Sustainable maintenance effort vs. original goal weight?
Replies
-
The_Enginerd wrote: »CarvedTones wrote: »You get a lot more calories while gaining up to the higher weight, but once you get there, your maintenance won't be all that much higher unless you're talking about putting on a significant amount of weight.
this is what I am wondering? shouldn't maintenance calories in theory be the same regardless of what weight you maintain? (ok assuming a 10lbs range, i do remember that more body weight requires more calories to function but does that change dramatically over 10lbs?)
Bodyweight is one of the big factors in your caloric needs.
There's a small metabolic increase in needs as you gain some weight reflected in a higher BMR but also most of your activity and exercise will also burn slightly higher to move a greater mass around.
Thread seems to have gone off on a bit of a tangent as I wouldn't think people are regaining some small amounts of weight just to eat more but rather just finding it hard to maintain at a lighter weight and searching for a weight where it might feel easier for that individual.
The extra mass you need to move does account for some as well, although even at 50 MPW of running, an extra 10 lbs adds up to an extra 315 calories/week, or 45/day. Within the range or error for most logging. For me at ~3000 cal/day to maintain at that amount of activity, that's an extra 1.5%... ouch
Having gotten down to be fairly lean for my running race weight (5'10", 148 lbs), the thing I noticed the most was that hunger at that weight was MUCH more of a challenge than at 160 lbs, probably due to hormonal changes as BF% drops. It took months for that to adjust and not feel ravenous.
@The_Enginerd but so encouraging to me that the ravenous hunger did ebb after months. (I always think it will go in forever.) thanks3 -
The_Enginerd wrote: »CarvedTones wrote: »You get a lot more calories while gaining up to the higher weight, but once you get there, your maintenance won't be all that much higher unless you're talking about putting on a significant amount of weight.
this is what I am wondering? shouldn't maintenance calories in theory be the same regardless of what weight you maintain? (ok assuming a 10lbs range, i do remember that more body weight requires more calories to function but does that change dramatically over 10lbs?)
Bodyweight is one of the big factors in your caloric needs.
There's a small metabolic increase in needs as you gain some weight reflected in a higher BMR but also most of your activity and exercise will also burn slightly higher to move a greater mass around.
Thread seems to have gone off on a bit of a tangent as I wouldn't think people are regaining some small amounts of weight just to eat more but rather just finding it hard to maintain at a lighter weight and searching for a weight where it might feel easier for that individual.
The extra mass you need to move does account for some as well, although even at 50 MPW of running, an extra 10 lbs adds up to an extra 315 calories/week, or 45/day. Within the range or error for most logging. For me at ~3000 cal/day to maintain at that amount of activity, that's an extra 1.5%... ouch
Having gotten down to be fairly lean for my running race weight (5'10", 148 lbs), the thing I noticed the most was that hunger at that weight was MUCH more of a challenge than at 160 lbs, probably due to hormonal changes as BF% drops. It took months for that to adjust and not feel ravenous.
Giving me hope and well l...4 -
Cassandraw3 wrote: »Don't call yourself a maintenance failure. Just consider it mini cut/bulk cycles.
haha - love it!!
It's been almost 4 weeks since my post-holiday "cut". I've been steadily losing 0.5-0.8 a week.
I shouldn't even complain... my deficit involves averaging 2000-2200 calories a day, with two carb-dominant refeed days of ~2700 calories each. I've got a lot of calories to play with, yet I know already upping my deficit to 1lb a week would tip me into weekend binge territory.
5 -
So, if I'm understanding this right... when it comes to maintenance calories..a 10 to 20 pound difference in gain from goal weight is really only a few calories more a day? So, is the winning strategy to lose 3 to 5 pounds below your goal weight and use those pounds as your buffer since your daily calories are just about the same when you go to maintain?
Also..seems like exercise calories are key if you want to keep it off. You'd need those calories for treats and meals out.0 -
elisa123gal wrote: »So, if I'm understanding this right... when it comes to maintenance calories..a 10 to 20 pound difference in gain from goal weight is really only a few calories more a day? So, is the winning strategy to lose 3 to 5 pounds below your goal weight and use those pounds as your buffer since your daily calories are just about the same when you go to maintain?
