Goal weight achieved! Now what...?

Options
pantherkeith
pantherkeith Posts: 19 Member
in Motivation and Support
Hopped on the scale today and was exactly 175. I was elated to be back down from an all time high of 220. My health is overwhelmingly better, I feel GREAT, and I'm wearing clothes sizes I don't remember fitting into in high school.

So, all this said, I've developed somewhat of a "fear" of calories now. I'm perfectly rational and intellegent, but I have this irrational fear that going over 1200 calories per day is now going to start adding the weight back on at a disporprotional rate. I know I want to maintain this weight, and to do that I need to bump up my caloric intake. But I'm having trouble getting over that mental block of beginning to increase my calories.

Anybody gone through this, and what did you do to get over that mental hurdle?
«1

Replies

  • mommyred35
    mommyred35 Posts: 282 Member
    Options
    Well I don't have any advice but congrats on reaching your goal weight
  • NNAhuja
    NNAhuja Posts: 669 Member
    Options
    Congrads on reaching your goal.
    I think, if anything, just switch into maintance mode and see what happens. If you see weight is picking back up, you already know what works. :)
  • StewieEatWorld
    StewieEatWorld Posts: 2
    Options
    Nice one! Maybe the best thing is to slowly increase your calorie intake day by day?
    On a side note, how long did it take you to reach your goal? :)
  • DantonD
    DantonD Posts: 15 Member
    Options
    Start lifting weights.
  • laddyboy
    laddyboy Posts: 1,565 Member
    Options
    Hopped on the scale today and was exactly 175. I was elated to be back down from an all time high of 220. My health is overwhelmingly better, I feel GREAT, and I'm wearing clothes sizes I don't remember fitting into in high school.

    So, all this said, I've developed somewhat of a "fear" of calories now. I'm perfectly rational and intellegent, but I have this irrational fear that going over 1200 calories per day is now going to start adding the weight back on at a disporprotional rate. I know I want to maintain this weight, and to do that I need to bump up my caloric intake. But I'm having trouble getting over that mental block of beginning to increase my calories.

    Anybody gone through this, and what did you do to get over that mental hurdle?

    congrats. Wanna keep it off. Weight train 3-5 days a week. Cardio 1-3 days a week. 30 minutes should be fine for maintaining.
  • Promqueen_74932
    Promqueen_74932 Posts: 203 Member
    Options
    I use the Harris Benedict Equation. With it you can determine your TDEE "maintenance" calories. Then just keep doing what you are doing. Stay active, eat clean and healthy, and stay positive. It is scary to change our intake, but you won't know anything until you try. :bigsmile:

    Sara :flowerforyou:
  • DixiedoesMFP
    DixiedoesMFP Posts: 935 Member
    Options
    You need to find out what your maintenance calories actually are, then work up to those. Add 100 - 200 calories a day until you get there. Good luck and congratulations!
  • Nikkei24
    Nikkei24 Posts: 282 Member
    Options
    Increase them slowly. You may end up losing weight still lol
  • yokurio
    yokurio Posts: 116 Member
    Options
    Eat and stop watching your weight until you hit 220 and start over again! =-)

    Just teasin'!
  • TheRUBENone
    TheRUBENone Posts: 20 Member
    Options
    wow your post is speaking to me in more ways then you can imagine. i too am going through this now. i went from 467 pounds to 198. im happy at 198 & actually want to maintain this weight & build muscle & continue to loose fat with out continueing to drop on the scale. so its been a fight. eating more times a day & trying to eat more calories. stopped all my cardio because im burning off to many calories & will continue to loose so just hitting the weights to help build muscle & as my weight increases i will hit up cardio to help balance out & stay right at 200 pounds or a little less. good luck to you.
  • Tyidwo
    Tyidwo Posts: 9 Member
    Options
    I'm in the same place right now, what Ive been doing is keeping my eating and exercising pretty much the same as what I was doing while losing weight, but adding in more calorie dense foods that I enjoy such as peanut butter and advocados... they are still healthy but I avoided them while losing weight because they are pretty high in calories...
  • minnesota_deere
    minnesota_deere Posts: 232 Member
    Options
    nothing. your done, find a new hobby.
  • andreamelo1
    andreamelo1 Posts: 161 Member
    Options
    make a new goal!:wink:
  • complicatedmoves
    complicatedmoves Posts: 84 Member
    Options
    Hopped on the scale today and was exactly 175. I was elated to be back down from an all time high of 220. My health is overwhelmingly better, I feel GREAT, and I'm wearing clothes sizes I don't remember fitting into in high school.

