To do maintenance calories or not?

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rmshirey525
rmshirey525 Posts: 2 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Hi everyone! I have lost 30 lbs since January and have been eating 1,870 calories/day since January as directed by MFP when I started this journey. I have had the mindset this whole time of letting my body do what it does naturally and I felt when my body hit a weight it should be at, that my weight loss would slow or stop. I am within 3 lbs of my goal weight but am honestly very happy with where I'm at right now so maintenance has been on my mind. The past few weeks, my weight loss has slowed to .5 lb a week or less. So, I'm not sure if I should increase slowly to my suggested maintenance calorie from MFP of 2100. I'm just wondering, if my weight has slowed and is potentially stopping at 1870 cals/day, should I work toward the maintenance calories or stay where I'm at? Part of my head says if I'm almost maintaining at 1870 already, then why increase? I'm open to increasing because who doesnt love to eat more lol but I guess I'm just wondering on the science or benefit behind increasing. Thanks in advance for any input! Also, not sure if this info is needed but I lift weights 3 days/week and run 3 days/week.

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  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
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    Weight loss is not linear. Just because your weight loss has slowed the last few weeks does not mean that you're still not at a calorie deficit. If MFP's calculations have generally been working for you in weight loss, they should work for you in maintenance. Put your goal to maintain weight and see what MFP gives you. If you haven't updated your calorie goal since starting, MFP will give you a lower maintenance goal than you think, because it will incorporate your new weight. Your body burns less at rest when you are 30 pounds lighter than it did when you started.
  • alectrain
    alectrain Posts: 1 Member
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    As Mike said, the "calories in, calories out" formula for weight loss does a good job of explaining your experience so far. If you have been eating 1870 calories daily this whole time, you would have started at about a 500 calorie daily deficit, which would result in about one pound of weight loss per week. As you got lighter, you needed less food to maintain your newer size, so your deficit became smaller as you ate the same amount of food. If 2100 calories is your current daily maintenance, then 1870 calories daily would be a 230 calorie deficit, or just under half a pound a week.

    If you never increase your calorie intake, you will continue to very slowly lose weight until you eventually approach a weight which is maintained by 1870 calories per day (probably 25 pounds lighter than you currently are). Whether this is a good idea or not depends on you, but the "calories in, calories out" formula suggests it would take over a year to lose 20 more pounds.
  • rmshirey525
    rmshirey525 Posts: 2 Member
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    alectrain wrote: »
    As Mike said, the "calories in, calories out" formula for weight loss does a good job of explaining your experience so far. If you have been eating 1870 calories daily this whole time, you would have started at about a 500 calorie daily deficit, which would result in about one pound of weight loss per week. As you got lighter, you needed less food to maintain your newer size, so your deficit became smaller as you ate the same amount of food. If 2100 calories is your current daily maintenance, then 1870 calories daily would be a 230 calorie deficit, or just under half a pound a week.

    If you never increase your calorie intake, you will continue to very slowly lose weight until you eventually approach a weight which is maintained by 1870 calories per day (probably 25 pounds lighter than you currently are). Whether this is a good idea or not depends on you, but the "calories in, calories out" formula suggests it would take over a year to lose 20 more pounds.

    Thank you so much that was very informative and gave me a much better understanding! I certainly dont want to lose more so maintenance it is!

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