink everyday. Realize there are way better things you can do then sit on a patio and drink (seriously seems like everyone loves doing this... I see no point to it, like what I waste of time)

Umm ... if your going to indulge upon things make it the best of's only ... what i mean by this if your going to have chocolate, have only the BEST chocolate, the finest wines and the oldest scotch. Why I suggest this ... cause it's so dam costly you can't afford to maintain it.

Weigh yourself every day. I say this because.. I again..am losing the weight I lost a few months ago. As you so correctly stated…most of us gain the weight back.

The reason I have regained is each and every time I avoided the scale and reality.

While weighing everyday can be bad while losing weight can be counter productive. It is the key to keeping it off.


http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/minding-the-body/201312/daily-weighing-may-help-manage-your-weight


I continue to post everyday exactly what I eat. Even if being bad. I only weigh once a week. I average the calories I ate for a week. If I gained...I'm eating too much, if I lost I add a few calories...if I stayed the same....it was just right. When it is just right for a few weeks....I've found my maintenance calorie goal. I've been doing this for about 3 weeks now...and I am still losing....I need to not be afraid of eating a few more calories. Most of it is between our ears.


I'm starting to think of the current weight loss period as just training for maintenance, so I'm introducing the habits now which studies have proven successful maintainers follow. So

- Weigh every day. I do it now and I like the instant feedback and learning how my body adapts to calorie deficit and the types of foods I consume. I don't know how often I'll log it yet, but I quite like the daily routine of logging.

- Maintain 1hr planned physical activity every day, and log it.

- Keep logging what I eat. I'm hoping that I will have trained myself about portions to not have to weigh everything, but just to weigh occasionally as a check on my portion perception. We'll see how this goes. I might choose to weigh some foods (meat, cheese etc) but not others.

- Watch my protein intake and make sure I get enough. I'm aiming for 60g every day right now.

- Practice dietary restraint. I find for me it's easy to binge over holidays or vacations, so I'm practicing enjoying what I want (I'll be enjoying Easter eggs and my homemade hot cross buns, plus rib roast over Easter), but still keeping my weight more-or-less constant, so that'll mean working more fun, family-based activity around the holidays rather than sitting on the couch watching James Bond movies all day!

I don't know about calorie/protein targets yet. I want to hit my target weight and then focus more on reducing body fat over time, so I haven't calculated my metrics yet, but my plan is forming!!


Been maintaining for about 2 1/2 years.
When you get within a pound or two or three of your goal weight, increase your calorie intake such that you cut your deficit roughly in half.
Yes, that means the last couple of pounds will come off more slowly, but you've come this far ... what's another couple of weeks?
As others have said, you might go UNDER your goal a bit, just to give yourself some adjustment room.
Now that you've reached (or gone a bit below) your goal, cut your deficit in half again, and monitor your weight for a couple of weeks.
If you continue to lose, increase your daily calorie intake by 50 or so ... it's NOT an exact science.
If you gain, decrease the allowable intake by 20 or 30.
Keep logging & continue to monitor the weight, but don't run yourself ragged with a 10 calorie increase or a 5 calorie decrease.
You'll NEVER find the exact number due to normal daily fluctuations.
I gave myself +3 pounds & -2 pounds from 'goal' before I changed my calorie allowance.
Look for trends and the reasons behind them.
If you binged at a pot luck supper, expect an increase.
If you were super-busy or didn't feel up to par & didn't exercise for a few day, expect an increase.
Don't panic & cut your calories based on special, short-term cases.
Similarly, don't boost your limit if the opposite happens -- you jogged 5 miles instead of 3, etc.
You've dedicated a lot of time to accomplish your goal.
Be prepared to continue investing your time to STAY THERE.
Some have stopped logging.
I'm such a poor judge of calorie content, I can't afford that luxury.
If logging is a major pain, you might try the omission, but let your clothing and the scale guide you.
When the numbers creep up or the clothes start feeling tight, consider a resumption of the logging.


I'm in maintenance right now. Have been since January. In a little while (haven't decided when) I'm going to go out of maintenance and try to lose another 10lbs.

I have a Fitbit so I follow my calories burned using that and I make sure I eat at a small deficit every day. Just a small one. That way it accounts for logging mistakes and if I have a bad day (or two) it will all balance out. The key for me being in maintenance is to still log everything. I'm not sure I'll ever stop logging because that keeps me honest and focused.

I am on Maintenance and have been for over 3 months.

What I do each day is log on my Diary and stay within my calorie goal
Drink my water.
Exercise when I can.
So Far I have maintained my weight. I do weigh my self weekly as not to gain weight.

Good ideas, Phyllis, I like those. I don't worry too much about drinking water. I probably drink too much tea, though. When I do my Zumba classes I drink what feels like gallons of water.

Just curious, how does drinking water help you lose weight?

I thought I would be in maintenance soon. I was prepared to be pretty close to being done losing weight once I get to 130.

i saw some recent photos of me, and I still look heavier than I thought I was. I guess I am going to need to get to about 120 or 125 to be my goal size. I am five foot one. No more than a Size 10 and a Size Medium top is where I feel best.

So I have about 20 pounds to lose still.