Maintaining your weight loss

[Thornhill Cate]

I came across this question on another thread where people seemed to be confused about how many calories were needed to maintain their loss and there were lots of arbitrary figures being suggested so I thought I would post what I replied on the other thread in the hope that it helps clarify things.

Everyone's calorie needs for maintaining their weight is different as it depends on your sex, age, height and the weight at which you are maintaining. Firstly, you need to work out your own base metabolic rate (BMR); your BMR is the calories you need just to exist i.e. to keep breathing, to keep your heart beating, your brain functioning, your blood pumping, your temperature maintained and your digestive system working, without anything factored in for how active or inactive you are in your daily life.

Once you know your BMR you need to work out your daily calorie requirements based on the Harris Benedict equation. This looks at your daily activity levels and multiplies your BMR by an appropriate number so you can arrive at a definitive number.

Link below will take you to where you can work all this out.

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/
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[Cham Pers]

Exactly and when i was at my heaviest it came back at 1467 calories per day! I will do it again when im off this i hope it doesnt dip too much heehee x

 

[bye-bigun!]

Well as I am still heavy mine is about 1900 right now to maintain - but less obv the slimmer I become.. its quite an eye opener isnt it! Thanks for the link !x

 

[Thornhill Cate]

Exactly and when i was at my heaviest it came back at 1467 calories per day! I will do it again when im off this i hope it doesnt dip too much heehee x

Did you remember to multiply your BMR figure with the Harris Benedict equation figure? I've just worked out your figures and at 5' 4" and weighing 126lbs and if you're 45 (sorry if you're lots younger!!) and you lead a very sendentary lifestyle you'd still need 1550 calories a day to maintain your weight at 9 stone.

 

[SandraB]

I've been using myfitnesspal.com for a couple of months now to help me maintain and it seems to be working! I'm still losing about a lb a month, I'd like it to be more but tbh I haven't really been trying! I'm more concerned with leading a normal life after the months of LT and post-op recovery

 

[bye-bigun!]

I think thats the best way Sandra tbh, you still need to enjoy life and 'forget' about being on a diet.. otherwise you end up substituting one problem for another.. the way I see it, I have missed out on SO much of life and enjoyment due to being overweight, the last thing I want to do when I am slim and enjoying myself is to miss all of that too due to another control issue but for different reasons... I dont want to be going to sw every week, watching every single thing I eat.. I will be quite happy being sensible mid-week and having the odd treat at weekends with small aids to help me along, even if its loose calorie watching etc....

Think you have struck a correct balance and I hope I can do the same
xx

 

[Cham Pers]

No this is what they worked out for me when i joined rosemary connelly. Oh thats good then least i can have more than i thought! Thanks for doing that Cate x p.s its my 38th birthday on April 29th and its a bank holiday yay x

 

[Thornhill Cate]

No this is what they worked out for me when i joined rosemary connelly. Oh thats good then least i can have more than i thought! Thanks for doing that Cate x p.s its my 38th birthday on April 29th and its a bank holiday yay x

Ooopps, sorry with the 45. Very bad guess. Good news is that you'll be able to have even more calories as you're younger. Sadly, not that many more though. Enjoy your Royal Wedding birthday. Bit of a result getting the day off.

 

[Thornhill Cate]

I think thats the best way Sandra tbh, you still need to enjoy life and 'forget' about being on a diet.. otherwise you end up substituting one problem for another.. the way I see it, I have missed out on SO much of life and enjoyment due to being overweight, the last thing I want to do when I am slim and enjoying myself is to miss all of that too due to another control issue but for different reasons... I dont want to be going to sw every week, watching every single thing I eat.. I will be quite happy being sensible mid-week and having the odd treat at weekends with small aids to help me along, even if its loose calorie watching etc....

Think you have struck a correct balance and I hope I can do the same xx

I absolutely agree. My plan is to be sensible-ish during the week and let my hair down at weekends - but not get back into all my really bad habits like munching family packs of crisps without even noticing them going down, or opening and finishing a bottle of wine on my own just because it's Friday/Saturday night and I'm not going out. But, like you say I want a life after this!!!

 

[bye-bigun!]

Cate, I am just in the middle of reading up on the Harcombe diet - they dont allow much access to the website do they! I want to know the basics and a bit more about what I can expect to eat - would I Have to buy the book? Checked the forum on here but not much info

ta hun for any advice!

 

[Thornhill Cate]

I bought the book off Amazon. It advises a food combining regime most of the time and explains why that helps you to keep weight off but then shows you how to cheat when you want (thank God because I don't think I'd want to go on if I couldn't have the odd spag bol, chilli con carne and fish and chips, not to mention apple pie and cream) so that you don't gain and debunks certain accepted wisdoms e.g. eating little and often - just makes your body produce insulin which is the fat storing hormone. It's an interesting read and wasn't expensive.

 

[bye-bigun!]

Ah thanks! So in reality its a plan that you could stick to as part of daily life and not neccesarily be stuck to a rigid calorie counting diet regime?? I am off to get the book from Amazon then having heard that - do you have the recipe one too? Can you get any info online or have they blocked it all off so u have to buy the books? ta muchly xx

 

[irish molly]

I agree with much of what has been said here. Life after TFR has to have some sense of normality about it. Find a plan that you can manage and not leave you feeling as if you are permanently dieting.
I have followed GL principles for the last year. I never feel deprived or that I am dieting. I just learned to make sensible choices and substitute high GL foods with lower GL foods.
Each if us will have to find our own best way to maintain. Any plan you follow, stick with it for about four weeks before deciding it does not suit you.
Good luck everyone for the remainder of your journey.

 

[Thornhill Cate]

Ah thanks! So in reality its a plan that you could stick to as part of daily life and not neccesarily be stuck to a rigid calorie counting diet regime?? I am off to get the book from Amazon then having heard that - do you have the recipe one too? Can you get any info online or have they blocked it all off so u have to buy the books? ta muchly xx

I did get the recipe book too. I didn't really try to get much stuff off the web site because I just decided to buy the books.

 

[Leluna]

hey Donna you're exactly right.... maybe coming off tfr and heading into another slimming club is not the way forward.... bit of a lightbulb moment for me that statement..... because as you say it's more control in our lives.. whether we're fat or skinny?... i like the sound of that 80/20 rule... my problem is i know i would be back to being bad for the 80 bit and not the 20 bit.... lol.... that's the best thing about tfr and this journey it really encourages you to think about the way forward and what lifestyle changes you're gonna make.... hmmmm!