I know it's totally ridiculous but every day I tell myself that today will be the day I start. I know the math etc, I won't magically gain all of the weight back, but I'm still nervous.

A lot of people suggest just raising a little at a time but, for me, I think doing it that way will be extremely frustrating and I like the stability of knowing how much I'm supposed to eat to maintain. I don't think I can raise by 50 or 100 every week because I'm at 1200 now and what if I maintain at 1800. It would take 12 weeks for me to figure this out if I added 50/week.

I also don't want to lose weight and get under 140. I feel like having to eat more to gain some weight to get back in my range will be sort of a trigger? I don't know.

Did anyone else have such qualms about raising their calories? Can I just go right up to 1700 or 1800 and see how I do there? I would rather find that it's too high and I have to cut back and lose some more rather than have to do it so slowly and end up having to gain weight. How did all of you maintainers do it? Am I overreacting, like a lot?!?

It's a perfectly logical fear, I think. I mean sure, you know that you are not going to put it back on overnight, but you are used to your schedule and what to do being so clear.
When I started lowering my calories to lose weight, I did it by 200 calories for 2 weeks. Personally I don't think 1 week is long enough to gauge how your body will handle it.
I'm no doctor, but you need to do it in a way you are comfortable. I say just 200 a day for 2 weeks, see how you feel, if your weight fluctuates and go from there. I really don't think 50 cals a day, even over a week would be enough to see a change in either how you feel or your weight. That's only 350 cals over for the whole week and I fluctuate that much anyway in my daily habits!

You're absolutely right, I hadn't even thought about that and I'm a numbers freak lol. 50 cals a day over a week IS only 350 calories! And also, I'm worried about things like sodium skewing the numbers, as well

So what do people think about 1700. Is that too optimistic? I eat 1200 now and lose about a 1-1.5 pounds/week. It's difficult to say because I'm a daily weigh-er but in the the past month I've lost 6 pounds.

I still eat 1200 calories a few days a week...lol I need to because I end up eating too much other days. I don't think I'm doing it "right" but I have maintained my weight loss for almost a year, so I don't think it's necessarly wrong either.

Why don't you raise your calories to 1500 for 2 weeks, if you still lose raise it to 1800, and so on. It took me about 6 months to find my sweet spot. As long as I average 1900/calories day I maintain at 140 quite nicely in the winter. (I can eat a little more now that it's summer and I do much more physical activity.)

Don't be afraid. If you put on pound or 2 go right back to your 1200 calories for a day or 2 and it will be gone.

I know you said you don't want to raise your calories slowly... So if you do decide to jump up 600 calories a day, from 1200 to 1800, don't be shocked if you gain weight in the first two weeks...

I'd try what Lori Bell suggested--raise by only 300.

Jay

What I am doing, I am also monitoring not only calorie amount but calorie type. What a great place to be in to see if "a calorie is a calorie"

I'm still trying to figure this out myself. I have been maintaining for a year, I got into a bad habit of binging once a week to keep my weight from going any lower, I'm on the border of being underweight, and staying at my weight loss calories the rest of the days. I gain 3 to 5 lbs when I binge, then go strict for the next 5 or 6 days and lose it. That's how I have been maintaining, it is not the right way to do it, please don't start. I'm trying to stop, it's getting better. When I raise my calories by 100 a day, after two days I gain. I lose at 1100 cal, but if I go to 1200, I gain. I just can't get it right. I am very afraid of gaining any weight, so i tend to stay at 1100cal. most days. Your going to have to experiment a little, try 100 cal. a day more and see what happens after a couple days. If you start gaining, then you know it's too much. Just slightly upping it a bit makes me gain, but if I stay at the same calories I lose. I hope your not this way, good luck!

Do you keep track of your calories when you binge? If your weekly cycle is 1100/day plus binges and you maintain at that rate you can determine your average and try to stick to that. If you gain at 1200/day plus binges, then that would raise your avenge. Am I making any sence?

How tight a range are you trying to hold? Two days isnt really enough to tell a gain or a loss. Especially on an increase of 100 calories. My guess is you need to up your calories slowly, but allow the fluctuations to settle out.

The way you describe the binge and then 5-6 days of loss sounds to me like you are gaining and losing water weight repeatedly.

Thanks for the responses guys. You've all given me a lot to think about. Lori Bell I'm glad to see that you're maintaining around 1900. We are the same weight so that gives me some hope that my estimated range isn't too outlandish. It just feels like SO many calories. Ultimately I think I'd rather have to cut back than keep raising, as odd as it sounds. I'm planning on eating between 1700-1800. I don't think I'll gain weight as I'm still losing steadily but I guess only time will tell. Thanks for the support.

I'm starting tomorrow. There, I posted it; now I have to do it.

jk, just dont be surprised if you initially gain a little weight. When you make a fairly dramatic change like 500-600 calories, it isnt unusual for water balance to change. Also if you have been running a deficit consistantly your glycogen stores may have been underfueled. When you give it enough for maintenance, you will add several grams of glycogen stores and every gram of glycogen comes with 4 grams of water stored with it.

I move into maintenance mode again 2 days before a race even though I am currently in loss mode, and I typically gain 2-3 lbs of glycogen and water.

I guess I am saying dont overreact to the scale. It may go up suddenly in the first few days but if you are eating maintenance it will settle quickly. There is a limit to how much glycogen you can store and once you hit that it will even out.

ennay, thanks for the heads up!! I hadn't thought about glycogen! Even knowing that, it'll still be tough the see the the number on the scale go up. I'll give it some time, though. If it's an initial increase and then a decrease down slightly, I'll know I'm eating maintenance. If it's a slow increase, I'll know I'm eating too much. I wish there was an easier way.

Since you're a numbers freak , how about thinking this way? If you've lately been losing a pound a week, you're averaging a 500 calorie deficit every day. Assuming you plan to keep your current exercise regimen, you should be able to add back 500 calories a day and maintain.

That's an approximation, of course, because you do weigh a little bit less today then you did a month ago, so your calorie needs are a little lower. But it's pretty close. And I completely understand the desire to go a little slowly when adding the calories back in.

Hehe reji, great minds think alike . That's pretty much the exact way I thought about it. It's been 1.5 pounds/week but I decided to count it as 1-ish. That's where the range of 17-1800 comes from. It seems like it would work theoretically, right? But, our bodies aren't machines so I guess I'll soon find out if it works in practice.

Thanks for the input!

I have the same fear,
I'm spost to eat 2200 calories for maitenance, but going there scares me! It's been about a month of maintaining, and I've lost an extra 2 pounds, I eat a little more than what I used to, plus some days when I eat 2300-2500 calories, but also some days when I eat 1300-1500
I'm trying to quite calorie counting, because I think it's making me anxious and short-tempered, lol
But I'm having a hard time with that!

I say do it a little at a time, but by that I mean maybe add on 100 calories every few days, but take it at a peace you feel comfortable, if you lose weight, you can always gain it back