I can't maintain my weight without calories deficit, help !!!

Hi there :)

I have hit my goal weight a few days ago and have been eating a little bit more (not maintaining the 500 calories deficit.  just eat as much as I can burn off - about 1500/day)  I thought I could maintain my weight but unfortunately, I've been gaining a little bit back...

Is this normal?  Does it take sometime for my body to adjust to the new calories intake?  I want to eat MORE now but I'm so afraid of gaining weight back :( 

Merika, I have lost 65 pounds in about a 6 month period.  I know that this sounds like alot, but in the first few months I was steadily losing 3 pounds each week. 
OK...now the point of my reply.  I still have about 25 pounds that I want to lose, but I thought that I would try out a maintenance program for myself to see how I would do when the time comes.  I have been "maintaining" now for about 3 weeks.  I haven't lost any, but I haven't gained any.  I still eat so freakin healthy that it is disgusting because I will NEVER go back to the high fat, high sugar diet I have lived my life around! 
I guess what I am trying to say is that for me to maintain, I am still eating only the delicious healthy foods that have helped me get to this point just more of it.  
Was your weight loss a healthy one?  Or, did you restrict too much?  If you seriously restricted, then eating at maintenance level may cause a weight gain at first.  I think that if you continue to eat at what this site gives you as maintenance, you will level out and maintain. 
I just this weekend went back to a caloric restriction and have already dropped another pound.  I guess it's just about figuring out your body and it's needs.
Kinda lengthy, sorry.   Best of luck to you and stick with it.

If you restricted too much while dieting, your body may gain a little bit back once you start maintaining. Don't let this freak you out, you're best off letting your body even itself out. You won't gain it ALL back, don't worry, just a little. Your body simply is freaking out that you're actually feeding it decently, and it wants to save some in case you deprive it again.
The lesson here is that you need to diet healthier, instead of simply using VERY scrict calorie deficits.
But even after a typical diet, the body still was in deficit during the diet, and therefore it wants to gain a little once in maintenance.
Just wait it out, if the gaining doesn't stop, cut back a little bit. Don't forget to exercise, it's the key to keeping off weight.

What is yout total calorie intake (not Net) and what is your weigtht?

If you lost your weight by cutting way back on calories, especially carbs, when you start eating more you are going to gain a little.  BUT that is water weight from taking in more carbs.  For every pound of carbs you eat your body can hold up to 3 pounds water weight.  So just give it time, your body will adjust and your weight will level out.

Good Luck!

Good Morning :)
Thank you so much for your inputs!  I've lost 10 lbs over 2 months.   

My calorie intake per day was between 1000 to 1500.  (up to 2000 on a CHEAT day).  My diet composed of 70% carbs (mainly fruits and little bit of rice), some protein and some fat.   According to the website, I normally burn away 1500/day. 

I'm 5"4' and my current weight 122 lbs. (Started off at 130 lbs in June and was down to 120 lbs)  I also exercise 3-5 times per week. 

Once I started to maintain about over a week ago, I ate between 1500 to 2000 calories - nothing fancy, just more snacks (tripple the portion I used to) like a whole box of wheat crackers, bran cereals, soy milk, sugar free icecream, etc.  Nothing NEW in my diet, just...MORE.  Oh, I also stop drinking 64 oz water like I used to.  I drink about 32 oz per day right now.

I'm dying to ADD food like beef, cheese, fries, cinnamon rolls, cake, cookies back but now I'm not sure if I'm ready yet...  I can't even go to RED LOBSTER to celebrate my goal like was planning to!

Eventhough I ate a lot, I still counted my calories and make sure that I burned away all of calories I consumed.  (I do cardio on treadmill and some aerobics, burn between 300 to 500 calories)

I've gained 2 lbs :(  in one week despite the effort of exercising.  My final goal is to come down to 110 lbs by end of the year but I would like to start maintaining for a month. 

Boy, can I empathize.  Since I have started maintenance I have gained 3lbs.  I am so scared that if I keep eating this amount of calories then I will continue to gain.  I was consuming 1200-1300 calories during weight loss and now usually eat between 1500-1800, more on the weekends, around 2000 per day. My goal was to stay at 110 for the rest of my life.  I weighed in at 112.2 this morning and that was down 2.5lbs from the weekend.  My "average" is now around 111.5 and it is driving me crazy.  So, anyway, I guess I really don't have any answer for you, as I could sure use some help myself.:(  Congratulations on the weight loss!

A few thoughts:

70% carbs is too much. Try and get it closer to 50%

Sugar free ice cream is empty calories, and should be considered an occasional treat.

32 oz of water isn't enough. 64 oz isn't that much either when you're exercising.

Certain things on the list of foods that you want to add back in, should not be eaten routinely, if at all. For example, cinnamon buns, cookies, and cake should be eaten on extremely rare occasions. French fries should only be eaten occasionally. It's probably not what you want to hear, but if you eat that stuff routinely, you will gain weight back quite easily.

Maintaining is not a license to eat junk food every day.

When you start to maintain, you add back 100 calories a day per week. So I was dieting at 1200 (not eating back calories for exercise). I was then 133. So first week 1300. Still lost a little. So ate 1400 for several weeks. Could see I was still losing, but way way slower... like a pound a month. So I increased to 1500. I actually need slightly more than that. Now, my metabolism didn't go whacko. I need maybe 1550. So clearly, by going from 1200 to 1300, I wasn't going to start gaining mystery weight. You just have to be really careful when adding back calories. This is actually the most crucial phase of the weight-loss process. By being careful and accurate, you once and for all, learn how many calories your body needs. Maintenance, then, becomes fool proof... as long as you do not eat more than your maintenance number, you will not gain weight back. I've been maintaining for 18 months. Am now 128.  

Thank you everyone so much for valuable advices!

Now I realized I eat too much carbs, not enough drinking water, maybe not enough exercise (to burn the extra calories I added back) and too much calories consumption (I added not just...100 but 500 calories back in *^^* I admit I went a little crazy there)

I probably did not log my food journal and did not burn all the calories I ate.  I was just too happy to hit my goal and thought that adding 500 calories a day will be ok.  (I just filled up my freezer with ice cream too!  Though I could eat *normal* again)

*Sigh* Hopefully, I can reboot myself and lose these 2 pounds away quick!  Maybe I should keep going until I hit my next goal instead of maintaining.   Eventhough I've been on a diet for only a few months, it was pretty tough for me (love foooood so much) and I was looking forward to the INDULGENT DAYS (maintenance time).

Maintenance is not about indulging. You have to keep eating as you were while "dieting" but in larger quantities.

Think of it as maintaining the lifestyle you adopted to lose weight, while also maintaining your weight. That being said, you have a little more leeway with regards to treats, but they're still treats, and shouldn't be eaten that often.