Reached target weight

I've finally reached my target weight of 62kg (about 137lb) having lost 16kg (35lb)!
I've gone from a UK size 16 to size 8
I am super excited but also a bit nervous about adjusting my diet to maintain rather than lose weight, as I don't want to put all the weight back on again.
Does anyone have any tips or words of wisdom?

Replies

  • mariomicro
    mariomicro Posts: 74 Member
    I reached my target weight long time ago, but I still maintain a mild calorie deficit (100 cals) just to enjoy the overall benefits of calorie restriction. I will probably start eating at a surplus if I get to 18/18.5 BMI.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
    Congratulations :smile:
    maintaining our weight is no different from when we were aiming to lose, we just get some extra calories to work with.
    So if you were losing 1/2lb a week, you know you can now eat an extra 250cals a day - in other words an extra snack, or increase the size of your meals a little.

    All the best with keeping the weight off, it can be done, loads of us here are long term maintainers, but it takes as much effort to maintain as it did when losing.
  • durhammfp
    durhammfp Posts: 493 Member
    mariomicro wrote: »
    I reached my target weight long time ago, but I still maintain a mild calorie deficit (100 cals) just to enjoy the overall benefits of calorie restriction. I will probably start eating at a surplus if I get to 18/18.5 BMI.

    What are the benefits of calorie restriction if you are already at your target weight? Genuinely interested. I was looking at calorie restriction just as something to get me to my target weight.
  • mariomicro
    mariomicro Posts: 74 Member
    durhammfp wrote: »
    mariomicro wrote: »
    I reached my target weight long time ago, but I still maintain a mild calorie deficit (100 cals) just to enjoy the overall benefits of calorie restriction. I will probably start eating at a surplus if I get to 18/18.5 BMI.

    What are the benefits of calorie restriction if you are already at your target weight? Genuinely interested. I was looking at calorie restriction just as something to get me to my target weight.

    https://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?q=calorie+restriction+longevity&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart
  • thebiblewithtina
    thebiblewithtina Posts: 48 Member
    ms4352987 wrote: »
    I've finally reached my target weight of 62kg (about 137lb) having lost 16kg (35lb)!
    I've gone from a UK size 16 to size 8
    I am super excited but also a bit nervous about adjusting my diet to maintain rather than lose weight, as I don't want to put all the weight back on again.
    Does anyone have any tips or words of wisdom?

    Congratulations. I'll be following this thread closely. I'm currently 63Kg and goal weight is 61Kg.
  • B_Plus_Effort
    B_Plus_Effort Posts: 311 Member
    congratulations, keep in mind your scale weight is only one of many health factors, find a dip tank or some other reliable way of measuring your body fat level and see where you fit, I don't want to rain on your parade but some people are "skinny fat" meaning they weigh the right amounts but carry too much fat, so then you can eat and exercise accordingly to bring that in line and that will be yet another aspect of your health and fitness
  • briscogun
    briscogun Posts: 1,135 Member
    Congrats on the loss first of all!

    As far as maintenance, it's definitely more of a mental and emotional shift, at least it was for me. It's hard to go from wanting to see the scale go down to watching it bounce around up and down a few pounds here or there.

    For example, I've yo-yo'd a few times over the last 10 years, so this time i approached maintenance differently (I'm great at losing, bad at maintaining). As I got closer to goal weight I started to put the breaks on and slowly ate more, just like a few hundred calories here or there. So my weight chart graph started to flatten out a bit. As I did I was tracking and logging so I had lots of data to see where my true maintenance was going to be calorie wise.

    So after about a month of slowly adjusting I was in full on maintenance mode! Yay! And now my weight chart looks like a seismograph during an earthquake! Its up, its down, it all over the place! I wish I could post a pic here but it won't let me cut and paste it. So I've really started to rely on my weight trending app and looking at my weekly AVERAGE weight. I have a -5 lb/+5 lb range that I've been able to stick to for about 6 months now (except for a 10 day vacation where I went over 2 lbs).

    So I guess in short, your weight will NOT be a static thing, even if you eat the EXACT same calories every day. Some days you'll just go up a lb or two for no reason, sometimes down a lb or two. You just kind of have to get used to these daily fluctuations and just realize your going to be bouncing around and that the normal part of it all. But this is what you worked so hard for so take a few months to adjust to the new you and the new way of eating (more food now yay!).
  • Bluetail6
    Bluetail6 Posts: 2,874 Member
    Congratulations on reaching your goal weight!! I think with regular MFP check ins, you will be fine :):)
  • Katerr1kk
    Katerr1kk Posts: 81 Member
    Congratulations!