Scared

sammday5
sammday5 Posts: 36 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Evening everyone I am 3 pound off my target and nearly ready to maintain but I am scared terrified in fact that I will gain weight as the calories are a lot more than I have now do people gradual increase there calories to maintain or just jump straight in help please

Replies

  • vivmom2014
    vivmom2014 Posts: 1,649 Member
    Don't be frightened. Your work paid off! You're almost there!

    Add calories gradually, maybe 100 at a time. Try out for a few weeks, see what you think. Add more.
  • briscogun
    briscogun Posts: 1,138 Member
    edited March 2016
    Yep, been there. Maintenance messed with my head worse than losing did!

    Add some calories back in slowly. Then see what the scale does after a few weeks. If you are still losing, add a few more.

    A few things:
    • You will gain weight. Maybe a pound here, maybe a pound there. And guess what? You'll lose it here and lose it there. Your weight is not static, it will fluctuate. This is part of your new life! Congrats! You earned it!
    • I started adjusting my calories by having full flavored options instead of the light versions. Butter, cream, sour cream, cheese, yogurt, etc. It was the easiest way to add calories in without having to eat more food.
    • Give yourself permission to start eating more and enjoying more! This was hard for me to do because I was so used to denying myself everything! Last weekend I had pizza and a beer. I lost weight. Welcome to maintenance!
    • Set new goals! Like fitness related goals you can do with that new body! Run a 5K! Swim! Take up hiking! Canoeing! Skiing! Something to focus on besides the scale! This was really important for me!

    Just take it easy and enjoy! You worked hard to get here, now enjoy the next phase!
  • marma_13
    marma_13 Posts: 9 Member
    I have been maintaining for 16 years. At first I was able to add additional amounts of food/calories to my daily routine without trouble. As I aged, I found I had to decrease the amount in order to maintain, but that was not a big deal for me. In my experience a little fear has been a good thing. The fear helped keep me vigilant long enough to realize that I really was maintaining. There are times when I'm up a little and then, with a little re-focus, I go back down. Some people make small rules for themselves. One rule that works for me is that a three pound gain doesn't really count until the third day. On the third day I own it. I suspect you will find your own weight management rules that work for you. Best of luck to you. It will be a wonderful voyage of self-discovery.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    I think a lot of people are afraid. I was. It's been four years and I am still in the same 5 pound range I set for myself when I stopped losing. I'm 5'10. My goal was to stay in a 150-155 pound range. I celebrated when I hit 155 but stayed at a deficit until I got to 150. Those last 5 pounds took forever. Then I upped by 250 calories to see what happened. I maintained for a year then suddenly dropped more weight and upped my calories another 250 - so no deficit. After a year a half I drifted up a 2 pounds and I put that 250 calorie deficit back in and I'm still in the range.

    I'm still logging. It hasn't been hard. It just takes persistence. The goal is not to take the weight. It's to stay at this weight forever. I celebrate every morning when I hit the scale.
  • sammday5
    sammday5 Posts: 36 Member
    Morning guys thank you this is great help I feel a little less scared when you all upped your calories say by 100 was that per day or over the week thank you again
  • 5stringjeff
    5stringjeff Posts: 790 Member
    It's an increase in your daily calorie intake. The increases are done once a week until you reach your maintenance calorie level.

    Also, do you have a target range? That's preferable to a target number, because our weight fluctuates daily based on things other than calorie intake. So a 2-3 pound increase is nothing to be overly concerned about.
  • llbrixon
    llbrixon Posts: 964 Member
    The thing with maintenance is you do not stop! Just because you lost all the weight does not mean that you are finished with MFP! Your real job starts and that is maintenance! Set goals, continue to log foods watch those calories and see what happens. Continue the exercise. Continue doing what you have been doing, but with different rules.
  • pinkteapot3
    pinkteapot3 Posts: 157 Member
    Something that can help is to think about what you ate before MFP. What a day's food looked like when you were gaining weight. Then diarise a day's food at maintenance calories. It will be less. While it's more calories than you're used to from losing, it's still going to be less than you used to eat, so you won't gain weight again. :smile:
  • briscogun
    briscogun Posts: 1,138 Member
    llbrixon wrote: »
    The thing with maintenance is you do not stop! Just because you lost all the weight does not mean that you are finished with MFP! Your real job starts and that is maintenance! Set goals, continue to log foods watch those calories and see what happens. Continue the exercise. Continue doing what you have been doing, but with different rules.

    There is much truth here. It's like a relationship: getting married is one thing, but staying married is work! Losing the weight is Stage One, but keeping it off...? That's a lifelong commitment that takes effort and you have to work at. You can't ignore your significant other after you get married, and you can't ignore your health and calories taken in once you get to maintenance. It just takes a little trial and error, and a little thought and effort, but its much more fun and much more rewarding!
  • sammday5
    sammday5 Posts: 36 Member
    Thank you guys this has helped massively I had my goal set at 2 lb loss so I have now moved this to one pound loss then when I hit target will increase by 100 a day to see how I go pleased I have stuck to this and this site is great thank you all so much
  • KareninLux
    KareninLux Posts: 1,413 Member
    brian_gunther wrote: »
    Yep, been there. Maintenance messed with my head worse than losing did!

    Add some calories back in slowly. Then see what the scale does after a few weeks. If you are still losing, add a few more.

    A few things:
    • You will gain weight. Maybe a pound here, maybe a pound there. And guess what? You'll lose it here and lose it there. Your weight is not static, it will fluctuate. This is part of your new life! Congrats! You earned it!
    • I started adjusting my calories by having full flavored options instead of the light versions. Butter, cream, sour cream, cheese, yogurt, etc. It was the easiest way to add calories in without having to eat more food.
    • Give yourself permission to start eating more and enjoying more! This was hard for me to do because I was so used to denying myself everything! Last weekend I had pizza and a beer. I lost weight. Welcome to maintenance!
    • Set new goals! Like fitness related goals you can do with that new body! Run a 5K! Swim! Take up hiking! Canoeing! Skiing! Something to focus on besides the scale! This was really important for me!

    Just take it easy and enjoy! You worked hard to get here, now enjoy the next phase!

    Really great advice here.
  • rsclause
    rsclause Posts: 3,103 Member
    Readjust your numbers based on your activity level and new weight. Then just keep an eye on calories and the scale, adjust as needed. Just don't start having cheat weeks.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    sammday5 wrote: »
    Morning guys thank you this is great help I feel a little less scared when you all upped your calories say by 100 was that per day or over the week thank you again

    I added 250 extra a day. So I started by going from 1230 to 1480. Then I'd add exercise on top of that.
  • sammday5
    sammday5 Posts: 36 Member
    Thank you guys defo no cheat weeks for me worked to hard this is now a life long change so happy lowest I have ever been thank you all again

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