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Rapid vs slow weight loss - opinions?
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CeeBeeSlim
Posts: 1,273 Member
in Debate Club
Hi. What are your thoughts? https://www.muscleforlife.com/rapid-weight-loss/
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Debate section
Other studies show that a steep deficit results in adaptation just as long term deficits do.
Has a point, I suppose, in cases where the opportunity cost of time "wasted" cutting enters into play.
The already exercising athlete or physique competitor is not in it to change their world view, just their fat % which they're used to managing.
This is not the same as random people such as myself who end up here after years of CICO mismanagement.
There are many situations where the extra time is extremely beneficial as the person's worldview has to change, new relationships with food and activity forged, and things about eating and self discovered.
Many people on MFP have to be talked DOWN to "a low" deficit of 20-25%...they want to eat 1200 and burn 3000.
The same applies to BMI 21 people trying to shred. Admittedly, I would advocate 15-20% as opposed to 20-25% to this last group. But I certainly don't think a 50% cut is appropriate....yet in so many 1200 posts that is the starting point!14 -
I think it's relative. I also think you have to know what you're doing.
I have about 10 winter pounds I need to cut...I'll take about 25% off my TDEE which gives me about a 750 calorie deficit for about 1.5 Lbs per week...at that rate, I'm losing less than 1% of my body weight per week, so I'm all good...I'll also be eating around 2,300 calories as well so I'm able to get in ample nutrition. I think more than 1% of your body weight per week is overly aggressive and will result in loss of muscle. I also think really aggressive cuts when you have a low TDEE will result in inadequate nutrition given the very limited number of calories one would be able to consume.3 -
I've never been a fan of slow weight loss. I say lose it as fast as is safe. Seeing progress provides motivation. There are a number of people on here who talk about not seeing any progress. If you are aiming for quick loss, you will likely see some progress each week even if it isn't as much as you hoped. Even is all you see is a loss of about half a pound, it gives you the feeling of accomplishment and gives you an idea of which direction you are headed.8
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I think it's all relative really. If someone has a 2,000 calorie TDEE, a 25% cut is 500 calories...I don't see that as overly aggressive or "fast". I have about 10 winter pounds I need to lose, and when I get my *kitten* together, I'll do it pretty quickly with about a 25% cut from TDEE which is about a 750 calorie deficit for 1.5 Lbs per week which is less than 1% of my total body weight, so I'm good there...that'll also put me around 2200-2300 calories per day, so easy to get ample nutrition. I will also be eating a lot of protein and relatively high carb...I've also been doing this for a long time so it's a little different for me now then it was 4.5 years ago when I didn't have a clue.
I think the problem arises when people have low TDEEs and they aggressively cut to the point that they're really not able to take in adequate nutrition...like eating 500 calories per day for rapid weight loss...you're going to lose muscle mass doing that.
It's pretty easy for an athlete to be relatively aggressive without being reckless due to having rather substantial TDEEs. My trainer recently cut to make weight for a power lifting competition...he cut about 10 Lbs in a month or so...it didn't look particularly pleasant in that he didn't eat much variety...Eggs and egg whites with oats for breakfast...loads of fish, vegetables, and potatoes or sweet potatoes for lunch and dinner and a couple of protein shakes throughout the day. He was still eating well above 2000 calories per day.3 -
@cwolfman13 Thank you. Is 1556 a low tdee? ( if I did my math right from Scooby - 52, 63 inches, 137 lbs). I'm still learning about all of this - especially as I also have about 10-12 pounds to lose (winter plus injury) from 137 to 125. I was about 138 in January. Got to about 135 a couple of weeks ago, started about 2.5 weeks ago Strong Curves and at 137. I get I may be retaining water from the new workout but it's hard to go from mid Jan to late March and the scAle seems to be not cooperating. The rapid weight loss article seemed like something I could try??0
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The rapid weight loss outlined in the article is TDEE minus 20-25%. The article writer has a lot more calories to work with than you do. If your TDEE is 1556, 25% of that (the max rapid weight loss recommendation) would give you a deficit of 389 calories (about 3/4ths of a pound per week) which would put you slightly below the 1200 calorie minimum needed for women to get in all of their nutrients. Aiming for half a pound per week weight loss would still put you pretty close to that rapid weight loss recommendation since you'd be at TDEE minus 16%.3
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Count me as a vote for Slow. I'm only willing to be hungry right before meals. I lost weight quickly to make weight when I was in the military and yoyo'd for decades afterwards.5
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I vote for slow to hopefully mitigate skin sag issues....2
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Too late to edit my post, but I was also going to say that this seems very much geared towards the bodybuilder who is doing bulk/cut cycles, not really geared towards someone with a lot of weight to lose. My bodybuilding friends typically cut fast...but they're not in large deficits for prolonged periods of time either...usually like 6 weeks or so...maybe 8...it's over pretty quickly and then they're back to a surplus.