    So, all this said, I've developed somewhat of a "fear" of calories now. I'm perfectly rational and intellegent, but I have this irrational fear that going over 1200 calories per day is now going to start adding the weight back on at a disporprotional rate. I know I want to maintain this weight, and to do that I need to bump up my caloric intake. But I'm having trouble getting over that mental block of beginning to increase my calories.

    Anybody gone through this, and what did you do to get over that mental hurdle?

    CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!When I get to my goal weight.....First , I am going to celebrate by going on a spa trip! Then, I am going to continue to eat and maintan my weight and workout schedule so I don't regain my weight. Then after a while........shopping!

    I now have the mentality that this will be a life long commitment, so I'm going to continue to watch what I eat....period. I will increase my calories on certain days, but it's going to be a slow and steady ordeal. Even then, it will be with healthy food choices.
  • jcstanton
    jcstanton Posts: 1,849 Member
    Options
    Nice one! Maybe the best thing is to slowly increase your calorie intake day by day?
    On a side note, how long did it take you to reach your goal? :)

    ^^^This! I've heard alot of people say that they just keep eating healthy, but they gradually increase their caloric intake until their weight levels out. Maybe increase by 100 cals/day the first week. If you're still losing, increase by 50 or 100 more the next week, etc..., and don't forget to change your MFP settings to maintenance levels. And keep exercising AT LEAST 3 or 4 days per week. If you notice any weight gain (by "gain" I mean consistently more than one or two pounds a week), just decrease your calorie intake a little.
  • ChitownFoodie
    ChitownFoodie Posts: 1,562 Member
    Options
    Everyone goes through this when they lose the weight they intended to lose. Lift weights in order to build muscle/lean mass. Eat more! Find out what your TDEE is and eat that amount. You may gain initially while your body is learning to adjust to the higher amount of calories, but it will learn very quickly. Don't worry, you will lose the initial weight, just give it time. Some people, like me, don't gain when initially eat at maintenance. Right now I eat anywhere from 1,800-2,200 calories on a regular day, and haven't gained any weight. I only weigh 98 pounds and I'm roughly 5' tall.
  • LennyInFlorida
    LennyInFlorida Posts: 202
    Options
    After I lost all of my weight, I decided it was time to work on dropping fat and increasing muscle. The scale may not move but i'd definitely be healthier if I could do that and I've dropped my fat % big time in these past few years while hovering at my weight loss. This may or may not be a goal for you though. As for being afraid of calories, I was too when I hit my goal! It was my plan to eat bad on the weekends and I think I ate 6k calories on sat/sun each and my metabolic rate was still going so fast I didn't gain weight the next week. You now need to experiment with what makes you feel comfortable with maintaining your weight...think of it as fun with all the experiments you can try now!
  • beamie2687
    beamie2687 Posts: 95 Member
    Options
    I have read fairly consistently that losing weight is all about diet and maintaining weight is all about physical activity. Maybe you can add those calories back, but also add additional workouts?
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,967 Member
    Options
    I didn't have a mental hurdle. I knew I could eat 500 more calories a day and I wouldn't gain weight, so I did. It's science.

    My suggestion to you would be to go slow. Maybe start eating just 100 calories more a day, and then after a while, 100 more. etc. You will probably still lose weight for a while if you do that, though.
  • jeffsinkw
    jeffsinkw Posts: 16
    Options
    Wow, congrats!! Here's hoping that we all have that same question soon! Keep up the good work!!

Categories