Help I'm Scared to Go Into Maintenance
pkweier
Posts: 349 Member
These are my stats:
SW 330 Jan 2016
CW 165.6
GW 165
59 female
5'5 Tall
I've been done this road many times and this time I want to make it stick. I'm scared I won't handle maintenance right as I have not before. Not to sure what I need to do to make it stick this time around . TDEE says I can eat 1589 MFP says 1660 at goal weight. I have it set for the lowest setting. I walk about 2 to 2 and half hours each day between 12 -15 thousands step each day. Right now I eat between 1000 to 1100 calories a day if I do eat 1200 which I know I should I feel stuffed. I'm scared that if I do eat 1500 calories I will gain weight back which will start me on a downward spiral. Any advice on how to start to maintain would make me grateful
Thanks in advance.
SW 330 Jan 2016
CW 165.6
GW 165
59 female
5'5 Tall
I've been done this road many times and this time I want to make it stick. I'm scared I won't handle maintenance right as I have not before. Not to sure what I need to do to make it stick this time around . TDEE says I can eat 1589 MFP says 1660 at goal weight. I have it set for the lowest setting. I walk about 2 to 2 and half hours each day between 12 -15 thousands step each day. Right now I eat between 1000 to 1100 calories a day if I do eat 1200 which I know I should I feel stuffed. I'm scared that if I do eat 1500 calories I will gain weight back which will start me on a downward spiral. Any advice on how to start to maintain would make me grateful
Thanks in advance.
5
Replies
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You're eating 1100 now and believe that 1500 is your maintenance number. Then you shouldn't be making that jump all at once, but instead do it 100 or so calories at a time (Spend a week or so at each new level). Use snacks to add in instead of more food at meals, and trust me, you will get used to more calories. It's more mental than you might think.8
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I agree with adding about 100 calories to your daily goal and sticking to that for a week or two before you nudge up another 100 calories.
Moving from weight loss to maintenance will replenish your glycogen stores and that will likely result in a few extra pounds. If you want to aim for 165 as your maintenance, you may want to lose down to 162 or so before you shift gears.
The math works in maintenance just like it did in weight loss. You'll need to experiment to find your personal maintenance calorie level. Keep in mind that maintenance weight is a range rather than one specific number. You won't regain as long as you stick to your calorie plan. Regain comes from exceeding maintenance calories and a lot of regain comes from exceeding maintenance calories for a long time. If you creep above your chosen maintenance range, go on a small deficit (like 250 calories a day) until you get back where you want to be.6 -
Thank you for your help. I did think about going to 160 and use the 160-165 as my range. I like the idea about adding 100 calories at a time. Yes 1500 is my maintenance number according to TDEE4
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I am 5ft5 and 134lbs and lose slowly on net 1600 so i doubt that is actually maintenance for you.
Up your cals slowly 100 cals a week by adding my calorie dense foods. Swap anything low fat for full fat, and my personal favourite, peanut butter!0 -
TavistockToad wrote: »I am 5ft5 and 134lbs and lose slowly on net 1600 so i doubt that is actually maintenance for you.
Up your cals slowly 100 cals a week by adding my calorie dense foods. Swap anything low fat for full fat, and my personal favourite, peanut butter!
Thanks and I love peanut butter also.0 -
When I switched to maintenance, I added calories back little by little, not all at once. As others have said, just add 100 calories each week to your goal until you find your happy place. It may not be exactly where MFP predicts, anyway. It's a bit of a trial and error. And don't be scared. If you find yourself gaining at some point, you know what to do. Just get back on your program. Good luck!
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When I switched to maintenance, I added calories back little by little, not all at once. As others have said, just add 100 calories each week to your goal until you find your happy place. It may not be exactly where MFP predicts, anyway. It's a bit of a trial and error. And don't be scared. If you find yourself gaining at some point, you know what to do. Just get back on your program. Good luck!
Thanks for the encouraging advice. I know have a plan which will help.1 -
Amazing! The party is at your house!
Getting to eat a few more calories is sweet.
Anyway, my mantra is "just keep logging." You may get a little bounce when you go out of deficit (~2lbs), not to worry.
Things to think about: what can you do now that you couldn't do then? Whatever it is, I hope you do it!3 -
I share your worries. It happens to me when I started maintenance
I guess the most important thing is to internalize that starting maintenance is not the end of the journey. THIS is a continuation, and the key to not waste all previous effort.
Not being the end of the journey can be translated as not the end of logging, and this is the key.
In my case I decided for the big bang, I calculated my maintenance level and sticked to it, logging with the same accuracy as always. If something is wrong, my scale will let me know
I can say that so far so good, no change in the scale and a lot less effort on keeping my goals.
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Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »Amazing! The party is at your house!
Getting to eat a few more calories is sweet.
