How to stay at goal weight Topic

U1190962417 04/15/22
I’m 5 lbs away from my goal weight. I’ve been consistently losing 1.8-2lbs/mo since Jan 9th so I’ll probably hit my goal in less than 2 weeks.

It says my weight maintenance calories are around 1,600. I’m guessing the real number for my age weight and height is going to be closer to 1,200.

How do I add calories back in without gaining?

It seems anytime I go over my calorie intake by 50 I gain a couple oz. so the thought of adding 400 more calories a day makes me nervous.

Thanks in advance 🙂

Dietician 04/15/22 replied to U1190962417
Hi there U1190962417-Congrats on your weight loss thus far! I understand your fear. If you have put a lot of effort and energy into improving your health and losing weight, it can be scary to imagine what maintenance will be like. Try following the 1600 calorie goal for a week and see what happens. If you find that you are gaining, then cut back by 200 calories, meaning a target goal of 1400 calories/day, spread out evenly over the day. Weight maintenance is truly an art and science! The predictive calorie budgets are a good starting point, though listen to your body and adjust as needed.
You may find this article helpful when tracking during maintenance https://www.mynetdiary.com/maintain-weight-loss.html
You've got this! Joanna (MyNetDiary Dietitian)

U1190962417 04/21/22
Thanks! Appreciate your feedback. I’ll do that.

Schober 08/18/22
I think maintaining is very hard work, actually harder than losing. I lost 40 lbs. in 2002-2003, and maintaine several years before I began gaining just 1-2 lbs a year. I tried an earlier MyNetDiary in 2016 because that creeping accumulation of weight gain concerned me, but abandoned it because of difficulty logging. By 2019 I had crossed back over into overweight range and with hard work lost 30 lbs. on a different app. For a time after reaching my goal weight at BMI 20 I stayed on that app (which was VERY focused on weight loss) & kept losing without trying to lose, just obsessive & feeling stupid about maintaining... got down to BMI 19. Then I had a concussion that stopped my exercise a while, which caused me to gain 5# above my goal weight, BMI 21.5. I switched to a different app program (more focused on HEALTHY habits) last March and starting the newer improved MyNetDiary now am roughly 2# above my goal weight, at BMI 20.9, therefore within a range that might count as a weight-maintenance challenge if one allows 4# on either side of the goal weight. Is that right? Although I have a GW, my real aim is BMI 20. I have a long yo-yo history and at age 70 want to stabilize at my felt-optimal weight to maximize health & vitality. The clearest help I have found is simply the daily logging of weight, food, exercise, & water. So I figure maintaining will require me to stay on a good app for that, like this one. But what other advice do I need to hear to ease my achievement of such stability?

Schober 08/18/22
That article linked above is very good. Thanks!

How to stay at goal weight