Crazy but True!

So I reached my goal weight of 155 lbs. last week! Yay! I'm willing to go as low as 150 just to give myself a little wiggle room, but at 6' tall any lower than that and I just start looking too boney.

But I'm getting a little worried...How do I turn off my losing mentality and switch to maintenance mentality?? I'm not worried about falling back into old habits as my cravings now consist of broiled salmon and roasted asparagas...but I can't imagine eating anymore than I already do without feeling overly full. I'm finding it very hard to mentally get over having to add some more calories to stop losing...I'm finding it very distressing.

I know I need to up my calories especially since I'm at the gym at least 6 days a week (I have to force myself to rest on Sundays). I go to Spin at least 4 times a week and am now a certified Spinning instructor. And I've been hitting the weights more intensely (I'm at 18% body fat right now with a personal goal of 15%)...I just can't bring myself to eat more!

Did anyone else go through this when switching to maintenance? What was your experience? Advice?

From what I have read - this is fairly common. I'm afraid it will happen to me - I am so enjoying watching the scale move down. Can you cut back on the gym at all and maybe add a snack - something healthy but more calorie dense - chicken or lowfat cheese - something like that ?? I know the exercise gets to be habit and you feel off without doing it but you may want to try to dial it back - even if you continue to go daily - knock a few reps off or knock down the cardio - that way you are still working out - just not as intensely. If you feel this is getting out of control - IMO - you need to seek help.

Good luck !!

I (personally) wouldnt cut back on the exercise if you are enjoying it, although now might be time to try something new if you have been wanting to. I know that since i run it is often hard to talk myself into trying another form of exercise since running is so efficient and anything else I do will burn less - at least until I get good at it.

Look for calorically dense things like nuts to add to your diet. Some find that eating the way they always eat - but bigger portions works, some find that adding a few calories throughout the day is easier to get in and leaves you with the feeling that it will be easier to dial back if you need to.

Come up with a list of 50-200 calorie items and figure out where you can add them like

breakfast : add a piece of fruit or a piece of toast
morning snack: add 1/2 oz nuts
lunch: add a carb serving or a fruit or add avocado slices to your sandwich....etc.

OR you could go to the cardinal sin of dieting...drink your calories. Add a snack of a protein shake and that might be enough right there.

Hey I had a very similar reaction to maintenance - pure terror! I was afraid to eat more, afraid I would gain weight. It took me a long time (about 2-3 months) to work my way up from 1400 calories to 1800 calories (maintenance for me). I did it very slowly, adding 100 calories a day and then staying at the new level for over a week before adding more.

Ennay had some excellent suggestions for healthy foods you can add - foods that are GOOD FOR YOU and that your body would love to have more of. That was actually key for me, I had been trying to eat a certain number of super foods every day, but felt limited by my daily calorie limit. Adding in another 400 calories gave me so much more room! I didn't have to choose between almonds and yogurt, I could have both!

It was a mental hurdle really, I was afraid of eating more, but it worked out just fine. It took me another 6 months before I could add treat meals, heh

I need this thread. My weight is still dropping too. And I am so scared to up the cals!

Wow! Why has this never happened to me? Congratulations on reaching goal! My body just stopped losing and now I fight to keep off every ounce.

How often do you eat? I'd be more inclined to add a healthy snack or mini-meal than adding food that you don't want at a meal time.

Mel

Hey Mandalinn, maybe your body isn't done yet? My original goal at 5'7" was 150 lbs, when I reached 150, the weight was still coming off so I kept going. You are a gorgeous size 8 at 160, but your body might have a different set point in mind, maybe keep going to see where your body wants to end up? That's basically what I did and ended up 20 lbs lighter than my original goal. But, if you are happy with your current weight (and why wouldn't you be, you rock!) upping calories with super healthy foods like avocado, almonds, olive oil is definitely a good plan (and delicious).

Glory, I'm kind of thinking that way. That would just be so atypical for my family and bone structure that I'm not sure how I'd look and its a little creepy. We're built sturdy.

Perhaps I will see how it goes. I mean, I can eat what I'm eating now with the goal of maintaining and if it keeps dropping I can accept that. I don't know what I'd eat extra (see: WW article re: nuts in the house. Would NOT be an ideal maintenance plan).

Heh that is what happened to me. I plateaued, thought I was done, started eating more, and finally just stabalized at 127-128, I'm still eating the same calories (1800-2000), it's like my body just went "okay, this is it! this is my happy place."

As far as being built "sturdy," I dunno, I used to think I was too.

