At what point will you switch your calories to maintenance?

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Iamfit4life
Iamfit4life Posts: 3,095 Member
in Chit-Chat
I keep going back and forth!

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  • rjbrowne82
    rjbrowne82 Posts: 198 Member
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    I would think when u reach where you want to be weight wise.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    is this a trick question?! i did it when i got to my goal weight....
  • Iamfit4life
    Iamfit4life Posts: 3,095 Member
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    is this a trick question?! i did it when i got to my goal weight....

    Not a trick question... I'm where I need to be and happy. But i get so nervous having it set there.
  • blunderwhere
    blunderwhere Posts: 24 Member
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    For what it's worth, I started with so-called maintenance. I don't want to "diet" again, because it has been a repeated abysmal failure for me, so instead of dieting, I have simply started eating "normally" which, of course, will never be normal for me and will always require my vigilance.

    I want to start my "maintenance" now because it will take everything I have to make consistent and permanent changes in how I live a day at a time. I don't need to learn how to diet, I need to learn how to live and eat daily. So, I am eating and living as I hope to eat and live today as I hope to for the rest of my life.

    Because it requires more calories to walk around at my current weight than it would if I was, say, 130 lbs, though, I eat more now than I will when I weight 130, so I carefully monitor how rapidly I am losing and using the BMR and BMI tools, I periodically and gradually reduce my caloric intake as I become lighter.

    Best of luck.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    is this a trick question?! i did it when i got to my goal weight....

    Not a trick question... I'm where I need to be and happy. But i get so nervous having it set there.

    nervous about what?
  • sleepytexan
    sleepytexan Posts: 3,138 Member
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    I have not been able to get to my goal! I needed to lose 15 lbs. and I lost 13 lbs. in 2 months at a 500-cal deficit. Then I plateaued for a month.

    I work out hard 16 or more hours a week, and eating too few calories is what had caused my weight gain in the first place, so with 2 lbs. to go, it didn't make sense to eat any fewer calories. So I upped my cals to a 250 defiicit . . . and stayed the same for another month. Then I upped my cals to maintenance for the past 3 weeks and have stayed the same.

    So, I am now confounded bc I started maintaining my weight 3 mos ago at a 500 cal deficit and continued to maintain even up to a 0 defiicit. What have I learned? Ha, I don't know, other than that I may as well eat at maintenance instead of 500 cal deficit if I'm going to stay the same anyway.

    Some would say, "why do you need to lose 2 more pounds?" I guess I don't. I would just like to, that's all. It's not unreasonable. It's possible I'm not losing bc I'm training so hard right now for a century ride in 2 weeks. I'm not really able to take a break--I know that sounds bizarre, but I am committed to some of my exercise bc I teach fitness classes and am under contract to perform with a dance company. I can't back down the training rides or I won't be able to complete the century. Maybe after it's over when I cut my weekly rides back down to 35 miles and I'm taking October off of dance performances, maybe then I'll be able to drop a few pounds.

    Anyway, when I first went to maintenance, my weight crept up for the first 2 weeks by a total of 2 lbs, but I had committed to trying it for 3 weeks. Then it went back down the last week, so here I am again.

    Since I don't know what else to do now, I put my deficit back down to 500 yesterday and I am trying a 2x BMR spike day once a week before a big workout day. I'm riding 80 miles tomorrow, and will burn about 3500 cals, so today is my first spike day.

    So how's that for a whole lotta stuff without any answer to your question?

    blessings.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    For what it's worth, I started with so-called maintenance. I don't want to "diet" again, because it has been a repeated abysmal failure for me, so instead of dieting, I have simply started eating "normally" which, of course, will never be normal for me and will always require my vigilance.

    I want to start my "maintenance" now because it will take everything I have to make consistent and permanent changes in how I live a day at a time. I don't need to learn how to diet, I need to learn how to live and eat daily. So, I am eating and living as I hope to eat and live today as I hope to for the rest of my life.

    Because it requires more calories to walk around at my current weight than it would if I was, say, 130 lbs, though, I eat more now than I will when I weight 130, so I carefully monitor how rapidly I am losing and using the BMR and BMI tools, I periodically and gradually reduce my caloric intake as I become lighter.

    Best of luck.

    if you are at maintenance, why are you reducing your calories?
  • blunderwhere
    blunderwhere Posts: 24 Member
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    Good question, Tav. Because, at my weight, maintenance is what a person of 130 lbs would need to maintain that weight, plus an additional amount because I carry around a significant load 24 hrs per day. In other words, the simple fact that I weight more than 100lbs more than I should means that I naturally burn more calories than a person of an average weight.

