HOW do i maintain?

When I was dieting, I was going far under what I should have been calorie wise. I had done about 800 calories a day for the majority of the time I was dieting and after I joined CC I started trying to raise it up 100 every week. My "goal" is 1100 every day, but I've been jumping around between 1200 and 1400 lately. I also don't work out like I used to. I don't know if my body has recovered from starvation mode and I haven't weighed myself in a few weeks and I am not sure if my higher calorie intake has caused me to gain or lose. I think it would be easier for me to just maintain now, but I don't know how, seeing as I've jumped around so much.
Should I keep to 1200 since I don't exercise much anymore?

How tall are you? How much do you weigh now? How old are you?

It's hard to imagine that you would only need 1,200 to maintain. 

Im having the same problem only I was at about 1000 calories per day and now tried to move up to 1500 or so.  Im a 18 year old male who is fairly active and athletic.  At my lowest I was 166 but now since ive increased to 1300-1500 a day ive seen a 10 pound increase and i really dont wanna gain the weight back that I lost (65 pounds)

You were underestimating your caloric intake the entire time.

An athletic 18 year old male can not possibly gain 10 lbs on 1,300 calories a day. It's literally impossible.

Slash :

Oh, it's possible. Despite what they just said.

The reason for which being that if you deduct 300 calorie from your usual calorie intake you'll lose 2-3 lbs a week. However, it works in reverse too. If you went from 1,000 calories right up to 1,500. That's enough to make you start gaining at a gradual rate weekly. Stop that. Instead up your calories 100 a week. Perhaps just 70 calories week everyone's body is different. That way you give your body a chance to readapt.

realage.com   Dr.Oz talks about that in one of his lectures.

To answer the main question of the thread no. The reason for which being that you won't maintain. You may think that you are but you won't. I tried that too. You'll slowly but steadily continue to lose weight.  So you'll have to up your calories just slowly. But, don't stress over it overly. Instead just weight yourself every so often to check your range. To make sure that you aren't fluctuating to a degree that makes you uncomfortable. 3lbs up or down from the weight you're maintaining is all right. Just make sure you do weight yourself every so often. It would be a shame to let all your work go down the drain.  ( In the regards of your weight dwindling in an unhealthy manner or gaining. )

Hi FunkyChunkyMonkey! 

Can you please provide some helpful information such as your age, height, weight, gender.

I am also just starting to maintain.  I am 5'2" and weigh about 106 lbs (now).  I was down to about 1100-1200 calories per day, and worked out everyday for the whole summer, plus I would walk everywhere and just tried to say active all day long.  Now I am trying to go between 1200-1400 per day, which seems hard now, and I almost feel guilty that I am over eating.  But my activity is a lot slower paced now.  I work out every second day, and I don't walk as much, but now that my kids are back in school, I run around all day, doing the "MOM" thing!  But I feel my workouts are better,now, since I am not quite so tired.  Is there anyone that has done the mintaining and think that this is a good way to go?  I am just worried that I will weigh myself in a month and I wll have gained all my weight back!

healthy eating most time and a wicked treat meal once a week

Also daily light to  mod exercise and  2-3 sessions at the gym for light weight training

Its worked for me:)

Hey funkychunkymonkey,

We'll let me start off by saying congrats on your weight loss and your healthy outlook on life. :)

Normally maintenance for an averaged size woman is between 1400-1600 calories, so we are going to need to know a bit more about you to place you in your calorie range. Age is probably the biggest factor here.  Looking at your profile, I am assuming you are aprox 15 years old. In this case, 1200 cals is too low. You must remember that the younger you are, the faster your metabolism is.

I don't have the proper links on me right now, but I will post a tool where you can figure out the amount of calories you should be intaking. However, I also think you should talk to a family nutritionist to make sure you are eating a balanced diet that is proper for your age, size, and growth.

:) keep asking further questions if you have them. Dont be shy. We are all here to support eachother.