Still a little to lose, but working up to maintenance mode

ereckless82
ereckless82 Posts: 85 Member
edited February 2016 in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I decided when I hit 10lbs to my goal number, I'd start adding a little more to my calories everyday so as not to shock my system. I've lost almost 75lbs, I was around 1300-1500 calories per day, and not eating my exercise calories back while losing. I've upped my calories to between 1500 and my mfp number of 1630 (set to lose 1lb per week). I still don't eat my exercise calories back, but I have definitely plateaued a bit...and even gained about about a half of a pound. I'm on week 3 of this and it's starting to drive me a little nuts, even though I should trust that everything will move again. Anyone else start slowly adding calories back when close to your goal number? What happened with your numbers?

Replies

  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    My rate of loss matched my calorie deficit but I sometimes have to wait 5 or 6 weeks to even things out between faster than expected loss, weeks of nothing happening at all, unexpected gains & then sudden whooshes.

    Not worrying about half pound gains is good practice for maintenance, it's only equivalent to a glass of water.
  • ereckless82
    ereckless82 Posts: 85 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    My rate of loss matched my calorie deficit but I sometimes have to wait 5 or 6 weeks to even things out between faster than expected loss, weeks of nothing happening at all, unexpected gains & then sudden whooshes.

    Not worrying about half pound gains is good practice for maintenance, it's only equivalent to a glass of water.

    Thanks! I needed that kind of reassurance! It's hard to get out of the frame of mind of losing and switching to still losing, but focusing on how to maintain in the end. I am upping weights to 8lbs during my weight circuits too, so I know that the combo of heavier weights and everything can contribute. I just have a hard time not seeing the scale move like it has while losing all of my pregnancy weight!
  • BurnWithBarn2015
    BurnWithBarn2015 Posts: 1,026 Member
    I started to add slowly too in October 2015 ( a year after i started losing).

    100 calories to my daily allowance for 4 weeks at a time i think. I Kept on losing only slower and slower till i was around the 2000 calories TDEE a day.
    From there it fluctuates..i lose on 2000 calories ( i exercise daily 300 NET calories) but in a very slow rate ( 0.5 to 0.75 lbs a month).
    But it goes up and down so i can be easily 5 pounds up for some weeks and than in the end the average is going down and i end up lower than i was before

    So yes its a mind game and you have to trust it.

    When you at 1500 calories and you lost 1 pound a month then that really means you ate 3500 calories over that month than your maintenance level. So 3500 divided by 30 days is 116 calories less than your normally should eat for maintaining.
    ( this are examples of course you should use your own data)

    So upping slowly is good and you get used to how your body reacts.
    Dont let the scale freak you out, it will come down again!


    I work with a range ( 143-153 lbs i can fluctuate a lot in one night after to much salt.) When my weight dont come down slowly over the next days week i cut a bit.
    When i exercise less i cut a bit
    Most of the time about a 100 calories but nothing more.

    Approx maintaining around 2100 i think. For now i am thinking to go to 139lbs so i stick around that 2000 calories a day.
    And what i do is to see it as a weekly average....so i eat 14000 approx a week. Some days 1500 other days 2500.
    So for my exercise the minimum per week is 2000. Which means some days 200 calories burn other days 400. As long as i end up with an average of 2000 burned per week

    That is all very relaxing and fun. The scale however is playing with your mind. I really had to get used to the up and down game. But as long as the trend is down or sticking around my range i am happy :)

    So congratulations on reaching your almost goal. Relax about it and enjoy the more calories you get. Dont let it drive you nuts ;)


    95069916.png
  • ereckless82
    ereckless82 Posts: 85 Member
    edited February 2016
    BurnWithBarn2015 wrote: »
    I started to add slowly too in October 2015 ( a year after i started losing).

    100 calories to my daily allowance for 4 weeks at a time i think. I Kept on losing only slower and slower till i was around the 2000 calories TDEE a day.
    From there it fluctuates..i lose on 2000 calories ( i exercise daily 300 NET calories) but in a very slow rate ( 0.5 to 0.75 lbs a month).
    But it goes up and down so i can be easily 5 pounds up for some weeks and than in the end the average is going down and i end up lower than i was before

    So yes its a mind game and you have to trust it.

    When you at 1500 calories and you lost 1 pound a month then that really means you ate 3500 calories over that month than your maintenance level. So 3500 divided by 30 days is 116 calories less than your normally should eat for maintaining.
    ( this are examples of course you should use your own data)

    So upping slowly is good and you get used to how your body reacts.
    Dont let the scale freak you out, it will come down again!


    I work with a range ( 143-153 lbs i can fluctuate a lot in one night after to much salt.) When my weight dont come down slowly over the next days week i cut a bit.
    When i exercise less i cut a bit
    Most of the time about a 100 calories but nothing more.

    Approx maintaining around 2100 i think. For now i am thinking to go to 139lbs so i stick around that 2000 calories a day.
    And what i do is to see it as a weekly average....so i eat 14000 approx a week. Some days 1500 other days 2500.
    So for my exercise the minimum per week is 2000. Which means some days 200 calories burn other days 400. As long as i end up with an average of 2000 burned per week

    That is all very relaxing and fun. The scale however is playing with your mind. I really had to get used to the up and down game. But as long as the trend is down or sticking around my range i am happy :)

    So congratulations on reaching your almost goal. Relax about it and enjoy the more calories you get. Dont let it drive you nuts ;)


    95069916.png

    Thank you for your input!! You're right about just trusting it. I know my glycogen stores are replenishing and my body is just kind of like, hey! This isn't what you've been doing for the past couple of years! It's about retraining it to work a little differently. I'm sure things will start moving again because I'm just pretty much eating all of the calories mfp has given me to eat per day with a 1lb a week loss setting. I just don't eat my exercise calories back. The scale can be such an evil thing

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