Anyway, my mantra is "just keep logging." You may get a little bounce when you go out of deficit (~2lbs), not to worry.
Things to think about: what can you do now that you couldn't do then? Whatever it is, I hope you do it!
Thanks my plan was to keep logging. I only joined MFP end of March after I was at a stale mate and someone told me about it. I lost 20 pounds since then. I log everything and weigh all my food which I will continue to do2 -
I share your worries. It happens to me when I started maintenance
I guess the most important thing is to internalize that starting maintenance is not the end of the journey. THIS is a continuation, and the key to not waste all previous effort.
Not being the end of the journey can be translated as not the end of logging, and this is the key.
In my case I decided for the big bang, I calculated my maintenance level and sticked to it, logging with the same accuracy as always. If something is wrong, my scale will let me know
I can say that so far so good, no change in the scale and a lot less effort on keeping my goals.
This was my issue before when I lost weight I stopped the journey, your right it is a continuation in a different way. I will keep on logging as it holds me accountable and I can see what I am eating.0 -
I you can lose 165#, you can do anything!
Just look at maintenance as a new goal, continue to log everything you eat and weigh yourself daily. If daily wt variations bug you, use Excel or another program to compute and track a 7 or 15 day moving average which will smooth out the variations.
If your weight creeps up, cut back. If it drops, eat a bit more. After some trial andd error, you'll find the amount of cals that will allow you to maintain your weigh where it is now or where you'd like it to be.
I'm sure that you can do it. Good luck!1 -
I you can lose 165#, you can do anything!
Just look at maintenance as a new goal, continue to log everything you eat and weigh yourself daily. If daily wt variations bug you, use Excel or another program to compute and track a 7 or 15 day moving average which will smooth out the variations.
If your weight creeps up, cut back. If it drops, eat a bit more. After some trial andd error, you'll find the amount of cals that will allow you to maintain your weigh where it is now or where you'd like it to be.
I'm sure that you can do it. Good luck!
Thank you for the encouragement I do weight myself every day and I must admit till I started reading the posts about how weight changes daily due to many different things it has eased my mind. I have weekly weigh in on Sunday and keep track of it the old fashion way pen and paper. Looking back since I started I can see where some weeks I only lose a few ounces and the next week 2 pounds. My goal now is to get somewhere between 160-165 and stay there. In a few months I might try to loose another 10 pounds although for now I'm at a happy place.
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I lost the last 30+ on Weight Watchers. I was counting points, not calories. But this is how it worked for me.
My goal was 184lbs, the highest acceptable weight for me for WW Lifetime. Made that. Ate more but kept tracking. Kept losing. All the way to 169lbs. Decided I didn't like that, added food until I hit about 178. Kept tracking for about 4 1/2 more years until they changed all the points and I learned to maintain without tracking.
What I'm trying to say is, I think your weight loss program is a good as your tracking. Add some calories and keep tracking. So long as tracking remains a habit, the rest is just adjusting to suit yourself.1 -
I lost the last 30+ on Weight Watchers. I was counting points, not calories. But this is how it worked for me.
My goal was 184lbs, the highest acceptable weight for me for WW Lifetime. Made that. Ate more but kept tracking. Kept losing. All the way to 169lbs. Decided I didn't like that, added food until I hit about 178. Kept tracking for about 4 1/2 more years until they changed all the points and I learned to maintain without tracking.
What I'm trying to say is, I think your weight loss program is a good as your tracking. Add some calories and keep tracking. So long as tracking remains a habit, the rest is just adjusting to suit yourself.
Thank you and I agree about the tracking it will be a lifetime habit for me0 -
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Thank you Mystic I'm sure I'm going to need it as I start another journey in life. I don't know how it will feel being at a good weight as I battled this monster all my life.3
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These are my stats:
SW 330 Jan 2016
CW 165.6
GW 165
59 female
5'5 Tall
I've been done this road many times and this time I want to make it stick. I'm scared I won't handle maintenance right as I have not before. Not to sure what I need to do to make it stick this time around . TDEE says I can eat 1589 MFP says 1660 at goal weight. I have it set for the lowest setting. I walk about 2 to 2 and half hours each day between 12 -15 thousands step each day. Right now I eat between 1000 to 1100 calories a day if I do eat 1200 which I know I should I feel stuffed. I'm scared that if I do eat 1500 calories I will gain weight back which will start me on a downward spiral. Any advice on how to start to maintain would make me grateful
Thanks in advance.
It took me 2 1/2 years to lose 150 lbs and every day I thought about maintenance, trying to figure out what had gone wrong before and what I would do differently this time. My pattern was always to gain 5-10 lbs per yer, for many many years. Small annual gains never seemed like a big deal, until you come to grips with the result when this happens for 25 years.
