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Hello all,
Just wondering how you knew you have reached your best body goal (ex body weight or body fat) . How do you know when you should start adding more calories so you stop losing weight? Or will your body just stop on its own no matter what you eat? I couldn't find much information on maintenance. Perhaps I am looking in the wrong spot?
Any help is appreciated!
ps- I am not sure I am close to maintenance yet, I think I still have about 10 lbs to go :)
For me it just stopped. I didn't make weight loss a focus and didn't count anything. Weight just kinda fell off till I leveled off at a healthy (ideal) weight. That tends to happen when you eat the food that your genes are craving ;). It really can be that easy. It was for me anyhow. I did actually start adding in snacks and stuff when I was trying to "bulk" with more lifting and such though, so yes you can tweak things....just don't have to.
[QUOTE=BaconLuv;1036650]Hello all,
Just wondering how you knew you have reached your best body goal (ex body weight or body fat) . How do you know when you should start adding more calories so you stop losing weight? Or will your body just stop on its own no matter what you eat? I couldn't find much information on maintenance. Perhaps I am looking in the wrong spot?
Any help is appreciated!
ps- I am not sure I am close to maintenance yet, I think I still have about 10 lbs to go :)[/QUOTE]
Let me guess. You've done Weight Watchers a lot? ;-)
Having a set goal is different than your body deciding where it is healthy at.
I'm 5'10 and 140lbs eating this way.
I'm 6'1, 160lbs eating this way. It just kinda happened. I started at 190, dropped to 165 within 3 months and stabilized there for about 10 months, then my body decided to let go of 5 more pounds, that was about 2 months ago. I exercise very little, once or twice a week is it, and I'm pretty lean with a body fat of 14%.
Great question! I have been thinking the same thing!
[QUOTE=Neckhammer;1036665]For me it just stopped. I didn't make weight loss a focus and didn't count anything. Weight just kinda fell off till I leveled off at a healthy (ideal) weight. That tends to happen when you eat the food that your genes are craving ;). It really can be that easy. It was for me anyhow. I did actually start adding in snacks and stuff when I was trying to "bulk" with more lifting and such though, so yes you can tweak things....just don't have to.[/QUOTE]
This is how it went for me as well. I got to a healthy weight eating based on appetite. Then I just stopped losing and didn't change anything.
I was already happy with myself when I started, but I dropped from 20-22% body fat down to 18-19% body fat in a matter of weeks, and so long as I don't go on emtional eating binges, I stay there. :) I went on an emotional eating binge christmas of last year (when my parents came to visit), and between Australia (august trip) and October of this year when I was stressing about my ILs visiting. Then dropped the excess weight when I went back to normal, basic primal (you know, not eating cakes, cookies, ice cream adn the like).
So, yeah, easy to maintain. 5 ft 7, 128, no fuss no muss.
+1 to it just kinda happened. You reach the point where it's clear from your reflection in the mirror that you needn't worry about losing any more. As a rough guide for a heavily trained muscular male that point is usually reached at weight (in kg) = height (in cm) - 100, so I've been floating around 80kg at 180cm for a fair while now +/- a few kg depending on carb intake which can add significant water weight over only a few days. Having said that little things like increased definition and vascularity keep improving slowly over time. But nothing to stress about and there certainly was never a point where I thought "[I]omg I've reached my goal, must adjust calories NOW![/I]" just keep doing what you're doing and enjoy the ride ;-)
[QUOTE=Neckhammer;1036665]For me it just stopped. I didn't make weight loss a focus and didn't count anything. Weight just kinda fell off till I leveled off at a healthy (ideal) weight. That tends to happen when you eat the food that your genes are craving ;). It really can be that easy. It was for me anyhow. I did actually start adding in snacks and stuff when I was trying to "bulk" with more lifting and such though, so yes you can tweak things....just don't have to.[/QUOTE]
+1 on the it just happened effortlessly bit. Been at current BMI of 22.5 for 3 years without thinking about calories. Often when reading this board I see targets that don't seem to make sense. How do you know you have ten pound to go?
The first part was effortless for me, the second half I had to work for (nothing too arduous, just being mindful of caloric intake.) In all I have lost 65 lbs from 210 to 145 and gone from a 16 to a 6. I have been at goal weight and maintaining for about a year and a half now.