Maintaining weight

nikolabird · March 2012

Hi

I have reached my goal of losing a stone and now weigh 9stone (57.1kg)

. This was on 1200cals daily.

MPF has now put my calorie intake up to 1690 cals and Im a bit nervous the sudden increase will cause me to gain back some of the weight?

Am I being silly? I am more than happy to take on those extra calories as I struggled with only 1200.

I will continue to workout 4 times a week and have cut out all the crap (Crisps, Sweets, Cakes, etc) and have been pretty good at incorporating lots of fruit, veg and wholemeal into my diet with the occasional treat (everything in moderation).

Im a bit clueless about this so any advice/tips would be greatly recieved.

Thanks x

UrbanRunner81 · March 2012

You won't gain.

I have been on maintenance for awhile if anything I have lost a pound or so here and there.

Remember you were on calorie goal to lose weight, so to maintain you need to eat more. Just don't eat over your maintenance goal and you should be fine.

katemiddletonisawesome · March 2012

My goal is only a few pounds away and I'm getting nervous. Thank you for posting this!

Lorichr · March 2012

I have been maintaining for a few months now and no problems. I weight myself at least every other day and definitely still count calories every day.
I have heard maintaining is way harder than losing, so I am a little nervous too. But I think you just have to approach it the same you lost it.

ladyraven68 · March 2012

Hi

I have reached my goal of losing a stone and now weigh 9stone (57.1kg) . This was on 1200cals daily.

MPF has now put my calorie intake up to 1690 cals and Im a bit nervous the sudden increase will cause me to gain back some of the weight?

Am I being silly? I am more than happy to take on those extra calories as I struggled with only 1200.

I will continue to workout 4 times a week and have cut out all the crap (Crisps, Sweets, Cakes, etc) and have been pretty good at incorporating lots of fruit, veg and wholemeal into my diet with the occasional treat (everything in moderation).

Im a bit clueless about this so any advice/tips would be greatly recieved.

Thanks x

If your target was to lose 1lb per week, your deficit was set at 500 calories from your maintenance calories.
If it was set at losing 0.5lb per week the deficit was 250 per day.

To get back to maintenance theoretically you should just add 500 (or 250) to the 1200 and eat at 1700, which is what MFP has done.

Theoretically you should not gain until you have eaten over maintenance.

Unfortunately sometimes our bodies act as if they have never read the theory, but good luck

yvonnej1 · March 2012

1690 sounds like a sensible amount for you to be eating for maintenance before exercise. I had a similar problem getting my head round the change when I reached maintenance, but just as I was reaching my goal I changed from losing 1lb a week to 0.5 a week then after a couple of weeks of that I adjusted up to the full maintenance level. I felt that this eased me into it, rather than a sudden jump.

There is a maintenance group on here that you may find helpful as lots of people, have similar worries on maintenance.

and finally well done :-)

pilgrimscrybe · March 2012

i have been on the maintenance diet for two months, my calories shooting up from 1200 to 1590 and i haven't gained anything back. i still log what i eat every day and run three miles three to four times a week. i don't eat a lot of desserts or high calorie snacks, just eat more of what i was eating at the 1200 calorie level

swaymyway · March 2012

Increase slowly if you are worried - if you are going from 1200 to 1800 just increase by 200 week 1, another 200 week 2 and another 200 week 3.

Weight loss isn't an exact science and MFP isn't perfect so you might personally find 1600 is enough for you and if you eat more you will gain, or you might find you can eat 2000 and not gain.

Just play around with it, keep checking your weight, and do what works for you

nikolabird · March 2012

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I didnt spot the maintenance group will go check it out.

I think after 3 months of cutting back having those extra calories takes a bit of getting used to.

Will up my food intake (should't be too hard) and see what happens.

Good luck everyone and keep up the good work xx

beaversprings · March 2012

I am no expert, but from what I have gathered from most of the weight loss programs I have researched and what I plan to do when I reach my goal is to continue to lose a few extra pounds as a buffer and then slowly increase my calories until Iam no longer losing and as soon as I see an increase to decrease my calories slightly. I want to make sure that I listen to what my body is telling me. I don't want to just accept that MFP's maintenance calories estimate is accurate.

ninelives58 · March 2012

I'm nervous about the maintenance phase too. I did increase my calories to lose only half a pound per week versus 1 pound per week when I got within 10 pounds of my goal, and it seems to be going along just fine. But I think, like everyone else, I've seen so many people lose weight only to gain it back. I don't want to be one of them!!

keiraev · March 2012

You won't gain- in fact it may appear that you have gained in the first week as your body gets used to the extra calories and then you will probably drop a few pounds straight away after that as your metabolism speeds up with the extra food.

I am 7lb lighter than you and I maintain on 1700 a day (NET) so please do not worry & well done for reaching your goal :drinker:

Maintaining weight

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