Introductions and questions.

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UninterestedSam
UninterestedSam Posts: 3 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Hey my name is Sam, I picked my username because it is what I said years ago to a friend who tried to get me into fitness. Well I am 30kg down now and feeling great. I've been on a slow cut for so long I don't actually know how to eat at maintenance... I just hit my goal weight of 72kg at 170cm tall and 21 years old, I think it's a perfect weight.

So now for my questions:
-Is it fine to add back the 500 calories I cut straight away?
-When eating at maintenance do I have to hit the EXACT number of calories every day? (If I eat either side I will technically be in deficit or surplus right?)
-I find it really hard to hit my macros, I am always 35+ grams away from my protein goal, how much will that effect me?
-If I am eating at maintenance with this little annoying pouch of fat still attached to me, will it never go away unless I do another cut?

I think that is all for now, if I think of anything else I will edit it in. Thanks in advance.

Replies

  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
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    Welcome Sam,

    Congratulations on all your progress so far, it sounds like you worked hard and gotten great results. Since all of your questions have to do with maintaining your new healthy weight I wanted to point you in the direction of one of our other boards- Goal: Maintaining Weight. You will probably find the answers to alot of your questions there, or get better answers to your questions by posting them there. I also tagged one of the guide posts from that board, it includes links to 4 posts maintainers have found the most helpful, I hope they help you out too.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300324/most-helpful-posts-goal-maintaining-weight-must-reads#latest

    ~best wishes
  • UninterestedSam
    UninterestedSam Posts: 3 Member
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    4legsRbetterthan2 wrote: »
    Welcome Sam,

    Congratulations on all your progress so far, it sounds like you worked hard and gotten great results. Since all of your questions have to do with maintaining your new healthy weight I wanted to point you in the direction of one of our other boards- Goal: Maintaining Weight. You will probably find the answers to alot of your questions there, or get better answers to your questions by posting them there. I also tagged one of the guide posts from that board, it includes links to 4 posts maintainers have found the most helpful, I hope they help you out too.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300324/most-helpful-posts-goal-maintaining-weight-must-reads#latest

    ~best wishes

    So I should just copy paste this into the maintenance board? Am I allowed to do that?
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
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    @UninterestedSam I am just going to move it over since you still are not getting much help on this board.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
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    -Is it fine to add back the 500 calories I cut straight away?
    Yes it is. You might get a bounce in weight out of proportion to your extra calories, you might not.
    You can also add calories week by week. Long term if makes no difference how you find your maintenance calories. By the way set a goal weight range, not a single number.

    -When eating at maintenance do I have to hit the EXACT number of calories every day? (If I eat either side I will technically be in deficit or surplus right?)
    No. Evens out over any timeframe you choose. It's not uncommon for people to regard calories as a weekly allowance that you can budget any way suits you. Think of what is sustainable long term, I would feel horribly restricted thinking I had to be precise every day.

    -I find it really hard to hit my macros, I am always 35+ grams away from my protein goal, how much will that effect me?
    Depends if your protein goal is an appropriate one and also your activity/exercise/lifestyle. Having a larger calorie allowance will help of course to get more protein in. You don't have to stick to fixed ratios/percentages.

    -If I am eating at maintenance with this little annoying pouch of fat still attached to me, will it never go away unless I do another cut?
    No you don't have to cut - your body eventually reflects your lifestyle / exercise. Have a look for the recomp thread in this forum - worth skim reading. Being young and male is a huge advantage if you want to change your body composition.

    Congrats on your achievement Sam.

  • UninterestedSam
    UninterestedSam Posts: 3 Member
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    sijomial wrote: »
    -Is it fine to add back the 500 calories I cut straight away?
    Yes it is. You might get a bounce in weight out of proportion to your extra calories, you might not.
    You can also add calories week by week. Long term if makes no difference how you find your maintenance calories. By the way set a goal weight range, not a single number.

    -I find it really hard to hit my macros, I am always 35+ grams away from my protein goal, how much will that effect me?
    Depends if your protein goal is an appropriate one and also your activity/exercise/lifestyle. Having a larger calorie allowance will help of course to get more protein in. You don't have to stick to fixed ratios/percentages.

    So, for the goal weight range, how does 71kg-73kg sound? I have no idea what the best weight for me would be so I am just guessing.

    Also, I think MFP has it set up that my percentages for macros are 50% carbs, 20% fat and 30% protein, I don't know if these are good or not, I haven't really done much research into macros to be honest.

    Just a side note, my weight is still going down, which means I get to eat more food!

    Thanks for the reply.



  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
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    UninterestedSam wrote: »
    sijomial wrote: »
    -Is it fine to add back the 500 calories I cut straight away?
    Yes it is. You might get a bounce in weight out of proportion to your extra calories, you might not.
    You can also add calories week by week. Long term if makes no difference how you find your maintenance calories. By the way set a goal weight range, not a single number.

    -I find it really hard to hit my macros, I am always 35+ grams away from my protein goal, how much will that effect me?
    Depends if your protein goal is an appropriate one and also your activity/exercise/lifestyle. Having a larger calorie allowance will help of course to get more protein in. You don't have to stick to fixed ratios/percentages.

    So, for the goal weight range, how does 71kg-73kg sound? I have no idea what the best weight for me would be so I am just guessing.

    Also, I think MFP has it set up that my percentages for macros are 50% carbs, 20% fat and 30% protein, I don't know if these are good or not, I haven't really done much research into macros to be honest.

    Just a side note, my weight is still going down, which means I get to eat more food!

    Thanks for the reply.

    Daily/weekly fluctuations are very variable - my weight jumps around all over the place, a colleague never varies more than a few hundred grams.

    This is a great read - tells you all you need to know about macros:
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets/p1
  • ercarroll311
    ercarroll311 Posts: 295 Member
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    So now for my questions:
    -Is it fine to add back the 500 calories I cut straight away?
    It is, but it might be better to do it a couple hundred at a time for two reasons: 1) it'll be a less drastic change for you, helping to avoid going overboard; and 2) it may help you decide exactly where your maintenance level is (mine surprised me)
    -When eating at maintenance do I have to hit the EXACT number of calories every day? (If I eat either side I will technically be in deficit or surplus right?)
    No! I always am a little under during the week and over on the weekend to accommodate events and being able to have date nights/etc
    -I find it really hard to hit my macros, I am always 35+ grams away from my protein goal, how much will that effect me?
    It won't weight-wise, but I found much better results with exercise and muscle tone by reaching my protein goals.
    -If I am eating at maintenance with this little annoying pouch of fat still attached to me, will it never go away unless I do another cut?
    Probably not, honestly, unless you do recomp. I had the same little pooch until I adjusted my exercise and met my macros, giving me stomach definition rather than a pooch.

    hope that helps!

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