    Imagine that a 130 lb person strapped on a backpack weighing 100lbs everyday and carried it around everywhere, never taking it off, even slept in it. That person would burn x amount of calories more than someone who doesn't carry that backpack. Therefore, I must add on a specific amount to account for my "load" then subtract a small portion to make sure that I am in a "calorie deficit" without throwing my body into starvation mode by losing too fast.

    If I simply ate the number of calories a 130 lb person should eat to maintain that weight, I would have too large a calorie deficit and therefore my body would slow down its metabolism to protect me from impending starvation.

    I eat more than 2000 calories daily right now and lose consistently, but when I started I was eating 2350 and losing. So, I will continue to very gradually descend in weight and calorie consumption until I reach my weight goal and appropriate calorie intake for that weight.

    I believe the traditional calorie deficit followed by an "increase" for so-called maintenance simply feeds into the diet yo yo that so many of us have experience. At least it has for me.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Good question, Tav. Because, at my weight, maintenance is what a person of 130 lbs would need to maintain that weight, plus an additional amount because I carry around a significant load 24 hrs per day. In other words, the simple fact that I weight more than 100lbs more than I should means that I naturally burn more calories than a person of an average weight.

    Imagine that a 130 lb person strapped on a backpack weighing 100lbs everyday and carried it around everywhere, never taking it off, even slept in it. That person would burn x amount of calories more than someone who doesn't carry that backpack. Therefore, I must add on a specific amount to account for my "load" then subtract a small portion to make sure that I am in a "calorie deficit" without throwing my body into starvation mode by losing too fast.

    If I simply ate the number of calories a 130 lb person should eat to maintain that weight, I would have too large a calorie deficit and therefore my body would slow down its metabolism to protect me from impending starvation.

    I eat more than 2000 calories daily right now and lose consistently, but when I started I was eating 2350 and losing. So, I will continue to very gradually descend in weight and calorie consumption until I reach my weight goal and appropriate calorie intake for that weight.

    I believe the traditional calorie deficit followed by an "increase" for so-called maintenance simply feeds into the diet yo yo that so many of us have experience. At least it has for me.

    aaaaaah, i see. sounds like you have found a way to lose weight healthily that works for you & from the looks for your ticker you're doing a great job! x
  • Iamfit4life
    Iamfit4life Posts: 3,095 Member
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    I have not been able to get to my goal! I needed to lose 15 lbs. and I lost 13 lbs. in 2 months at a 500-cal deficit. Then I plateaued for a month.

    I work out hard 16 or more hours a week, and eating too few calories is what had caused my weight gain in the first place, so with 2 lbs. to go, it didn't make sense to eat any fewer calories. So I upped my cals to a 250 defiicit . . . and stayed the same for another month. Then I upped my cals to maintenance for the past 3 weeks and have stayed the same.

    So, I am now confounded bc I started maintaining my weight 3 mos ago at a 500 cal deficit and continued to maintain even up to a 0 defiicit. What have I learned? Ha, I don't know, other than that I may as well eat at maintenance instead of 500 cal deficit if I'm going to stay the same anyway.

    Some would say, "why do you need to lose 2 more pounds?" I guess I don't. I would just like to, that's all. It's not unreasonable. It's possible I'm not losing bc I'm training so hard right now for a century ride in 2 weeks. I'm not really able to take a break--I know that sounds bizarre, but I am committed to some of my exercise bc I teach fitness classes and am under contract to perform with a dance company. I can't back down the training rides or I won't be able to complete the century. Maybe after it's over when I cut my weekly rides back down to 35 miles and I'm taking October off of dance performances, maybe then I'll be able to drop a few pounds.

    Anyway, when I first went to maintenance, my weight crept up for the first 2 weeks by a total of 2 lbs, but I had committed to trying it for 3 weeks. Then it went back down the last week, so here I am again.

    Since I don't know what else to do now, I put my deficit back down to 500 yesterday and I am trying a 2x BMR spike day once a week before a big workout day. I'm riding 80 miles tomorrow, and will burn about 3500 cals, so today is my first spike day.

    So how's that for a whole lotta stuff without any answer to your question?

    blessings.

    lol it makes you sound a whole lot me. I'm going to try it for a few weeks. I just fear waking up one day and being 70lbs heavier.
    Which is, stupid... But it's just my weird body stuff.
  • stampede55
    stampede55 Posts: 474
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    As soon as I can see my abs!

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