Also..seems like exercise calories are key if you want to keep it off. You'd need those calories for treats and meals out.
So, if I'm understanding this right... when it comes to maintenance calories..a 10 to 20 pound difference in gain from goal weight is really only a few calories more a day?
Stick your stats in a TDEE calculator and change the weight and you will see.
So, is the winning strategy to lose 3 to 5 pounds below your goal weight and use those pounds as your buffer since your daily calories are just about the same when you go to maintain?
There's many different winning strategies, to win you have to find yours and not assume it's the same as every body else.
Including the strategy of some people discovering that it can be far harder to maintain a few pounds lighter (which is probably really very little to do with having just a few less calories a day).
Trying to maintain under my goal would be a losing strategy for me - it turned maintenance into hard work and feeling like a permanent restrictive diet.
Regular exercise is indeed one of the notable common success factors for people maintaining their weight loss long term.
8 -
elisa123gal wrote: »So, if I'm understanding this right... when it comes to maintenance calories..a 10 to 20 pound difference in gain from goal weight is really only a few calories more a day? So, is the winning strategy to lose 3 to 5 pounds below your goal weight and use those pounds as your buffer since your daily calories are just about the same when you go to maintain?
Also..seems like exercise calories are key if you want to keep it off. You'd need those calories for treats and meals out.
Pretty close. It depends on your starting and ending points, but yes, a 10 pound difference can equate to something on order of only 50 calories per day.
I don't know if what you describe is ideal but I think it's what happens for a lot of us. My first year of "maintenance" was really a very very slow loss (on order of a half pound per month or so) and I ended up spending the year at the very bottom end of my target range. And I didn't start maintenance until I was about 5 pounds below my target weight.2 -
Here's my MFP-generated estimates from a few times in the past I've checked...
7 -
I set my target weight at 159 lbs and I'm 5 foot 11. I'm currently 150lbs as I found even eating the amount mfp set for me and including the exercise calories I would loose weight. But I had been maintaining between 152 and 159 for 7 months. I recently decided to lose a little more but if it's not as sustainable as my current then I'll rethink2
-
This was a very enlightening thread. I never realized there was so little difference in maintenance calories when we're talking about the last 5-10 pounds. I think the sustainability question really boils down to the reduced calories you have to sustain to actually get down those last 5-10 pounds, and not once you are already there. For example, at 5 ft and 116, in order for me to get to 110, I would have to eat at 1600 calories for 4-5 months with very to no room for error to get to 110 lbs. And there is really zero room for error, so even being very diligent, you would have to eat at reduced calories for many months to get to that magic number and I'd pretty much be miserable every day. Or I can be fine at 116 and consider it my maintenance. At 116 I can eat 1900 vs a maintenance of 1863 at 110 (39 measly extra calories for 6 full pounds). So for me, it would be, is worth the misery of eating at 1600 vs 1900 for months for those few pounds? Having typed it out, I would say, probably not.0
-
This was a very enlightening thread. I never realized there was so little difference in maintenance calories when we're talking about the last 5-10 pounds. I think the sustainability question really boils down to the reduced calories you have to sustain to actually get down those last 5-10 pounds, and not once you are already there. For example, at 5 ft and 116, in order for me to get to 110, I would have to eat at 1600 calories for 4-5 months with very to no room for error to get to 110 lbs. And there is really zero room for error, so even being very diligent, you would have to eat at reduced calories for many months to get to that magic number and I'd pretty much be miserable every day. Or I can be fine at 116 and consider it my maintenance. At 116 I can eat 1900 vs a maintenance of 1863 at 110 (39 measly extra calories for 6 full pounds). So for me, it would be, is worth the misery of eating at 1600 vs 1900 for months for those few pounds? Having typed it out, I would say, probably not.
haha I've been slowly loosing for like 10months now and 1600 calories would be a dream
i'm at 1400 for 0.5pds/week to lose the "last 5" - but I keep pushing back my goal so the last 5 are never the last 5...
