What Do YOU consider maintenance?

aimeetu
aimeetu Posts: 139 Member
edited November 27 in Goal: Maintaining Weight
How far from your goal weigh do you get before you consider it not maintenance? As a reformed WW member I have a 2 lb fluctuation in my head but I feel like that is too little - I can gain 2lbs from PMS!! Also I am 5 lbs from "goal weight" but I am worried when I get to the magic number I won't have anything to strive for anymore. Help!
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Replies

  • saragd012
    saragd012 Posts: 693 Member
    Mine is 5# as well. Within 5# I know it's just a normal fluctuation, but anything greater (in either direction) means I need to either reduce or add calories and consider re-adjusting if I feel that it's no longer aligning with my actual TDEE.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    I consider my goal weight 55-58 kilos, which would be a range of around 7 pounds. I will watch the trend and take action when I see it rising. I will just relax more when I see it decreasing.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,454 Member
    Yeah, five pounds for me.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    yea, roughly 5lbs here too. I think it's important to have other goals that way when you get to your "magic number" you won't just go back to your old ways. I like to have fitness goals instead.
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,186 Member
    I have a 5 pound maintenance range.
  • OhMsDiva
    OhMsDiva Posts: 1,073 Member
    I like to stay in a 15 lb range. If I get close to that top number then I know I have to tighten up. What happens when I tighten up is that I end up losing more weight than I want to so I am working on finding a happy medium.
  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,069 Member
    rainbow198 wrote: »
    Although I'm more focused on body composition and my fitness level, maintaining a 10 pound range year round is my happy place.

    It works great for me mentally too. I don't stress when I'm up a few pounds during the holidays and the winter time. But I do have to watch that I don't go below my range in the summer.

    This works for me too. And my bottom range has gradually increased over time as I've put on muscle.
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,563 Member
    2 1/2 lb trend in either direction (a day or 2 here and there over or under doesn't count and won't cause me to tighten up on calories). This works because water fluctuations for me tend to be no more than a lb or so, and my days are fairly routine outside of vacations and occasional special events.
  • Mouse_Potato
    Mouse_Potato Posts: 1,513 Member
    I give myself a 2-3 pound range, but then my weight doesn't fluctuate very much. If I suddenly gain 5 pounds either I've been way over my calories or I just had a sodium and carb blowout. Either way, it doesn't come as a surprise.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,600 Member
    After having lost from obese through overweight to the lower end of normal, I consider maintenance to be anything that happens in approximately the lower side of the normal BMI range for my height, as long as my health markers (BP, cholesterol, etc.) stay normal. (I wouldn't say that if my body type were different. BMI 18.5 is lower than I'd like to be, not ideal, but not crazy unhealthy with my build.) Maintenance has included one period of intentional gain (overshot goal), and some intentional losses.
  • WilmaValley
    WilmaValley Posts: 1,092 Member
    Great insights here!
  • Thebajan
    Thebajan Posts: 20 Member
    I'm not quite there "yet". I am currently 1 pound away from the top of my goal range. I'm shooting for a range between 125 - 130 lbs. I've lost 99 pounds since Nov 13th, 2017 so I'm still very much in the weight loss phase of this new life. The last 10 pounds have been very slow. I'm aware of my BMI and I've started setting some goals to focus on that rather than on the scale (once I've met my weight range). I'm going to still keep a check on my weight but I agree that you have to continuously set new goals that aren't necessarily on the scale. It helps you to stay focused and moving forward. Losing weight is only a part of the journey to healthy, vibrant living. Find your balance... good luck! :)
  • icemom011
    icemom011 Posts: 999 Member
    My range is 5 lbs, I prefer to stay at the low end of it, but during holidays and my kids visits home it tends to go towards top end. I track my weight daily, and pay attention to weight trend. Staying within the range, reasonable exercise, fitness goals, keeping my food intake in check, keeping snacking in check, those are parts that produce relatively happy and worry free maintenance for me.
  • ChelleDee07
    ChelleDee07 Posts: 396 Member
    Looks like I am with the majority in the 5 lb range. I have been in maintenance since Sept of last year after losing more than 100 lbs in 8 months and just started working toward another loss.

    It seems that 2 lbs might be too small to gauge properly... especially for females with the way our weight fluctuates. However, we are all different you will need to find what works best for you.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,302 Member
    1.5,kg either side of my target weight. So a total range of about 6 lb.
  • ladybug4233
    ladybug4233 Posts: 217 Member
    I reached my goal weight at the beginning of the summer. I was hoping to maintain within 5 pounds of that. My goal being at the top of that. However, having my daughter home and taking vacations and not working out like I would like I have been steady at 3-4 pounds over my goal weight which I am okay with for the summer. All of my new clothes still fit great and I like the way I look. I know that in a week my "normal" schedule will be back and I will be closer to the bottom number.
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,997 Member
    My maintenance rsnge on the up side is only 2#.

    I've allowed my weight on the down side drop as much as 8# from 160 (my GW) down to 152 because I didn't mind the addtional loss. My redline on the down side is 150 but I haven't gotten there yet.

    I'm currently at 153, up 1# from my low if 152 snd I know why. Already adjusting things to prevent any further increase to stay w/in the 2# up side range.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    My maintenance number is 118 +/- 2 lbs so a four pound range, roughly... but I’m hanging just above 120 this summer with vacations and a more relaxed attitude. I’m ok with it.

    If you’re within 5 lbs of goal, is your rate of loss set at 0.5 lb/week so that you are at a 250 cal deficit? That way you can start to slowly taper into eating at maintenance, and some people continue to lose even when upping their cals.
  • ceiswyn
    ceiswyn Posts: 2,256 Member
    edited August 2018
    I’m going to need a range of 5lb on the up side just to allow for TOM water retention. I suspect that ultimately I’m going to be working within a range of +7/-2 to allow for a ‘real’ range of +-2.

    (And I am currently working on a spreadsheet that will correct my scale weight for position in the menstrual cycle, assuming that the lowest weight I have for four days in the follicular phase is as inaccurate as the highest weight I have at the start of my period.)
  • ACanadian22
    ACanadian22 Posts: 377 Member
    I set my goal weight for the top end of the bmi scale. I am getting very close. How did you decide where you sit on the maintance scale?
  • CarvedTones
    CarvedTones Posts: 2,340 Member
    ACanadian22 wrote: »
    I set my goal weight for the top end of the bmi scale. I am getting very close. How did you decide where you sit on the maintance scale?

    Like you, top of the normal/healthy BMI was a good bench mark for me. I set my range so the top is 4 pounds below a BMI of 24.9. I don't ever want to go back over; not even for a day on a spike. A range that is above and below goal never worked for me. I always starting pushing it about how far above is acceptable. So I had to make it zero.
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