Transitioning to Maintenance ??

While I am back to dieting now - I gained weight due to having surgery on my foot and not being able to exercise - I was on a maintenance regimen for well over a year. You do need to keep exercising and you do still need to keep an eye on caloric intake, but you can be a little less rigid. I think also that this website has a maintenance track to help you out. I could be wrong, but check it out.

I thought I was at maintenance about six weeks ago, but decided to go for another ten pounds. But I've been doing alot of thinking about maintenance since then, and here is my plan for maintenance (which I think I'll be starting in a couple of weeks).

I've already checked my maintenance calories here at MFP (1410). I've got a heart rate monitor, so I know how many calories I'm burning, and I've been logging those calories everyday (so I have a general idea of my 'average' burn). Right now, since I only have two more pounds to lose until I reach my final destination (and I mean it this time!), I'm currently eating my maintenance calories and losing the weight through exercise alone.

This way I am getting used to how many calories I need to eat to maintain my weight if I don't exercise. I think this is important for me to do if I'm ever in a position of not being able to exercise for a long time. And the cool thing about it is it is working great for weight loss!

Over the next two weeks, I plan on increasing my calories by 100 a week (to about 1650), which will actually bring me to within 100-200 of what I burn through exercise. Then, when I've met my goal, I will probably settle my calories at about 1700-1800 or so everyday, which is based on what I'm averaging my exercise calories to be (anywhere between 300-400). I think this is a perfectly reasonable amount of calories for me to be eating and not feel deprived (which I also think is important).

I will be logging my food as I do now, and I have no plans on changing my workouts. I think the big difference for me is that I will allow myself the odd higher calorie day when I want something special without feeling like I need to make it up somehow through exercise. But I will only do that every few weeks or so. I figure if I go over by 300 calories once every three weeks (or so) and never burn off those calories (which I find unlikely), it will take me over six months to gain a pound. And after eating 1200-1400 calories for as long as I've been doing (I have not been over 1500 since January), 2000 calories sounds like so much! So I think I will be capable of maintaining this weight with the right mindset (not being militant and finding balance in other words) but still holding myself accountable for what I'm doing.

Good luck and congratulations on your weight loss!

I thought I was at maintenance about six weeks ago, but decided to go for another ten pounds. But I've been doing alot of thinking about maintenance since then, and here is my plan for maintenance (which I think I'll be starting in a couple of weeks).

I've already checked my maintenance calories here at MFP (1410). I've got a heart rate monitor, so I know how many calories I'm burning, and I've been logging those calories everyday (so I have a general idea of my 'average' burn). Right now, since I only have two more pounds to lose until I reach my final destination (and I mean it this time!), I'm currently eating my maintenance calories and losing the weight through exercise alone.

This way I am getting used to how many calories I need to eat to maintain my weight if I don't exercise. I think this is important for me to do if I'm ever in a position of not being able to exercise for a long time. And the cool thing about it is it is working great for weight loss!

Over the next two weeks, I plan on increasing my calories by 100 a week (to about 1650), which will actually bring me to within 100-200 of what I burn through exercise. Then, when I've met my goal, I will probably settle my calories at about 1700-1800 or so everyday, which is based on what I'm averaging my exercise calories to be (anywhere between 300-400). I think this is a perfectly reasonable amount of calories for me to be eating and not feel deprived (which I also think is important).

I will be logging my food as I do now, and I have no plans on changing my workouts. I think the big difference for me is that I will allow myself the odd higher calorie day when I want something special without feeling like I need to make it up somehow through exercise. But I will only do that every few weeks or so. I figure if I go over by 300 calories once every three weeks (or so) and never burn off those calories (which I find unlikely), it will take me over six months to gain a pound. And after eating 1200-1400 calories for as long as I've been doing (I have not been over 1500 since January), 2000 calories sounds like so much! So I think I will be capable of maintaining this weight with the right mindset (not being militant and finding balance in other words) but still holding myself accountable for what I'm doing.

Good luck and congratulations on your weight loss!

That is exactly what I am doing!! It seems to be working so far. Let me know how it goes for you.

My maintenance calories are low, but that's due to the fact I'm 43 and short (5'2") and, at least now :happy: , relatively small (about 112 pounds). Add on top of that the fact that, outside of exercise, my lifestyle is sedentary, and you end up with maintenance calories like mine.

I've searched a number of sites (this one, Jillian Michaels, and goggled dozens) and they all pretty much consistently say that to maintin this weight, I need to eat between 1400-1500 calories (without counting exercise of course). So I do trust what this site has given me for maintenance calories since it falls within the range.

But unless you are in a similar situation, there would be absolutely no reason for your maintenance calories to be so low. Trust me, I wish mine weren't.