Just heading into maintenance.....Help?!

I am only 8 lbs from goal now. I would like to hear how everyone handled the maintenance phase, especially if you are vegetarian. I still have a couple of protein shakes per day as there is not a lot of dense protein that I can eat. How did you increase your calories? Did you still lose after going into maintenance? Any information would be really appreciated.

Thanks,

Jane

I had to fight the last 10-15 pounds before goal really hard, so I did not lose after going into maintenance. I still do a protein shake most days (and I'm not a vegetarian) because it's just a really easy way to get in a bunch of protein. And I have a few favorite protein shakes that I enjoy now.

I increased my calories slowly, each week upping it by 100 per day or so. It didn't take long before I hit my maintenance calorie range, which is about 1500 per day when I'm not exercising and 1800 per day when I work out hard. It varies widely by person, though.

Go slow and good luck!

I'm a pescatarian, so a little different, but closeish.

Maintenance has been much more difficult for me than weight loss ever was. Weight loss I had rules and boundaries that didn't get broken or crossed. I knew exactly what I could and couldn't do. Maintenance is a lot of guess work, especially in the beginning. You have to find what balance of calories, carbs , etc. works for you.

I'm still not quite there, though I'm steadily maintaining in a 5 pound range for the last couple weeks. So it's progress. When I started upping calories I upped by 100 per week to see how my body reacted. I still do a protein shake everyday to make my protein goals. It is also easy calories if I need to up those. I did continue to lose once I entered maintenance. A lot of that is just how low my calories were during weightloss and upping the calories to where they needed to be to maintain took some time. But it gives me some cushion and my body seems more apt to settle here, so I'm not going to argue.

Take it slow. Maintenance isn't a race, it's a marathon.

 Educate me - Pescatarian?  Never heard that one.  I am guessing from the structure of the word that you eat fish and/or seafood as a meat source.  I'm curious.

Ooooh, new avi! I like.

OK, back on topic, yep. Pescatarian is vegetarian + seafood. Which is kinda what I have become as well.

 Exactly what Mom said! Sorry I didn't reply sooner, been working like a mad woman!

read my blog page and that of the other vets in this group. and look through older posts in this group as there is lots on this subject. I am not a vegetarian but had trouble stopping losing for a while. finally ate blobs of peanut butter to level out. now its not a problem - i have to watch it not to gain.

i like non meat entrees like morningstar farms veggie burgers with some spagetti sauce on top,  baked ricotta/egg recipies or an egg/spinach/cottage cheese bake. this stuff came from the eggface web site.  I also like tomato basil soup with some soy protein powder mixed in. and tofu stir fry with every asian flavor you can find thrown in.

the transition and maintenance is a process that takes some time. and maintenance is for life. you will experiment and find some things that work for you.  diane