Does eating at maintenance mean..........

that you're consuming whatever calories you are burning?  I'm still at the loosing weight phase right now but have wondered about this.  So, I typically burn approx. 2000 calories per day (give or take a few).  Does it mean that I just eat 2000 per day and I won't gain or loose weight?

Thanks.

That's right.

That seems so easy.....but why do people say that maintaining is so much harder than loosing?  I mean, I'll get to eat more calories than I am now.  Just curious....  Thanks for your response!  

The reason that many of us maintainers say "maintaining is so much harder than losing" is that while we were losing (and some of us lose way too fast) weight, we had focus, a goal, and we hoped a solution to our problem.  But for many of us we are wanting to make a "life style change," which means we want to keep the weight off the rest of our lives.  Well, that is just such a difficult thing to do.  For me, I have found several times now that I am happier losing weight, or gaining a bit and then losing it, just to keep things more fun to log and chart.  I guess for me maintaining is a bit on the boring side.  But I AM going to maintain for the rest of my life, I hope.

Thank you, I have a better understanding of that statement now.  Could I ask one more question....this one arose from reading other posts.  Many asks how many calories they should be eating to maintain.....but if it's a matter of consuming what you burn, why do we need to know our BMR, etc?  Why the calculations?  Again, just curious but I'm hoping to reach the maintenance sooner than later .  This is just preparatory research.

Original Post by michellejlr:

Thank you, I have a better understanding of that statement now.  Could I ask one more question....this one arose from reading other posts.  Many asks how many calories they should be eating to maintain.....but if it's a matter of consuming what you burn, why do we need to know our BMR, etc?  Why the calculations?  Again, just curious but I'm hoping to reach the maintenance sooner than later .  This is just preparatory research.

Because your basic metabolic rate (BMR) indicates the calories your body burns..or am I being stupid?

Oh I see.  I thought that.  But I recently bought a Gowear and I'm able to see what I'm burning as the day progresses, makes calorie counting a lot easier....for me anyway.  Okay, that pretty much answers the questions I had in regards to maintaining.  

Thanks!

Yep, if you have a GWF, you don't need to rely on the estimates you'd get from BMR.

And to add to what pilgrim said, weight loss showed progress - I could reward myself every time I lost 5lb.  Maintaining... it's the lack of progress that's the goal, and that's a strange mindset to get into. Especially after spending so much time with the mindset of "same weight = plateau", and now that's my goal?

Amethystgirl, I can totally see your point.  I'm hoping that once I get to maintenance, I can start toning up my body.  For now, I've been concentrating on cardio to trim down the fat.  Once I start toning, I will be reaching for different goals....seeing some results (hopefully).  

Even in the maintenance stage, I think you should still reward yourself.....maybe every 6 months or so.....take a vacation or something.  Good luck.

Amethystgirl:  Well-stated!

"it's the lack of progress that's the goal, and that's a strange mindset to get into." 

michellejlr:  You are way ahead of where I was when I was losing and heading toward maintenance.  I thought losing would be the difficult part and maintaining would be easy.  I have to fight boredom almost every single day, because I love losing (and gaining) weight.  However, other members have found that losing is the difficult part and maintaining is easier.

I think you make a good point about "you should still reward yourself".  Even a couple of times or more a month with smaller "rewards" works for some of us.

Best of luck with all your goals!

Thank you pilgrimdude! 

In theory that is correct- but obviously you will need more calories if you become more active and or exercise.

Yes, that is what I meant.  If I burned 2k, I'd eat 2k.  If I burned 2500, I'd eat 2500.  I'm just over 4 lbs from my goal so I hope to be eating my "maintenance" sooner than later.  So far, I've been obtaining a deficit between 500 and 750 although I'm "thinking" of incorporating 1 cheat day per week (supposedly effective in weight loss).