What happens if you don't switch over to Maintenance mode?

bump iwant to read all the responses for this

bump, hoping for some educated answers to this as well.

You'll keep losing weight until your body can maintain its weight at the amount of calories you're giving it. So eventually yes, you'll stop losing, but it will probably be at a weight that's lower than healthy.

I'd guess that you'd start burning more and more muscle to decrease your metabolism. Once your metabolism is low enough that you are burning what you are consuming, you probably lose even more muscle with some food converted to fat.

I struggle so much in maintenance. It seems like I am always up 3 down 3. How do you switch to maintenance. Does it give more calories.

IDK if this is a dumb question, but I was thinking about it last night. I know you should change your settings to "maintenance" once you reach your goal. But what happens if you don't? Obviously you won't keep losing and losing until you disappear. So what does happen, anything negative happen to the body, etc. if you continue to stay at a deficit (as long as you stay above 1200 cals I mean)?

My personal belief is that the Body has a mind of its own. It will tell you where it will go (Physiologically speaking) and stay there as long as you give it what it needs nutritionally. If YOU set a "Goal" and reach it, if it is lower than Your Body will accept, you will get hungry, out of Balance and the Body will regain or You will basically become malnourished. If that goal is set higher than the Body "desires" to function, it will continue to lose weight even at NO "deficit."

So, if YOU have reached YOUR weight goal...do what YOU want to do and see how your Body reacts after about 3/4 weeks. Increase calories at 100 calorie increments to see what happens...when your Body stops losing or gaining wt at a particular calorie, exercise and nutrient level...you have Balance.

Remember, Maintenance is a Balancing job for the Body, and may shift 5 lbs. either way at any time because of hormones, water... all sort of things. Goal today may equal 4 lbs. more next week and you ate the same way...So a Goal should be within a "Range," Not a number that if you do not hit everyday or week will send you "reeling."

My biggest fear about what you are describing is....losing muscle mass, thereby slowing your metabolism. :embarassed:

But I would really like to hear what the others are saying... :flowerforyou:

At my heaviest where i ate and drank whatever i wanted my weight never went up. You would think that if you continued to overeat that you would keep gaining but its not always the case. I didn't i maintained at free for all diet. Eating was never meant to be a science. If you eat healthy and eat sensibly i don't think you need to monitor calories once you've adopted healthy eating habits. which most that have reached weight loss goals already have. This is not to say weighing in once a week or month is not ok. People that eat a healthy diet don't generally have weight control problems. Since i know food values, once i get into the jean size goal i'm after i'll know if they start getting two tight that i need to check up.

I'd guess that you'd start burning more and more muscle to decrease your metabolism. Once your metabolism is low enough that you are burning what you are consuming, you probably lose even more muscle with some food converted to fat.

I agree completely. Just what I was going to say. You will start losing muscle - which you should desire to keep!