pinkteapot3 Member

If you do cardio, you can eat more. It's exactly the same as when losing. When losing, I ate 1,240 cals a day plus any exercise burns, so 1,240 to 2,000 cals per day depending on how much cardio I did. Now I'm on maintenance, my basic cals are 1,710 a day, plus any exercise burns. No exercise day = 1,710 cals. With cardio…

You need to get back to your doctor!

If you stopped logging then you must still have been eating in a deficit, albeit a smaller one. Without a food diary, it's impossible to say though. I've kept logging since hitting goal (April). I don't bother with TDEE - I still just eat MFP cals plus any exercise cals I earn (as I did when losing). I need to experiment…

I didn't do the 100 cals per week thing - I just went from "lose 1lb a week" (1,210 cals) to "lose 0.5lb per week" (1,470 cals) to "maintain weight" (1,710 cals). Only did about a fortnight on the middle option. Some people get really scared of eating more, so a gradual increase is good. Don't sweat the scales for the…

I don't think your mindset needs to change as much as you think. When diets fail - when people lose then regain - it's because they stop checking what they're eating and just go back to how they ate pre-diet. That food intake made them put weight on before, and it'll do so again. When losing, I logged all my food and…

I was at the top of my healthy BMI range (the NHS range in the UK is huge - over two stone wide!) and am now maintaining at the middle of it. I like this weight (rather than any lower) because I am big-framed. Hubby commented the other night that he could feel my ribs when he stroked my back - made me feel so unsexy!!…

So presumably only really works if you consistently do about the same amount of exercise each week? My exercise is quite variable - some weeks I do more than others...

I use MFP (not TDEE which I totally don't understand), activity set as sedentary as I have a desk job, and eat back all of my exercise cals. I did that throughout loss and have been doing the same since April on maintenance and the system works for me. That being said, the ONLY exercise is log is my running and cycling.…

MFP increased mine from 1,240 to 1,710 when I changed my goal from "lose 1lb a week" to "maintain weight". Four months in, I'm about to try increasing by 100 cals per day as I'm still losing weight, albeit very, very slowly. I'd try just trusting the system initially. Do what it says for a couple of months. If your weight…

I might just be weird, but I still get a high from seeing the scale stay the same (and not go up). That's the objective now. :smile:

At first you'll be scared to eat all of your maintenance calories. It'll seem like you can eat a lot more, and you'll be sure you'll put on weight. My first tip is - don't worry, you won't! Keep doing what you've been doing. Log everything, weigh everything, be accurate. If you've lost weight with MFP you'll maintain with…

Personally, I'd just keep eating at maintenance and doing what I normally do with exercise. During both maintenance and loss I've found that very occasional blow-outs (like once every couple of months) don't seem to hurt. I log it, know I've gone over, but I just carry on from the next day and ignore it. If, in a week or…

Five years ago, I lost 42lbs with Weight Watchers. Then I discovered MFP and realised it's EXACTLY THE SAME and free. That's why I switched. MFP doesn't cost me money! With WW you have to log everything you eat, accurately. They just have point values instead of calorie values. If they haven't changed it since I left, you…

I have to keep logging. I lost 3 stone five years ago and maintained it until last year. I had medical treatment which left me miserable and eating all the junk food in sight, and I took my eye off the ball with logging. I need to log or I go over so I'll always care. :smile: It's not emotional eating or any of that. Let's…

Thanks again! kailyw05 - I'm always running round the house so suspect the lack of gaining any cals for this is why I've been eating slightly low both during loss and maintenance. To the last two posters with the TDEE calc - thanks! This gives me even more confidence to try adding 100 per day. Going away for two weeks on…

Wowser - 250 cals a day? I thought 3lb since May was a tiny loss and I'd get like 15 cals a day extra. :smiley: I do use a food scale for absolutely everything and have used it consistently through losing and maintaining. But, as I said, I lost slightly quicker than MFP said I would, and am now slightly losing on…

