In one of the "decade" threads, it was thought that there ought to be a separate feathers maintenance thread, so here 'tis!

I'm not at my goal yet, but I'm so close that I'm starting to try to pick up as many maintenance tips as possible. Still trying to decide on my so-called "red line" weight or weight zone. I don't want to lose too much, I don't want to gain too much, but I also am starting think that my old-school analog scale would best keep me honest if I said I have to stay between the 110 and 115 lines. Doesn't matter where on a particular day I am in that zone, so long as I'm within in.

Thanks kat! I'm not ready to be a maintainer yet but definitely counting on this thread to help with my sanity. So important to remember that even on our worst/hungriest days during which we feel completely defeated, we can still fall back on maintenance, and self-loathing binges are simply never necessary.

Good idea Kat! I weighed in at 69kg yesterday and have set my maintenance weight zone at 65-69kg, so I'm right at the top of it. I also have a pair of 27' jeans that act as my maintenance zone. They fit now, if they ever don't fit then I'm back onto some form of diet to nip it in the bud. I wear them at least once a week so I'll know quite quickly. I'll do a weigh in every month (on the 20th I guess), plus measurements to make sure I don't wreck my hard work by over intuitively eating ;-)

Looking forward to lots of company here as other people hit their goals!

Right on, lacakdaisy! Self-loathing is never the order of the day!

Neat plan about your jeans, claire! That's a great tool to make sure you're staying on target.

I'm starting to try to design a maintenance workout plan and figure out ways I can ease up on myself while still being vigilant. For example, I log all my workouts in really complex ways. It's a little OCD. There's a spreadsheet involved. Ugh. So not fun, but it's kept me on task while I've been trying to lose. Soon, though, I want to design a workout regime for myself that's easy enough to follow to where I need no Excel files or calendars or anything. I just know what I'm doing, how much I need to do, and I do it, and the only logging of it I do will be in my fitness app on my phone (where I'll keep logging calories in/out, but give myself a maintenance-appropriate allowance for the day/week). Not that I've gone overboard, but I do think of dieting mode as a little bit of a period of denying oneself the chance to lead a life that's solely about feeling good. There's a lot of math and planning and deprivation involved, and if nothing else, I'd like to do less math!

I read on another web site that it helps to have chart weight and see average “winning” number for the month. I did it yesterday and I see it can help me with maintenance a lot.

Here is how it looks for March for example:
130 lb – I had this weight 9 days
129 lb – 5 days
128 lb - 13 days
127 lb – 4 days

My ‘winning” number for March is 128 lb. For April so far my “winning” number is 130 lb, so I am back on counting calories.

I think it will help me do not freak out if I see higher number during month and focus more on ‘winning’ number to make sure I will take care of extra 2 pounds and not waiting until it is extra 16.

onthedietagain, that is SO COOL! I love that idea!

I like the "winning number" idea, too! It seems like a red zone type thing. I was 112 again today after strict calorie counting and staying at around 900 for the day for the past few days.

I think trying to be 110 pounds with no room for any fluctuations is simply setting myself up for failure. Yesterday, for the first time since starting my calorie counting regime back in january, a woman told me that I have such a great figure (oh, yeah, she said great) that I should wear more colorful clothes and stop with the grays and blacks. I hadn't even noticed I was being color exclusive! I think it has more to do with the weather, though. It is still very cool and has been very gray and rainy in the northeast and I haven't broken out most of my spring/summer stuff. I took a picture of myself in a bathing suit just to see if it would be feasible to wear it if I had to, and I was okay with it. Ideally, I am short and would love to be 105 but I just don't think that is realistic given my age, height, and hormone/thyroid issues.

Kat, I am not sure if you ever watched Spongebob, but I had no choice for several years and there was this one episode where Spongebob was afraid to go outside and figured he didn't have to food shop because he is a sponge and would just "filter feed." I am pretty sure I must filter feed all day long through the air because it appears that 900 - 1000 calories is my maintenance level! How in the heck am I going to keep that up? Ugh!!!!