Eating extra is actually pretty blissful, get the 2% Fage instead of fat free and add a drizzle of honey. When you're at the salad bar, sprinkle more sesame seeds on your salad. Drink a glass of wine. Indulge in peanut butter on an apple.

Ooooh, Glory, your ideas sound tasty.

I mean "I'm sturdy" in that, at 162, my ribs are visible from the side (is that normal?). And my partner has a serious bone to pick with my...well...bones. They poke, apparently, when she hugs me.

I'm glad I'm not alone in this! I guess I'm just gonna have to bite the bullet and start adding some calories in...as I'm not willing to back off the excercise, it's gotten rid of my depression, made me more productive throughout the day, and has me on a normal healthy sleeping pattern.

I'll give you a sample of my daily menu and tell me what you think. I tend to eat my 3 meals and if needed, an afternoon snack.

B: Smoothie - 0.5 cup skim milk, ice, 1 cup strawberries, 1 medium banana, 1 scoop whey protein

Hit the gym for Spin/weights, or 20 mins Incline Treadmill/weights, or Jump Rope/Weights intervals

L: 6 oz. baked salmon in a whole wheat pita with 2 tblsp. reduced fat mayo and as much greens as I can stuff in it. And 20 spears of roasted asparagas w/a light spray of olive oil.

D: Chicken Kebobs - 6 oz. skinless chicken breast w/red peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes. 2 cups steamed brocoli

I didn't have any snacks today because that meal at lunch fills me up so much that I'm not even hungry come dinner time....I ate dinner around 6 p.m. just because I knew it was time. Should I eat between meals even if I'm not hungry? Fitday has me at around 1200 calories for the day which I know is not enough to stop losing. Perhaps I should've eaten one of those cheese & garlic biscuits my DH and kids had with dinner!

It does seem you have plenty of opportunities to add some healthy snacks, nutrition your body would appreciate (that is a lot of exercise for 1200 calories). Organic low fat yogurt with fresh fruit, 1/4 cup almonds with a piece of string cheese, 1/2 cup roasted red pepper hummus with baby carrots, cameo apple with peanut butter, a square of excellent dark chocolate...I love snacks (can't you tell?).

You also dont seem to have a lot of healthy carbohydrates - nothing but pita all day. Maybe some whole wheat couscous with dinner or quinoa? 1/2 cup dry is about 200 calories prepared. Whole wheat couscous with slivered almonds and dried cranberries is pretty fabulous as a side dish. I also love sweet potatoes, whole wheat tortillas, whole wheat pasta, gnocchi, beans, corn...almost all of my dinners have 200 calories of carbs, I just make them really really count.

You are eating so healthy, a cheese and garlic biscuit would be just fine, but there are so many other ways to spend those calories for nutritional "oomph." (not that every thing you eat has to have nutritional oomph - says the woman who drank a latte and ate a biscotti this afternoon )

Yeah, visible ribs are my sign to stop!

Thanks for the snack tips. Yeah today was pretty weird with my carb intake...I'm normally at 50% carbs and 30-35% protein each day but they seemed to have switched themselves today. I usually do have more carbs with dinner.

I've been meaning to try that Fage...is that the Greek yogurt that everyone talks about so much on here? I think RockinRobin mentioned it with the honey and almonds...sounded incredible.

And thanks for reminding me of sweet potatoes...sometimes I just forget about something if I haven't had it in awhile.

I need to just get over my fear of seeing a higher calorie total in Fitday. I've got the dreaded visible ribs (and hip bones)...pretty soon my mom's gonna start hiding butter in my food when we go over for dinner on Sundays (she's done it before)....like I can't taste it or something!

Hmmm, I dunno girls. I have visible ribs, visible hip bones and visible shoulder bones, and I swear there is still plenty of fat to lose from my thighs and my arms...

That said, healthy grains and carbs seem like an important add-in, cookie monster. If you're nervous about it, add 100 cals/day for a couple of weeks, see where you are and then add in another 100 and so on. After I switched to maintenance, I continued to slowly lose for another month or so--I've lost an extra 5lb or so since deciding to maintain (more actually, since today I weighed in at 136--a full 7lb below my stop weight). But then I stopped losing. My body found a set point, I found a comfy and flexible calorie level and my body and I are working together to see what works for us.

At the very least, you MUST rid yourself of this idea that eating healthily and moderately will result in an instant, over-night, irreversible 30lb weight gain. Whatever happens--gaining, losing, maintaining--will happen slowly and you will be able to control it.