I'd be curious if the no muscle loss thing held true if it was someone with 100+ Lbs to lose and they had maintained an aggressive deficit for an extended period of time.1 -
It seems this applies more to body builders trying to shed a few lbs then go back to bulking. Which is fine. But for someone trying to lose large amounts of weight it can still take months at a really big deficit, and that can be really difficult to maintain long term. Agree with some of the above that this seems a bit easier for men than women since thet usually have more room in their budget.3
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Rapid weight loss certainly has it's place, and is my preferred method for cutting. As mentioned though, you can't be stupid about it, and you have to be VERY disciplined. That last part actually has two fangs: you can't let the massive deficit drive you into a binge AND you have to take prescribed diet breaks in order to prevent screwing yourself up.
Other than that, keep protein extremely high (relative to most people anyway), get in EFAs, don't go crazy trying to widen the deficit with cardio, supplement micros as needed, and be mindful of how your body responds. Cover those, and it works fine. Screw them up, and you'll quickly learn why most people don't recommend a rapid loss approach.7 -
For people who have a lot to lose, slow is way better. Better chance of keeping it off, and it gives your skin time to adjust. I only lose about 1-2lbs a month, 4 years to lose 80lbs - which is too slow for most people, but the upside is that I don't have any loose saggy bits - I'm 42.9
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i have done slow and rapid weight loss, if you have say 10 to 20 pounds of weight to take off slow is not so bad , but lets say you have 50 to 100 or even more weight to drop if you go the slow way it can be done but you have to have a lot of discipline you got to stay real focused, its a lot harder than people think 6 to 12 months at a time or even longer if you have a lot of weight to drop is not easy to do, with that being said i find that rapid is better for me, i do 6 to 12 weeks of rapid, after the 6 to 12 weeks i go into maintenance calories for 2 weeks, and then if you want to do a 6 to 12 again you start all over , Lyle Mcdonald knows alot about this look him up on the web, every body has there own opinion , you have to find out what works for you, GOOD LUCK3
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Yea I would say this is more for bodybuilders. I definitely get what he is saying. But I prefer a small deficit over a longer period of time.. I've never had any issues cutting. Mind you I don't have a choice since I am typically breastfeeding.
I did do a one week 1500 cal cut years ago... holy smokes it was awful.. I never want to eat that little ever again!!!
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I'm a fan of a "sledge hammer" approach. A big deficit to achieve maximum fat loss as fast as possible as I am highly impatient.
However if people are looking to lose large amounts of weight or haven't changed their lifestyle to aid them in their journey then I would highly recommend using a more conservative approach.4 -
The issue:i have done slow and rapid weight loss,<snip...>, but lets say you have 50 to 100 or even more weight to drop if you go the slow way it can be done but you have to have a lot of discipline you got to stay real focused, its a lot harder than people think 6 to 12 months at a time or even longer if you have a lot of weight to drop is not easy to do, with that being said i find that rapid is better for me
The answer:trigden1991 wrote: »However if people are looking to lose large amounts of weight or haven't changed their lifestyle to aid them in their journey then I would highly recommend using a more conservative approach.
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Unfortunately @CeeBeeSlim you really don't have enough calories to work with to make this an effective approach.
Being a woman, slightly older, short, and within a healthy weight range, you would really be in a lose lose situation. Your lifting would suffer, as would your nutrients. This could have an impact on your hormone levels, and bones and muscles in the future.
Look at doing a reasonable approach where you are losing, retaining as much muscle as possible, getting good nutrition, building strength and not sacrificing your daily energy levels.
Cheers, h.10 -
There are downsides and pluses to both. But remember: just because something may cause faster fat loss does not mean that the loss will be sustainable in the long term. In other words, sometimes faster is not better. Sigma Nutrition did a good write up on this issue here:https://sigmanutrition.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-aggressive-dieting/0
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