How did you find your maintenance?

I recommend you read the existing threads in this message board.
Here is one link:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10178002/most-helpful-posts-goal-maintaining-weight-must-reads#latest
My experience. I started by not eating at a deficit any longer. each week I will increase my daily calorie target by 50 calories (others prefer 100 calorie steps, your choice). It took me a couple of months until I found my range, when I started to increase my weight all other factors being equal, then I stopped. I have a calorie range, not just one number.
My motivation is being healthy. I believe it is cheaper being healthy than the alternative.
I take my holidays and enjoy birthdays. I just go back to my nutrition plan as soon as possible. If my weight increases, I eat at a deficit until the weight goes down again to my preferred range.
Good luck in your healthy journey

Trial and error. I just went by what MFP gave me. I go by weekly goals, so if I go over one day I go under one of the following. It is actually much easier than you think. I weigh myself regularly and if I go consistently out of the range of 1kg I eat either more or less.
Stef.

How did you guys find what calorie amount helped you to maintain?
Experimentation and patience.

How do you keep up your motivation?
Maintaining in my goal weight range is just as valid a goal as weight loss was - plus it's more fun. It's also just one of my goals (fitness/strength for example).

What about holidays abroad and birthdays, do you 'save up' or lose a little beforehand?
Diet fits into my life and not the other way round. Holidays and special events are to be enjoyed, it matters far more what you do in the rest of the year!

I took a look at my stats. I had been losing .5 a week (ish), without eating exercise calories back. So I assumed that MFP was actually giving me my TDEE (I do very little cardio, so unfortunately weight lifting factored in about perfectly with the "lightly active" option). The I added 100 calories each week until I had added all 250 back. I stuck with that for about 4 weeks and am testing the waters with another 100 right now.

I'm the opposite as others. I'm doing as little cardio as I can, because I hate it, to see what my maintenance will be without it. I'm never going to do cardio 5 days a week, so I might as well find the most realistic TDEE.

As far as holidays and events go, I run a weekly calorie goal. I always eat about 700-800 over maintenance on the weekends, so I shave off 100 per day during the week.

ExRelaySprinter wrote: »

arditarose wrote: »

I'm the opposite as others. I'm doing as little cardio as I can, because I hate it,....

Have you thought about doing a Dance class or Zumba,..... something fun like that?

Yeah, when I feel like it I'll hit a zumba class up or something. And my tap shoes still fit me so I keep meaning to go to a tap class but forget. Maybe I'll look into it tomorrow.

Honestly I'm not that concerned though. Even if I do a dance class once or twice a week, it's not going to do much for how much more I can eat.

Concur w/above; mostly trial & error. I used the MFP caclulater and started adding calories (went from 1190/1200 to 1290/1330 [+/-]. Only just started maintenance so figure it's going to take some experimentation.

I actually gained weight from following MFT suggestion of 1470 as opposed to th new found magic number 1350, went on with it on thinking it was just water and that it will go away, i realised that nope, i was eating more than i needed, went back to doing deficit for a month, then went to maintenance starting from 1250 a day, adding 50 untill i found my balance!

I changed nothing that I was eating while losing and just ate a bit more but mainly when back to eating close to bedtime (11 PM) vs stopping at 5 PM when when I was in loss mode. I tested this when I was at 209 for 90 days. At the end of 90 days I was 209 and my range was 201-211 pounds for that quarter.

Because for the past 40 years when I lost weight I ALWAYS had a 100%+ regain I did nothing during weight loss that I was not planning to do for the rest of my life because at 64 I do not want to risk one more regain.

I still weight at bedtime, on waking and after the first pit stop but before I eat or drink as was my only weighing and tracking while losing weight.

You are smart be starting to get your maintenance plan in place now because losing is the easiest part for many of us. Best of success.

I haven't maintained for an extended period of time, so I'm no expert. I "maintained" at 121-122 lbs from November through March by eating at what Scooby's site said was my TDEE (2150 calories/day). I wasn't all that strict about my macros then - I just made sure to at least hit my protein goal and stay under my carb goal every day, and be under my calorie goal when averaged over the week. I did a little cut from March through May and dropped to 116-118 lbs and maintained that for almost a month before going on vacation. I just got back a couple of days ago and haven't weighed in, but I'm sure I gained at least a pound. Now I focus more on macros than anything else, and I treat them all like goals to hit every day as opposed to minimums or maximums. I like to be within 5 grams of each macro goal daily. Sounds like a pain in the butt, but my Type A personality loves it.

I log 99.9% of the time, including holidays and vacation, but that certainly doesn't mean I stay within my goals 99.9% of the time. I eat whatever I want on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas. I also have one weekend per month where I treat myself to things I want that simply won't fit into my macros ever. In between, I eat things I love, including things like ice cream, burgers, fries, pizza, etc. and fit them into my goals. I don't eat "clean," and all of my macros are kept at moderate levels (no low-carb, low-fat, etc).

If I want Olive Garden, I'm eating breadsticks, appetizer, entree, and tiramisu for dessert - I'll be damned if I'm ordering off their light menu. Therefore, Olive Garden will NEVER fit my macros, even if it was the only meal I ate all day. That's what my monthly weekend thing is about. This girl can put away some serious calories, and I enjoy being able to do that every now and then. I don't "save up" calories the week prior or "make up" for what I did by eating less the following week. I just have my fun and continue on as normal when it's over. It hasn't resulted in weight gain.

arditarose wrote: »

I took a look at my stats. I had been losing .5 a week (ish), without eating exercise calories back. So I assumed that MFP was actually giving me my TDEE (I do very little cardio, so unfortunately weight lifting factored in about perfectly with the "lightly active" option). The I added 100 calories each week until I had added all 250 back. I stuck with that for about 4 weeks and am testing the waters with another 100 right now.

I'm the opposite as others. I'm doing as little cardio as I can, because I hate it, to see what my maintenance will be without it. I'm never going to do cardio 5 days a week, so I might as well find the most realistic TDEE.

As far as holidays and events go, I run a weekly calorie goal. I always eat about 700-800 over maintenance on the weekends, so I shave off 100 per day during the week.

To find a true TDEE I agree with limiting the cardio. That's what I've been *trying* to do but I've been struggling.

Your post is making me wonder…since mid April I've tighten my logging habits (logged daily and weighed everything humanly possible) and using TDEE - 20% = 1248 (as you, with little to no cardio). And transferred all information to chart form to review. But now wondering if the calculators are wrong (Scooby, IIFYM, ExRx/average) and my maintenance TDEE is really the 1248... But that can’t be because the last 2 times I tried with MFP 1200 cals and still didn’t lose weight until I added cardio 6x a week (started out a couple of days with no results till 6 days a week).
I realize that a deficit is not considered maintenance, but I’ve been trying to figure out why I’m struggling to lose weight so I’m examining all possibilities. Can’t wait to get the blood results, maybe then I’ll get some answers.

How do I set my daily goal in the app so that it stays at 1500 every day? it keeps changing. I'm at my goal weight.

When I kept losing, I started to slightly increase my calories until I noticed I was staying the same. I knew then more or less how many calories or what I can consume now with my daily exercise regimen & it all balances out. If I splurge for holidays as stated or birthday etc. and eat more or notice a slight increase, I pull in the reigns a bit and/or slightly increase my activity. I give myself a few pounds of fluctuation. It's a win~win. Been maintaining now after losing over 80 pounds for about 1 1/2 years