Maintaining weight

lisajane

Im 5ft 5, i started at 14 and half stone a year ago and i am now 9 and half. Lost 5 stone which i am delighted with. I would maybe like to lose some more as i still have a bit of a belly but im not to bothered cause i am still quite happy. If it happens, it happens and if it doesn't.

However, i was never an exercise type of person until now. I would like to keep up the exercise as i enjoy it now and it gives me more energy. People has said that i can give up now but surely if i did that and continued eating to maintain my weight, i wouldn't need half as much calories over time and end up putting the weight back on??? Or i can just give up eating, and im not going to do that? Who's right?

Anyway while losing weight i used to exersise and consume 1800 calories a day, most of the time anyway. I never went under that anyway.
Im confused now. To maintain weight should i be consuming 2000 calories with exercise?? Or 2000 calories + calories i burn while exercising???

AARRRGH

Your friends are wrong.

Your new lifestyle (exercise and healthy eating) is responsible for your current weight and happiness. If you give up both or either, your problems will return.

Remember, fat cells never go away, they just empty temporarily...

It's hard to say how many calories you should be consuming as I don't know what kind of exercise plan you have.

cowzerp

in theory if you are eating slighly more you should have a settled weight, add in exercise and you can up your calories again, this is advised, maybe stick with 2000 and exercise to lose the last bit then up to about 2200 or so! all ramdom numbers as i dont know you, but you get the gist!

rubadub

lisajane wrote: »

However, i was never an exercise type of person until now. I would like to keep up the exercise as i enjoy it now and it gives me more energy.

Then definitely keep it up

lisajane wrote: »

People has said that i can give up now

I imagine they do not enjoy it, or do not exercise themselves and presume you do not enjoy it either. Have you told them you enjoy it and get more energy from it?

lisajane wrote: »

if i did that and continued eating to maintain my weight, i wouldn't need half as much calories over time and end up putting the weight back on??? Or i can just give up eating, and im not going to do that? Who's right?

Nobody is really wrong. If you give up exercising then you need less calories just to maintain your weight. You need to figure out your own calorie needs, if you put on fat you are eating too much, simple as that. You have gone from 14 to 9.5stone, so you should be eating far less than you did when at 14 stone just to maintain your current weight. You are lugging around less weight all day, less body mass to keep warm etc, just like a small child needs less food overall.

I could probably maintain my current weight just by eating 2000-2500kcal per day, but I enjoy my food & drink so I exercise which means I can have another 500kcal on top of that, and feel better for it too.

Al_Fernz

Exercise improves a person's health and well being in almost all circumstances. Your friends are wrong and you should ignore their advice IMO.

Kudos on the weight loss.