So....maintaining...

M

MindiK

New member
Now that I'm done, at 155...what now?

I've been working out 30-45 minutes, five days a week, and lifting weights three times a week. I've been eating on average 1,450 to 1,550 calories per day, and dropped 65 pounds.

For the past little bit I've been having issues losing...until last week when the last five suddenly came off (TOM...sorry if that's TMI). Not sure if I wasn't eating ENOUGH for the way I was working out since we cut sugar out of our diet (and I wasn't counting the sugar intake before in my daily calories, for some reason), or if that's my maintenance level.

All the research I've done this morning has told me that at my age (27) and my height (5-9), and activity level (moderate at 30 min. per day, 3-5 days per week), I need 2,365 calories a day (or thereabouts) to maintain my weight....

What have those of you who have reached goal done at this point? Should I just add an extra 100 calories, then maintain that goal a week or two and see what happens? Work out less at my current total?
 
Maintenance for me was a matter of testing out caloric intakes mixed with a static amount of exercise. This happens to be 16 calories per pound given a 3-5 day exercise week.

As long as you're in the general ballpark, weight should maintain, assuming you're not always on the high side, lol.

Where people screw up is when they figure, "hey, I'm at my goal, so I can be a little more lax." Said laxness turns into more and more cheats and more and more skipped workouts and sooner than later, what seems to be small deviations lead to large caloric surpluses... so much so that weight is regained.

And then you have people screaming about the stats that 97% of diets fail.

No, they work.

People just revert back to their original programming more often than not.
 
Steve said:
Maintenance for me was a matter of testing out caloric intakes mixed with a static amount of exercise. This happens to be 16 calories per pound given a 3-5 day exercise week.

As long as you're in the general ballpark, weight should maintain, assuming you're not always on the high side, lol.

Where people screw up is when they figure, "hey, I'm at my goal, so I can be a little more lax." Said laxness turns into more and more cheats and more and more skipped workouts and sooner than later, what seems to be small deviations lead to large caloric surpluses... so much so that weight is regained.

And then you have people screaming about the stats that 97% of diets fail.

No, they work.

People just revert back to their original programming more often than not.
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God damn man... maintenance is 3000 calories for you? That's insane! I can't imagine what you have to take in for a BULK!

And Mindi... I suggest upping calories by about 10% and seeing how it does for you every two weeks in terms of measurements. If you are losing... bump up 10% more. If you are maintaining, go with it. IF you are gaining... obviously too much. But I'd start getting more calories in. Likewise you could also turn down the exercise, but why? It's great for your health...
 
DarthPooh...I think I'm addicting to the exercising anyway, so I doubt I'll cut back on that. I can't MAKE myself not workout five days a week, and if something happens and I can't go for some reason, it gets ugly...

Steve...I don't plan to be more lax at all. I've got to find healthy options to up the calories, though. I've been having issues hitting 1,550 calories per day for the past week. It's all mental, though. I've been SO strict about my "no more than 1,500" calories since August that it seems WRONG to add more. I'm getting there, though...
 
Darth Pooh said:
God damn man... maintenance is 3000 calories for you? That's insane! I can't imagine what you have to take in for a BULK!
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Yuppers, mind you that's with being pretty damn active in general. But I have a high NEAT and my body opposes weight gain. Yea I know you hate me. But don't. My life sucks when bulking. Bulking, as you'll learn, isn't a license to eat anything and everything, especially when you're also about maintaining good health. Eating enough healthy stuff to induce hypertrophy day in and day out sucks a big one.

It's why most skinny guys you see lifting weights, though hard and properly, never change their physique and blame it on their genetics. Eating *enough* is almost impossible.

And Mindi... I suggest upping calories by about 10% and seeing how it does for you every two weeks in terms of measurements. If you are losing... bump up 10% more. If you are maintaining, go with it. IF you are gaining... obviously too much. But I'd start getting more calories in. Likewise you could also turn down the exercise, but why? It's great for your health...
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Listen to the man.
 
In my experience, which may be nothing like your experience...

- Switching to maintenance-level calories meant 2-3 pound weight jump, which had nothing to do with any metabolic issues, or eating too many calories, or anything like that. AFAICT, it was my water weight restabilizing after having been kept artificially low while I was losing. If I wanted to maintain at a given weight, I needed to either lose a couple of pounds more up front, or tolerate a couple of months at a higher weight than goal while my weight slowly drifted down and I ate slightly less than maintenance-level calories.

- My weight flucutates 2-3 pounds up and 2-3 pounds down from trendline. The lowest weight I see on the scale isn't typical. If I wanted to be at that lowest weight on a typical day, needed to either lose a couple of pounds more up front, or tolerate a couple of months at a higher weight than goal while my weight slowly drifted down and I ate slightly less than maintenance-level calories.

