Has anyone eaten at maintenance calorie level of goal weight, to lose weight?

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Replies

  • LifeNewandImproved
    LifeNewandImproved Posts: 125 Member
    I thought about doing this when I was sedentary and about 80 lbs overweight. Figured I could just eat 1800 cals and slowly lose. In hindsight, I don't think I ever could have stuck to that. I would have been frustrated at the restriction and what I would have thought was progress that was much too slow. If you need to see the scale move to feel good about what you're doing I'd try to create at least a 1 lb/wk deficit.
  • rebekahzinn1
    rebekahzinn1 Posts: 65 Member
    This makes sense to me unless it means a huge deficit due to being very far away from your goal weight - that is, if it makes you lose more than 2 pounds a week. I might give it a try!
  • allstarelmo23
    allstarelmo23 Posts: 120 Member
    Interesting. I havent tried this but maybe i should. Being on a deficit leaves me so tired
  • Maries_wine_calories
    Maries_wine_calories Posts: 152 Member
    Your current deficit of approximately 300 calories (2200-1900)is very realistic for long term lifestyle maintenance- are you actually losing about .5 lb a week? I would re-input your goal and at .5lb loss when you've lost your next 10-15 lbs.
  • ilovemypeekapug
    ilovemypeekapug Posts: 106 Member
    This is pretty much what I've been doing, and the weight is slowly coming off (approx. one pound every 10 days or so depending on how active I am). I'm learning new habits in the process. It feels like a lifestyle I can maintain long term because I'm not starving all of the time! Best of luck.
  • Tubbs216
    Tubbs216 Posts: 6,597 Member
    Thanks for all the information. I hadn't thought about this approach but like it a lot.
  • aylajane
    aylajane Posts: 979 Member
    I think that is the best approach honestly... But I would take it in stages if you really want to ease into this. For example, you are 185 pounds... Eat like 165 pound person. Every 10 pounds or so recalculate. So when you are 175 pounds, each like a person who is 150 pounds. When you are at 150 eat like a person who is at your goal, etc. Basically eat like a person who weighs 20-25 pounds less than you until you get within 20-25 pounds of your goal weight.
  • phyllb
    phyllb Posts: 735 Member
    I am kinda along your path, I am really buying into this is a lifestyle not a diet,,,,,so slow loss is the best way to retrain yourself when you are not that overweight to begin with. My stats are pretty close to yours. Best of luck
  • starryskies89
    starryskies89 Posts: 35 Member
    aylajane wrote: »
    I think that is the best approach honestly... But I would take it in stages if you really want to ease into this. For example, you are 185 pounds... Eat like 165 pound person. Every 10 pounds or so recalculate. So when you are 175 pounds, each like a person who is 150 pounds. When you are at 150 eat like a person who is at your goal, etc. Basically eat like a person who weighs 20-25 pounds less than you until you get within 20-25 pounds of your goal weight.

    This is a good idea, I was considering doing this before as well. I might up my calories a little, because when I add in exercise I get serious hunger pains even on this allowance.
    Whats crazy to me Is that I must have been eating about 1000 cals more or so a day than my current allowance when i wasn't tracking. just judging from how much less I am intaking right now. I should have been much heaver... perhaps I have a beast metabolism? lol I have been the same weight for 3 years, although i have exercised moderately and eaten clean, low carb ect..

    Loving all the ideas and information, I really appreciate this forum.
  • girlinagirdle
    girlinagirdle Posts: 37 Member
    cosmichvoyager wrote: »
    I do this, pretty much. I lose really slowly but...I got time <shrug> and I feel so much better in general. I basically took this winter off and ate at maintenance/didn't lose any weight for a while. I just couldn't deal with weight-loss level calorie restriction on top of the crappy winter weather, holidays and going on vacation but I didn't want to create an all or nothing, on the wagon/off the wagon scenario for myself so I focused on what I felt realistically able to do.

    Yes! Yes! And Yes again! If this weight-loss process has taught me anything its if your strategy is working for you stick to it, and if it isn't change it. I've moved to a tropical country - the carbload is insane, the ability to exercise is limited so what worked for me in a northern hemisphere country in the cold with easy access to outdoor running and gym opportunities isn't going to cut it here.

    Short story: do what works for you. Good luck.

  • JohnH71
    JohnH71 Posts: 123 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    Love your long term view OP - very refreshing.

    I'm currently reading a book that uses the same basic idea, eating and training for your end goal. The Lean Muscle Diet by Lou Schuler and Alan Aragon - only part way into it but it's a very interesting approach and total opposite to all the short term diet plans so beloved of papers and magazines.

