Almost to GOAL! How do I stop losing weight?

Ok, I havent posted in awhile, I am at 190lbs and my goal is supposed to be 185lbs. How do I stop losing weight? Do I change my diet? Should I be adding more carbs cause I have been basically keeping them out til I got to goal. I am working out somewhat, time restraints are keeping it to a few times a week, do I do more now? When will I stop losing? My wife says I am too skinny and I like being able to buy clothes at any store I go to. 34 waist fits good and 32 is too tight, shirts are med in mens and large in teenager size. I have come a long way and I feel like I did when I was 28, love it. But, I dont want my wife to look at me and think I am too skinny. Help me ObeOne Kinobi, your my only hope,

I'm actually gaining weight, very slowly now (maybe 1/2 lb. a month), but I have been very disorganized about it. My wife makes sweets all the time. I used to resist them when I was fat, but it's hard now.

Let's see...if I were doing what I'm doing now in a healthy, organized way? Maybe a glass or two of grape juice a day, a handfull of roasted nuts every two hours or so. Then you can add more protein shake (considerable calories and very absorbably), some avocado.

Just Some Ideas,

Dave

I asked the nutrititionist at my support group meeting this exact question this week. She said that basically you will stop losing when your calorie intake equals what you burn, so as long as their is a calorie deficit you THEORETICALLY will continue to lose.  It's kind of hard to pinpoint exactly how many calories you use in day without medical testing, but you can get an "idea" by comparing your age, height, sex, activity level, etc...with tables - Google it and I'm sure you can find one of these baseline metabolic rate tables... The tricky part for us is that with our restricted stomachs we can't always simply eat more! So the a little more emphasis has to be put on finding foods that are calorie-dense - in other words more calories in the same -sized package. Just try to look at whatelse those choices are contributing to you nutritionally, so don't go out and start chugging bacon fat because it packs a lot of calories. Nuts are a good example of things you can try to include more of because they add calories and proteind as well as "beneficial" fats. What are some of you guys at maintenance stage eating?

I was there man.  My and my Dr.'s goal was 190#.  I dropped to 187 and started to freak!!  Others on the board said don't worry your body will tell you when it is time to stop losing.  I started to eat carbs like mad...Wrong thing to do.  I would add a small amout of carbs and you should do fine.  When I added carbs I gained 5 pounds in a week.  Then I talked with the PA in my doctor's office and she said that one physican would recommend a goal of #190 while the other recommended a goal of #180.  I would just slowly add a few more carbs (DO NOT GO HOG WILD ON THEM) and you should do fine.  I thought I would shoot past my goal till I was a stick, but it didn't happen.  Ususally your body lets you know where your right weight is.  Brian in Turlock

Oh I forgot...Your in Fresno...Start eating more Armenian food...That will keep you weight on!!

Ben, First- Congratulations! Fun challenge to face, huh? "Do I change my diet?" Dunno! Whatcha Eatin’? Paul (as usual) is dead on. Find your Basal Metabolic Rate and plan your dietary intake accordingly. During that first 6 to 9 months, It’s actually hard "to screw this whole thing up…" Just use all the you can time to establish new habits that’ll make the following 20 years easy. Often the advice is given (In "Overly" simple terms,)— "Keep your protein intake high and your Carbs below 30gms a day and that should keep you losing right along." But, that’s not based on Real info or specific Nutritional Needs. Overall, and for the ‘long haul’ It’s more about getting "Balance" in your diet Rather than just a _____number of calories. Or Carbs.

Percentages and ratios of nutrients in your dietary intake-

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The Overall amounts will depend on YOUR Daily Calorie intake. To get a quick, rough Calorie versus Exercise number For someone your size? Use Paul’s suggested site to find your BMR, Or, for a real "quickie" at gues-timating… Check out- http://www.caloriecontrol.org/calcalsm.html It is a blunt tool, but does give you Some guidelines to check how you’re doing. It’s not as involved as many, but it is a quick guide that’s fairly accurate. Once you’ve got what your calorie intake "should be," then it is more of a matter of percentages of those calories, rather than a simple "How much/many?" Yes? The American Heart Association’s recommendation - - "Dietary Guidelines for the Healthy Adult" says your diet should be 30% fats (with no more than 10% being saturated fat) Then, depending on which nutritionist and what particular plan they have for the individual patient, the remaining 70% of the diet is divided into 30 to 40% Carbs And (depending on the former number) 30 to 40% Proteins. The focus should be on "Quality" nutrition. Quality Protein – should include the 8 essential amino acids and 14 non-essential. Quality Carbohydrates – would refer to Low Glycemic Carbs, such as found in vegetables with lower concentrations of Carbs and higher Fiber content. My Nutritionist recommends (for me)- 80% of my carbs be Low Glycemic Foods And 20% of them Higher. (but still avoiding sugar) Low Glycemic Foods discourage the storage of fat. checkout- http://www.glycemicindex.com/ Quality Fats – act much the same as Low Glycemic/Higher Fiber foods In that they slow sugars from moving quickly into your blood stream. The "good" fats are omega 3, omega 6, and medium chain fatty acids, MCFA. Here is the breakdown on the quantity of each type of fat That My Nutritionist recommends for me. These percentages could be different for others and probably are- Saturated fats 10% of overall fat intake. Polyunsaturated fats 20% of overall fat intake. Monounsaturated fats 70% of overall fat intake. But, like all info you run across out here- Check out what YOUR Doc and Nutritionist Recommend for YOU! Hope this is helpful! Best Wishes- Dx

 

Thanks you guys, I went to the calculators and it says that to maintain my weight at a light workout/activity, I need to pull in about 2400 calories per day. I have NEVER been a calorie counter, so this will all be new to me. Whoever said this was the easy way out is a dumb@$$, this is going to be harder than just eating certain foods, now I need to eat all foods and count, sucks.