What Do YOU consider maintenance?

jillstreett · August 2018

I am 5 pounds from a revised goal. First goal was lose 30 pounds, then I decided to keep going and lose an additional 20. I am 150.4 as of today and want to be 145. That total 50 pound loss will be extremely important for me to maintain with maybe 147 being the high side for a normal week. But I also said to myself a long time ago that, "I want to live in a world under 150" and if holidays and travel and weddings, etc. bump my from 145 to 149 for a week or so after the event, I will remember that is still under 150 and not panic! I think mentally that is how I want to go about it. I am still a long way from the low end of normal on BMI for a 5'6" female, so while I don't want to lose more than the 50, if I dip below 145 that's just fine too because I know it is still healthy.

MikePfirrman · September 2018

My definition has changed over the years. I was 245 (roughly) at my heaviest. I'm celebrating 6 years this month being on maintenance. I went down to 170 at my lowest and right now I'm around 190.

I started to freak out as I gradually gained weight, but I lift fairly heavy and I do competitive rowing now. My waist size stayed the same over the last 6 years. I've gained in the right places for a man (shoulders, chest, arms, glutes, muscle definition). I still have to be very careful, though, because though I don't log any more (I logged for 3 years religiously), I know my red line. Again, I put on (roughly) 20 lbs over 6 years of really hard training. It didn't happen overnight. If I tried to be at 170 right now again, I'd have to be at low single digits of BF and I don't want to look like a bodybuilder (no offense to bodybuilders but my wife hates that veiny look).

A simple trick for me (since I'm now in the overweight category for BMI) is to have a tape measure around. If your waist (at around the belly button -- the largest place to measure for most) is more than half your height, you need to lose a little. Right now, I know I'm around five pounds over being optimal for me (about an inch over this measurement). I've actually been watching what I eat again much closer recently. Going to Vegas in a couple months and vanity is coming into play knowing we've rented a house with a pool (got to look better for the wife!). For me, an inch in my gut is around 3 to 4 pounds.

Keeping the scale handy along with the tape measure has allowed me to have a better understanding of how much are proper proportions and how much is fat that I could stand to lose. I think I've about reached my max now in terms of the muscle that I want to put on, so weighing often is important too.

DancingMoosie · September 2018

For me, it's somewhere around 115-119. I'm hovering around 117 ATM. I don't mind going a little below 115 and don't like hitting 119 or above...but below 116 and hubby gets upset.

LivingtheLeanDream · September 2018

Long term maintainer here and similar to so many in this thread my range is +/-5lbs although I prefer it always being closer to the lower end. Right now I'm bang in the middle of it, since last vacation I've not had the same enthusiasm to get back to deficit. I'm maintaining nicely but need to get back to eating at deficit again, and soon! (and in time before the next vacation happens at end of October!)

rhauser44 · September 2018

MikePfirrman wrote: »

If your waist (at around the belly button -- the largest place to measure for most) is more than half your height, you need to lose a little.

That’s a pretty good metric! At 6’ 1”, I definitely notice the girth when my waist measurement grows beyond 36”. I’m within a few lbs. of my target maintenance weight. I’ve been carefully tracking & measuring my caloric intake and now I’m calculating what my maintenance calories will be. For now, my Target maintenance weight will 177 lbs., +/- 5 lbs.

My goal(s) will now change from weight loss, to a goal of fat loss. My target BF% will be 17% +/- 3%. I’m around 20-22% now.

jennifer_417 · September 2018

Keep track of what your fluctuations actually are for a while. Then you'll have a better idea of what you might want to be your get-back-on-track number.

elisa123gal · September 2018

to me, maintenance is maintaining a certain weight you decide to maintain. I don't think it has to be the ideal "goal weight." Maintenance is a balancing act..a practice..and I like the approach of losing a certain amount, then maintaining for a while..then losing more .. and so on an so forth. That way when you do reach "THE goal weight". you are not burned out..and you know how to maintain, because you've done it before.

bjdw_1977 · September 2018

I have a graph. The blue line is 75kg which was my goal when I started out this time around. Once I got there I decided on having a weight range that I would stay within. When I hit the bottom green line, 73kgs, I loosen up and don't count calories so much. If I hit the top green line, 77kgs, it'll be back to strict logging again until I'm back near 73 again.

What Do YOU consider maintenance?

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