I've been in maintenance since last fall. I weigh daily, log in Happy Scale & Libra. I set a 5 lb maintenance range and when I get to the top of that, I cut back a little bit on my intake. This has meant eating about the same during the week as when I was losing, but eating out a bit more on weekends. That's where my calories add up, despite following many of the eating out tips. So if I need to cut, I basically reduce our eating out or try to be extra vigilant about what I order, how much of the served portion I eat, etc. So far, I'm at the exact same weight I was last Sept., with daily fluctuations of course. I celebrated my 40th anniversary and was able to fit into my wedding dress and my skinny mother's wedding dress from 1949!
Remember, if you start to gain (more than normal fluctuations) you don't have to keep eating at the same level, you can make adjustments! You will need to think about where you have failed in maintenance before and come up with a plan to address that weakness.7 -
These are my stats:
SW 330 Jan 2016
CW 165.6
GW 165
59 female
5'5 Tall
I've been done this road many times and this time I want to make it stick. I'm scared I won't handle maintenance right as I have not before. Not to sure what I need to do to make it stick this time around . TDEE says I can eat 1589 MFP says 1660 at goal weight. I have it set for the lowest setting. I walk about 2 to 2 and half hours each day between 12 -15 thousands step each day. Right now I eat between 1000 to 1100 calories a day if I do eat 1200 which I know I should I feel stuffed. I'm scared that if I do eat 1500 calories I will gain weight back which will start me on a downward spiral. Any advice on how to start to maintain would make me grateful
Thanks in advance.
It took me 2 1/2 years to lose 150 lbs and every day I thought about maintenance, trying to figure out what had gone wrong before and what I would do differently this time. My pattern was always to gain 5-10 lbs per yer, for many many years. Small annual gains never seemed like a big deal, until you come to grips with the result when this happens for 25 years.
I've been in maintenance since last fall. I weigh daily, log in Happy Scale & Libra. I set a 5 lb maintenance range and when I get to the top of that, I cut back a little bit on my intake. This has meant eating about the same during the week as when I was losing, but eating out a bit more on weekends. That's where my calories add up, despite following many of the eating out tips. So if I need to cut, I basically reduce our eating out or try to be extra vigilant about what I order, how much of the served portion I eat, etc. So far, I'm at the exact same weight I was last Sept., with daily fluctuations of course. I celebrated my 40th anniversary and was able to fit into my wedding dress and my skinny mother's wedding dress from 1949!
Remember, if you start to gain (more than normal fluctuations) you don't have to keep eating at the same level, you can make adjustments! You will need to think about where you have failed in maintenance before and come up with a plan to address that weakness.
Thanks you so much for your inspiration. I eat out a lot and have since my journey. I have learned what works and what doesn't. 5 pounds is gonna be my range also. I just need to let it go any further than that.2 -
I didn't have the large amount of weight to lose that you did. I lost 70+ pounds a couple of years ago and have been on maintenance since maybe May 2015. I may be an anomaly since I continued to lose weight for quite some time once I "called" maintenance (probably 20 more pounds). I have since stabilized and have found my "me" weight. It can be tough either way.
No matter what happens, you certainly have the tools to be where you want. Best wishes in your success.
P.S. I eat out a little more often when my weight dips.0 -
I didn't have the large amount of weight to lose that you did. I lost 70+ pounds a couple of years ago and have been on maintenance since maybe May 2015. I may be an anomaly since I continued to lose weight for quite some time once I "called" maintenance (probably 20 more pounds). I have since stabilized and have found my "me" weight. It can be tough either way.
No matter what happens, you certainly have the tools to be where you want. Best wishes in your success.
P.S. I eat out a little more often when my weight dips.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts0 -
Here is an article that was a real wake up call for me. I am 5 pounds from my goal weight and like you really scared about gaining it all back and then some. It has happened before, several times. At 48, I feel like this is it, the next time will be more difficult if not impossible.
https://www.livescience.com/53863-best-way-keep-weight-off.html
The big take aways were that:
1) former chubby people needed to always have a lower calorie number than those that never had to lose the weight.
2) former chubby people needed to exercise more than those that never had to lose the weight
The science is that your body always wants to go back to the original state.
Reading this article helped me change my motivations. I feel so good now. I can run, hike mountains, and bike. I can do these things in the same day. A year ago, just walking a mile was horrible. I like how I look, not just smaller but toner. Yes, I atill have some extra skin and a little mommy tummy. I am not trying to get a cross fit body. But, I do like how cloths look on me and I am not at sll shy about getting a bikini on at the pool nad beach. This is something that I dont want to lose. So my motivation is about keeping what i have and not about what i need to get rid of. My reward is actually what I gained, not the weight loss.
