Hello gurls,
I'm desperate two weeks ago I finally reached my goal weight and started maintaining . I decided to eat from 1400-1550 calories per day while before I ate very differently from about 1380-1550. and on last wdnesday I weighed and had 67,4 kg (sorry don't know how much is that exactly in pounds, about 148 lbs) and yesterday I weighed again and had 68,6 (150 lbs). that never happened before, I ate regularly altough I must admit that I ate a lot more bread than before. is it possible that I'm retaining water? How many calories should I eat in 5 days to gain 2 pounds of fat? A lot! But I didn't.
And now I don't know what to do, this maintaining is so difficult, I feel like I eat less than before and I'm constantly craving candies.
I have a feeling that my body is trying to keep in everything I eat and is trying to make some kind of stash, you know what I mean? Because it's affraid that it will starve and now that I'm eating properly the body wants to gain all the before weight.
I don't know if you guys understood what I mean anyway I'm worried and don't know what to do, to keep maintaining or cut back a little on the calories to loose those 2 pounds... or did I increase my daily calories too fast? i have no idea how to do the maintaining. I read trough different threads, basically it just says to continue your diet, but then I will be losing more pounds, and if I add some calories then I will be gaining. Heeelp pleasee!!!
Whoa! Don't panic! It's a good idea to have a maintenance range, not a maintenance weight. Most people's is 5lbs or so. Weight fluctuates drastically depending on TOM, water rentention, how much sleep you got and which way the wind is blowing and it's no reason to panic. When I was maintaining my weight would fluctuate from 148-153 usually hovering around 150. There were many factors that contributed to why my weight was what it was on a particular day. Lots of times I could contribute it to TOM or an over indulgence, but sometimes there was just no reason at all.
Take maintenance SLOW, start with a few extra cals for several weeks maybe months and go from there. Sometimes there is an adjustment period after a period at a low calorie level and yes your body will hang onto cals a little differently than before, but once your body realizes what is going on it will get back on track. Good luck!
And now I don't know what to do, this maintaining is so difficult,
I feel like I eat less than before and I'm constantly craving candies.
I have a feeling that my body is trying to keep in everything I eat...
...now that I'm eating properly the body wants to gain all the before weight.
I don't know if you guys understood what I mean
My signature shows that I have a weight-maintenance Range,
and my weight continually bounces up and down.
Almost every month, despite constant vigilance,
and a very small size, my weight bounces within a 5 lb range.
(sometimes more)
Yes, I understand EXACTLY what you mean.
This is WHY there are so few people maintaining a weight-loss long-term.
If you want to maintain your weight-loss.... Get Used to it.
Here in my 5th year of maintenance,
I have to eat LESS than I did when I was losing weight.
There are times when I constantly crave certain foods.
Yes, if your body is like most bodies, your feeling is probably correct...
....Your body is trying to keep as much as possible
AND wants to regain all your lost weight....
Only your Consistent and Constant Effort can keep that from happening.
Last edited by Bright Angel; 09-07-2010 at 10:19 AM.
How did you lose your weight to begin with? Was it a lower carb diet? If so, and you've introduced mainly more carbs now, your body may be craving these & holding on.
I really have to fight the carb cravings in maintenance. I was very restricted during my weight loss, but have opened up my options more now that I am maintaining, which is a blessing & a curse! I have had to learn that some foods I still should not have - they lead to overeating & bad feelings.
Also, it may not just be the calories but the mix of foods. For me, I am eating substantially more calories in maintenance than I did when losing weight; however, my activity level is higher AND I am still very mindful of keeping my carb intake on the lower side, focusing on whole foods, and minimizing sugars of all kinds (natural & refined).
So, I guess what I am suggesting is to evaluate the makeup of your diet in addition to the calories.
Also, as the others have mentioned, expect the fluctuations. It is normal & you will get comfortable with seeing the scale go up & down. Figuring out your upper bound is important, and make sure you have a game plan for how you will handle it if you do get there.
You are doing great! I only have a few months of experience with maintenance, so I am still working out the kinks, too. It is quite the journey! I have found it difficult not to get down on myrself or get the "ho-hums". But every single day we are within a healthy weight range is WORTH IT! The reward is good health (and smaller pants!! ).
2 pounds is NOTHING sweetie
i GAINED 8 POUNDS over night last week! eh...im up im down im up im down. Dont worry about it. my "normal" range is about 10-12 pounds. really. i dont even freak out and adjust cals if im on the "higher" end (although i definitely feel it!) I just wait it out. im either "losin" from the day before, or "gaining" from the day before. My weight is never stagnate
You would have had to taken in about 7,000 extra calories to gain 2 lbs in 5 days. It's much more likely that you're experiencing a normal fluctuation as mentioned in all the other posts. If you were severely restricting carbs and sugar in weight loss, adding them back may cause some water retention. Or maybe you've been eating more salty foods than normal? Or perhaps the moon is in the wrong phase? In other works, track your weight, but don't panic so easily.
After reading your comments I feel relieved. I didn't have any idea about flactuations that can cause 5 pound weight changes. I will take that in consideration now. I deffinitely must set my maintenance range cause I thought that for steady weight I would only have to eat the same amounts of food and never go over my goal weight but now I see that it doesn't work that way.
Yes my diet was pretty much low carb and low fat. I only changed white wheat for whole wheat (pasta, bread, etc) and ate very little bread, occasionally but I ate crackers, oats, ... I didn't use oil for cooking only olive oil to season the salad. I ate lots of veggies and fruit but now and even during dieting I craved carbs soo much, but only cookies and cakes as you said cherlymn said.Now I crave it even more.But I indulge every day, with my cup of cofee there has to be something sweet, a cookie or a piece of chocolate, but I make healty choices like wholewheat cookie or dark chocolate. There were few times when I binged with boxes of cookies so I stopped buying them, I buy small packets now.
I will deffinitely try hard not to go overboard with anything because it took me to much effort and energy to reach this goal. I don't know what will happen in the future but I will take it day by day. My mother is very misunderstanding, she brings home al this bad food and I have to fight to resist the crave and not to jump on it. sometimes I eat it a little when no one is around but then I remind myself of the cosequences and of some healthier choices. I can't wait to move away on my own but that won't happen for quite some time so until then I must suck it up and stick with my plan.
I'm so glad and thankful that there are these kind of support communities and groups where poeople understand you and gladly give you advice and supports you even though they're total strangers to you. That is something I haven't had in a long time because during my loosing weight no one supported me or helped me, they only pushed me down. And if I allow myself to gain back all I will get is "I told you so" and that's what's pushing me forward. It's like me against the world.
So thank you again for your help and understanding. I wish you all very much luck with your maintaning/ loosing weight.
Gaining 2 lbs in 5 days whilw maintaining???!!!
two weeks ago I finally reached my goal weight and started maintaining . I decided to eat from 1400-1550 calories per day while before I ate very differently from about 1380-1550. and on last wdnesday I weighed and had 67,4 kg (sorry don't know how much is that exactly in pounds, about 148 lbs) and yesterday I weighed again and had 68,6 (150 lbs). 
that never happened before, I ate regularly altough I must admit that I ate a lot more bread than before. is it possible that I'm retaining water? How many calories should I eat in 5 days to gain 2 pounds of fat? A lot! But I didn't.
anyway I'm worried and don't know what to do, to keep maintaining or cut back a little on the calories to loose those 2 pounds... or did I increase my daily calories too fast? i have no idea how to do the maintaining. I read trough different threads, basically it just says to continue your diet, but then I will be losing more pounds, and if I add some calories then I will be gaining. Heeelp pleasee!!!
).
