Time to go maintenance!?!

HealthyHappy619
HealthyHappy619 Posts: 17 Member
edited November 21 in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I am happy to report that I have officially reached my goal!!! I have lost 20lbs over the last 3 months (a little fast I know, but I have my high school reunion this weekend :D ). I plan to loose 3 or 4lbs more over the next month to have a little wiggle room for when I "go maintenance" (aka stay in the 145-150lb range).

I'd like some advice on the best way to successfully transition from calorie reduction to maintenance. I have way too many questions... Should I increase my calories? Reduce exercise? Both? How long should I plan for the transition to take?

Most importantly - What worked best for you all?

MFP and this community has been an invaluable tool for my weight loss journey. Thank you all for your help!

My deets:
F/5'9"/35
SW:170
CW:149
GW:145-150
Desk job
Exercise 5ish days per week (cardio & body weight exercises)
Eating an average of 1200-1400 calories/day + 1 or 2 days each week at 1800-2200calories

Replies

  • Cortneyrenee04
    Cortneyrenee04 Posts: 1,117 Member
    Congrats on reaching your goal!

    I haven't transitioned to maintenance yet (will be soon!) but I've been trying to do some research. I've read that some people wait a few weeks after reaching their goal weight to raise their calories, to kind of "settle in" to their new weight. I'm thinking this is the approach I'll use... then, raise daily calories by 100 to 200.

    The length of the transition is totally up to you. You could raise your calories up to your presumed maintenance calorie goal, or raise them gradually and see when you stop losing weight. I exercise a lot, too, and won't be reducing that in maintenance. Not sure what most people do there, though!
  • kirstens1984
    kirstens1984 Posts: 96 Member
    Congratulations!

    When losing weight, I was eating "net" calories of 1200 and exercising 5 times a week (I did eat back my exercise calories). I would say that you just need to increase your net calories, so as long as you record your exercises and eat back the extra calories you should maintain. There's a bit of trial and error though - I now net 1500 cal per day (which is what MFP recommended) but still lose weight (albeit slowly) so I'm gradually increasing until I maintain. I don't mind this at all as I love food! I do still exercise but 4 times per week so that I can have Friday to Sunday off :)

    Hope that helps x
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    Congratulations! What I did was to stay on my 500 calorie deficit until I had hit the bottom of my goal weight range. So I wanted to be in the 150-155 goal range. I celebrated when I hit 155 but stayed on the deficit until I hit 150.

    My weight loss had slowed by the time I hit 150, so I just upped 250 calories to see how that went. I stayed stable so I stayed at that calorie level until I started to lose again (it took a year). Then I added more calories.

    I also bought a fitbit zip ($39 on ebay) because my steps and exercise vary a lot day-to-day. I tried to hit 10K steps every day and I ate back my calories.

    When you go up to maintenance, enjoy those extra calories! Don't just add carbs - they make you bloat and add water weight. Add some protein too. Remember your goal is to stay at the low weight forever, not just hit that goal and bounce back up. Every day you step on that scale and you're still in your range, it's a success.

    (3 years on maintenance and counting)
  • 20yearsyounger
    20yearsyounger Posts: 1,630 Member
    HealthyHappy619 wrote: »
    I am happy to report that I have officially reached my goal!!! I have lost 20lbs over the last 3 months (a little fast I know, but I have my high school reunion this weekend :D ). I plan to loose 3 or 4lbs more over the next month to have a little wiggle room for when I "go maintenance" (aka stay in the 145-150lb range).

    I'd like some advice on the best way to successfully transition from calorie reduction to maintenance. I have way too many questions... Should I increase my calories? Reduce exercise? Both? How long should I plan for the transition to take?

    Most importantly - What worked best for you all?

    MFP and this community has been an invaluable tool for my weight loss journey. Thank you all for your help!

    My deets:
    F/5'9"/35
    SW:170
    CW:149
    GW:145-150
    Desk job
    Exercise 5ish days per week (cardio & body weight exercises)
    Eating an average of 1200-1400 calories/day + 1 or 2 days each week at 1800-2200calories

    How many calories would you say your burn exercising 5 days a week? I found that the mental transition was much harder than the physical one. There is this thought in the back of your head that if you raise your calories you are going to go straight back to where you started from. I wouldn't worry about the time right now. Just raise your calorie goal by 100 each week until you are comfortable.
  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
    Eat at TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) When calories in= calories out you are in maintenance. I've been in maintenance for a year. Sadly, though I still need to lose another 40 lbs. lol. To figure your TDEE you can use the calculator here.

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
  • HealthyHappy619
    HealthyHappy619 Posts: 17 Member
    Thank you all for your advice. I really appreciate it!
  • RaspberryTickleChicken
    RaspberryTickleChicken Posts: 629 Member
    Congrats!

    Re-calculate your TDEE and like a herd of turtle slow increase your calories to your new TDEE.

    Good luck!
  • EnriqueLuviano
    EnriqueLuviano Posts: 16 Member
    You need to reverse diet, until you stop losing weight. Depending on your macros add about 5-7g of carbs a day about 50g a week. Reverse dieting is the best way to keep from gaining weight.
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