I reached my goal weight of 145 lbs (down from 195 lbs) at the end of last October and have been maintaining since then. I'm beginning to wonder if my maintenance weight is too low for my height of 5'11".

On the one hand:

I'm within the healthy weight range (133 to 179 lbs) for my height, albeit a little on the low end.
My BMI is about 20, also within the healthy range of 18.5 to 25.
I'm REALLY enjoying looking svelte in my stylish new wardrobe. I have long legs, a thin waist, and a flat stomach, so (if I may be forgiven the boast) I do look good in my new clothes, especially for age 55!

On the other hand:

Maintaining this weight is a bit of a struggle -- by no means impossible, but not quite comfortable either. I eat about 1,800 calories per day and go to the gym 4-5 times per week. Once a month or so I have a significantly larger meal, usually at a restaurant with family or friends. It always feels like "not quite enough," but maybe I haven't learned to choose the most satiating foods yet.

I'm always cold. We keep our home at about 70 degrees, I wear a camisole, long-sleeved top and sweater, and I'm still cold all the time. This leads me to wonder whether my body is getting enough fuel. (I've always felt cold when losing weight, which I expect, but I don't know if it's normal to feel so cold in maintenance.)

So what do you guys think? I'm torn between vanity and practicality.

Freelance

I'm always cold too, even when I'm up a few lbs. It is VERY common maintainer complaint.

Hey Freelance,
Well first & foremost congrats on making goalio & welcome to Maintenance-land! Gosh, I am freezing 24/7, & I am years out from getting any hot flashes, but I truly am looking forward to the day, so I can finally warm up! Brrrr....

Here's my 2 cents on the topic. Ok I'm 2.5" shorter than you & maintaining where you are pretty much, give or take a tad. I've always liked the 5 feet tall rule which 5 feet = 100 pounds & every inch over that, you add an additional 5 lbs, (so 100 + 5 x 11 = 155 lbs) so I think if you wanted to you could easily maintain at a higher level 155 & maybe be happier in having a lot more wiggle room by consuming more calories! I think you would still look great because us taller gals automatically look thinner being our weight seems much more distributed due to our height. I would just go by how you feel & if you want to eat more, why not can go a bit higher & see if you are happier at 155 instead, if not you can always lose back down. I think it is better to have a lil cushion or a weight range being a steady number day after day forever seems a bit anal to me! Maybe try a range of 145-150, or 150-155, heck I have friends as tall as you and they prefer to weigh 155-160. Everyone is different, maintenance is not a one size fits all lifestyle either as you will see, some prefer higher weights but the majority are going for the how low can you go limbo weight which to me is not all that wise for easy sustainability! But to each it's own...

I certainly picked a weight range that I could live comfortably with day in and day out & I prefer this way of maintenance, having a realistic range, instead of struggling with going too low & then getting cranky from not eating things that I want from time to time would make me miserable, so I prefer 80% on plan & 20% of the time I eat whatever the heck I want! Being thinner would be a struggle for me & way too hard to maintain, besides I'm so not into the crack head skinny look, I prefer the fit & strong look that I have, I like that I can give a punch & certainly take one too if needed!

Let us know what you decide, but girl this is your call, do what you feel would be easier & sustainable because let me tell ya, maintenance is forever & that is a loooong time!

You know the funny thing was I was freezing cold during weight loss but when I increased my calories to 1800ish I find that I'm not cold anymore. I am coldER than when I was 200+ pounds, but it's not necessary for me to be piled under blankets and wear layer upon layers. Granted before I lost weight the cold never bothered me, so perhaps I'm returning to that state of being, albeit at a lower weight.

I actually find 1800 calories easy to deal with (and that seems to be my maintenance amount), but I do not get hungry often. In fact I need to be careful or I will end up way under my calories as I have for the past week...(oops). I've easily been in the 1200-1400 range this week and not felt deprived.

What foods are you eating? I find that certain foods will spike hunger in me while other foods keep me full. If I eat too much fruit, for example, I am hungrier than if I ate veggies instead. I eat a lot of veggies and protein and they fill me right up. I load up my lunchtime wraps with lettuce, for example, and even though they are small they are very filling! Dinner always has vegetables too

Sugary foods also spike hunger in me and most recently have been giving me a strange aftertaste. I've been avoiding them as a result and I have not felt hungry.

I think you need to decide what the perfect weight is for you and how realistic it is for you to maintain. If it is too much of a struggle, then you may consider a higher weight. If you are happy where you are then realize it may require a bit of a sacrifice to stay there. There are certainly days when I wish I could just sit down, eat, and not care, but I know that I can't do that unless I want to undo all of my hard work.

