I was wondering what a reasonable goal would be for maintenance, a specific weight or a range? I've been trying to maintain at 112 lbs, but recently it's gone up to 114 without any change in eating habits or exercise. It's really worrying me, I don't know if it's a gain or just a fluctuation within a range.
Any suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
I think, from reading all the posts about it, that our bodies adjust to a certain level of exercise and a certain amount of calories. Our metabolism then compensates somehow and we might gain back a few lbs.
Most of the posts I've read about maintenance suggest that people maintain within a range of about 3-5 lbs.
You might want to try upping your exercise a couple of times a week. And also calorie cycling - eating about 200-400 calories more once or twice a week to give your body some change.
I aim to maintain within a 5 lb range: 110-115. I routinely fluctuate up and down by that much or more due to many factors: carb/protein ratio, TOM and hormones, "off plan" days, hard training and super-long runs, salt intake, bowel habits, etc. Mostly the weight is water-related, sometimes related also to food volume if I've had a big off-plan eating day.
For example: Thanksgiving weekend had me eating more carbs and volume than usual, but I worked out like crazy including a 7 mile hill workout on Saturday and 12 mile long run on Sunday plus sessions in the gym. I always have to eat more on the weekends to fuel all of the running, so Monday mornings are always my weekly high weight (muscle water retention from the long runs plus more eating). THIS week I was all the way up to 117.4! But once I went back to my regular eating pattern, the weight swooshed off and this morning I was down to 109.8, I actually lost weight over the last week! The fluctuation was mostly water weight. That's a bigger swing than normal for me, but it happens.
So yeah, fluctuations are totally normal. If you watch your weight patterns over time, you'll see what is normal for you.
A lot of the maintainers here have somewhere around a 5-lb range that is acceptable to them, or consider that 5-lb range their goal, rather than a single number. We've had many discussions on how goals change, or aren't what they thought they would be when we've started our journey, or we get to goal and decide to change it, etc. "Goal" for some people is a weight, for others it's a waist measurement or simply if a certain pair of pants fit. Many of us experience several pounds of water weight fluctuations, too. I can gain 5 pounds overnight if I eat a salty meal or drink two glasses of wine, and it's water, I'm not eating/drinking enough to put on that much "real" weight!
Can I ask you age, height, how much food you eat, and activity level? That might help us get a better picture of where your body is at.
Congrats on getting to maintenance and please join us! We love new company!
I have set a range for myself. I've been fluctuating between 141 and 144. I don't know if I'm doing it right, I'm still pretty new at this maintenance stuff, but I'm happy with the way it's going so far.
I'll stay perfectly on plan (POP) until I'm down to 141, then basically eat like a "normal person" for awhile and when my weight gets back to 144 I go back to 1500 calories a day for a couple of days until the scale says 141 again...and repeat. So far it's working well for me. My weekly averages are around 1900 calories/day. I suppose I could try to eat 1900 every day instead of the ups and downs, but I'm tired of the constant strictness with myself, and have found that this way (so far) is working out well.
So many things affect the scale for me. Like Megan, I can easily gain 5 pounds overnight, especially if I eat ham or something with soy sauce or high fiber foods. When I know I haven't over eaten, those spikes don't bother me, I know they'll be gone by the next day.
I think you have to find your own range. Some people vary a lot more than others, it's just an individual thing. A 7 pound range might be nothing for one person, but huge for another.
It's one reason I like daily weights. If I only weighed once a week, I wouldn't really know if that one or two pounds is a blip or a trend until a few weeks have gone by. With daily weights, I can see much sooner that it's a consistent upward trend, even if only a couple pounds.
Conversely, a four pound blip can be quite unconcerning if it came on overnight and went away in two days - but if I'm only weighing weekly, I wouldn't know that.
Also, when it comes to those blips, I found it so helpful - or really, necessary - to know my weight pattern across my cycle. Even just one or two pounds up is a big deal just after TOM or a week before TOM (after my ovulation peak normally goes away), but is completely expected at TOM or at/just after ovulation. Maybe you're just normally at 114 at certain times of the month and 112 the rest of the time?
Thanks for all your posts, it's really shed some light on my confusion
I do agree that weighing everyday is prolly a good idea to keep track of blips or actual gains, but the thing is I don't have a scale. I only have a wii fit haha, is that accurate? (Oh, by the way, it's on carpet =_=)
Megan1982: I'm currently eating about 1200-1400 cals a day, and exercising 6-7 days a week, usually 40 mins cardio and 10-15 mins weights/strength (haha lazy...). Then twice a week I play badminton for an hour.
Like Lori, I've only recently tried to move more into a maintenance mode. I'm letting my body decide where it will eventually be regarding the scale. Currently, my range is 134-137. I get on the scale every morning. I'm trying to move more towards an intuitive eating strategy rather than calorie counting, because calorie counting was becoming kind of obsessive for me. I don't really know how many calories I eat in a day, although I do have a vague notion. I try really hard to listen to my hunger and try to stop eating before I'm too full. I have lost about 3 lbs over the last 2 months eating this way.
I have a range as well, I give myself a six pound swing because I can pop on water quickly. I did have to up my range a little, because I think I've increased my muscle mass over the last six months. I weigh a little more, but my measurements are the same to a little smaller.
I also weigh every day, like others have said, I like to see the patterns. Helps when I see a four-six pound jump to know that it will likely come down soon.
Evince - you left out two other things that affect what your range might be, your height and your age. Judging from the fact that you say you're at 112ish, I'd guess you're pretty short (vertically challenged ) but no idea of your age.
I'm still losing from a major relapse, but my intent when I get down again I intend to keep a range for my goal weight, and continue to weight daily.
My signature contains a graphic that shows the details of my Weight Range Maintenance Plan.
I created it shortly before I reached my goal,
and have it firmly enbedded inside my mind.
It has helped me greatly during the past 4 years of maintenance.
Specific weight or weight range?
) but no idea of your age. 
