5stringjeff Member

You are right on track. Going from 1200 to 1600 calories per day seems about right. What many people do is increase their daily calorie level by 100 each week. If you did that, then in 4 weeks, you'll be eating at 1600. You'll need to pay attention to how that goes - you may find after a few weeks that you need to adjust…

Your concerns about possibly putting on weight when switching from losing to maintaining are common. We've all had to make that switch, and most of us have made it successfully. You can, too. Also, if you haven't, establish a goal range for yourself, not a goal weight (e.g. 120-125 pounds, instead of 120 on the nose).

I'm right there with you. I'm 6'4" and maintain 180-185. That's typically 2300-2350 calories per day before exercise, but I have a desk job; the busyness at your job will probably give you an extra 200-300 calories per day.

My initial goal weight was 185. I chose this based on two things: the BMI "normal" range and my weight in college (when I was in pretty good shape). Once I got closer to that weight, I started looking at what shape my body was in, how my clothes fit, and things like that. I settled on a range of 180-185. Any lighter than…

6'4" man, 39 years old. SW: 211 CW: 185 GW: 180-185 I agree with what's been said above: it takes a little bit of experimenting to figure out your goal range. Last year I hit 177, which was a bit too low - my face started to look gaunt. Anything above 185 and my gut starts to bulge. So that's how I figured out my range.

Check the recomp thread: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat

"Reverse dieting" means progressively adding calories to your diet until you reach your maintenance level. I personally don't care for the term, because it implies that you've been 'on a diet,' and that your 'diet' is now over. But the idea is that once you hit your maintenance weight (or some weight within your…

Congrats! I'm 6'4", and one of the nicer things about being taller is having a higher maintenance calorie level!

I set my MFP goal to the bottom of my weight range (180, with a goal range of 180-185). When I hit 180, I began to "reverse diet" by adding 100 daily calories per week until I hit maintenance calories. That worked.

^^This. Up your calories by 100 daily calories per week until you hit your new maintenance level.

+1

Here's all the information you need: this is a fad crash diet that will not help your long-term weight loss goals. Also, no one in the military uses this diet.

This.

I have never weighed food, but I often measure (cups, tablespoons, etc.). I also eat more packaged food than others, so I have less occasion to need to measure things out.

I only drink whole milk. We did 2% for a while when I was growing up, so I don't mind that, but I can't deal with 1% or skim.

My strategy was to lose until I hit the bottom weight of my range (180, for me), and then maintain in that five-pound range (180-185).

I completely understand about this. It's pretty common for people to be anxious about eating more as they shift from losing to maintaining. It took me a couple of weeks to see that I was not, in fact, going to start gaining weight at a higher calorie level. If you've set a decent weight range (which it looks like you have)…

What have you set your MFP activity level to? It sounds like it ought to be "Very Active" given all the activity you've described. Choosing "very active" and a goal of "maintain my current weight" should put you on the right path.

:+1:

+1000 I will say, though, that if you are truly a natural 32F, your goal range should be somewhere in the 130's.

Up at the top right corner of the page, you should see a gray bell, a gray star, and a gray gear. Click on the gray bell, and you'll see a list of all the posts you've bookmarked with a yellow star.

Glad this was a helpful article to some people. :)

Hey Amy. Sorry, I just now saw this post. At 6'4" and 182 pounds, I maintain at ~2300 calories per day. I have a desk job and am not generally active outside of the gym, so I use the sedentary activity level and log my exercise. You should be eating at TDEE, not BMR. If you're generally sedentary, use the sedentary…

+1

Probably.

When I decided I was going to maintain, I increased my daily calories by 100. Each week, I went up until I hit maintenance. Others here have had success with this same method.

No. You should not feel guilty about enjoying food, ever.

I have never weighed my foods. I did measure things out when I first started, so I knew what a tablespoon of peanut butter or a cup of cereal looked like. Then I basically eyeballed it. With practice, you can learn to do this as well. Certainly, it's not as accurate as weighing, but you can still lose weight over the long…

OK. I'm not saying you have to lift, but if those are your exercises of choice, then your muscle mass is probably not statistically different from the standards used to calculate the BMI tables. So you might want to reconsider your goal weight range and make it a little higher.

You are statistically underweight, using BMI as a rough statistic. It's hard to tell much more than that without more information. Do you do any sort of resistance/strength training? If not, chances are that you probably need to put on a few pounds to be at a more healthy weight.