Maintenance - worried

Hwlf84
Hwlf84 Posts: 18 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I’m small - 5’1. I’ve decided to move to maintenance at least for a while - I’m not at my original goal weight of 105 lm but I’m a healthy BMI now at 112 lb.
But I hadn’t realised quite how few calories I could have at maintenance - around 1400 according to MFP - for the rest of my life!
How do others manage it - do you effectively ‘diet’ several days a week and save up for treats? I know I can’t sustain never ever having them.
I do exercise but I know calories from that tend to be vv overestimated so ma reluctant to eat them.
Would welcome advice from those who have kept weight off for a long time!

Replies

  • staticsplit
    staticsplit Posts: 538 Member
    Eat half of your exercise calories and see how that goes. That should give you a little more!
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
    Hwlf84 wrote: »
    I’m small - 5’1. I’ve decided to move to maintenance at least for a while - I’m not at my original goal weight of 105 lm but I’m a healthy BMI now at 112 lb.
    But I hadn’t realised quite how few calories I could have at maintenance - around 1400 according to MFP - for the rest of my life!
    How do others manage it - do you effectively ‘diet’ several days a week and save up for treats? I know I can’t sustain never ever having them.
    I do exercise but I know calories from that tend to be vv overestimated so ma reluctant to eat them.
    Would welcome advice from those who have kept weight off for a long time!

    If you don't eat back your exercise calories, then you aren't really eating at maintenance. You can use a TDEE calculator like tdeecalculator.net to calculate a goal for you based off of your exercise level.
  • endermako
    endermako Posts: 787 Member
    there is a big difference between eating back your calories or none at all. Try eating a portion of them back.
  • zeejane4
    zeejane4 Posts: 230 Member
    edited May 2019
    MikePTY wrote: »
    Hwlf84 wrote: »
    I’m small - 5’1. I’ve decided to move to maintenance at least for a while - I’m not at my original goal weight of 105 lm but I’m a healthy BMI now at 112 lb.
    But I hadn’t realised quite how few calories I could have at maintenance - around 1400 according to MFP - for the rest of my life!
    How do others manage it - do you effectively ‘diet’ several days a week and save up for treats? I know I can’t sustain never ever having them.
    I do exercise but I know calories from that tend to be vv overestimated so ma reluctant to eat them.
    Would welcome advice from those who have kept weight off for a long time!

    If you don't eat back your exercise calories, then you aren't really eating at maintenance. You can use a TDEE calculator like tdeecalculator.net to calculate a goal for you based off of your exercise level.

    This.

    I recently figured my TDEE and it was quite a bit higher than where I had thought I was at. I've upped my calories and my weight hasn't fluctuated up at all :)
  • Evamutt
    Evamutt Posts: 2,300 Member
    agree with all the above & I ate back 95-100% of exercise calories while losing. I'm 5'4 & I was able to add about 3-400 more calories on maintenance plus exercise so I was quite satisfied. How many calories are you eating now? Do look up your TDEE
  • Hwlf84
    Hwlf84 Posts: 18 Member
    This is so helpful thank you everyone. I’m going to try eating back some of my exercise calories (and I have an Apple Watch so I’ll watch my movement ring too - I normally do about 600 calories a day on that though again I know they’re vv inaccurate). I guess I was so paranoid about getting it wrong and putting any weight back on I didn’t dare which was silly.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,675 Member
    At 62, MFP says I should be eating 1400 calories to maintain my weight. I get a lot of exercise, fortunately. It allows me to eat a lot more than 1400. My exercise is mostly walking and running, which are easy to calculate. I actually burn a bit more than the calculations because I run hills and do some interval work. This gives me some leeway for errors and omissions in my logging.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,521 Member
    The philosophical question is: do you really need to eat more if you are not hungry? In principal, once your body gets used to it, you will not be hungry when you eat at maintenance (including eating back calories exercised off). It takes a while (months) for your body to acclimate to a new weight, so just keep on logging and weighing.
  • FarmerCarla
    FarmerCarla Posts: 470 Member
    I've found maintaining with a keto WOE is easy, and I don't get hungry. I don't track food and exercise, but I weigh daily and eat extra carbs when my weight drops below my desired range.
  • csplatt
    csplatt Posts: 1,002 Member
    I have been given 1600 for maintenance and it took time to adjust because I really wanted to be able to eat more. I can go a week without logging and will see a pound or two sneak back on, which may just be food in my digestive track or bloating, but I will tighten up to see them come off again just to stay on track.

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