I kept up the exercise and added more calories. Not quite enough more, since I'm still slowly slowly drifting downward, but pretty close.

I'm 5'4, and my goal weight was 127. I saw 126.8 on the scale for the first time on March 1. I switched to maintenance-level calories at that point, and saw my weight bounce back up to 130.8 by March 10th. Went back to losing until April 1, at which point I was regularly seeing weights in the 123.8 to 124.6 range. Switched back to maintenance-level calories again, and my weight settled out around 125-126 range. It was probably about 2 weeks after that before I started feeling more comfortable maintaining. The 6 weeks between March 1 and April 15th were pretty miserable.

For May, my weight's ranged between 123.8 and 127.6, which is a range I'm happy with.
 
That's a great point.

Maintenance for most is a 5 pound spectrum.

Picking a certain poundage and expecting it to remain constant day in and day out is futile.
 
DarthPooh...I think I'm addicting to the exercising anyway, so I doubt I'll cut back on that. I can't MAKE myself not workout five days a week, and if something happens and I can't go for some reason, it gets ugly...
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I think I've developed the same type of "addiction" to cardio. As I'm inching towards goals, I've realized how much I love sweating and getting the heart pounding every day. I hate the one rest day I force upon myself each week. A bit worried that that could be a problem if I ever decide I want to put on any additional muscle weight.
 
Because I'm an addictive personality type, I'm not so much addicted to working out (in a positive way) but I am addicted to any behaviors/foods/drugs. I am scared to death of moving from dieting to maintainance (even though I've been told very clearly by my BF and my family that I have lost enough weight).

I am 6' tall and my scale says I weigh 157ish...the doctor's scale puts me at 163 so I don't feel like I'm in danger of being too thin.... But I do respect the opinions of my BF and my family members.

I just don't know how to transition from dieting/weight loss--to maintainance.

I'm not so sure I can even decipher what I've said there myself...but I'm not sure how to make it better either......
 
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Even though I'm theoretically maintaining now, I'm dealing with the mental aspect by treating it as if I were losing, but with a higher calorie target. Keeps some of the structure / boundaries / control in place, but I don't lose a significant amount of weight.
 
Uyis...I'm not sure if I'm addicted to the sweating, or just the act of going and actually working out. It's like I'm missing an arm if I miss a day. Nothing goes right, and I just don't feel right, in general. No matter why I continue to go, I suppose the fact that I still do is a good thing. I just seriously need to vary my routine....


Judyb...I get EXACTLY what you're saying. The thought of moving into maintenance is terrifying to me, or was before this week. I was at 170 and people were telling me I was thin enough...but I went to 160. Then people started telling me I was getting TOO thin. But I thought, hey, at 5'9" that can't be right...I can lose more! So I set the goal at 150, but got halfway through before I realized I may be just right. Sure there are some pounds in the middle left, but I'm getting bony in places I never wanted to be. We'll see how maintenance goes...
 
allyphoe said:
Even though I'm theoretically maintaining now, I'm dealing with the mental aspect by treating it as if I were losing, but with a higher calorie target. Keeps some of the structure / boundaries / control in place, but I don't lose a significant amount of weight.
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Good way to live life. You're eating to live not living to eat... and I know it is cliche'd and shit, but it is a decent outlook when you struggle with weight. I am using that mental aspect of it while I am bulking... it's amazing how much more food you can eat when have those controls in place.

MindiK said:
Uyis...I'm not sure if I'm addicted to the sweating, or just the act of going and actually working out. It's like I'm missing an arm if I miss a day. Nothing goes right, and I just don't feel right, in general. No matter why I continue to go, I suppose the fact that I still do is a good thing. I just seriously need to vary my routine....


Judyb...I get EXACTLY what you're saying. The thought of moving into maintenance is terrifying to me, or was before this week. I was at 170 and people were telling me I was thin enough...but I went to 160. Then people started telling me I was getting TOO thin. But I thought, hey, at 5'9" that can't be right...I can lose more! So I set the goal at 150, but got halfway through before I realized I may be just right. Sure there are some pounds in the middle left, but I'm getting bony in places I never wanted to be. We'll see how maintenance goes...
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Yeah, I can also second what Judy is saying. I started my original goal at 220 lbs. Then said, ok 200. Then 190... then 180... I am almost 170 now... And I am finally starting to realize where the "TOO thin" comments are coming from. Hard to break free from your mental clutches of fattyness... Someone asked me last night (and I am not making this up... they really said this, but this person is ignorant and low class to me), if I had cancer. Just like that... no, "Are you ok? Are you sick?"... Do I have fucking cancer?! Ass.
 
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