Question About Maintaining.

sknight1976
sknight1976 Posts: 9
edited 7:59AM in Health and Weight Loss
So based on my body type, my height and age my goal weight is between 125-135 pounds (still about 25-30lbs away) I have seen a lot of progress in the last month, and have dropped about a pound a week pretty steady on a 1200 cal diet and working out 3-4 times a week (sometimes less due to life as a single mom). When I started dieting/changing my lifestyle and at my heviest I was losing 2lbs a week on the 1200 cal diet. Now this has slowed down to about a pound a week, but still losing so I am ok with this, since I can't really eat less than 1200 calories, and I only have so much time to work out, although I would love if I could get in 2 hours every work out, that is not really possible.

Anyway, my question is, once I reach my goal weight will I stick to the 1200 cal diet forever or do I increase my calories to maintain. Per my scale at home right now I burn about 1965 per day, but if I go over 1200 a day, I gain weight, so I want to be prepared to maintain once I reach my goal.

Replies

  • mommiedawn
    mommiedawn Posts: 53 Member
    I don't have the answer but am curious what it is. In theory per all the calculations you calculate the maitenance needs at your final weight.

    But I plan to slowly adjust to stop losing and see how it all goes. With MFP I know I'll have the ability to track it all and understand what works for and against me.
  • bachooka
    bachooka Posts: 719 Member
    If you are gaining weight while you are going over twelve hundred calories... you might be in starvation mode... meaning you should up your calories a bit, YOu will see a gain over the next1-3 weeks but then you will be back to losing the healthy way.

    is 1200 your net or just what you are eating? because you should be NETTING 1200 which means eating back your exercise calories.

    Once you get to maintenence you should be eating maintenence calories.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    You will increase to maintenance calories, which at your goal weight should be around 1800 calories or so. But you should do this slowly, change your goal to 1.5 lbs/week for a few weeks, then to 1 lb/week for a few more weeks and with your last 10-15 lbs you should have your goal set at 0.5 lbs/week.
  • CARNAT22
    CARNAT22 Posts: 764 Member
    I am 1200 to lose but 1500 cals per day to maintain.

    I am alternating between the two at the moment. My body doesn't want to lose those last 2lbs LOL!
  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
    Per my scale at home right now I burn about 1965 per day, but if I go over 1200 a day, I gain weight, so I want to be prepared to maintain once I reach my goal.

    Hmmm...that doesn't sound right.

    I had that problem where I started losing more weight once I ate more because 1200 calories a day was not enough for me. Are you eating any of your exercise calories back? It sounds like you may not be eating enough, which in the long run will mess with your metabolism.
  • sknight1976
    sknight1976 Posts: 9
    Thanks for your comments, :smile: When I started counting calories before I started dieting I was only consuming between 1600 – 1800 per day. My weight would fluctuate between 172 and 168, but never lower then that. My first two weeks of dieting I stuck to a 1500 calorie diet, and I did not lose anything. I then went to the 1200 – 1300 and this is when I started see results. So I don't think the "starvation mode" is an issue. I have no problem adding healthy snacks if I am hungry. I try to eat before I am hungry to keep my metabolism high.

    When I get closer to my goal weight, I will slowly start increasing my calories to see how that goes, and just watch and see what happens. If I start to gain, I will just cut them back to what works.
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