Diet success (not mfp) & switching to maintenance

Loseitdolly
Loseitdolly Posts: 13 Member
edited November 24 in Goal: Maintaining Weight
My husband and I both just lost substantial amounts of weight doing the fast metabolism diet. We are now back to our “wedding” weight which for me after two kids in 3 years I didn’t know if it was possible! He went from 200.2 to 180 in 6 weeks. I went from 130.2 to 119.4 in 6 weeks. I would like to maintain at 120 and he at 180. We had planned to drop to a few pounds below goal weight to account for the glycogen effect. So assuming this week I can get to around 117-118, and he to 177-177 we would like to attempt to go off the diet and maintain next week! We are nervous since we have been following a specific foods list etc and not a calorie amount have no idea how much we have been eating and how many calories to increase?
My question is to current maintainers - should I trust the MFP maintenance number or err on the side of caution and start a few hundred calories lower and work up?
The book has pretty vague concepts for maintenance although my greatest take away moving forward will be to eat 5 times a day. I was a meal skipper, grabbing a pastry and coffee to compensate and then late night couch muncher before this diet and will not go back to those habits!
Appreciate any advice in advance! Have been reading posts too, just looking for some personal advice.

Replies

  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    I don’t know anything about that diet, but if you liked eating that way, can you keep doing it and just add a few more calories?
  • Loseitdolly
    Loseitdolly Posts: 13 Member
    Well it worked a charm but is a little unrealistic because you have to eat in different phases throughout the week. Low fat high carb, low fat low carb & high fat moderate carb... And I’d like to add back in some of the forbiddens like dairy and soy and corn (I personally have never had issues with those).
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,254 Member
    You are looking at "types of foods" or "macros" as having a significant role to play in terms of whether you will lose or gain weight.

    They are important for nutrition. They may or may not help you be more satiated. They do have small differences between them in terms of how they make energy available to your body.

    But your actual balance between your Calories In and your Calories Out is what determines whether your body has to use up stored energy, or gets to store excess energy.

    So, neither I nor anyone else can help you figure out WHAT to eat other than offer some general guidelines that fall withing generally accepted nutritional and common sense practices.

    That you will have to figure out yourself. Which is why experimenting with maintenance eating while still losing weight is a great idea as you have an extra margin of error available in case some types of eating still leave you hungry!
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,254 Member
    So apparently it is not a VLCD but does have specific inclusions and exclusions.

    I second logging your day as you go along to see where you're at before discontinuing.
  • geltner1
    geltner1 Posts: 85 Member
    MFP is adjustable. If you start with the proposed daily calorie allotment, weigh about 3 times per week and look for trends. Once it looks like you are gaining, adjust MFP to lower calories. If you continue weighing and along with your healthful food choices, you can read an equilibrium and maintain. It's not easy of course but you can do it. Good luck.
  • jfan175
    jfan175 Posts: 812 Member
    pamfgil wrote: »
    Maybe log a weeks worth of what you have been eating so uou have some idea of calorie level

    Exactly. I'm on a strict program and my goal weight is in sight. I want to be prepared for the switch to maintenance. I've been logging everything for the past 3mos, so I have a good idea what I can expect from certain calorie intakes. Just as importantly, I've developed the habit of daily logging, measuring food portions and getting a good feel for accurate calorie estimations for my workouts.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    pamfgil wrote: »
    Maybe log a weeks worth of what you have been eating so uou have some idea of calorie level

    ^^ this sounds like a good idea.
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,099 Member
    Look up Paul revelia on you tube. He has some interesting ideas on reverse dieting. As well as layne Norton. Some people say there is no need to reverse diet, but it has helped me so far. I hope it does continue.
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