Weight loss vs Maintenance Exercise
 

I've recently upped my exercise to begin losing again and it got me to thinking about what kind and how often I will continue my activities even after I've reached my goal weight. So that's brought me here - to the maintainer's forum. I do many activities, including running. I have come to find that I LOVE to run and I intend to do it for as much of the rest of my life as my body will allow me. I would just like to get a feel for how much change I might expect to encounter once I reach goal in respect to my work-outs. :)

What is the difference between the exercise(s) that you did to lose weight and the exercise you do now to maintain? Has the time decreased, reps, etc?

Star, I think I probably exercise the same or more now than I did when I was losing. For me, I am only able to lose weight by cutting calories, not by increasing exercise, so maintenance is just adding those calories back in, not changing my amount or type of exercise.

Hi Star and welcome!

When we've talked about exercise here in Maintainers, it seems like just about everyone has the same experience as Jessica/paperclippy. :) Most of us do at least as much exercise as when we were in the weight loss phase. Some have really stepped it up and are running races, doing triathlons, or doing challenging gym workouts. All of which are much easier and more fun in smaller bodies! :D

The studies I've read all seem to say that exercise is even more critical to weight loss maintenance than to losing. In other words, it's possible to lose weight without exercise but it's really tough to keep it off without regular, sustained exercise. That's why some exercise recommendations are for more exercise in maintenance than while losing, such as the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005, which recommends 60 - 90 minutes of exercise on most days to sustain a weight loss.

The National Weight Loss Registry is a study group of people who have lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for at least a year (quite a few of us here in Maintainers are members!) Members of the NWLR do an average of an hour of exercise a day for maintenance. It's a group with about 4000 - 5000 members so it may give you a sense of what maintainers in a larger group than just 3FC do for exercise.

Personally, my exercise duration is about the same as when I was losing but it's more intense now. I only did steady state cardio during the year I was losing and now I incorporate HIIT into my cardio workouts. I've always tried to lift as heavy as possible, but now I really try to keep my heartrate elevated when I lift by taking minimal rests and supersetting.

It's fantastic that you enjoy running so much and it will be a huge help for you when you reach maintenance! I'd count on doing at least the same amount of exercise in maintenance as in weight loss, though you may change types, intensity, and other variables. What will change is being able to eat a few more calories. :carrot:

IMO you need not change your exercises. Better re-calculate your calories for maintenance and stick with that.

Like Meg, my exercise duration hasn't changed since I began maintenance but I have changed the content and increased the intensity. I upped the strength training, started running, added in HIIT, try to do more yoga for the flexibility. I still target 5-6 days per week.

If you love to run and you want to run, then plan on keeping on running! :yes:

You might want to read the "Lifestyle Based Maintenance" thread I started in this forum.

For me, I did 5-6 days a week at the gym plus walking, roughly an hour and a half a day of exercise, to lose. But I don't want to do that much just to maintain--my body is having a hard time with that after as long as I've been doing it.

If it means I will weigh more than my goal to work out "only" 4 days a week, well, then I'll find that out when it happens. I am no longer tied to a goal weight that I chose pretty much arbitrarily anyway.

Jay

Ditto on the above
I also are doing more exercise than the amount I started out with.

I exercise more now. I'm doing a lot of running since I'm training for various distance events, and I also do resistance training and other kinds of exercise to balance the running and help me stay strong and injury-free. Plus, all of the exercise lets me eat more. But, then, I like working out, so it's not a chore. It's fun. It's the part of my day that's just for me.

I have focused more of my attention and energy to performance enhancement since I started to maintain. For example, I did weight training for a long time now, but while I was losing weight I couldn't really significantly increase my 1 rep max. Now that I'm at a weight I want to be I can focus more on increasing my strength (and actually trying to gain a few pounds). I am also considering competing in some of the local powerlifting competitions to keep things more interesting.