1 -
This was a very enlightening thread. I never realized there was so little difference in maintenance calories when we're talking about the last 5-10 pounds. I think the sustainability question really boils down to the reduced calories you have to sustain to actually get down those last 5-10 pounds, and not once you are already there. For example, at 5 ft and 116, in order for me to get to 110, I would have to eat at 1600 calories for 4-5 months with very to no room for error to get to 110 lbs. And there is really zero room for error, so even being very diligent, you would have to eat at reduced calories for many months to get to that magic number and I'd pretty much be miserable every day. Or I can be fine at 116 and consider it my maintenance. At 116 I can eat 1900 vs a maintenance of 1863 at 110 (39 measly extra calories for 6 full pounds). So for me, it would be, is worth the misery of eating at 1600 vs 1900 for months for those few pounds? Having typed it out, I would say, probably not.
haha I've been slowly loosing for like 10months now and 1600 calories would be a dream i'm at 1400 for 0.5pds/week to lose the "last 5" - but I keep pushing back my goal so the last 5 are never the last 5...
My BMR is a measly 1226 but I work out 4-5 days a week for an hour, so my extra calories to 1600 come from that and general NEAT activity. I tried 1400 and I got through lunch. lol. I'm ok with sticking to that level of activity to get the extra maintenance calories.0 -
oh, and I've been trying to lose those last 6 pounds for almost a year now and I can't there. The margin of error is too small.0
-
To be able to eat 2 bag of Asiago bagels a week without weight gain would be orgasmic. LOLInitial goal weight was 135lbs. Hit that and didn't like where I was at, so I continued to lose-down to 118lbs (low end of BMI healthy range). Didn't like how I looked so I gained a few pounds and found my 'sweet spot' at 127-130lbs. Maintained there for a few years.
Currently at 138lbs, due to some weight creep last year (started at 143lbs earlier this month), and working my way down to 128ish lbs again. I didn't find 128-130lbs to be difficult to maintain, I just got lazy and threw portion sizes out the window, (as in I started eating 2 bags of Asiago bagels every week as a snack, with a tub of cheese
).
2 -
This was a very enlightening thread. I never realized there was so little difference in maintenance calories when we're talking about the last 5-10 pounds. I think the sustainability question really boils down to the reduced calories you have to sustain to actually get down those last 5-10 pounds, and not once you are already there. For example, at 5 ft and 116, in order for me to get to 110, I would have to eat at 1600 calories for 4-5 months with very to no room for error to get to 110 lbs. And there is really zero room for error, so even being very diligent, you would have to eat at reduced calories for many months to get to that magic number and I'd pretty much be miserable every day. Or I can be fine at 116 and consider it my maintenance. At 116 I can eat 1900 vs a maintenance of 1863 at 110 (39 measly extra calories for 6 full pounds). So for me, it would be, is worth the misery of eating at 1600 vs 1900 for months for those few pounds? Having typed it out, I would say, probably not.
haha I've been slowly loosing for like 10months now and 1600 calories would be a dream i'm at 1400 for 0.5pds/week to lose the "last 5" - but I keep pushing back my goal so the last 5 are never the last 5...
My BMR is a measly 1226 but I work out 4-5 days a week for an hour, so my extra calories to 1600 come from that and general NEAT activity. I tried 1400 and I got through lunch. lol. I'm ok with sticking to that level of activity to get the extra maintenance calories.
You think that your BMR of 1226 is "measly?" My BMR is 844, what do I call that
? 7 -
I have found it pretty sustainable - I've gained 5 pounds in 6 years, but it's spring and it comes off every summer. It takes me five minutes a day to log. I integrate walking into my daily routine so I get 8-10K steps every day. I don't exercise other than walking to and from work - 30 minutes. When the ice finally melts I'll be walking an hour a day (and losing those winter pounds).0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 427 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions