[jellybelly06]

This is weird! I know what to do to lose weight. How do I transition? I eat about 1300 calories a day. I have 1 meal each week of what ever I want (good portion control, though). I run 26 miles a week. That is my weightloss (in a nutshell) To maintain .... Well..... maybe I don't know how to do it or how to transition to it! What did you do? Did you transition slowly? How do you know how many calories? I am keeping the running the same for sure, I will increase it a little when I increase my long run.

I have been reading about how to maintaining for months! I thought I had a plan. But, now that I have hit goal I am like a dear in the headlights! I think I am a little afraid to stop doing what I am doing! Any advice? Jelly

[rockinrobin]

First off CONGRATULATIONS on your huge accomplishement. It's just the greatest, isn't it?

For me and I know this is not for everyone, for me though, my week looks pretty much the same for maintenance as it did for losing. I eat the same foods in the same amounts. I really like/need/enjoy the strictness during the week. I do the same shopping, planning, preparing, chopping, cooking, traveling with food/snacks. BUT, I do eat higher on the weekends. Sometimes it's just an extra piece of chicken Friday night. Sometimes it's a meal out Saturday night, complete with alcohol. Sometimes it's both.

I do find myself not exercising quite as much though, I would like to work on that some more. I'm glad that you plan on staying the same at that and even increasing it. That I'm sure will be a major key to success for you.

Since I do keep my calories the same during the week, I will go down a bit in weight, just to bring it right back up when Monday morning rolls around. So I do fluctuate up and down 5 lbs. I'm perfectly okay with it.

Whatever you decide to do, and of course you can change it if it's not working for you - go slow. Test the waters. I have no doubt you'll figure out the right way "to do" maintenance for you.

[Meg]

I think I am a little afraid to stop doing what I am doing!

Jelly, whatever you do -- don't stop what you're doing!! The skills, tools, and strategies that got you to goal are the same ones that will keep you there. If you know how to lose weight, then you know how to keep it off.

Like Robin said -- what seems to work for most maintainers is to keep exercise the same, keep your food plan the same, and to gradually bump up calories by 100 - 200 per day until you reach equilibrium. Nothing else changes except for that gradual calorie increase. You can also stay the same during the week and splurge a bit on weekends like Robin is so successfully doing.

Maintenance for me is about 300 - 400 calories per day more than losing (1600 as compared to 1200). If anything, my exercise is more intense than it was when I was losing. I still weigh and measure portions, eat the same foods, journal in Fitday, plan and cook meals in advance ... in fact, a day in my life now looks exactly like a day during the year that I was losing weight!

Congratulations on reaching goal and don't worry, you're going to do just fine with maintenance.

[Glory87]

Hey Jelly

For me, I very very slowly increased my calories from 1400-1600 to 1800-2000 over a period of a couple of months. Everything else stayed exactly the same: eating whole foods, food journaling, weighing myself every week. I also added back in a few foods that I had completely given up while losing weight: the occasional glass of red wine, peanut butter, the occasional dessert treat in a restaurant.

I won't lie, it was SCARY to eat more, I had regained weight so many times in the past, I was terrified I would get heavy again. The additional calories per day are just more of the healthy foods I was eating. Instead of having to pick either a yogurt or a handful of almonds, I could have both. The extra calories felt so indulgent and decadent, I could have slices of avocado on a turkey sandwich, I could have natural peanut butter on Kashi waffles for breakfast!

And of course, I didn't gain any weight back. I wasn't heavy because I ate 1800 calories of whole foods a day, I had been a heavy person because I ate an estimated average of 3000 calories of junk every day.

I like to maintain my weight below 130. I weigh every week, if the scale says 127-129, I eat my maintenance calories. If (rarely) the scale says 131, I shift back into weight loss mode (1400-1600 calories a day) until I'm back under 130. 131 is my "red line, danger danger" mode. Accountability in this way is KEY for me.

In my opinion, maintenance should look just like losing weight, except you get to add extra calories to your day. Only you can figure out the magic number for you Just go slowly, trust yourself and your new healthy life style, and don't forget any of the good habits that got you here!!!