I've reached my goal weight... what now?

Little background. For all of you that don't know me, I've been on MFP for over 2 years now, I know my profile doesn't say so, but I was under the name Banks1850 for over a year (long story, don't ask) before I changed to my current one. And for about the last 13 months or so I've been at maintenance. In that time, I've learned a few things about maintaining your existing weight and how to improve and set goals when you don't have a weight goal to challenge you.

I felt like imparting some of this gained experience on you guys cuz I'm just that kind of guy .

So without further ado... here's my list of things you need to focus on while in maintenance mode (or weight gain mode, they are similar in many respects).

CAVEATS: People who are over the age of 50 and/or have specific medical conditions do not necessarily apply to these tips, if you are in either category, consult with your physician before attempting to enact one of these tips.

Exercise tips:

1. While maintaining a regular exercise schedule is important, it should be a vastly different type of list from one that is weight loss focused. While weight loss exercise focuses on cardio to burn calories, maintenance and toning exercises should focus more towards a balance of metabolic (calorie burn) and improved skeletal-muscular (definition and strength) systems.

2. You're not an "exercise baby" any more. Your exercise shouldn't be light to moderate any more, sorry guys, walking is a poor form of exercise for people that are in moderate to good shape. Exercise should include things that are strenuous and moderately difficult to complete. Our bodies are designed to build muscle as a response to high muscle use, take advantage of that. While it's ok to have a day or two of lighter "cardio" that shouldn't be the focus, that should be a lead in day to a recovery phase.

3. You should LOVE what you do for exercise. If you find exercise a chore, find something else. Guys, this is going to be something you do for the rest of your life (hopefully). I'm always on the lookout for different activities that are fun and challenging, I don't do the same routine 2 weeks in a row, and neither should you. Find things that are fun, get out there and make a fool out of yourself trying them, nobody will laugh (TOO much). Your local YMCA usually has plenty of fun things that are highly competitive, don't be afraid to ask people if you can join them too if that's your thing!

4. While working out 6 or 7 days a week is no longer necessary, you NEED to set aside time, schedule it, and force yourself (however you need to) to follow the schedule when it comes to exercise. Too often people reach their goal then go right back to their pre-weight loss activities, which is how you got fat in the first place! Look up the definition of insanity guys, it holds true for your body as well.


5. Set goals. OK so weight loss is no longer a goal. Good, there are lots of other goals to have. Maybe you want to lower your body fat, maybe you want to break that time in a 5K, or maybe you want to be able to finish that advanced spinning class without taking a break finally! What ever it is, set specific, closed ended goals, and work towards them. A good game plan will keep you from starting and quitting things.

6. Don't keep setting new goals. Not everyone is meant to be a size 2, and no matter who you are, you're probably never going to have the body at 35 that you had at 18, we gain muscle as we age (to a point), and our bones grow and our bodies change, set goals that are reasonable, don't look to get skinny, look to get buff, forget your weight, look at body fat % and look at muscle to fat ratios.


Nutrition:

1. While calories deficits are no longer required, a lot of people have a hard time adjusting to upping their calories. For many it's a mental thing, for others, their body is so adapted to reduced calories, they feel too full to continue. Work slowly, add 50 or 100 calores every 2 weeks or so until you reach that perfect balance. There's no need to rush this guys, you're not going to gain 10 lbs by eating 100 extra calories a week, trust me!

2. Daily nutritional need is VITAL to maintaining good health. It's not just calories in vs calories out, it's what's IN those calories that's important also. Make sure you maintain the correct balance, whether you use a standard macro nutrient plan, or a low carb diet, or some other plan, make sure you are within your guidelines. And remember, there is no one macro nutrient (carbs, fat, protein) that is bad for you, it's all about how much you eat of each kind, all macros have their ups and downs, keep it moderate and you'll be fine.

3. Body fat is gained because of a couple of specific things that happen in the body. The list includes (but isn't limited to) not exercising, eating excessively large meals infrequently, eating an abundance of one macro nutrient, inactive (sedentary) lifestyle, eating a lot of processed (low nutrient density) foods, and the one that many people forget...NOT ENOUGH SLEEP!

4. Stress is a big fat builder. Stress releases hormones. Some of these hormones use a complex system of signals involving blood sugar, insulin and other hormones to store fat. The stress response was geared in our genetic makeup to allow for the fight or flight response. I.E. stress caused us to release more energy in preparation to either run from that big prehistoric animal that was gonna eat us, or to fight that dude that was trying to take our kill, when we stress without energy release, that energy is then converted to fat for later use. Eating carbohydrate rich meals during stressful times may feel like a comfort, but you're magnifying the problem by adding easilly converted glucose to an already volatile environment. Choose other ways of stress relief like exercise, house work, meditation (it's a great way to relieve stress), or some form of entertainment over eating.

5. Almost everyone in the world has some form of allergy. Many of us have symptoms so mild we don't even recognize it. If you've never had a food allergy test done, but have trouble keeping the weight off, even when you know you are eating right, go get checked, many times our body simply rejects certain foods as foreign entities, this can lead to impaired metabolic rates and not absorbing vitamins and minerals that you think you are receiving enough of. Which can throw off your metabolic balance.


These are just some of the things I have learned along the way, hopefully, you guys who have reached or are close to reaching your goals can benefit from my learning "the hard way" on things. Best luck to you guys.

-Banks