Maintenance with lower body weight

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ddsb1111
ddsb1111 Posts: 739 Member
edited September 2023 in Goal: Maintaining Weight
My questions are for those who are choosing to maintain their weight on the lower end of the healthy spectrum.

Do you feel like you’re just dieting all the time still? How do you create a new normal while keeping your leanness?

What have you found works for you? More exercise? Strict calorie control? I need to make maintenance a lifestyle and I’m not sure how to do that exactly without feeling like I’m doing the same thing I did at a deficit. Is this even possible?

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  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 13,237 Member
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    My question is why are you targeting the lower end of the healthy spectrum?

    Maintenance is exactly the same as weight loss except you eat a little more than during loss. If it's a lifestyle, you'll have to keep doing it. Whatever approach you take, make sure it's something you can do forever. Find a way to use an approach you can be comfortable with and even enjoy. That likely will include exercise; it's beneficial beyond weight management. Food choices will be paramount; make sure to get adequate nutrition, and generally eat around maintenance. Look at weekly averages rather than every day. Give yourself permission to celebrate from time to time. Enjoy it because you only get one spin of the wheel.
  • ddsb1111
    ddsb1111 Posts: 739 Member
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    My question is why are you targeting the lower end of the healthy spectrum?

    I like it.

    generally eat around maintenance. Look at weekly averages rather than every day.

    Okay, thanks so much! I’ll experiment with those numbers overtime and find out when it evens out. Appreciate your help.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    I don't go by BMI range. 180ish Lbs is about as low as I'm willing to maintain and that's at the highest end of the BMI scale for me, but right around 13% BF...so not super lean, but not really much fat either. Once I get around 12% BF it becomes harder for me to maintain and at that point it always feels like I have to have everything on point and that's just no fun. Even at 13% it sometimes feels like a chore. Between 185 and 190 is kind of my sweet spot for maintenance where I just feel like a normal person living a healthy lifestyle but not being too crazy about it. That puts me overweight, but at around 15-16% BF or so...so a completely healthy BF%.

    Right now I'm sitting at around 200 Lbs so I definitely need to cut some fat and get back down to around 185ish
  • rosiekin
    rosiekin Posts: 78 Member
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    I'd like to add something to my post above as I definitely don't want to give the impression that I'm a fan of having a low BMI, which I do know sounds a bit contradictive because I've got one 🙈! Also, each to their own!
    Like I said above, it wasn't in my weight journey plan to get so low, but now I'm here, I do struggle with the thought of putting some weight back on, and I appreciate that's not healthy. The latter is probably because, prior to reaching maintenance at the tail end of 2014, I'd spent the best part of 30+ years as overweight/obese.
    I lost the additional weight during lockdown, which also coincided with me retiring. Taking up walking, and only slightly increasing my calories to allow for the additional exercise I was doing, but sometimes being wary of always eating these extra calories, coupled with me not eating out due to the restrictions in place at the time, resulted in me losing just over a stone, which I didn't need to lose as I had a BMI of about 22.
    After quite an easy 7 years of maintenance, during lockdown food began to become more of a focus for me, and although life in general has returned to normal, I've found it hard to shake off the increased obsessive feelings I developed over calorie counting, and getting my steps in too. Don't get me wrong, I was always disciplined about calorie counting, but overall I just felt more relaxed and less obsessive than I currently feel.
    Recently I make sure over a week I average 2100 calories a day, and I'm walking less. I'm definitely still a work in progress, and hopefully in time I will be OK at upping my BMI again, as I do think being in too low a range isn't actually that healthy. Well not healthy for me as a 60+ woman! Plus the additional wrinkles you get when you verging on being underweight isn't ideal 🤣!
    To the original poster, if you are having to restrict your calories below your maintenance calories, and/or do excessive amounts of exercise to maintain a lower BMI, only you can decide if that's right for you, and the benefits of being at a lower weight are worth what you have to do to achieve it.
  • 425Recess
    425Recess Posts: 261 Member
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    It is interesting to read these comments. I too got to low BMI accidently and not complaining. I log my food not just for calories but for general good health. I watch my protein, fiber, carbs, and sugars. I notice if I am eating too few fruits and vegetables. In other words, I'm on a diet like I keep track of the money I spend and what I am spending it on. I brush my teeth too - good habits that don't take a lot of thinking now that they are habits.
  • ddsb1111
    ddsb1111 Posts: 739 Member
    edited October 2023
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    The calorie difference between either of those and my current 130ish pounds (BMI 22) is pretty negligible

    To your specific questions:

    I don't really know how to answer that. I'm still mostly calorie-counting, but it a somewhat more relaxed way than in early maintenance. I don't feel anxious or deprived or anything like that. Is that feeling like "dieting all the time"?

    I still calorie count, mostly. I rely on habits and routines, so most of my normal days fall into a reasonable calorie range without what I'd call "strict calorie control". I calorie bank - eat a little under my estimated maintenance calories most days to indulge sometimes. That's a concession to hedonism.

    I get a feeling - maybe incorrect? - that you may've done things while dieting/in a deficit that were difficult or unpleasant for you?

    You might find that there isn't a huge difference calorically between the bottom of the normal BMI range and the top, so I'm not sure how much difference being in the lower range matters.

    Sorry I’ve been gone for a couple of weeks on vacation and just getting to these responses.

    You’re correct in that I’ve done things while dieting that were difficult, so my bearings on maintenance is pretty grey. Typically I would lose no more than .5lbs a week and take around 6-8 months to get to goal. However, from July-Sept I was in a weight loss challenge with a friend and my husband and apparently I took it very seriously and lost about 1lb per week, which is the biggest deficit I could have while still being healthy. So, now I’ll be adding more calories than I typically would for maintenance and it seems like a big jump from what I’ve been doing for 3 months.

