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

ladybug1620
ladybug1620 Posts: 1,136 Member
edited September 28 in Health and Weight Loss
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)?

Replies

  • HoLLyZ82
    HoLLyZ82 Posts: 467 Member
    bump ;) iwant to read all the responses for this
  • bgeer34
    bgeer34 Posts: 135 Member
    interesting question
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
    bump, hoping for some educated answers to this as well.
  • 1crazymom
    1crazymom Posts: 434 Member
    bump
  • ajbeans
    ajbeans Posts: 2,857 Member
    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.
  • ladybg81
    ladybg81 Posts: 1,553 Member
    LOL!!! I was wondering the same thing!!
  • hroush
    hroush Posts: 2,073 Member
    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.
  • olo567
    olo567 Posts: 50 Member
    Your body will eat away at your muscles more, you may go into starvation mode even though you're above the 1200 limit.
  • aimdawson
    aimdawson Posts: 31
    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.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,336 Member
    Probably you will keep losing weight and eventually become underweight with all its health problems. If you continue in a caloric deficit you will keep losing.
  • EDesq
    EDesq Posts: 1,527 Member
    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."
  • BEERRUNNER
    BEERRUNNER Posts: 3,046 Member
    "maintenance" ?!?!!?!??! on what screen is that on? OH WAIT I havent met my weight yet...ooops hahahahahaha
  • UpToAnyCool
    UpToAnyCool Posts: 1,673
    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:
  • TK266
    TK266 Posts: 3,638 Member
    I am at maintenance now. it does just what it says. it maintains my weight at the same level. at one point i did start to go up a bit again, but switched to "lose 1/2 lbs a week". that worked to bring me back down, but I kept on it for a while and dropped too much weight. so once again I am back on maintenance.

    I still workout almost every day and eat my exercise calories. Now I just need to work on building my strength and muscle mass.

    I am 6'4" and 190 lbs. so losing any more weight really does not help me unless I want to look like Skeletor. :laugh:



    Also this is my anecdotal info, so is is worth the price you paid for it. :happy:
  • wildon883r
    wildon883r Posts: 429 Member
    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.
  • atsteele
    atsteele Posts: 1,358 Member
    I met my goal and then some... went to maintenance and started gaining weight. Go figure. So I set it back losing weight (0.5 lb per week or something like that) and Im back to where I want to be again. And Im not losing any more weight. But I do fluctuage quite a bit (about 3 lbs) during the week due to my exercise routine and carbing up for long runs on weekends.
  • alifer
    alifer Posts: 387 Member
    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!
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