Chinkiri....

cjane917 wrote: »

In other news, I'm about a pound a way from transitioning into maintenance, though I think I'll still have some body recomposition happening as I continue to take long walks and do calisthenics. Do any of you have tips for moving into maintenance? How abruptly or gradually did you change your calorie allotment? Are there things you can ease up on?

I am now ~ 1 month at the MFP recommended daily maintenance calorie level, after taking ~6 weeks to gradually, week-by-week, adding in the difference.

I was given a recommended extra 200 pre-exercise calories per day for maintenance intake when I did the Goal Reset thing.

It's just me, but I felt that by easing into the change - only adding ~50 calories a day (for a week at a time, then upping by another 50 again) plus eating more of my exercise calories meant that I could be more strategic about HOW I would add in the calories across the whole day instead of suddenly adding JUST high-calorie evening snacks. Especially in the current semi-lockdown environment with a very different scope for formal-exercise options than last year would have been (although that may be starting to change a bit in your area?) and my need to meet the corresponding increased NEAT-activity level despite (in my case) a "no end in sight WFH" situation and a tendency towards relatively sedentary hobbies.

Are there things that you could start using a slightly more calorie-dense version of again (choice of salad dressing; low fat instead of no-fat yogurt for instance) that you could add at lunch or for earlier-in-the-day planned snacks? Or serving SLIGHTLY larger (measured) portions of?

I know nothing about the macro-combo recommendations for body re-composition (although I imagine it would be strong on protein % age than the default MFP setting) but maybe there is a relevant thread or two in the Must Reads at the top of the Maintenance Board and/or the Gain Weight (name?) Board ... there is one Message Board specifically targeted for people into recomp / heavy lifting / cutting-bulking type exercise cycles and related nutrition, and am not entirely sure of the exact name. But I mean that one.

juliemouse83 wrote: »

Annnnd, I dropped another .7 pounds this week, so I only have 15 more to go!

@juliemouse83 Yay YOU!!!!

@cjane917 congratulations on being one pound away from maintenance and @juliemouse83, congratulations on being 0.7 pounds closer to maintenance!!

cjane917 wrote: »

@BMcC9 thanks for the advice! That makes a lot of sense-- it would seem too abrupt to suddenly increase by 250 per day. I like the idea of starting with just an extra 50 per day. Did you accomplish that by just making sure you stayed 150-200 under your calorie limit (in the green) after switching to maintenance settings?

@cjane917
That making sure you stayed 150-200 under your calorie limit (in the green) after switching to maintenance settings might work for some, but not for me.

Start at "HOME" and go to "GOALS". The "Guided Setup" is how you find out what MFP recommends in order to get you what want ( in this case switch up to Maintenance). Looks like you already did that and now know that you are to settle 250 up from your "still losing" value.

That is also where you confirm that your "lifestyle setting" (sedentary / lightly active / very active) is realistic to your current situation. Save changes if you haven't already just tweaked it.

Right below the "Guided Setup" link is the box showing your daily target calories and macro percentages. There is an edit button, and you can play with these numbers without going through Guided Setup.

I went from 1200 to 1250 - made sure my activity was covering the difference with no issue - 1250 to 1300 - same thing, upping the exercise - until I got to 1400 and was still consistently breaking even in terms of calories in to calories burned as shown by my weight (Saturday to Saturday) was staying stable.

I am an old enough hand at this to not be concerned about any given single-day variation. It is the trend (if you have a device that can track this) that is the more important measure.

@cjane917 congrats on moving to the other side!
The time before when I went to maintain I kept eating really healthy and instead of going to ‘ maintenance calories’ I just ate back what I worked out. After about a month of that I stopped keeping track. I knew enough about what food should look like, what things worked for me and how many calories were in most foods to just try to eat well. I think checking the scale is important. Some times things are trail and error. You will have to find out what works for you.

Chinkiri asked for a picture of my yard, so here is a part of it. Been getting exercise lately by maintaining it. For now the riding lawnmower is down so I have been using the old push mower, great exercise. The whole lawn is a lot bigger than it looks in this photo.

Saturday I am leaving for 10 days of vacation in Florida. Not sure I can keep up daily logging and pretty sure I won't be able to exercise every day. However I will do my best, stay here, and shoot for the winner's circle in July.

Happy Juneteenth to my American friends! This American holiday commemorates one of the last announcements of the abolition of slavery in the United States, on June 19, 1865. Although it has existed for over 100 years, Juneteenth is now gaining popularity as a way to celebrate diversity and to reflect on our progress toward equality.

Happy Solstice! (astronomical longest day / shortest night in the Northern Hemisphere; opposite (start of increasing daylight) if you are south of the equator.