I still have a little way to go until I reach maintance level but for some reason I've been thinking about it alot lately. I don't know why but maybe cause I've got less than half way to go now. But I've been wondering what will I have to change from what I'm doing now to maintaining? I've also heard that when you stop losing that it's normal to gain a few pounds of water weight back right away, is this true?

gaining water weight is not true--at least it wasn't on my case.

changes you make: i personally kept ALL my food choices but had more calories to play with during the day.. if that means an extra chicken breast with my lunch salad or some peanut butter on my rice cakes rather than laughing cow light all the time... i kept all my healthy food standards..kept controlling my daily calorie intake..only i had a bigger intake to fill

Honestly, I didn't change a thing. I'm still very satisfied on 1200 calories a day (the calories I had while losing). I still exercise just as much (if not more!) because I love exercising and being active. I still enjoy a treat meal every week.

I have not gained a few lbs back since I moved into maintenance (probably because I didn't change anything!). I fluctuate pretty regularly between 132-135 and I think my body is happy here.

I am not at maintenance yet, but I've already come to realize that my day to day life will not change. My food choices won't change, my exercise won't change, I will still count calories and log everything I eat. I may have a few more cals a day to play with (which I'll fill with good foods, more veggies, extra lean protien, ect.) and I might get to endulge occassionally on the weekends, but the very next day it will back to work. I don't anticipate any gain, but I will have a maintenance window. Right now I think it will be 138-148, but I'll probably tighen that up to a 5 lbs window as my body settles into the weight it is happiest at. I think that you will find it's a pretty common answer amonst most maintainers that they really didn't change anything. So it's great that you are asking this now because the sooner you pick a "diet" that is actually a lifestyle choice for the long term the more likely you are to maintain your loss.

I lost on about 800-900 cals a day (yeah, I know, I was doing MediFast) and now I'm at about 1200 a day. I got down to 130, but binged last weekend and am now up to 136. But that's okay; I think my body will be happy here in the 130s.

It's wonderful that you're thinking about maintenance now! I wish everyone did -- we'd have a lot more successful maintainers that way. Kudos to you, Ncunceo, for being so thoughtful and perceptive about maintenance. I know you've worked way too hard to ever let this slip away.

Everyone's right, nothing changes. Maintenance looks just like losing, with a few extra calories. You do exactly the same things to keep the weight off that you did to lose it. During your time of weight loss, you've been assembling your maintenance tool box of skills, strategies, and day-to-day behaviors that you'll use every day for the rest of your life. The transition from weight loss to maintenance is seamless.

I've never heard about gaining water weight after one reaches goal and I can't imagine why it would happen. It would be really easy to gain FAT weight, of course!

The good news is that since you're so good at weight loss, you're going to be a great maintainer!

No, I didn't gain any WATER weight as soon as I hit maintenance, I gained good old fashioned FAT weight. Hit goal and immediately went up two pounds by adding in a splurge meal.

Nothing changed for me. Nothing. I still eat the same healthy foods, in the same sized portions. Still track my calories. Still plan out my foods in advance. Still shop like crazy, chop, dice and cook, pack foods with me. Still avoid a huge amount of food out there in the world.

A couple of things did change - I scaled back my exercise. Some don't do this, but I did. I was working out about 2 hours a day towards during the latter months of the losing portion of my journey. I knew it was something I could not/would not sustain. So I cut back there.

And the only other thing, is that I have added in those splurge meals, but always with the knowledge that my weight will increase due to it. After a few days (sometimes up to two weeks) have passed, the added weight goes away. Then I'll add in another splurge meal, my weight will go up and then it goes back down again and I keep repeating the cycle....

Yes! That happens to me, too. The splurge meal gives me a 2 lb gain and I spend all week getting it off. Then, the next splurge meal gives me another 2 lb gain. Rinse, repeat. The only difference is, I don't actually MIND being in this cycle because, well...that's maintenance!

I'm encouraged after reading your posts. I've got to admit that the closer to maintance I get the more nervous I am. I really don't know why. Partly maybe because it's been so long since I'll have been at that weight and I think partly also because the goal weight I picked was from before kids and well we all know that our bodies change with pregnancy. I'm nervous to get there and then be disappointed because my body won't be what it use to. BUT after losing 50lbs I know that I'll look better and feel better! I've just got to get my mind to a different place I guess.

I am only on 3 weeks of this but I have increased my calories about 200/day. I am continuing to make those extra calories good ones and I still do my same exercise if not a little more.