Maintaining after a diet.

andorian2015 · January 2019

Hey everyone, so I have dieted for the past 3 years, getting to my goal weight then slowly increasing by 10kg until the next time I’m motivated... I’m on a diet now, and loosing weight well and enjoying the diet, the point is this time I want to maintain my goal weight permanently, any tips on maintaining weight long term post dieting??

nowine4me · January 2019

Welcome and congratulations! Keep doing exactly what you’ve been doing, but with a few more calories. Simple as that.

ahoy_m8 · January 2019

^^ agree completely.

Honestly, maintenance for me is re-gaining and re-losing the same 5 lb over and over. I’m ok with that. I let it get to a 7 lb gain one summer and made a mental note to correct at 5 lb in the future. At 0.5 lb/wk, I get a little deficit weary after 10 weeks. It’s not a big deficit, so it’s not that bad, but I’m happier catching the creep sooner rather than later.

So my tip would be to decide on the maintenance range comfortable for you and to weigh yourself frequently enough to catch a gain that’s bigger than you want. Then go back to what’s working for you now until you’re back in range.

LivingtheLeanDream · February 2019

Yeah as others have said, maintenance is no different to when losing, we just get some extra calories to work with.

elisa123gal · February 2019

I regained too much over the holidays, about 8 pounds.... and tell you what, I'm doing what I need to do..,but I will never gain more than a few pounds ever again. I'm thinking three pounds max for me. I've spent all of January working on it.. maybe by Valentines I'll be back to ground zero.

It isn't that it is hard to get it off..because we all know what to do, . It makes me feel foolish for some reason.

I don't know if I have a tip since I slipped lol.. but I think weighing regularly or trying on your tightest clothing item every week to catch the creep early on. I did not do these things. now I am.

cwolfman13 · February 2019

Save for my usual 8ish Lb winter weight gains, I've maintained going on 6 years. I eat the same in maintenance as I do when I'm dieting...just a bit more calories. I still exercise regularly (this dips in winter and thus the slight weight gain). I monitor my weight and weigh in at least weekly and I just don't let things get too out of hand.

sijomial · February 2019

Be vigilant - don't let a drift become a slide.
Set a limit and react to it if you breach it.
Set new goals that are nothing to do with weight - fitness goals perhaps?

purple4sure05 · February 2019

I'm curious as to why so many people say they only have "a few more calories" in maintenance? Is this because they're working at a smaller deficit? I'm at 2 lbs lost per week roughly so about 1000 calories of a deficit per day. I assume the difference in maintenance should be at least 700 to 800 more than what I'm eating now?

nowine4me · February 2019

@purple4sure05 can’t speak for others, but yes. For the last 5# or so, my deficit was about 250 cals. So I literally added an Apple and serving of peanut butter to get myself to maintenance

WinoGelato · February 2019

purple4sure05 wrote: »

I'm curious as to why so many people say they only have "a few more calories" in maintenance? Is this because they're working at a smaller deficit? I'm at 2 lbs lost per week roughly so about 1000 calories of a deficit per day. I assume the difference in maintenance should be at least 700 to 800 more than what I'm eating now?

By going straight from the most aggressive deficit to what you believe are your maintenance cals - can have some adverse effects. Rebound weight gain from glycogen stores being replenished, difficulty fitting in 700-800 extra cals of food, plus slowly working your way into maintenance let’s you find exactly what your maintenance range (weight and cals) is. Some people find it sets off a yo yo pattern for them as well.

It’s usually advisable to drop to 1 lb/week when you only have about 50 lbs to goal and then 0.5 lb/week when you have 20 lbs to goal. Yes it slows down the process but it ensures preservation of lean muscle and helps ease the transition to maintenance.

sijomial · February 2019

purple4sure05 wrote: »

I'm curious as to why so many people say they only have "a few more calories" in maintenance? Is this because they're working at a smaller deficit? I'm at 2 lbs lost per week roughly so about 1000 calories of a deficit per day. I assume the difference in maintenance should be at least 700 to 800 more than what I'm eating now?

@purple4sure05
I lost pretty consistently at 1lb/week and bumped +500 cals to maintenance initially and more a couple of months later when I unintentionally started losing at my original maintenance goal.

As my cycling volume went up my cals went up again, after I retired my cals went up again. I'm eating at a level to maintain that for most of my adult life would have resulted in rapid weight gain.

It's individual, situational and you can significantly influence some of the relevant factors such as exercise and activity.

