A bit confused re "maintenance"

[Jubbly]

I've been over most of this before but I'm a bit slow so someone is going to have to explain this to me!! I am hoping to get to 9 stone (well, 8 stone 13lb just so I can be under 9!!) and am currently 10 stone 1lb so only have a stone to go. My BMI is currently around 23.5 or a bit under (not entirely sure of height) which I know is in a normal range and obviously I'm chuffed. However, I find it difficult to belive as I know there is plenty more fat to come off my tummy and would really like to get to target and be nice and slim. Icemoose and various others advised I was not supposed to be SSing as soon as my BMI was under 25 but my CDC says otherwise and says she's happy for me to do whatever programme I feel comfortable on. Preferring to listen to you lovely folks, I stopped SSing and started on AAM 2 weeks ago and am currently kind of between AAM and 790 (and I still lost 3lbs last week). I'm a bit scared of carbs and reluctant to introduce them again too soon. I am also stretching my overdraft to breaking point on this diet. So I'm utterly confused as to what I am supposed to be doing. If I work my way through the maintenance steps then I know I will still lose a little bit but to lose a whole stone will surely take ages? I thought it was called maintenance because you were maintaining your weight and I don't want to maintain at 10 stone 1lb. Basically, is it OK/recommended to stay on this kind of AAM - 790 plus occasional meals out with no carbs or wine thing I'm doing at the moment until I get to 9 stone and how much longer should it take? Or can I pay for 2 packs and have a slightly bigger than 790 meal to reduce the cost? I don't find this explained very clearly anywhere.

Sorry, another long post from me, always have to explain everything in incredible detail...!! Well done if you managed to read all of it and understand it cos I'm so confused!!

[demon]

Jubbly I've just started week 6 of the maintenance programme - been doing each step for 2 weeks and have lost 7lb over the 5 weeks. So you see you will actually continue to lose weight.

Perhaps you could consider moving up to 1000 or 1200 - it's still low calorie so shouldn't slow things down dramatically, but would get you used to eating a bigger variety of foods. Good preparation for when you reach your target 'cos after all the aim is for us to get back to 'normal' eventually

[d4n13773]

I'm in a similar boat as you (weights are different cos I'm tall) my target initially was bmi 24 and my cdc was happy for me to SS all the way. I was originally put off by the phrase "maintenance" I didn't want to "maintain" at bmi 25. I enjoyed AAM week and had good losses (6lbs). I want to try to introduce going to the gym, well before I introduce normal eating and still have a lot of fat around my tummy despite being in BMI normal range. I have decided to follow 790 til I reach my initial goal which I think will maybe be another 2 or 3 weeks, then providing I have increased my exercise, I'll move up to the 1000 cal range and hope i still lose weight on that til I'm happy with my body fat levels.

Have you tried working out how many calories you need to maintain your new target weight? You can calculate your basic calorie requirement at BMR Calculator

the first figure you get is how many calories you need just to exist, then how to multiply it based on your activity level.

The reason I'm suggesting this it that for me 1000cals is still less than half my requirement, so feel I should still lose weight well on it, but for folk who are not 5"11, their calorie requirement is much lower (maybe 1300 which doesn't create such a great calorie deficit).

I'm sorry if I've not explained this well I'm not good with maths stuff.

[Jubbly]

Thanks for your replies. Weigh in tomorrow so I'm going to see how much I've lost doing this AAM/790 thing I've been doing and anticipate that I will go onto 790 properly with the 3 packs from then (eeek, can't afford it but nevermind). Don't have the milk anyway so that might reduce some calories. Don't trust myself on carbs yet as have been messing around with diet since I introduced food in week 10 (and was doing everything perfectly until then ) so going to leave that for a few weeks, maybe until I get to 9 st 7lbs and then, like you say Demon, I can hopefully lose the last half a stone gradually with 1000/1200/1500. d4n - I am hoping to start at the gym too soon but at the moment I don't really feel ready (still a bit dizzy when I stand up sometimes) so don't want to push it too much. I've led a pretty sedentary lifestyle since forever so think exercise will be far tougher than dieting.