Ok, so I have a question for you all; how much weight do you have to gain back for you to "freak out"? What's your weight gain "red zone"?

My goal weight to maintain is at 130, and I find that if I wake up to the scale saying 132.whatever, I freak out. Even if it's after a dinner out on the town or like last week when I had a bit too much of my own birthday cake .

I've heard many people say somewhere between 2-4 pounds, which sounds like a good number to me. I'm sort of new to this whole maintaining thing, so I'm trying to get some ideas.

But I'm just curious what that number is for you all?

I give myself a five pound range, between 135 and 140 and my weight frequently bounces around in that range. Once I'm over that red line of 140, then it's back to basics until I'm under again.

I remember freaking out over any gain when I reached maintenance because I was convinced that I'd wake up 50 pounds heavier the next day. But weighing myself every day showed me that fluctuations are normal. And gaining a few pounds and then losing them again showed me that a few pound gain doesn't mean that I'll gain everything back.

Good for you for being vigilant and thinking about your own red zone!

I, too, need a 5lb. range. I just know myself...splurge for a couple of days and I'm easily up 3lbs. My friend has a two pound range and is constantly over or under her goal weight. That's too much stress for me. It is all in mind, for me at least. When I was under 130 a couple of years ago, it didn't stick and I was literally freaking out every day it stayed about 130 and I couldn't seem to break it. I had to just shift my mind and give me a range of 130-135 for a while. It mostly worked for me.

The last few weeks I've managed to get back below 130 so my new goal range is 123-128 but I'm not there and that's okay. My new red line, for now, is 130. If I freaked out over 0.2 pounds I would be a constant mess!

You'll figure out what works best for you!

Another one checking in with a 5lb range. But I think I am going to drop the actual numbers of that range. My range was 122-127. But I didn't like hitting that 127, which came on rather quickly I might add. So I think my range will now be 120 - 125. Making 125 the absolute MOST I will allow myself, though I'm not there yet.

I really think it's important to make/have that red zone. I mean we do need SOME leeway. But also having that number that you refuse to exceed will really keep you at the weight you want to be.

This maintenance stuff is tricky, isn't it? I'm fairly new to it myself and just working through the kinks. But we'll work through it.

I also try to give myself a 5-lb leeway. As you can see in my signature, my "goal" is not one weight but to maintain between 135-140 lbs, with 141 being my red line. I've been having some trouble for a bit over a year, and have been working hard to slooooowly get myself back to goal for the past several months. I intend to use a 5-lb range again - I will evaluate if it will be 135-140 again when I get there, based on increased muscle mass that I have now. I know that my body can fluctuate 5 pounds just from eating really salty food, so I know that I need to give myself a little bit of a range. I've "watched" a lot of the maintainers who do this for a few years and it seems to work really well for them - I learn from the masters!

Some of the things that helped me come up with my range were - when my pants feel tight (=red line), when my stomach starts to feel flubbery to me (= red line), when I notice my face looking a little rounder (=red line). You might consider what is important to you in maintaining a certain weight, or size, or "feel", when you consider where you want your line to be.

2-3 lb. range for me

Currently thinking 5 pounds is my red line. Since I'm still trying to learn this maintenance thing, I'm not sure when I'll freak out, LOL, since I haven't hit it yet. My scale can jump as much as four pounds after a few larger meals with salty snacks, but drops off pretty quickly.

At this point I still fantasize that all this resistance work will increase my muscle mass with, perhaps, a few pounds gain. That would increase my baseline. But, alas, that doesn't seem to be happening. Apparently, I will never look like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

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Count me in the five pound group. My "goal" was 130, and I was most comfortable maintaining at 128 or so. When I hit 135, it's time to get to work on losing back to 130 though (not just losing until I'm 134!). As you can see from my ticker I got pretty far over my red line recently, so you might think I slacked off and didn't try to lose when I hit 135. Actually I recently got diagnosed with hypothyroidism so despite my best efforts to lose I kept gaining! I'm back on track now though.

My range is 127-130 (my weight really doesn't fluctuate that much - I'm a wuss that doesn't weigh the week before my period). 131 is my red line - then (like Meg says) it's back to basics until I'm under 130 again.

I'm still at that point. I weigh myself every day (actually, twice a day and I consider that restraint) and I'm getting better about recognizing water weight vs. a real gain, but I still feel like I'm just one brownie and one missed workout away from my starting weight. Generally, once my weight is above 115, I reduce my calories until I'm back under it. But lately I have been considering upping my "red line" weight.

Although I haven't yet gotten to goal, I have in my mind that 133 is a good goal for me. I'll allow myself leeway of 133-135 without freaking out, but once I see anything over 135 will be cause to get back to basics

Another one for the 5 pound "red line" - but since some of my clothes are pretty well fitted, I'd more likely to notice my gain (and the need to intensify my routine) when some of them feel a little too tight.

I'm not sure where my red line is as far as weight is concerned.
I am 5'4' and when I was losing I went down to 117 but in the process of progressing with Weight Lifting I am up 3 and sometimes 4 lbs. Hope it's because I am adding muscles!
Even though I weigh myself every day ( I never want to reach my highest ever weight of 153 again or go through those looong 5 months of losing the weight) I am focusing more on how my size 6 pants feel.
As long as they feel "normal" on me, I'm not going to worry about my weight.
I also notice that there is quite a range of weight for people who are my height and who are at goal at higher weights than myself.
I think a huge key for me is exercizing consistently and progressively pushing myself ( honestly though I have very strong will power and am disciplined from years of daily yoga --though I wish I had added the WL sooner-- that sometimes I really think I need to learn to progress more gradually rather than always pushing or going for my max).
The other key for me is clean eating.
I am very consistent with that as well and have recently added more protein like whey protein shakes.
I also found a healthy organic protein bar at Whole Foods. At first I thought it tasted pretty awful but I have actually grown used to it --22 grams of protein--great for an on the run breakfast.
I'm pretty much eating the way I was when I was losing with perhaps 200 or so more cals a day.
I have one " treat" meal a week when my husband and I go out for lunch.
And I'm still easily getting into those pants!!

Aquawarlock!! Where have you been hiding? Haven't seen you for a while--glad to see you're doing well.