    I'm reading the same book, and when I read the OP, I thought the same, i.e. sounds like a sensible plan to me, so good luck with it! :smile:
  • flatlndr
    flatlndr Posts: 713 Member
    edited March 2015
    starryskies89 wrote: »
    So I figure by the time I am at my goal weight I will be used to eating at that limit and will be comfortably able to sustain that for the long term.
    The only issue I see is that as I get close to goal the weight will come off extremely slowly, I could see cutting calories a bit more or upping exercise to get the last few pounds off at that point. I'm just curious if anyone else has done this, and if so how their experience was?

    I didn't purposely plan to do this, but it's not far off from my own experience. I noticed that the suggested calories for my maintenance weight happened to match the calories needed when I started losing, and I took that as a win. It meant I could start my lifetime eating plan right away.
    It worked for me!

    ETA: I should note that now that I am lighter, I'm also much more active. So my maintenance calories at my current weight plus current activity level is equal to my maintenance calories at my old weight, sedentary. In other words, I get to each as much as before, now that I am lighter and much more active. Much, much happier.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    This is an awesome idea!! I've been at the end of my rope with this constant calorie restriction. You've helped not to quit :smiley: I've only got 7lbs left to lose, and I don't care how long it takes. So now, my calories are 1690, not a depressing 1290.. I am so excited right now :laugh:
  • flatlndr
    flatlndr Posts: 713 Member
    christinev297 wrote: »
    This is an awesome idea!! I've been at the end of my rope with this constant calorie restriction. You've helped not to quit :smiley: I've only got 7lbs left to lose, and I don't care how long it takes. So now, my calories are 1690, not a depressing 1290.. I am so excited right now :laugh:

    Another option I did along the way was to eat at a deficit M-F, and maintenance on weekends. It helped to break things up a bit.
  • dym123
    dym123 Posts: 1,670 Member
    There used to be this podcast called Fat2Fit Radio and their motto was, "Eat like the thin person you want to be", they basically advocated for figuring out your goal weight (they had a calculator on their website) and it would give the daily calories you should eat based on your activity level. I hated when they stopped recording, I thought they gave really good common sense advice on weight loss, did not believe in quick and easy diets.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
    It would work for sure up to a point, but my maintenance right now is 2200... My goal weight maintenance is maybe 50 calories under... obviously at some point the margin of error is so small that you would stop losing and probably end up stuck 5 to 10 pounds over your goal.
  • Wiseandcurious
    Wiseandcurious Posts: 730 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    It would work for sure up to a point, but my maintenance right now is 2200... My goal weight maintenance is maybe 50 calories under... obviously at some point the margin of error is so small that you would stop losing and probably end up stuck 5 to 10 pounds over your goal.

    That's true. But on the other hand, goal weight is just a number, I really have a goal "state" in mind with a certain level of fitness, health, fat% etc, so I think at the point where you are only a few lb away there are options:
    -Add a small additional deficit, as I think you're saying, to get down to weight faster
    -Try to do a recomposition and focus on other measurements not weight
    - Just keep eating at that level and focus on your fitness goals and wait it out until your weight goes down, which if you're truly in a deficit, it should eventually, otherwise you're just at maintenance for that 5lb-too-heavy level

    I agree though this logically should work better for people with a fairly large amount to lose.



  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    flatlndr wrote: »
    christinev297 wrote: »
    This is an awesome idea!! I've been at the end of my rope with this constant calorie restriction. You've helped not to quit :smiley: I've only got 7lbs left to lose, and I don't care how long it takes. So now, my calories are 1690, not a depressing 1290.. I am so excited right now :laugh:

    Another option I did along the way was to eat at a deficit M-F, and maintenance on weekends. It helped to break things up a bit.

    That's another great option. Thankyou :+1:

  • Springfield1970
    Springfield1970 Posts: 1,945 Member
    ilovemypeekapug wrote: »
    This is pretty much what I've been doing, and the weight is slowly coming off (approx. one pound every 10 days or so depending on how active I am). I'm learning new habits in the process. It feels like a lifestyle I can maintain long term because I'm not starving all of the time! Best of luck.

    Brilliant! But you will slow down, that's ok! As long as you keep up your meticulous logging and are enjoying it.

  • hsama99
    hsama99 Posts: 2 Member
    I would love an update to hear if it worked out! I did this years ago and it was working, but I think my mistake was setting my goal weight too low to start with. I cam here to see if others have tried and succeeded. Would love updates from anyone!

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