What is the real truth about maintenance?

Armywife04_21 · December 2017

I have been on maintenance for a few days now and it has been great, although I haven’t eaten my entire maintenance calories, I’m usually under. I did weigh myself today and I am up .2. I know that’s not a huge deal, but I had that WTF moment. Now I know that as you add more food to your body it is bound to adjust due to water, sodium, glycogen levels and just the fact that you have more food in you. I guess I just want to get reassured about this all. It is interesting how we fixate ourselves to one number on a scale, but truth is that number is seldom the same afterwards. I know I need a range but that might mean dropping a couple more pounds so that 120lbs can be my top. I’m just not sure. What have you learned about maintenance?

kommodevaran · December 2017

I have learnt that it's easy to stay in maintenance just by small corrections of course, and that it takes time to learn to trust that it will even out over time. As long as I don't routinely overeat, I won't regain.

cmriverside · December 2017

I've learned to relax. But not too much.

I'd say take a look at the scale every day and write it down. Stay the course on the food for at least a couple months. I found I can eat a whole lot more on average than what MFP says I can. For instance: I am truly sedentary. Retired, older, tiny condo, single. Not a lot has to be done in my life on any given day. MFP says I will maintain on 1500. I have eaten on average 2200 a day for the last year and a half and have not gained. I use a food scale and have been logging for many years. So don't get too attached to the numbers at all.

It takes time for your hormones to settle. Just stay the course. Watch but don't obsess.

kristen8000 · December 2017

I'm pretty new to maintainance, but I'm not new to losing weight. I've reached goal about 3x in the last 6 years years. But the other times, I went off the rails, didn't watch and put 10-15lbs back on each time.

What I'm doing differently now: Weighing every day. Recording # in Libra (or any Trending App). It REALLY helps put all the different #'s in prospective. And, I'll be able to see the trend moving up and do something right away, instead of waiting until my pants are tight, getting out the bigger pants and gaining the 10-15lbs over again. I feel the making myself weigh every day thing will stop the "Oh, I ate bad yesterday, so I'll wait a week to weigh". I did that last time and week turned into 6 months.

I went a bit farther south than my maintainance range. Since hitting goal (148) at the end of September, I've slowly lost about 7 more pounds. Orginally I wanted my range to be 147-152 (I'm 5'11, female). But after losing this time, I realized my stomach shrank quite a bit, which means I get full much quicker. So, no matter WHAT I eat, I eat less. Now, I realize that may change over time and I'll have to figure out how to balance things out. I haven't determined a new range, but I do know that I'm probably a bit too thin now. I'll re-evaluate after the holidays.

Because, after all, this isn't short term. It's the rest of my life.

lorrpb · December 2017

I have learned that weight naturally fluctuates during weight loss and maintenance. Fluctuations are more visible in maintenance because they're not masked by ongoing losses. I've learned that 0.2 fluctuation means NOTHING. Set a 5-10 lb range and adjust calories when you get to either end. You could set a range of 115-125.
Weigh daily and track in a trending app like Happy Scale, Libra, or Trendweight you see the long term trend.
PS I encourage you to read the other threads in this forum to learn the "truth" about maintenance.

Barbs2222 · December 2017

I've been in maintenance for 11 months. I weigh daily and have a top weight of 125. I eat whatever I want until I weigh 125 and then when I hit that number I just drop a couple pounds, back to the old 1200 cals a day, I'm not recording any more though. I've been counting calories for 40 years so I have a really good idea how much I'm eating. Coming up in the new year I'm going to be adding in some weight training so I'm not sure what's going to happen to the scale but so long as my jeans fit I'm not going to worry about it.

kgirlhart · December 2017

I have learned that if you consistently come in under your calorie goal in maintenance you will continue to lose weight. It is ok to go over every now and then as long as the days over and the days under balance out. For most people figuring out what your maintenance calorie goal is will also take some trial and error. I have found that my maintenance calories are higher than what mfp gives me. It can be hard to change your mindset from wanting to see the scale go down every day to realizing that some days it needs to go up a little. Definitely set a range for yourself. If you get too close to the top or go over eat a little less until it comes back down. If it gets too close to the bottom or goes under then you need to eat more until it gets back in the range. This is what I have learned. I have not been able to 100% put this into practice, but I am trying.

sofchak · December 2017

A weight trend app is invaluable toward helping you look at the scale data more objectively. My goal weight is 120lbs with a 3lb buffer on either side - so 117-123 is my range. It fluxes All. The. Time. Case and point - screenshot below of 3 month trend:

CoachJen71 · December 2017

I have learned that going into maintenance from a deficit can add 4lbs almost overnight. It's just water from sodium and glycogen, plus the food baby from eating a bit more. As long as it levels off and my clothes fit right, it's all good.

Evamutt · December 2017

I'm not officially in maintenance, since I do want to lose 8 more lbs, but when I hit 48lbs loss, I needed a break so I've been maintaining that for several months till I'm ready to lose the rest. It's been easy for me. I haven't slipped back into my old way of eating nor want to & eating 1600 cal/day is very satisfying for me. I still log & weigh all my food.

LivingtheLeanDream · December 2017

You have to realise even in maintenance our weight fluctuates up and down each day naturally and for various reasons. Having a weight range of say +/-5lbs helps.

If you keep eating under your maintenance cals you will keep losing weight.

Congrats on reaching maintenance, now its time to enjoy those extra calories

ritzvin · December 2017

kristen8000 wrote: »

What I'm doing differently now: Weighing every day. Recording # in Libra (or any Trending App). It REALLY helps put all the different #'s in prospective. And, I'll be able to see the trend moving up and do something right away, instead of waiting until my pants are tight, getting out the bigger pants and gaining the 10-15lbs over again. I feel the making myself weigh every day thing will stop the "Oh, I ate bad yesterday, so I'll wait a week to weigh". I did that last time and week turned into 6 months.

this! a good early warning if things are trending in the wrong direction.

What is the real truth about maintenance?

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