maintanance advice please!

emmalouise

emmalouise

New member
Hi,
I am a 24 year old girl and I have spent most my adult and teenage life being around 35 lb overweight
The truth is, I was (and still am given half the chance) a binge/comfort eater. I also have a very large appetite. after christmas I decided enough was enough. I worked out what I was eating each day which equated to 3500-4000 calories. No wonder I weighed 160lb!
I started a calorie controlled diet of 1400 calories a day. I mentally gave myself 6-7 months to loose the weight, aiming to get to 126lb (seemed a reasonable weight for my 5"5 height) I lost about 3lb a week so i was at my target weight within 3 months. After that I decided to start maintaining. I started to eat 2000 calories every day as I was told this was right for women. However, since this I have continued to loose weight. I now weigh 117lb though i am not dieting. Whilst i am pleased i have got slim I don't want to loose anymore as I will soon have no boobs! I know this sounds silly but if someone knows how much i should eat in a day please tell me. I am not one of those people who is able to gauge naturally when they should stop eating so I have to be quite strict about calorific contents when preparing my food. I know this is a weight loss forums but there must be people around like me who are trying to maintain their weight loss too.
 
The numbers that get calculated for people are very general because it all really depends on how our individual body works and how much activity there is in the day. Age can play a factor too.

The best thing that you can do is as you have done - see how you go eating at one maintenance level. If you are still losing - raise it a little and see how you go there. If you start gaining - lower it a little.

I am in maintenance too and am juggling around with the amount of exercise that I do in order to try to stabalise things. I am told that eventually I will find what is right for me.
 
First, congrats on your loss! :)

Next, what Omega said.

No one can tell you a magic number that will work. We're all different and we all have different calorie needs. in fact each of us could have different calorie needs on different days, just depending on what we're doing, how healthy we are, and what the weather is like outside.

The way you figure out how many you need to maintain is just to keep adding calories. If you're still losing at 2000, then add in another 200 calories. If after 2-3 weeks you're still losing weight, add in another 200 calories. You might find that 2400 is the magic number. Or you might have to add another 200 calories. Eventually you'll find that number that works for you.
 
thanks for the feedback, i am really proud at my loss because i have failed at so many diets., i will have to try increasing my intake a bit and seeing how it goes, i get so nervous about potentially overeating because i have been overweight for so long. im sure you can imagine if you are maintaining too ^^
 
i get so nervous about potentially overeating because i have been overweight for so long.
Click to expand...
I understand what you're saying, but you have to remember that if you're still losing, then you're obviously NOT eating enough to maintain your weight now. So if you eat a little more, you're probably not going to gain back weight - and certainly not 35 lbs overnight.

Part of maintenance is learning to have a healthy relationship to food - being afraid to eat for fear of gaining is just as unhealthy as eating too much in many ways.

You eat a little more for a week and if you put back on a pound or two, then you know it's too much. So you cut back again. But as I said, you're not going to put on 35 lbs or even 10 lbs by raising your calories a little bit at a time.

And most healthily skinny people do have a range of weight that they stay in - no one sticks to one exact number all the time. Remember that food is not your enemy.
 
you are right, i think in a way maintaining is harder than loosing! anyways i shall try upping by 200 a day as i don't really think i want to be loosing more weight
 
emmalouise said:
you are right, i think in a way maintaining is harder than loosing! anyways i shall try upping by 200 a day as i don't really think i want to be loosing more weight
Click to expand...

I agree - it is harder. My weight is up this week - and it is not nice seeing it go up from goal... The thing is that we cannot keep losing weight forever... That would be very unhealthy. It is all about experimentation and knowing that we know exactly what to do if we see it going upwards.
 
One thing that I did learn about maintenance over the last year ... and this was really a light bulb moment for me ... is this:

You know how annoyed you get when your skinny friends say things like "Oh I gained 2 lbs this week - I need to diet" or "My jeans are tight - I need to lose weight"? If you're like me, hearing someone in a size 4 say "I'm getting fat" used to make me see red.

But the truth is that THOSE people are the people who have a healthy relation to their weight. If their jeans get tight or if they put on 2 lbs, they cut back on their eating for a week. They don't wait until they're 10 or 20 or 30 lbs over, or until they can't button their pants, or until they have to buy new clothes to think about losing weight. They don't wait until they have to cut their food back by 30%. They monitor themselves - maybe by weight, maybe by how their clothes fit - and they take action BEFORE there's a problem. And when they do take action, it doesn't mean radically changing their life - it means cutting back here or there, not eating dessert this week, cutting back on the soda or snacks, giving up a couple of drinks on Friday night.

That's the relationship that I am working really hard to have with food and my weight. Not waiting until I'm 10 lbs up or in my size 14 jeans, but a low-level, reasonable, background monitoring, and taking action before things get out of hand.

So over the course of your maintenance, you will, and probably should fluctuate a pound here, 2 lbs there, etc. But just handle it as it happens and you'll be doing what most other healthy skinny people do. :)
 
I too am in the process of maintaining. I agree with what all of you are saying. It is HARD...and even more difficult mentally than physically! I think while we were losing there was no better feeling than stepping on that scale and seeing those numbers go down. With maintaining, you miss that euphoria that comes with the numbers going down...or at least I do. There is a fine line between losing more and maintaining. There really is no magic number...you must just experiment until it feels right for you and your lifestyle. I have been maintaining a certain range since June...and I still fear gaining it all back. But, I weigh twice a week to keep a close watch, and, so far, I am staying in my range. In fact, since I have been back in school for my job the past few weeks, I have lost another 4 pounds without much effort. Mainly due to stress and being super busy. I do work out, but not to extremes.
Emmalouise...you will get the hang of this. Just try upping those calories a little every day and keep a close watch on the results. Good luck to you...I know exactly how you feel!
Di
 
My worst failing is that whenever I see myself go a full pound under I mess things around. I dont sit tight and see if it will go down further or if it natuarally hovers and balances around goal. I suppose too many people have said things like "dont lose any more weight - you are getting too thin and gaunt". I dont actually want to get generally thinner (I am a bit bony!)although will happily weigh less if I can get rid of this loose skin... Because I mess things about my weight goes shooting up and then I feel bad as I always seem to be testing the top end of my 3 pound either way zone.

Next time I get under I will see what happens if I sit tight and continue as before for a few weeks. It must be lovely to hover in the lower part of your zone...
 
new club

I have actually decided that the forum needs an area where people in maintenance can support each other better and make sure that they are doing things the right way.

I have therefore just created a Maintenance Club and hope that you will join me there. At least that way people in maintenance need not feel quite so isolated...
 
Oh yay. I maintained for over a year and now I'm back to losing, but I'm looking forward to joining over there when I hit my final goal. :)
 
KaraCooks said:
Oh yay. I maintained for over a year and now I'm back to losing, but I'm looking forward to joining over there when I hit my final goal. :)
Click to expand...

I have long thought that the forum needed an area devoted to maintenance but have only just thought that it could be a club that we could set up for ourselves now...

You will be with us there soon Kara - and I am sure that we will benefit from your experience every so often until then. You may well have more experience of maintaining than any members for a while. I have noticed that a lot of people leave the forum when they get to goal...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top