I always pre-log meals, but not snacks. I started in Jan, have lost 16lbs, and have been on maintenance for two months now. I pre-log meals so I don't run out of cals for dinner. :smiley: I usually have a few hundred cals left that I use for snacks during the day and just log those as I go. Sometimes, especially at work,…

Enjoy having cheese occasionally again! I couldn't have any cheese when losing - there's no place for it on 1,200 a day. Now I occasionally get to have a little bit. Pasta in homemade cheese sauce with chicken breast fillet with a tomato sauce is NOM! Not as healthy as the suggestions above but does have dairy/calcium and…

I've been maintaining for over two months now. I just use MFP and have always eaten back all my exercise cals, both while losing and maintaining. My sport is a mixture of running and cycling. I ate 1,200 plus exercise cals to lose weight, slowed to 1,400 plus exercise cals near goal, and have been maintaining on my MFP…

You've done amazingly with your weight loss. The system has worked for your so far, so keep trusting it. What is your MFP goal set to currently? If it's more than 1lb a week, switch to 1lb per week when you've got 7-8lbs to go (I'd get fed up doing it with 15lb still to go). That will give you an extra couple of hundred or…

Cheese is a good one - I've hardly had it at all while losing. I know it's still not the healthiest thing but no worse than chocolate and biscuits and at least I won't have sugar crashes from it. I have missed cheese...

Funny - major health campaigns in the UK to get people to reduce their salt intake! I don't use much salt in cooking, and I don't sprinkle much on my food (I only put it on chips which I eat maybe once a week). My figures are off because I don't log it accurately. I'll use a bit more and track the quantity more accurately…

Just been looking at my nutritional goals. I'm just using whatever default ones MFP gave me. I'm always slightly under on carbs and slightly over on protein, fat and sugar. Interestingly, I'm always MASSIVELY under on sodium (like I have a third to half of what they recommend). Might explain why I get foot and leg cramps?!…

I had some treats while losing - eg I can't give up chocolate completely so had one nice one from a box each evening. But, on 1,200 a day, I just can't have wine. I'm too hungry if I make room for it! So wine has been re-introduced. :smiley: I think I'll try gradually increasing meal portion sizes (lunch in particular is…

What everyone else said. :) I lost 16lbs and am now maintaining and have always had most of my cals for dinner and afternoon-evening snacks. What you realise when using MFP is that 99% of 'diet tips' are nonsense. :smiley:

I just changed my MFP goal from lose 1lb a week to maintain weight, and used the cals it told me to use. That's as good a starting point as any. For me, the cals for weight loss worked for me and the maintenance cals seem to be correct too. You may need to tweak up or down slightly if you gain or lose any weight, but try…

I did 1,240 a day to lose (just hit goal and maintenance) because that's what MFP gave me. Remember that's net cals so you can eat exercise cals on top. I ate back all my exercise cals and did either running or cycling most days, so normally ate around 1,500-1,600. I had two days a week of no exercise and found 1,240 tough…

I weigh most days, but not all. Friday is my 'official' weigh day and that's the weight that gets logged in MFP, but I like to weigh in between. My weight fluctuates within a couple of pounds due to varying amounts of water retention each day. If I only weighed once a week, I might see a stay-the-same or gain of a pound…

^^ This. Say your MFP calorie goal is 1,800 per day. You eat 2,000 cals but 'earn' (burn) 200 cals with exercise. MFP will say your net is 1,800 (ie 2,000 minus 200). And that means you're bang on your goal. So with the MFP net, you shouldn't see a net below your goal, let alone negative! That's assuming you eat back…

Have you seen any photos of yourself recently? I'm just about at goal and didn't feel like I'd lost anything. Still felt wobbly. Still felt the same size (I'd only had 15lbs to lose) even though I knew my clothes were much looser. People said I looked great and I didn't believe them. But I've seen photos people have taken…