Oh, Lisa, I don't think you have to think that 900-1K is your forever-and-ever maintenance weight! What do you use to gauge your calories? It's very possible that you're underestimating your RMR or something.

Bless you for saying so because I cannot live on that range forever. I use Sparkpeople to track my calories and I am pretty good about putting everything in there and I also weigh and measure everything, too. Of course, today I am very hungry and it's a struggle to not go too far over. I think I will try 1200 and see what that does. Maybe its not the calories so much as the carbs. I will try and increase the calories without too much of an increase in carbs and see how that goes. Less than 1000 is miserable even with a weekly cheat meal!

so awesome! thanks for starting this. I'm just at my red line weight, but decided to call it maintenance even though I'd like to lose a few more lbs. I figure it's good motivation and practice to get below my red alert line. Look forward to chatting with everyone

Can't wait to join you gals! I am hoping to get under 120 then try to maintain between 115 and 120. See ya soon!

So, I weighed in at 111 today and that was after a few days of staying at 900 calories. I am thinking that my maintenance would be around 1200 then? This is so confusing!! I haven't been exercising at all for the past month. I have been real busy with lots of things going on so it has taken a back seat. I am hoping that with increased exercise I can do a maintenance calorie level of 1200. I read on some other threads that under 1200 is not so good - you don't get all the nutrients you need. However, at 4'11" my caloric needs seem to be much less than taller women's. Anyone know a good website where I can find out around how many calories I need to maintain at 111 or so? I have tried a few, and they all give different amounts. Some have me at 800!! Can you believe that?

Ugh, no. Lisa, I think what you should do is some cold, hard math related to your RMR. I personally found the best information in Jillian Michaels' books. She plots that info/math out in every single one of them, and I know that in Winning by Losing, she discusses that stuff pretty early on. Even if you don't want to buy/read the whole book, take an hour at your local Barnes & Noble and just read that section. Bring a calculator with you.

What I think the problem is is that many of the web sites you're finding are not taking your Resting Metabolic Rate into account. This will vary based on your daily activity, your height, the weight you want to maintain, etc. Being very petite, you will truly need to consume way fewer calories than someone even just a few inches taller, but you're also right that 800 is just far too few for ANYBODY. That's not to say you have to go all the way to 1200. I think you'll find once you do the calculations that somewhere in the ballpark of 1000-1100 will wind up feeling comfortable, but that's just a guesstimate. 1200 or even higher can be appropriate if you're also working out a lot to keep your total calorie expenditure to your maintenance level.

Thanks Kat! I'll check it out. I think I underestimate what I do in the course of a day in terms of RMR. I have a small house but it's 4 levels so I am up and down the stairs like a million times a day. Today I was 110.5 but that was after what seemed to be a violent attack of food poisoning. I didn't make anything new or strange and didn't eat out, so I have no clue where it came from but it was bad and I'd rather have my pound back than go through that again! I was at 900 last night before the incident and I think you are right 1000 to 1100 seems to be the right intake for maintenance but I want to look into those books you mentioned first.

Oh, heavens, if you're up and down that much all day, you're burning a lot more calories than you think! Good luck, Lisa!

***

Today, I'm feeling the pang of what I've seen many maintainers complain about: how can I feel like I'm accomplishing anything fitness/health/weight-wise if the scale isn't budging? I only need the scale to go down 2 more pounds, I know that I'm losing weight slower than ever before because I'm already pretty small, and yet I feel like saying "screw it, I'm going to eat whatever I want because I'm not going to get that rush of going down a whole pants size ever again... I'm probably in my permanent size, and that's it." Well, clearly, that's the wrong attitude! I just need new goals, that's all, and yet I already have a myriad of fitness goals I want to achieve. I guess maybe I'm complaining that "fitness" goals are not visible to the average person in my life; what they see is my clothing size, my overall level of fat, etc., but they don't know that I'm pumped because I increased my running speed or graduated to a new size of dumbbells I can lift or mastered a tough yoga pose, you know? How can I let THOSE accomplishments be the new "WOO HOO!" thing, rather than the size of my pants or my BMI? *sigh*