One Pound Away!

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Jubee13
Jubee13 Posts: 132 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
After my weigh-in this morning, I am one pound away from my goal weight (yay!!). Is this the time to start adding calories gradually, or should I keep going until I get to goal, then start adding? What worked best for you?

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  • arussell134
    arussell134 Posts: 463 Member
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    First of all, congratulations! You have such a "fun" problem! What I did, as I got closer to my goal weight, I started upping my calories to prepare for maintenance so it would be more of a gradual transition than anything. At a deficit, I was eating around 1550 calories. In maintenance, I eat over 1800. So those last 5 pounds or so, I worked to eat more like 1600-1700. It totally worked and I've been maintainining for over 3 months now.

    So bottom line, I think your plan is a good one and that you can have success with it. Being so close to your goal, it's a good idea to start shifting focus to moving to long-term eating plans.
  • riffraff2112
    riffraff2112 Posts: 1,757 Member
    edited March 2015
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    I guess it depends what your real 'goal' weight was. When I started my initial goal was just to get under 200 lbs. Then when I got there...I thought "I can do better" and kept going.

    If you are at what you deem to be your ultimate goal, I would go into maintenance mode asap. It took awhile for me to find the right number..actually more difficult than losing for me. You may have a 500 cal window to play with and will need practice and time to see what works.

    Start that process now, chances are you will lose another few lbs as you are gradually increasing cals.

    Good job
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    How much of a deficit are you currently in?
  • Jubee13
    Jubee13 Posts: 132 Member
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    TavistockToad wrote: »
    How much of a deficit are you currently in?

    I try to stay around 1,200 calories. I am small (5'3", 113 pounds), and 48 yrs old, so I'm not able to eat as much as others and still lose. I exercise six times per week, and I try not to eat my exercise calories back, but if I'm hungry, I do.
  • WandaMM1
    WandaMM1 Posts: 132 Member
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    I'd suggest that you start by adding 100 extra calories into your diet per day. If you still are losing (even if more slowly) add another 100 calories. Continue adding until the weight loss stops and then eat at that calorie level.

    Expect fluctuations. Set a variance allowance (e.g. 3-5 pounds) then add or subtract to your daily calorie limit if you get outside your allowance or stay at the top of your allowance too long (e.g. 2 weeks). If you try to maintain at one exact and specific number, you'll probably make yourself bonkers. =)
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Jubee13 wrote: »
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    How much of a deficit are you currently in?

    I try to stay around 1,200 calories. I am small (5'3", 113 pounds), and 48 yrs old, so I'm not able to eat as much as others and still lose. I exercise six times per week, and I try not to eat my exercise calories back, but if I'm hungry, I do.

    That didn't really answer the question, TT was trying to discover if you currently have a large deficit or a small deficit - to put it another way, how fast have you been losing weight over the last few weeks?
    (That will give you an idea of what your maintenance calories may be.)

    I would say starting adding calories now rather than wait unless your recent loss has been very, very slow.




  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    edited March 2015
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    sijomial wrote: »
    Jubee13 wrote: »
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    How much of a deficit are you currently in?

    I try to stay around 1,200 calories. I am small (5'3", 113 pounds), and 48 yrs old, so I'm not able to eat as much as others and still lose. I exercise six times per week, and I try not to eat my exercise calories back, but if I'm hungry, I do.

    That didn't really answer the question, TT was trying to discover if you currently have a large deficit or a small deficit - to put it another way, how fast have you been losing weight over the last few weeks?
    (That will give you an idea of what your maintenance calories may be.)

    I would say starting adding calories now rather than wait unless your recent loss has been very, very slow.

    Indeed :smile:

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