    And, because I was so focused on the challenge at that time, I was slightly in my head about what to do next. Happy accident though- I winged my diet on vacation for 2 weeks, gained the expected 4lbs, and lost most of it in 4 days, so I’m far more relaxed about it now than I was before I left. I basically ate at the same time and the same serving sizes but didn’t fuss with the calories. This was the best experiment I could have done. If this is what maintenance looks like I will be totally fine 😊

    I still have plenty of fat and realize I need to increase my strength so I’m going to work on that next. I’ll sit around this weight for awhile and see where increased fitness puts me. I’m guessing at most I’ll add another 2lbs from that over the course of a year so it’s pretty negligible. I’m pretty comfortable with a 3-4lb range already just being a woman so I’m expecting that.

    Hopefully everything will be a smooth transition, so far so good. But fortunately I know where to go if I have questions. I’m sure I will.
  • ddsb1111
    ddsb1111 Posts: 739 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I don't go by BMI range. 180ish Lbs is about as low as I'm willing to maintain and that's at the highest end of the BMI scale for me, but right around 13% BF...so not super lean, but not really much fat either. Once I get around 12% BF it becomes harder for me to maintain and at that point it always feels like I have to have everything on point and that's just no fun. Even at 13% it sometimes feels like a chore. Between 185 and 190 is kind of my sweet spot for maintenance where I just feel like a normal person living a healthy lifestyle but not being too crazy about it. That puts me overweight, but at around 15-16% BF or so...so a completely healthy BF%.

    Right now I'm sitting at around 200 Lbs so I definitely need to cut some fat and get back down to around 185ish

    I have the opposite problem, I have a lower BMI than I look. You sound like you carry a good amount of muscle which is why I think the BMI situation frustrates so many people, but probably shouldn’t. When I was younger I had a lot more muscle but was about the same size (if not smaller) and weighed about 5-8lbs more. I’ve lost all that and replaced it with fat, which I need to correct. I don’t think I’ll ever get that muscle back but I’ll work on building my strength and endurance and see where that puts me. I can make compromises to stay close to my goal weight but I’m not going hungry or going to obsess over it either. Life’s too short, food is too delicious, and it’s all about balance anyway.
  • ddsb1111
    ddsb1111 Posts: 739 Member
    edited October 2023
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    rosiekin wrote: »
    With a BMI of about 19, I’m currently at the lower end of a healthy BMI. Although it had never been in my weight journey plan to get to where I am now, and I was perfectly happy when my BMI was around 22 or 23. However, I’d be lying if I said I was unhappy with my current weight.
    Over the week, I average 2100 calories (&10,000 steps) a day so I definitely don’t feel like I’m on a diet or exercising excessively. I am very disciplined (obsessive) about calorie counting, and getting my steps in, and this is definitely something I’d like to be more relaxed about, but then I say to myself that it’s a reasonably small price to pay for the benefits of being at maintenance!

    I think I’m hovering right above 20 and I’m pretty comfortable here but need to do the physical work and start changing my shape. I think there’s several of us that are more comfortable on the lower end of normal but it can be a controversial topic so it’s often avoided. If you’re able to eat that many calories, you’re happy and healthy, then I don’t see any reason to change what you’re doing. As long as you don’t punish yourself for any discrepancy in your logging or steps from time to time you should be fine. I would keep an eye on being relaxed as much as I would keep an eye on being strict. I would want to be somewhere happily in the middle so it’s a lifestyle and not a life sentence.
  • ddsb1111
    ddsb1111 Posts: 739 Member
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    Egotrapped wrote: »
    I was shooting for 118. When I got there I started maintenance. My weight kept going down till I ended up at 112 where I seemed to have stabilized. I’m happy with that. I’m not very tall almost 5 feet, so this weight is not scarily thin and I feel good here.
    I eat anytime I want and anything I want with the only caveat is I log it and stay within my calorie range -that works for me. I think of it like the dietitian said in another post it’s like managing finances we don’t go spend money we don’t have so I keep logging so I don’t spend calories I don’t have. That’s my philosophy. Using the maintenance calories my weight varies between one and 2 pounds so I think I’m stable. I’ve been doing maintenance since July 2023 it took me from December to July to
    shed about 25 lbs

    How long did it take you to lose the 6lbs from 118-112? I’m guessing you were comfortable with the amount you were eating and it just slowly kept coming off and you were fine with that so didn’t pivot, right? You’re smart in losing that 25lbs over 7 months, I think it’s the easiest and most comfortable way to transition to maintenance. And I like your attitude towards your diet as well, log it and move on. Anyway I can make this a math equation or finance analogy the less power any of this has over me and the way I feel about myself. It’s just numbers.
  • ddsb1111
    ddsb1111 Posts: 739 Member
    edited October 2023
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    425Recess wrote: »
    It is interesting to read these comments. I too got to low BMI accidently and not complaining. I log my food not just for calories but for general good health. I watch my protein, fiber, carbs, and sugars. I notice if I am eating too few fruits and vegetables. In other words, I'm on a diet like I keep track of the money I spend and what I am spending it on. I brush my teeth too - good habits that don't take a lot of thinking now that they are habits.

    Precisely. When I was on vacation I wasn’t stressed about calories or logging but oddly enough I automatically ate at the same time and the same portion sizes, I just didn’t track calories. I didn’t plan on this. Strictly habits! I’m shocked how easy it is to get back on track now that I’m home because it didn’t feel like I was off track in the first place. Now I’m just living my life with the routine that got me here.

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