Moving to Maintenance Mode and Why This is BIG

This week I switched to Maintenance mode.  The move to maintenance mode was a big milestone Once I shared that on Twitter, I received a few questions about what Maintenance mode is and why I switched.  

I felt like this will be a good place to discuss these things with everyone in case others are wondering the same things. So, let’s jump right in.

What is maintenance mode?

For Weight Watchers online, you are either in Losing Weight mode or Maintenance mode.  You will automatically get set up as a new member in Losing Weight mode.  You can only change these settings on the web (not on the app – at least I couldn’t find it).  

The cool thing about Weight Watchers is that after you have reached your goal weight, you can start maintaining that weight.  There will be more details about that below.

Why is switching to maintenance mode a big deal?

This is a big deal because it typically means that you made your Goal weight!  While you can change from Losing Weight mode to Maintenance mode any time during your journey, you typically will switch once you hit your Goal weight.  

Hitting your Goal weight is a huge milestone in the Weight Watchers program, and so exciting because it means you can start your Maintenance plan.

One thing that really helped me with my weight loss was eating healthier meals and cooking more. I found that cooking healthy meals 3 times a week helped to keep me get my weight loss goals achieved.

I haven’t hit my Goal weight yet.  I switched to Maintenance mode because I am waiting for my Weight Watchers at Work meetings to begin (I only have 5lbs left to lose to hit my Goal weight).  

I’m switching to meetings so that I can become a Lifetime member.  I didn’t know this when I first signed up, but you can’t become a Lifetime member (meaning that the etools that I use will be free) unless you go to meetings.  Since this is my ultimate goal, I have to switch to meetings.

What’s the differences with maintenance mode?

I am still learning about this, but so far, here are some differences:

1.  Your daily points are higher.  I went from 30 SmartPoints a day to 36 daily SmartPoints.
2. My weekly points changed to 36 SmartPoints instead of the 35 SmartPoints that I had in weight loss mode.
3. You have the ability to change your SmartPoints target if needed.  If I notice that I am still losing weight with 36 daily points, I can adjust it in my settings to be higher.  This is really nice because everyone’s body is different and might need more or less than what you originally get.  I will be monitoring this.
4. You have to stay within 2lbs of your goal weight.  That is 160lbs for me, right now.  If I notice I go higher or lower than 2lbs, I know I probably need to adjust something in my settings.

This will be interesting to see if I can maintain my weight throughout the few weeks until my Weight Watchers at Work meetings start.  

Again, I am currently maintaining so that I can lose the last 5lbs in the meetings, then maintain that weight for 6 weeks and reach Lifetime status.

When I reach Lifetime status, I will share more about what that means and how it works.

Do you have any questions about Maintenance mode with Weight Watchers?