Switching from losing to maintaining: help needed!

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joycemfp8
joycemfp8 Posts: 21 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Hello!

I have recently hit my goal weight (woohoo!) and therefore my goal is now to maintain my current weight. I however have two questions:
1. How do I do this? Do I just increase my calorie intake at once, or do I gradually increase it? Won't I gain weight again because my body is now used to a lower calorie intake?
2. I would like to, while maintaining roughly the same weight, become a bit more toned, aka gain muscle. How do I go about this? Any help is greatly appreciated!
Furthermore I guess I'm just a little bit scared about making this switch... Did any of you experience that as well? How did you solve this?

Thank you all for your help!

Replies

  • steff274
    steff274 Posts: 227 Member
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    I actually found myfitnesspal after I had lost weight because when I was losing weight I never had a decent phone and used it to maintain because I had gone past my goal weight.. I originally set it as active to maintain but was still dropping abit now very active.. I also eat back a fair few excersize calories.. I would say do it slowly till you stop losing weight.
  • belimawr
    belimawr Posts: 1,155 Member
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    Hey, I'm I'm the same boat, ready to maintain.do I'm here for the answers as well, but can share a little of what I've read.

    Increase gradually until you start to gain, then back off a little. Don't just jump to maintenance.

    From what I understand your body does "get used to" a lower calorie intake, but it is not the same as the intake you used to lose. So you're maintenance intake will be higher than what you're eating now, but lower than what you're maintenance would be had you never eaten at a deficit. It's going to be a bit of trail and error ur seems, you can't go by MFP's numbers.
  • madababanas
    madababanas Posts: 20 Member
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    I have a few more pounds to shed but i am already worried. Last year i lost 10 kg (about 20 lbs i believe) and i got it all back because i just didnt know how to maintain.
    I can tell you one thing for sure. Dont skip chocolate or sweets or fries or whatever your guilty pleasure is. Eat them in moderation and exercise and drink super much water and let your body get used to them again, but just dont shock it with a whole pizza, ice cream and chips in the same night.
  • mamadon
    mamadon Posts: 1,422 Member
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    I have been maintaining for a year this month after losing 123 pounds. I gradually upped my daily calories by 100, every week until I found what my maintanance would be. I tend to eat more on the weekends, so now I look more at my weekly calories than daily. I eat under maintanance during the week, and above on the weekends.
    I still weigh, measure and log every bite. Some people can get away without doing this, but I am certain I would gain weight back if I didnt keep track. Its worth it if it helps me maintain.
  • joycemfp8
    joycemfp8 Posts: 21 Member
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    Thanks for your responses! But how did you know when you'd hit the maintenance intake? How do you determine that?
  • mamadon
    mamadon Posts: 1,422 Member
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    For me, I already had an idea from the tdee calculators and my fitbit. I had been eating 1300 while losing. I did 1400 for a week, then weighed myself at the end of it. Then 1500 for a week and a weigh in etc. I kept slowly losing until I hit around 1850, and then it started staying pretty steady. I still weigh myself once a week, to check and make sure its all good. My weight does flucuate anywhere from 3 to 5 pounds.
  • katepig54
    katepig54 Posts: 12 Member
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    its really hard - i have to eat only 1150 calories daily to maintain my weight!!!!! been doing that for about a year. On weekdays i eat low - on weekends i eat more. it must balance out.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    edited March 2015
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    I would highly recommend slowly increasing it, by 200 cals a week, allow for fluctuations in your weight and in a few months you'll find your perfect TDEE number to eat at to maintain your weight :smile: It took me 4 months to find mine. Maintenance continues to be something I work at.

    To answer your question about how did we know we were at maintenance - for me I was struggling to get a lower number on the scales as I enjoy my food. I didn't want to eat less than 1700 cals. I felt I was slim enough and my stats were good so why get hung up on a lower number. It was a good decision for me as I've never felt happier :smile:
  • WandaMM1
    WandaMM1 Posts: 132 Member
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    mamadon wrote: »
    I have been maintaining for a year this month after losing 123 pounds. I gradually upped my daily calories by 100, every week until I found what my maintanance would be. I tend to eat more on the weekends, so now I look more at my weekly calories than daily. I eat under maintanance during the week, and above on the weekends.
    I still weigh, measure and log every bite. Some people can get away without doing this, but I am certain I would gain weight back if I didnt keep track. Its worth it if it helps me maintain.

    What she ^^^ said.
  • paradi3s
    paradi3s Posts: 343 Member
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    Congratulations!
    Just like what mamadon said, I "reverse dieted" my way to maintenance. I upped my calorie intake by 100 per day for a week (Actually lost a bit of weight during the process, so don't worry about gaining weight as it depends on the person's body).

    When wanting to know your maintenance, I suggest you calculate your TDEE, or start off with what MFP recommends.
  • millzy64
    millzy64 Posts: 50 Member
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    I reached my goal weight almost 2 years ago and it's been a roller coaster trying to figure out maintenance. For me, the most important aspect is to keep logging. At one point I got to where I thought I could "eyeball" my daily calories and that I had a good handle on what I could eat. I was wrong. Seems that every time I get lazy about logging in MFP I go too far over my calories and put weight back on. I think regardless of how you add the calories back in, once you find the right place, stay with MFP and keep track. Good luck and congratulations!
  • TerryKes
    TerryKes Posts: 35 Member
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    I've been in maintenance mode for 3 weeks now. I used MFP to change from losing to maintenance and it upped my calories from 1200 to 1460, not counting exercise calories. SCARY! However, I'm sticking with 1460 as my goal, sometimes eating my exercise calories, sometimes not. Trying to keep my 'freak out' in check. I've moved around a little in the past 3 weeks, but only in less than .5 pound increments. I weighed in this morning, the end of week 3, and I'm down .2/pound from Week 1's weigh in. I consider that a success. It's crazy how accurate MFP is proving to be.
  • amitkatz0
    amitkatz0 Posts: 61 Member
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    Think of how a thermostat in your house works: When the temps start to dip beyond a certain threshold, the heat gets turned up. The temp will go up to what you set it as (i.e. your target) but then will continue to go up past the target until it hits another threshold. Now the heat will shut off and the temp will slowly go down, rinse and repeat.

    Your body is an organic system, it's not a math problem. You'll just have to keep logging and making adjustments. Over time you will find a sweet spot where your adjustments will be small (as will the weight fluctuations), but I wouldn't expect to just hit a magical calorie number and stay there until you die.

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