Eating as if I was maintaining goal weight

MaryKatU
MaryKatU Posts: 146
edited September 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I've seen a couple of people post replies saying that one way to lose weight is to set your goals up like you are at your goal weight and trying to maintain. So if I want to be say 125lbs, I would eat what my maintenance calories would be if I was 125lbs and lose until I reached that weight then continue to eat the same amount of calories to maintain. Do any of you do this? If so how is it working for you?

Replies

  • krixi
    krixi Posts: 44 Member
    bump. never thought of doing that, but interesting strategy. interested to see what others have to say,
  • Cookie22684
    Cookie22684 Posts: 585 Member
    bump
  • SheilaSisco
    SheilaSisco Posts: 722 Member
    what krixi said...
  • lclarkjr
    lclarkjr Posts: 359 Member
    I'm not doing this but I have heard this as well and it does make sense. Obviously the weight would come off slower especially the closer you get to your goal, but you would be setting yourself up to eating a certain number of calories that would be easily sustainable. The benefit is that you would be use to eating the number of calories needed to maintain your goal weight so the chance of relapsing and gaining back the weight would be smaller. A common reason dieters gain back weight after they have lost it is because the method used to lose the weight (usually drastic caloric restriction) is not something they are able to maintain for a long period of time. Slow and steady wins the race.
  • mrb_9110
    mrb_9110 Posts: 189 Member
    I'm also interested in seeing if anyone has had success with this.
  • MaryKatU
    MaryKatU Posts: 146
    So I guess not many people are doing this. If you are, please let us know how it is working for you.
  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
    I thought about doing it that way, however that would mean my overall weight loss would be much slower. Instead, I am slowly upping my calories as I inch closer to goal. For instance, I have 11 pounds to go and I now have MFP set at a 0.5 lb/week loss. From here on I will gradually inch closer to maintenance calories.

    It will absolutely work to do it the maintenance way, it may just be slower going. However, there is a better chance you can sustain the weight loss.
  • Yori1
    Yori1 Posts: 142
    Bump
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