You have reached the final week of your 25 week program. At the end of this week you will have lost 50 pounds by simply following the positive lifestyle habits that you built at the beginning of the program. It is important to remain vigilant this final week in order to achieve your weight loss goal. Continue following the plan as you have faithfully done for the last 24 weeks.
Once you reach your final goal you will need to switch to maintenance mode in order to sustain the weight loss you have achieved. In order to know what levels you need to exercise and eat at in order to maintain your weight loss you will need to redo your calculations. The first calculation that you need to do is to find your new BMR or basal metabolic rate which is the calories needed by your body to sustain a sedentary life. There are two formulas used to calculate BMR.
- Men’s Formula: { [(Weight in pounds * 6.23) + 66] + (Height in inches * 12.7) – (Age in years *6.8)} 1.2 = BMR
- Women’s Formula { [(Weight in pounds * 4.35) + 655] + (Height in inches * 4.7) – (Age in years * 4.7)} 1.2 = BMR
This means that the BMR must be calculated for the newly 175 pound woman who is 5’10” in height and 30 years old. The BMR for this example would be calculated as { [(175 * 4.35) + 655] + (70 * 4.7) – (30* 4.7)} 1.2 = 1,604 calories. Next the calorie deficit must be calculated; in this case we want the calorie deficit to equal 0 calories for maintenance. The following formula is used to calculation the weekly calorie deficit = [(BMR * 7) + Total Calories Burned] – Total Calories Consumed. To calculate calorie deficit for this example the calculation would be [(1,604 * 7) + 2,500] – 13,650 = 78. This means that 1,950 calories may be consumed daily with a weekly calorie burn of 2,500 calories.
It is important to continue with your daily weigh in and tracking to ensure that you do not begin gaining back the weight you just worked so hard to take off. Remember that there will be some natural variation in your weight; however, if you show a gain of 2 or more pounds for 2 or more days you might consider returning to weight loss mode for a week or two in order to get back to your goal weight.
Hydration is just as important in maintenance mode as it is in weight loss mode. Proper hydration is vital for good overall health. The minimum recommended daily water intake is eight 8 ounce glasses of water. It is wise to continue your habit of drinking a full 8 ounce glass of water before each of your 6 daily meals even in maintenance mode.
Your daily allowable number of calories drastically increases once you enter maintenance mode; however, you still want to ensure that you are eating as healthy as possible. You also will want to continue with your high quality daily multi-vitamin and mineral supplement once you enter maintenance mode. This daily supplement is important for your good overall health. Just because you are eating more calories does not mean that you will be consuming all of the necessary nutrients your body needs.
For the now 175 pound woman in the program example, 1,950 calories is the appropriate maintenance mode daily calorie limit. You will want to keep your focus on high quality foods as they help promote good health. For breakfast you might enjoy 2 eggs cooked as desired, 1 small breakfast sausage patty, ½ medium tomato and 1 slice reduced calorie wheat bread for a total of 307 calories. A mid morning snack might be 2 cups fresh cubed watermelon, 1 cup fresh strawberry halves, 1 cup fresh blueberries, 1 cup fresh cubed pineapple and ½ cup fresh orange segments for a total of 342 calories. Lunch might be a huge salad consisting of 5 ounces grilled boneless skinless chicken breast, 3 cups fresh spinach, 1 cup cherry tomatoes, 1 cup sliced cucumber, 1 ounce part skim mozzarella cheese, and 3 tbs fat free Italian dressing for a total of 325 calories. The mid afternoon snack might be 1 cup cooked whole wheat pasta topped with 1 cup marinara sauce and 1 tbs grated parmesan cheese for a total of 339 calories. Dinner might be a 5 ounce portion of pork loin served with creamed spinach made with 1 cup cooked spinach, 1 tbs whipped cream cheese and 1 tbs chopped shallots for a total of 361 calories. The final meal of the day might be 6 small pieces of dark chocolate and 2 fresh tangerines for a total of 294 calories. The grand total for this meal plan containing 6 meals is 1,968 calories.
Even once you enter maintenance mode you will want to continue with a regular exercise program. In order to eat the 1,950 daily calories you will need to burn 2,500 calories each week. This means that you will need to burn 625 calories per day if you follow the 4 day per week workout schedule or 500 calories per day if you follow the 5 day per week workout schedule. At the new example weight of 175 pounds this means that in order to burn the required calories you would need to walk at a 4 mph pace for approximately 2 hours in order to burn 625 calories or 1 hour 35 minutes to burn 500 calories. Another example for physical activity might be playing singles tennis. In order to burn 625 calories it would take approximately 1 hour of tennis and to burn 500 calories it would take approximately 50 minutes of tennis. Remember that you can do any type of exercise of physical activity in order to accomplish your required calorie burn.