LivingtheLeanDream · February 2019

purple4sure05 wrote: »

I'm curious as to why so many people say they only have "a few more calories" in maintenance? Is this because they're working at a smaller deficit? I'm at 2 lbs lost per week roughly so about 1000 calories of a deficit per day. I assume the difference in maintenance should be at least 700 to 800 more than what I'm eating now?

In your profile pic you look lean so if you are set to 2lbs a week loss its time to revise that. As others say, its about preserving lean muscle and it does help ease us into maintenance.
I only ever aimed for a loss of 0.5lb a week as I hadn't more than 20lbs to lose, so maintenance meant I only got an extra 250 calorie to work with a day - which is pretty much only a Mars bar.

nowine4me · February 2019

Wait a minute....they still make Mars bars?

middlehaitch · February 2019

nowine4me wrote: »

Wait a minute....they still make Mars bars?

In the UK you can get protein Mars Bars!

Cheers, h.
(They are not as good as regular)

elliebath52 · February 2019

I upped by 100 daily cals every week until I found the level at which I could maintain and not gain. In my case I had lost 35 lbs in 2015. I am now 66 , 5ft 4 and 133 lbs and maintain on 1550 calories . I allow myself a fluctuation of up to 4-5 lbs before I take action.

paperpudding · February 2019

purple4sure05 wrote: »

I'm curious as to why so many people say they only have "a few more calories" in maintenance? Is this because they're working at a smaller deficit? I'm at 2 lbs lost per week roughly so about 1000 calories of a deficit per day. I assume the difference in maintenance should be at least 700 to 800 more than what I'm eating now?

I guess " a few" is not really specific.

But I certainly didn't gain 700 - 800 when I swapped to maintenance. I went from 1460 to 1710 - so a difference of 250.

elisa123gal · February 2019

to add to the above post...as you lose weight.. your calorie allowance will go down...you won't have 1000 deficit a day by the time you hit your goal.

heikeeberwein9208 · February 2019

Hi

I’ve lost 31 pounds since I started using this app in July and am 2 pounds away from my goal.

Currently on 1290 calories and set to loose 1 pound a week.

I think I’m ready to look at maintaining now but am so scared to add calories back. I’m kinda really used to my current intake. I’m not starving. But if I set to maintain it goes up to 1800 and I don’t think I want to or even can go that high. I wanna stay as I am now and not put it all back on.

This is the first time I’ve lost this much weight and I’m so proud to be back to pre kids shape.

LivingtheLeanDream · February 2019

heikeeberwein9208 wrote: »

Hi

I’ve lost 31 pounds since I started using this app in July and am 2 pounds away from my goal.

Currently on 1290 calories and set to loose 1 pound a week.

I think I’m ready to look at maintaining now but am so scared to add calories back. I’m kinda really used to my current intake. I’m not starving. But if I set to maintain it goes up to 1800 and I don’t think I want to or even can go that high. I wanna stay as I am now and not put it all back on.

This is the first time I’ve lost this much weight and I’m so proud to be back to pre kids shape.

Change your settings to lose 0.5lb a week, you'll get around 250 calories extra and that way it will prepare you for maintenance. Congrats on basically reaching your goal

LivingtheLeanDream · February 2019

middlehaitch wrote: »

nowine4me wrote: »

Wait a minute....they still make Mars bars?

In the UK you can get protein Mars Bars!

Cheers, h.
(They are not as good as regular)

And they're horrible...

(the protein ones I mean, not the regular

)

WinoGelato · February 2019

heikeeberwein9208 wrote: »

Hi

I’ve lost 31 pounds since I started using this app in July and am 2 pounds away from my goal.

Currently on 1290 calories and set to loose 1 pound a week.

I think I’m ready to look at maintaining now but am so scared to add calories back. I’m kinda really used to my current intake. I’m not starving. But if I set to maintain it goes up to 1800 and I don’t think I want to or even can go that high. I wanna stay as I am now and not put it all back on.

This is the first time I’ve lost this much weight and I’m so proud to be back to pre kids shape.

Are you losing about 1 lb/week at your current intake? Are you eating back any exercise calories? How accurate is your logging?

Its usually recommended to ease into maintenance and slow down weight loss by changing your goal to 0.5 lb/week when you get within 20 or so pounds of your target. This also helps preserve lean body mass by not losing more than your current fat stored can reasonably support. Plus it gives you practice eating a few more calories, 250, and can help minimize the short term rebound weight gain that people often see when they switch rapidly to maintenance.

Maintaining after a diet.

Replies

Categories