Hit my target!! Now to maintain

Hi Everyone

I have been using CC for the past 3 months and it has really helped me get to my target weight and has made me so happy!

October 2007 I weighed a total of 266Ibs (19st) and decided to finally loose a few pounds, with setting myself targets and getting to them and then resetting targets I have finally reached my final target of 147Ibs in 11 months

So I just wanted to say thanks to CC and good luck to everyone who is trying to loose, stick with it and you will get there in the end.

Now I just have to maintain this weight and was looking for ideas on how to do it? I want to keep doing the exercise which I now enjoy but I would like to bring my fat percentage down a little from 19% (any ideas on how to do that?)

Thanks

Graham

Hi Graham,  congradulations! &nbs p;Losing that much weight, I know it was not easy.   From my experience with maintenance (9 months worth) it is really important to maintain your good eating habits while finding your new calorie intake balance.  I believe that all my previous attempts at maintenance were unsuccessful because I just simply gradually rreturned to my old eating habits. 

I would recommend that you keep logging for a while so you can see exactly how much you are eating.  Everyone's maintenance calorie balance is different.  I found out my maintenance calorie goal is lower than I thought/wished.

The second most important item for maintenance is exercise.  It's really important to keep up with what ever exercise routine you had.  For me it has been running.  I have been able to reduce my body fat to about 15% since I reached my goal.  When I started I had a bmi of 38 now it is about 24.   Next month I am planning on running my first marathon.  Running is a really addictive sport if you get the right help on the start.   I joined a lean to run clinic 1 year ago this month.  Before that I had never run and didn't have a clue what to do.  With the information and training I got I have consistently improved my abilities to the point where I am ready to tackle a 42.2 km run.  Besides the health benefits it has helped keep my weight off.

Good luck with maintenance. Love to hear how it goes.

sorry second post!

CONGRATS!!! WAY TO GO!!!

HIIT training is very good for losing body fat fast! Plus the workout is only 15-30 min and is easy to fit in anywhere in your schedule!I have had alot of luck with this!

Wonderful Job!!!

From what I understand about maintaining is to do what you are doing now but add in calories weekly until you are at the right level. 

As far as the body fat thing I myself have started weight training and I agree with the HIIT as well.  Best of luck to you.  You really look great!

Congradulations.  Keep up the good work.

Happy day, goals are met.

Cheers Guys

Yeah I have been running a lot and really enjoy it, just put on my ipod and go! plus its free so you can do it anytime! although I'd like to know more about HIIT training, I do circuit training twice a week at the minute, is it similar to that?

I was also thinking of trying boxing? The way I understand it is if I carry on with my cardio and exercise in general and slowly add calories back into my diet until I find how many I can have before I put on I'll be on the road to success!

What I was thinking was giving myself a half a stone barrier to stay between say from 10st 7 to 11, (147 to 154) so when i get nearer 11 begin to look at what im eating again, does anyone do this already? if so how does it work for you?

Thanks Guys

great job! you look incredible! so good!

Basically I've done the threshold weight thing all my life.  I have a weight which I consider to heavy and if I reach it I start looking at what I"m eating and if I'm working out or not. 

As I've gotten older the limit has gone up because of the metabolism change.  And currently I had to lose 6 pounds to get down to what I think is my heaviest weight.  Now I'm stuck at the heavy point and slowly hopefully I'll loss another 5 which will put me at what I call my comfortable weight. 

Comfortable weight is how much you weigh when you're clothes fit good and you don't feel like a stuffed sausage in your clothes.