Determining Maintenance Weight?
 

I would love to hear how all of you chose your maintenance weight.

I was obese from puberty. I weighed 160 lbs at age 14. At 16, I wore a size 16. At 18, a size 18. I graduated college as a size 22.

So here I am, 5 lbs below my goal (not even my original goal, which was 175, but my revised goal of 165) and as you can imagine, it's getting harder and harder to lose. I would like to see 155, which is 5 lbs away, but if it's going to drive me crazy to maintain, then I'm happy at 160.

I'm a size 10/12, which was really the goal all along. Not to be slim, but to be normal size. And I'm not sure if I should keep pushing. I am tired and the urge to stuff my face with junk is as strong as ever. I worry that if I push myself too hard, it will backfire.

Any words of wisdom? Right now I am focused on getting from the 160.8 I weighed this morning to 159. But then what? Go to 155? 150?

Thanks all :)

There is a thread in the sticky section that I love to read. It is great inspiration!
Picking A Goal Weight: Did you pick your maintenance weight, or did it pick you?

Congratulations on all you've done, Underwater! That's a lot of hard work, I know.

I was obese from childhood and didn't start losing weight until my early 30s, about 3 years ago. After reaching normal BMI, I lowered my goal weight in 5 pound increments until I sort of settled at 120. That was in 2011 and there was a weight creep, which I started attacking through restriction, which led to episodes of overeating.

There's been some talk of this lately on other Maintainer threads, but my recent convictions is this: I've put away the scale for the moment. I'm still counting calories and breaking overeating and binging habits, though. So my clothes and the way I feel are going to be my guide. This is all an experiment, of course - we'll see how it goes. :)

My advice? Stop with the scale number and eat/exercise in a way that is healthy and sustainable for you long term, and see where you land size-wise. See where you settle and what you can maintain.

Good luck!

I completely agree with this advice. I started with that mindset, and the weight loss seemed almost effortless because of it. I didn't even weigh myself until months after I had started, and when I finally did, I was under my goal weight. Then, trying to figure out my maintenance calories, I lost another 5 lbs or so. Then, recently, that 5 lbs found me, and I've been struggling to get it off ever since. It feels so hard now because my goal is a number rather than my behavior (the latter was my focus when I was losing). I need to get back to that sweet spot of common sense, and it is definitely what I would advise anyone who is trying to figure out maintenance goals.

Congrats on your accomplishment & good luck to you!

Congratulations on your incredible loss!

There have been some people who use a rule of thumb of 100 pounds for a 5 foot tall person and then adding five pounds for every inch over that. I'm 5'8" and that puts me at 140--which looks really good on me. However, if I were more active and had more muscle than fat, then I could pull off 150 easily.

My DD recently lost a considerable amount of weight and for the past few months has been concentrating on gaining muscle over losing weight. She took some before and after pictures and despite only losing 1 pound in two months, she looks incredibly smaller (you know, muscle takes up less space so you're smaller).

Anyway, choosing a goal for me in the beginning was just picking a number at random and trying to get there. After years of maintenance at different weights (once as low as 128) I have found that certain weights for me are easier to maintain. 128 was NOT. 140 was a lot easier, but still difficult (thus why I'm trying to get back down there!). You'll find that with time you'll find your perfect fit.

This just goes to show how different bodies are. I am 5 ft 3, and I'm often called "small" or "tiny" at my current weight of 140. When I was 135, people regularly either strongly implied or flat out told me that I was "too skinny" (the latter were mostly family members who are frank). I think I look okay at 135, but even I acknowledge that I can sometimes look on the verge of gaunt at that weight. The lowest I have ever weighed in my adult life was 113 (very, very briefly), and when I look back at pictures of me at that weight, I now see that I seriously looked nearly anorexic.

I have read that rule of thumb, 100 pounds for the first 5 feet and 5 pounds for each additional pounds. I an exactly 5 feet tall if that rule was true and I weighed just 100 pounds I would look and feel ghastly.

Thanks all. At my weight loss class, they say as a woman, I can eat approx 100 calories per 10 lbs each day to maintain. I think 150-155 would be good for me because I know I can live on 1500 calories and be okay.