I know you recently got to goal, right? You may want to maintain there for a bit more and see how you feel before you decide. While I know we all want to look good in clothes, don't neglect how you feel. If you FEEL great, then that is the most important part

I just read your other thread, do you really popcorn for lunch or is that a random example? If you eat only popcorn with no protien then there is a good reason you're hungry! I would take some time to examine your foods. However, for what it's worth I'm hungry often too. Unfortunately, I think it's kind of the way it supposed to be. I think we are all used to overeating and being over full that when we actually eat the right amount of food and get hungry often, like we're supposed to, we think something's wrong.

Also I'm ALWAYS cold!

That's such a personal decision, but if I were you, I would choose a higher weight. I am 5 ft 3 and weigh 135-138 (43 y-o). I can eat 2100 per day to maintain (I do at least an hour of exercise, 6 days a week). I'm bordering on "too skinny" according to my friends and family (I tend to carry my weight well). My original goal weight was 145 even though that is the high end of my BMI. I chose that because I wanted to be able to eat at a higher calorie range while maintaining. (I inadvertently lost down to 135 while trying to figure out my maintenance calories)

FWIW, though, I've found that even though I can eat a lot of calories, I'm still hungry---in fact, even hungrier than I was when I was losing. I've been reading a lot about how difficult it is to maintain. Apparently, our bodies work against us in every way---including some hormones that actually make us want to eat more (If you're interested in reading more, here's a story about it from NPR: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011...at-and-biology).

Also, as others here have indicated, choosing the right foods will make you less likely to be hungry, but the problem with that, at least for me, is that I want to eat some of the not-so-good-for-me stuff. Yes, I know I could be perfectly "full" if I ate only healthy foods, but I'm not satisfied when I do that.

So, I guess the upshot is that choosing a higher weight will allow you to eat more, but the down side is that it still may not feel like enough food.

It's a very personal decision, and I've said elsewhere before now that mine was informed only partly by aesthetics.

My quality of life and my state of mind suffer when I try to maintain at too low a weight. My social life diminishes considerably as I'm extremely wary around food I haven't prepared myself. And I am definitely crazier. I'm more self-critical and I'm depressed more frequently, perhaps by my constant awareness of the contrast between reality and my ideal. I find myself bingeing, which I don't do at my current weight.

I put myself under a lot of pressure in other areas of my life, so I have to watch it or I'll do it in this one, too.

The tradeoffs are too difficult for my aesthetic sense to rule here.

I've learned this the hard way, too, from living at different weights, ranging from probably over 250 to just over 105.

Saef, I read your post with interest. You & I are the same height, and the concerns you raised w/ maintaining a lower weight are the same concerns that I share. I'm going to keep your experience in mind as I try to find my way to comfortably maintaining.

<<I just read your other thread, do you really popcorn for lunch or is that a random example?>>

It's just one example I used to illustrate my preference for eating larger portions of one or two foods rather than "a bit of this and a bit of that" for my meals. Here are some other examples of my lunches:

Two small pita breads with about a cup of low-fat homemade dip (such as sweet potato, baba ganoush or spinach curry)
Tortilla pizza (large whole wheat tortilla with tomatoes, onions and cheese, baked and broiled in the oven)
Veggie and cheese wrap
Grilled tuna and cheese sandwich
Bagel with cream cheese, onion and tomato
Veggie or cheese omelette
(Very occasionally) prepared Asian dish like pad thai


Freelance

Thanks for your feedback, everyone. Lots to think about.

Freelance

Hi Freelance, I'm only at target 2 minutes (in reality 4 weeks) so my thoughts are based on little experience. Feeling cold is part of the equation. You have lost your insulation layer If I were you I would remain calm and just go with the flow. See how it works out at this weight. If it does
n't suit ie is too much of a struggle to maintain, you can always change it. Also, decide your optimal weight level YOURSELF. Do not be influenced by others saying "you are too thin" + "you need to put on some weight" You are in charge and you decide. If newly at target like me, it seems to be a matter of trial and error until things settle down. Good luck with it. Leigh

While I'm still cold, I'm definitely not as cold as I was when I first entered maintenance over 4 years ago. So, that may improve some.

Do I think your maintenance weight is too low? As others have said-- that is a personal decision. However, if it is too hard to maintain without some degree of craziness and frustration, you may want to raise it some. I work part-time at Weight Watchers and I've seen MANY people try to maintain too low of a weight for them, get frustrated and start gaining.

That being said, I sometimes think my personal weight is too low for me to maintain without some degree of craziness. However, I like where I am and at this point I'm willing to make the sacrifices. It is in the back of my mind though that I could maintain at a higher weight and still be in the healthy weight range.