3 -
Here is an article that was a real wake up call for me. I am 5 pounds from my goal weight and like you really scared about gaining it all back and then some. It has happened before, several times. At 48, I feel like this is it, the next time will be more difficult if not impossible.
https://www.livescience.com/53863-best-way-keep-weight-off.html
The big take aways were that:
1) former chubby people needed to always have a lower calorie number than those that never had to lose the weight.
2) former chubby people needed to exercise more than those that never had to lose the weight
The science is that your body always wants to go back to the original state.
Reading this article helped me change my motivations. I feel so good now. I can run, hike mountains, and bike. I can do these things in the same day. A year ago, just walking a mile was horrible. I like how I look, not just smaller but toner. Yes, I atill have some extra skin and a little mommy tummy. I am not trying to get a cross fit body. But, I do like how cloths look on me and I am not at sll shy about getting a bikini on at the pool nad beach. This is something that I dont want to lose. So my motivation is about keeping what i have and not about what i need to get rid of. My reward is actually what I gained, not the weight loss.
Thank you that was very helpful. I bookmarked it to go back to when I feel like I'm struggling. I will turn 60 in 2018 and like you I feel like this is it my last shot so I want to make it stick0 -
Since this app provides great motivation for those who are losing, but provides little motivation for maintenance as you no longer get all those 'yippie, you dropped weight' posts to your feed...there is a great monthly thread by @fidangul who allows us maintainers to post like when we were posting to the various weight loss threads. We all get to talk about our successes and our struggles, and it keeps me on track and accountable...you are more than welcome to join us -- http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10571171/maintainers-weekly-check-in-july-2017
Also, I concur to add calories slowly. I actually took a very conservative route where I was adding back the 100 calories monthly versus weekly to ensure that I wasn't gaining and giving myself a full month to make the call. I actually stopped a 100 calories shy of the calculators (1600 vs 1700) as it seems like I balanced out there with only a smidge of gain, but that was probably more because my workouts have slacked since I hit my goal, so I'm needing less calories as I'm burning less. That's actually been my personal biggest challenge...blowing off my workouts because I'm in maintenance now. Still working on that part.1 -
Since this app provides great motivation for those who are losing, but provides little motivation for maintenance as you no longer get all those 'yippie, you dropped weight' posts to your feed...there is a great monthly thread by @fidangul who allows us maintainers to post like when we were posting to the various weight loss threads. We all get to talk about our successes and our struggles, and it keeps me on track and accountable...you are more than welcome to join us -- http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10571171/maintainers-weekly-check-in-july-2017
Also, I concur to add calories slowly. I actually took a very conservative route where I was adding back the 100 calories monthly versus weekly to ensure that I wasn't gaining and giving myself a full month to make the call. I actually stopped a 100 calories shy of the calculators (1600 vs 1700) as it seems like I balanced out there with only a smidge of gain, but that was probably more because my workouts have slacked since I hit my goal, so I'm needing less calories as I'm burning less. That's actually been my personal biggest challenge...blowing off my workouts because I'm in maintenance now. Still working on that part.
Thank for the invite to the discussion as soon as I get below 165 I will join. I want to maintain between 160-165 I'm almost there. My issue last couple of times around was I slacked off my walking and watching what I ate due to the wrong thinking of "I made it" so no more workouts. WRONG THINKING on my part and what I will change this time around0 -
Question when I add the 100 calories is that per day say my maintenance daily is 1500 and right now I eat anywhere between 1100-1200 a day do I add 100 more a day or spread that 100 over the week.
Sorry if that sounds like a dumb question0 -
It's not a dumb question.Question when I add the 100 calories is that per day say my maintenance daily is 1500 and right now I eat anywhere between 1100-1200 a day do I add 100 more a day or spread that 100 over the week.
Sorry if that sounds like a dumb question
Let's say you are eating 1200 calories. You would change that to 1300 on Sunday and eat 1300ish every day of that week (or for two weeks if you want to shift a little more slowly). The next Sunday (or whenever you are ready to increase your calories again), you would add 100 so that your new daily goal is 1400 and you would eat 1400ish every day of that week.
The idea is to ease into your maintenance calories rather than changing to them abruptly.2 -
It's not a dumb question.Question when I add the 100 calories is that per day say my maintenance daily is 1500 and right now I eat anywhere between 1100-1200 a day do I add 100 more a day or spread that 100 over the week.
Sorry if that sounds like a dumb question
Let's say you are eating 1200 calories. You would change that to 1300 on Sunday and eat 1300ish every day of that week (or for two weeks if you want to shift a little more slowly). The next Sunday (or whenever you are ready to increase your calories again), you would add 100 so that your new daily goal is 1400 and you would eat 1400ish every day of that week.
The idea is to ease into your maintenance calories rather than changing to them abruptly.
That's what I thought just wanted to be sure0
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