How do you know when to begin maintaining weight?

soccerkon26 · June 2016

SW: 138
CW: 130.5
GW: ?
5'5 Female 23 years old
Had MFP set to .5 lb per week, but this loss has been within 8 weeks. It averages to about 1 lb per week. Although I've had a few binge days, I try to not eat all of my exercise calories.

My goal weight used to be 130, but now I'm not sure. I may try to lose a few more lbs and increase the amount I lift. But I'm wondering that since my loss is pretty fast, should I eat all of my exercise calories? Or should I still eat around half but increase to maintenance calories? Or should I continue what I've been doing until I reach a new goal weight (which I'm unsure of what I want that to be)?

My main concern is that the last few times I got to this weight, I ruined it and gained it all back. Though, I think the reason for that is because I went on vacation immediately afterward both times and ate everything in sight. This time it's different.

I'm just trying to figure out the best way to make this a lifestyle change, and not just another phase. I love how I feel and I don't want to stop, and I don't want to sabotage myself! But I also don't want to get too skinny.

Owlfan88 · June 2016

I can't really help with what you want your final weight to be, but I would definitely suggest slowing down the loss and eating more. For *me* I found it easier to set to maintain and then maybe eat back exercise calories or not, because then I know how many minimum calories I've got to work with. I think increase to maintenance and then eat back half while lifting more sounds good. You may continue to lose, but not as fast and you can see how happy you are with this weight and size. I found my shape still shifted a bit with continued exercise even after I stopped trying to lose. Good luck

KassiesJourney · June 2016

Personally I would say continue to lose until you are comfortable. Once you are comfy then change the calorie settings to maintain your current weight and see how that works for you. There isn't a specific time or weight.

Cortneyrenee04 · June 2016

I'd go a few more pounds down so you have some wiggle room. That's my plan, at least. And I would up your calories until you're at/under goal for a few weeks. I fluctuate down so pretty often so I want to make sure it's a real loss before upping my calories. Good luck

Spliner1969 · June 2016

I set my final goal at a little less than the normal BMI limit. Then I switched slowly to maintenance calories, and continued the same exercise/physical activity I was doing. Took a few weeks for my body to adjust, I saw a few pounds pile on (like 5 or less at first) but even with that because I was under the normal BMI range I never went back to overweight. Within 30 days or so, I was able to ramp up to maintenance calories and have resumed losing weight (probably because I'm doing more weight training now). So if it were me, I'd look at what weight you need to be to be considered a normal BMI, go at least 5+ pounds under that, then when you switch to maintenance calories add them back very slowly and either increase physical activity or keep it the same. Your goal should be to maintain good fitness as well as the weight. If you see the weight jump slightly at first don't panic, keep an eye on it over 30 days and see where you are. If it's still climbing or gets back to the overweight BMI then back off on the calories and/or increase exercise to compensate. Find your happy place which will consist of the right amount of exercise you want to do going forward vs the amount of calories you want to maintain. It may take months to figure all that out. I still have not figured out mine completely, but will probably beein the 2500-2800 a day calorie range and 5 days a week of 45 minutes of exercise. At least that's what I'm shooting for; I'm not there yet, but I am still maintaining a normal BMI. I eventually figure I'll settle in at around 10-15 pounds under the high limit for normal BMI in my height range, and be happy with it.

AnnPT77 · June 2016

How one wants to feel and look is very individual, and the same weight can look very different on different people because of their body types (wide or narrow pelvis, large or small breasts, very muscular or less so, etc.) And personal preference does enter into it, too.

If your goals are performance related, consider how your current weight affects your workouts. If your goals are health related, look at blood pressure, blood tests, need for metabolism-related medications, etc. If your goals are appearance-related, have someone take photos of you from various angles, and see what you think. Could be gain/lose a bit, could be add some muscle, who knows.

My initial goal was 130, but as I got close I realized I wanted to go a bit lower. One morning, I literally woke up and said to myself "OK, I'm there."

But I'd strongly encourage you to cut your loss rate now, since you're so close to goal. You're losing more than you'd estimated, which implies that eventually you can eat more calories than you might've thought in order to maintain (that's a win!). You certainly don't want to lose any more than the minimum of lean body mass by losing too fast for your current body weight.

Also, by coasting gradually into maintenance, you can maximize learning about how to eat when you do reach maintenance. (By "coast into maintenance, I mean adding 100 calories or so a day, evaluating for a week or two, adding more if you're still losing, etc.)

86rollyb · June 2016

I'm pretty much in the same boat as you

5'5 and range between 126-129 depending on the day... i'm also not sure if i want to lose anymore.... i still feel flabby although I've started getting a lot of "you're getting TOO skinny" comments. I feel like another 5 would be nice! But I've switched to maintenance and am focusing on exercise for now and will reassess when summer is over

i don't generally eat back exercise calories... but sometimes I'm over so I think it probably evens out!

sijomial · June 2016

As you are losing faster than you want to then raising calories is the obvious thing to do.
Whether you call them exercise calories or not is semantics!
You don't mention what your exercise is or how you estimate your calories but something is wrong with your estimating whether exercise logging, activity setting or food logging.

Why not add 250 cals a day if you still want to nibble away a few pounds slowly?

My main concern is that the last few times I got to this weight, I ruined it and gained it all back.

So start learning how to maintain by getting closer to maintenance calories and not have such a big jump from dieting to maintaining.
You don't have to decide what your goal weight is now, give yourself time to get used to the new you and then reassess.

How do you know when to begin maintaining weight?

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