I don't understand how maintenance works. I am 5'6" and right now I'm at 143 pounds. I am still trying to lose 3 more to make it an even 140 Then I am done.
I started out in early August losing at 1400 calories, then cut back to 1300 calories, but about 2 weeks ago I noticed the weight loss really slowing down so I cut it back to 1200 a day. At 1200 I am still only losing about a pound a week, sometimes even less....The problem is, if I have a day here or there that is 13-1400 calories, I GAIN a pound, literally overnight.....then have to work another WEEK to lose that one pound I gained in a day
So how will I ever raise my calorie limit to a "maintenance" level, if going up at all makes me gain so quickly? I am afraid to ever leave the 1200 mark now but I also look forward to being able to eat a little more too.
I'm already feeling nervous about moving into the "maintenance" category.
If you stay at the 1200 mark you will continue to lose. The secret is to find the amount of calories needed to maintain. For me it is about 1400 calories a day to maintain. I read someplace your maintenace calories should be your goal weight times 12. That works for me. in your case 140 times 12 is 1680 calories a day.I t does take some experimenting to get it right.
What you weigh includes water weight, which fluctuates almost hourly, plus any food in your digestive system, plus all the other organs and muscles and bones in your body, plus skin, plus fat. So, what you eat one day often has little do what you weigh the next day, unless you've eaten a salty meal and not had enough water.
Don't get into the trap of thinking that once you get to "140" the scale is always going to have to say "140." It's just not going to do that. Your weight will always vary up and down. What you want to avoid is having it jump up to "144" and stay there for two weeks, then jump up to "145" and stay there.... you see what I mean? Or for that matter, drop down to 136 for two weeks, then drop to 135...
People sometimes make the mistake of thinking that to raise calories, they have to add high-calorie foods. Not true at all. Add your calories back in slowly. Use "safe" foods and just eat larger portions--for example, if you eat 3 ounces of chicken usually, go up to 4 ounces. And so on...
Also consider your exercise. If you are used to working out 5 days a week for weight loss, and you cut to 3 or 4 days a week for maintenance, it will probably affect how much you can eat to maintain.
So, it's a balancing act. Try not to put yourself in a position where you are eating less than is ideal for you, while exercising all the time, just to stay at some arbitrary round-number weight. You ideal maintenance weight may be different from what you might think it "should" be.
I was there, too. My goal weight was 145 (same height as you), and I remember those last 5 pounds being so difficult. Some of it, I think, has to do with your body adjusting to the new weight. I also encourage you to think long term - if for you eating 1200 calories a day is what it will take to stay at 140, do you want to do that forever? Maybe 140 isn't the right goal for you at this time?
Exercise becomes absolutely critical - both for maintaining and for losing those last few pounds. It may not seem sensible, but here's what got me over the hurdle:
1. I cut out all dairy because of the sugar content.
2. I only ate 1 fruit/day (same reason as above).
3. Absolutely no refined sugar.
4. Only whole grain (no HFCS) starches - and limit those to two 50-calorie servings each.
5. Lots and lots of lean protein (without added fat/sodium) & healthy green veggies.
6. 1 serving of salad dressing/day.
7. GOBS of water (100 oz) and absolutely no diet pop.
8. Some form of exercise 6x/week for a minimum of 30 minutes.
It was tough at first, but it did work. I never ate less than 1200 calories/day - and most days, ate closer to 1500. It took me about 3 weeks of this & then I settled in.
Once in maintenance, I had to very carefully adjust my eating so the weight didn't pile back on. At first, I expanded my veggies & started eating more fruits. Then I looked at the healthy starches/carbs - upped those as well. And lastly, I added back in dairy & healthy fats. Took me about 4 weeks to "balance out".
The closer you get to your goal, the harder it is to lose ounces let alone pounds. But, it can be done!
Good luck to you & congrats on your weight loss so far! Great job!!
To be quite honest, I haven't been exercising AT ALL the past 3 weeks or so....Not that I am "sedentary" either. I have 5 kids so I stay busy just playing, shopping, cleaning, mopping, etc....but no real intentional exercising.
Maybe when I start maintenance I will raise my level a little at a time and make time for some cardio workouts 3-4 times a week. That will help alot probably.
I know the scale will never stay exactly at 140, but I just want to see that number before I purposely stop trying to lose....a mental thing I guess LOL Then if bounce up and down by 3 pounds or so, I'll be ok with that.
How many calories did you all add when you first started maintenance? My thought was to raise it by 50 calories a day for about a week, then add another 50 a day for the second week, and on and on til I find that it's making me gain again?
So, what you eat one day often has little do what you weigh the next day, unless you've eaten a salty meal and not had enough water.
Jay, thanks so much for pointing this out. So often on 3FC I see people confused how they could gain after a day of clean OP eating, or lose after an indulgence. It takes time for our body to process everything and "settle the accounts" so to speak. So eating 1400 calories one day is not causing that 1 lb bounce on the scale.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mama2Five
Maybe when I start maintenance I will raise my level a little at a time and make time for some cardio workouts 3-4 times a week. That will help alot probably.
