Soo CONFUSED about Weight loss and maintenance...VETS please "weigh" in!

Ok so I have been keeping my calories between 500-600 in the hopes of losing this last 10 lbs..

no luck so far ( well .5 lbs) and I was reading one of Elina's post last nite and she said she keeps her calories between 1200-1500 during maintenance, here's were I'm SOOO CONFUSED..

if I'm keeping my calories SOOO low and nothing is coming off, how can I eat more calories and maintain?

is 500-600 calories what I'm going to have to eat for the rest of my life just to stay at 140??? 

I doesn't seem possible that I can eat more and maintain when I'm effectively maintaining for the past 4 months since nothing has come off...

I'm I rambling? Does this post make sense? 

Hopefully Elina WILL chime in but I believe her weightloss was 800 and below and now it's higher because she works out.

That aside EVERYONE's numbers are so different for weight loss and maintenance etc.

Have you been 600 and under the whole time in your weight loss?  You might need to eat more closer to 800....

I ate under 800 during weight loss.  I started really low, closer to 300-400 early out and slowly increasing as needed until I was 700-800 around six months.  I maintain around 1500-1800 and I do work out.  In early maintenance, I increased my calories by 100-200 at a time to find my maintenance level.  It was never a guarantee that it was going to be as high as it turned out, my doctor told me that some people live just fine on 800 calories and others need closer to 2000.  It is really individual and depends on many factors.

Now back to your situation.  Honestly, and please don't take this the wrong way, but it is hard for me to believe that you are not losing on 500-600 calories.  Would you mind sending me your detailed eating journal?  I am not saying that you are not being truthful, but maybe you are just not counting correctly or not putting everything down?  I would be happy to look it over for you.  Also, how many grams of protein and carbs are you taking in now?  I would hope it is close to 80 grams of protein and under 40 carbs.  If this really is the amount you are eating and you are not losing for many months, something is wrong and you might need to have your thyroid checked.  You will get advice to increase your calories, and in truth, if I was losing nothing for months at 500-600 calories, I would be sorely tempted to try that advice.  You should know that it would go against my doctor's advice, but I can see the desire to try something different if nothing is working.  If it has been four months of no weight loss, I would want to try it.  In general, increasing calories can trigger an end to a weight plateau, but when looked at over a period of time, people who increase their calories, lose less weight over all.  In the end, this applies to MOST people, YOUR particular millage will vary.

Edited to add, it is possible that your maintenance point is closer to 1000-1200 and that the last 10-20 pounds are just going to be a real fight. 

Ok I have to admit that dec-Jan was a bit of an eating frenzy with weight gain that I took off

Jan- march I was more around 800-900 calories but since April 1st I've been restricting to 500-600 calories

a typical day would be

B: protein tea.    

  CAL: 110.     PRO 24

L: 4 oz deli meat ( ham or turkey) split in 2... meaning 2 oz now 2 oz about 1-2hrs from now.

CAL: 120. PRO: 20

S: maybe a Greek maybe nothing

CAL: 80.    PRO: 12

D: this week it's been omelets    2 egg, turkey crumble,spinach and mushroom sprinkle sharp cheddar  

CAL 220. PRO: 18

S: a 1/2 scoop protein tea

CAL: 55  PRO: 12 

(if I don't have a Greek then I will have a full scoop of protein powder)

TOTAL CAL: 585. PRO:82

I should have posted that my calories are more 550-650 

i drink a gallon or more of water a day..

i can't cut anymore calories and make my protein needs...

I also eat tilapia(.4 oz) grilled chicken(4oz) and pork loin (4oz) for dinner at times

or crock pot recipes limiting myself to 1/2 cup.

and looking calorie count up on internet 

my weekends are more lax although if I am going out to eat I will only have a protein tea,and 2 oz of deli meat so I stay within my calorie limits..I eat very low carb ( although I don't track them) and little veg...

i do crossfit 3x a week 

looking back in my notebook I know I have eaten junk on occasion always getting right back on plan, and since Feb I've only had 17 days where I was over 900 calories..maybe I need to give it more time it just seems scary to me that I could on most days eat on plan and not loose weight..

Okay, I mean this with all the respect possible, and I am coming from a place of wanting you to succeed beyond your wildest dreams.....but this thing is HARD.  If you want to lose the last 10-20 pounds, it's going to be a big, ugly, all out fight.  Gear yourself up for extreme measures.  :)  You have to go all in and fight dirty.  Watch every calorie, work out harder, increase protein, decrease carbs and do this until....

It is doable, but hard.  It does not mean that you are going to be stuck eating 800 calories for life ( it could mean that, but it doesn't have to mean that).  Leave maintenance for later, for now, concentrate on the battle in front of you.  Gather your strength, your determination and you perseverance.  Set a goal, build in rewards based on your compliance, and jump in with both feet.  That is my best advice.  That's pretty much what Frisco and I and many others had to do to get all the way to goal.  Remember, you want to be in the top 10% of WLS patients if you want to reach goal, that takes something not everyone is ready for and it's HARD.

YES!

I need to be more focused....

7 DAYS A WEEK, NOT 5!!!

i guess I've was just spoiled that in those first 7 months the weight came off effortlessly to me

Now were into the down and dirty...

I had to give up 1 of my crossfit classes due to a conflict

but I have decided to do my elliptical M-F to replace it.

i think being more active is the key for me..I don't enjoy working out..but I have to do it..

I used the method that Elina describes all the way to goal.  Actually, I limited myself to 600 calories ( had no hunger) and 20 grams carbs, and I fit in as much protein as possible.  I'm small at 5'2", but I want to assure you that severely restricting calories in no way has affected my maintenance calorie levels.  Recognizing that everyone's mileage varies, my own experience is that I require 1500 calories daily to maintain at 115. So if you are determined to take this all the way, keep things tight and the rewards will be there for you.

Thank you!

yes I want to see 130, weather I stay there or not, IDK,  I'm boney at 140

I'm 5'6" and I think "big boned" well I like to say I have "man hands"

can't get the cute bangles to fit over my hands..so that constitutes "big boned" to me..

It comes down to body fat and a realistic evaluation of possible excess skin.  We can't be sure from here what your goal represents in terms of BMI, BF% (relative to women) and realism of the expectations.

Assuming all is good there, I've been keeping pretty good records on my situation since day one.  There is clearly a dimishing return at the maintenace point based on two factors (at least): (1) less body fat to work with, and (2) an improvement in the body's efficient use of calories.  I have seen both of these play out.

In particular, I can see where it now takes a week of hard exercise, and good food discipline, to burn off the tinest fraction of a % of BF.  Amounts that get burned off in hours at the start of this process.

Remember, at a "true" maintenance level, not all weight loss is good. You need the loss to come from body fat only and not from lean mass. You can damage yourself by strictly focusing on the weight number.  How you look, or how you feel about it, become irrelevant at this point.  For example, lots of anorexics think they look great.

As for the 500-600 calories, any advice would depend on the answers in the original statement.

I agree with almost your whole statement, right up to "anorexics think they look great"  They don't.  They think they look fat at any weight and want to lose weight at any weight.  I have yet to meet an anorexic that was proud of her/his body at any weight.