Currently shooting for 155 and I know I'll lose at least a few lbs from my skin surgeries, maybe more. So right now hoping for another 5 lbs lost through diet and exercise and another 3-5 from my surgeries :)

I'm hoping to be a real maintainer soon!

You look fab! Congratulations on your accomplishment!

Given this, I think the smartest thing for you to do right now is to aim for maintenance. Maintain and see how it goes, be patient, focus on things other than losing weight. Then, whenever you feel like it, or ready for it, or aren't as afraid that it'll backfire, go ahead and try to lose those last 5 lbs. OR, find out that you're happy where you're at, since maintenance has become second nature, and you don't feel like it's necessary to lose more.

I think it's important that you consider not-regaining a victory in and of itself at this point :)

And congratulations on your weight loss. Being smaller myself, I believe I cannot really imagine the struggles someone who has lost as much weight as you have must go through. So, pat yourself on the back, and be proud of yourself :)

i couldn't have said this better myself. i lost 100 lbs WITHOUT a scale, just going by what pants size i last looked good in and felt good in and i also stopped counting calories (but i know roughly what i consume--pretty much the same kinds of foods all of the time and i STARTED with counting cals) and i just had to go by how my body felt and intuition and the main thing is NOT over indulging or over eating but also not going hungry and i was surprised at the number i ended up at. Borrowed my neighbors scale (well she gave it to me) and i use it as motivation to stay on track but if you're huffing and puffing every single day to keep where you're at, then going below that isn't really going to be attainable and it's not worth it.
Enjoy what you've accomplished!

I'm struggling with this right now. Trying to find a balance between being the size/weight I want to be and the impact it's starting to have on my quality of life. I wish I had an answer!!! I know I'm not done... but I don't know how healthy it is to always be so unhappy with what the scale shows me.

I'm not 2 lbs from the high end of what I am going to try to maintain. I've got a BBQ on July 4th as my next challenge :)

I picked my goal weight by looking at what other on this website who were my height weighed. I've had to revise that goal weight as I carry quite a bit of muscle. I now have a range of about 4 lbs. (133-137) where I am reasonably happy, it's not a constant struggle to maintain, and I can have a treat once in a while without then going into mad bingeing mode.

I decided that this would be maintenance for me. My body and brain are no longer battling over some mythical number on a scale. I'm healthy and content.

Congratulations on your achievement! I'm sure you'll figure out whatever works best for you!

Dagmar :cool:

re:
 

Sorry, would have responded earlier, but I've been away.

If it helps, we're the same height, and I just returned from a Dr. appt where my dr said 155 would be perfectly fine for me, so you're not way off.

I agree with the others though, whatever it is that makes you comfortable and not starving all the time is probably best.

When I asked my surgeon what my "perfect" weight would be, he said 155. After surgery, I am hanging out in the 180-183 range, and think I look pretty amazing! Is there room for improvement, yes, but 25 pounds worth? I'm not sure... Right now I am aiming for 175 by mid-August, and then experimenting from there.

Thanks :)

Yes, right now I'm planning to try to maintain 150-155 and see how I do... 1 pound away as of this morning!

This is something I've been struggling with for the past year and a half. I too was obese since childhood, so there was no reference for me (no former skinny weight or clothes). 107 was much too thin so I thought 112-115 worked. I gained up to around 118 while strength training and I noticed that my loose skin was a bit more manageable and my clothes still fit...but I felt "heavy." Losing weight again makes me FEEL better (I feel lighter and agile again) but now my loose skin is much more irritating and makes it difficult to do higher impact exercises. It stinks because when lighter I want to so them more!!

I guess I have to decide: be slightly heavier and stronger with less loose skin, or lighter and agile with loose skin... :/

Great job girl :)

Have you tried wearing a slimmer or a binder while you exercise? While I was losing weight, I had a ton of loose skin on my stomach. I wore a slimmer, This one, and it helped so much! Now, 3 weeks after surgery, I am wear it as my abdominal binder because I can get it on and off by myself! My other one was a 2 person job!