It may be extra-hard to lose those last few pounds without intentional exercise. I can imagine 5 kids keep you on your feet and moving, but it's the elevated heart rate and strength training that can really make the difference. And IMHO, exercise is crucial for maintenance.
I added 300 calories in for maintenance, not gradually. Just upped it. Your plan sounds like a better method for a "soft landing" at your goal.
You really can't gain a whole pound from a day or two of extra 200 calories. It takes 3500 extra calories to make a pound. If you lose one pound a week on 1200 calories, then it will take 1700 calories (of the same types of food) to maintain.
Now the math is never exactly as it would be in theory, because what you eat, can change what you burn. You can calculate the calories you take in fairly precisely, but not the calories you burn (at least not outside of a laboratory).
You can't really see true patterns unless you're looking at weeks and weeks worth of data, not just one day or even one week. Weight can fluctuate for so many reasons, so unless you try 1300 calories for at least 3 weeks (6 would be better to rule out normal, monthly fluctations), you can't truly say you gain on 1300 calories. It's extremely unlikely that you would gain on 1300 calories (or anything under 1700 for that matter, if you're losing a pound a week on 1200).
It could just be the weight of the food in your system, if you're eating good, wholesome foods. 200 calories of raw cauliflower weighs a lot, but that weight is going to disappear as soon as it clears your system in a day or two when you use the restroom.
A food journal really helps you see true patterns, because day-to-day patterns and your memory tend to play tricks on you. You start to see patterns that don't exist. I could easily believe that beef makes me gain weight, but what really happened is I crave beef around my TOM. It isn't beef causing my weight to spike, it is pms/tom.
I used to avoid chinese restaurants (which I love) because of the weight gain afterward. All the dieting advice tells us to avoid high sodium meals because of the water gain, but water gain isn't permanent. So I can enjoy chinese restaurant meals as long as I'm careful with the calories, and drink extra water for a couple days, and don't freak out by the temporary gain I see on the scale (I am a daily weigher).
Don't be afraid of maintaining, you'll do exactly what you do to lose, only you'll be working with a few extra calories. Remember that your experiments have to be several weeks long, but if you're gaining you'll cut calories, if you're losing beyond the point you want to, you'll add calories (just like you would do during weight loss). But you've got to remember that you can't conclude anything from one day, one week, or even a month when you're talking about such small increments of calories. Sure if you're eating 4,000 calories extra it's not going to take you long to see the pattern, but when you're talking about 500 calories or less per day, it's going to take a while to see "true" patterns.
At the beginning of my journey, I lost exactly 2 pounds a week for the first 15 weeks at 1500 calories a day, then it slowed down. I cut down to 1400 a few months ago. For several months, I've been losing 3 pounds every 4 weeks, but it's very cyclical--I may not lose any weight for two weeks, then I get a little "whoosh" at the end of my TOM. I have resisted the urge to go lower than 1400 because I think that would increase the chances that I'd burn muscle in addition to fat. (FWIW, this is another good reason for regular exercise, even if it's fairly moderate.)
As some other people have said, another 100 or 200 calories a day can't really tip you from losing a pound a week to gaining. I weigh daily, and I definitely notice that the amount of salt and carbs I eat can make the weight fluctuate. (Geek alert: excess carbs are initially stored as glycogen, which hydrates (combines with water) when it is stored. That's why a high-carb day can make a temporary weight spike, and also why many people lose a lot of weight at the beginning of a low-carb diet.)
I've calculated that I should be able to maintain at around 1750 calories a day. When I get to goal, I plan to eat 1500 calories for two weeks, then 1600 for two weeks, then 1700 for two weeks, then decide whether to increase to 1750 or not. (Pretty similar to your proposed plan, actually.)
You're doing great, and you're thinking about the right things. Please let us know how it goes. I hope to follow you into maintenance very soon.
Thanks again for all of the replies....I feel alot better about getting to that point now. It's just taken so long to lose this last 10 pounds, I am so afraid of "finding" them again LOL
I tend to gain a little at first when adding cals, but then it levels out and those lbs gained end up going away. So just take it slow when adding the maintenance cals in to allow your body time to adjust.
Something that you might want to try that I'm finding to work very well, is to set your cals now at maintenance for your "goal weight" or just under, altough being so close to goal this may not work for you, and make your deficit out of exercise and occassionally just eat under a little. This is working for me right now to lose the last little bit and then when I'm done there's no transistion except starting to eat back some of the exercise cals.
The biggest thing for me is what I eat. I can do this and eat average food and lose little to nothing, or if I eat clean foods I lose closer to 1-2 lbs week. I just went cleaner last week and have lost 3 lbs in the last 2 weeks.
Finding the maintenance "sweet spot" takes a lot of time and patience. I know it's hard not to freak out when you see the scale start moving in the wrong direction, but as others mentioned, fluctuations are to be expected. So just take it slow at first and just as with weight loss you'll find you're grove and find what works for you.
Afraid to "maintain" (calorie counting)
Then I am done.
plus any food in your digestive system, plus all the other organs and muscles and bones in your body, plus skin, plus fat. So, what you eat one day often has little do what you weigh the next day, unless you've eaten a salty meal and not had enough water.
