Mentally preparing yourself to maintain

I'm also almost in this exact situation right now. I keep changing my mind about whether to maintain or not like every other day, and here I am still in a deficit. I think I'm gonna wait for my current TOTM bloatings to go away to see my actual weight, then estimate my TDEE from the current weigh-in data I have and then start upping my calories after that. If I up them slowly, I might just lose a little bit more so that my belly fat goes down a bit before I reach maintenance anyway.

If you're unsure and if you keep going back to a deficit, then maybe you might as well just try and shred a little bit more fat until you're happy with how you look? I think you should feel certain that maintenance is something you'd like to do and that it's the right time, if you're so back and forth about it maybe you just don't really feel like it's time yet.

terar21 wrote: »

GothyFaery wrote: »

I know exactly how you feel. I'm pretty much in the same boat at you. I'm fairly happy with my current weight however, feel I have more fat to lose. I go back and forth a lot about maintaining and losing. Currently I have my goals set at .5/week loss even though in my mind I say I'm maintaining. It's a very hard mental battle and I wish I knew the secret to overcome it.

My advice to you would be to try maintenance for a while and see how you like it. Try a recomp instead of losing weight. It's much slower and harder to track than weight loss but will probably help you break this mental batter you're stuck in. At least that's what I try to tell myself every day. Good luck with whatever you decide!!

Glad to know I'm not alone! It's not a number thing or scale thing. It's purely just having fat I'd still like to lose. I keep tossing around the idea of just looking at recomp but it's so drawn out I worry id get discouraged. My initial plan was cut and bulk but I didn't account for the timeline leading to what would've been a summer bulk and that doesn't make sense.

A mental break would be nice. Just hate the thought of things not being my ideal.

I had originally planned to bulk/cut as well. Here's my problem with that. They tell you not to start a bulk until you're at or close to a body fat level you want because you will gain some fat during the bulk. So I decided to start on the cutting side of things and bulk afterwards. That basically put me back in the same situation I was in before where I was losing weight even though I really wanted to maintain.

Then the thought of bulking scared me because I had worked so hard to lose weight and the thought of purposely gaining weight (even muscle weight) almost made me sick. Recomp is horribly slow and very hard to notice but it really has helped me with the mental aspect of things. I agree with setting fitness goals. It helps get your mind off the other issues and still gives you something to work towards.

Hey all,

I was in exactly the same situation as you. I reached my goal weight a few years ago and have managed to keep the weight off ever since. I had a number on the scales that was my goal, and I stopped eating in a deficit when I got there.

Problem was, as a lot of you are finding, I was still skinny fat! So about 3 months ago I decided to hit it hard with workouts, focusing on lifting heavy to build some muscle and shift some fat and add some definition to my body. I'm eating in a slight deficit to shift the remaining fat, but have seen some newbie gains in terms of muscle. I'm really happy with the results. My body is "tighter" - I love my upper body which is really lean, and I have great arms I'm still working on my lower body, but slowly it's improving massively.

My boobs are the casualty to all this though I'm finally starting to lose them.

So if any of you do want to try to lose the skinny fat- lift heavy and incorporate some HiiT training.

I'm hoping to do a slow bulk after the summer as I feel my lifting is going to stall and I won't be able to gain anymore muscle without eating in surplus.

I struggle with the same thing! I reached what was my "final" goal weight and have maintained that for a long time now; however, I still have fat that I hate and know that my body could be drastically improved. On occasion I will convince myself that I need to get the fat off and start restricting my calories and start losing a few pounds before re-convincing myself that I am being too critical of myself. It is a vicious little cycle. I wonder to myself if being critical on myself and taking of the rest of the extra weight is realistic. Will that even make me happy? I am a runner and I exercise regularly and am at a healthy weight. But I love to eat and love my sweets and I don't know that I could happily maintain at a much lower weight.

I read an article that talked about "happy" weight that I find to be helpful and have to remind myself about. I still have fat that I want to lose; however, after reading this it made me realize that my body doesn't necessarily need to be perfect and completely lean. As long as I am healthy and happy where I am then that is all that matters. Here is a snippet from the article explaining how you can determine if you have found your "happy" weight:

Be Mindful Of Your ‘Happy Weight’

More than anything, determining the weight at which you’re happiest is really about being mindful and making healthy decisions.

But to recap, here’s the general recipe for determining those happy weights:
•You fall in (or close to) the “lean”BMI category.
•You’re not constantly stressed about food choices, or maintaining a hyper-specific number on the scale.
•You’re eating balanced meals, healthfully and mindfully.
•You feel comfortable in your clothes, and your waist circumference is less than 35 inches if you’re a woman and less than 40 inches if you’re a man.

Put simply? Aim to wake up everyday in a normal weight range, where you will naturally feel great in your body. “A healthy weight is the weight that’s best for you, not necessarily the lowest weight you think you can be,” says Popeck. “It is a weight in a range related to good health.”

And it’s sustainable — ideally forever, to up your odds of stable, good health. “Maintaining a healthy weight throughout life is really the best,” Popeck says.

When in doubt, the smart approach to your best weight ever is actually no secret, says Popeck. “It’s common sense,” she says. “A healthful lifestyle, which includes regular physical activity as well as an eating pattern chosen for variety, balance, and moderation makes all the difference.”

Don’t worry; be healthy. You’ll probably be happier, too.

https://www.yahoo.com/health/how-to-find-your-happy-weight-108652123452.html

Hope this helps you!!

I believe we all have goals in managing our weight and walking the line without obsessing over it . If you want to keep motivated for a few months seasonal take out that outfit you look absolutely hot in.. if it still fits and looks great. perfect keep maintaining but if your feeling the tight with your face turning red.. ...enough said lol .. cardio..

Basically I had planned to lose just a few more lb, but it got to the point where I would have to sacrifice my strength and my weight lifting to be able to cut calories enough to lose more, and I said, well, it's not worth doing that, so I'll stay right here. I felt like building muscle was more important than getting any thinner.