Losing weight a bit too fast--how do you refine your calorie target?

Pbrookf

Hi--the rate at which I've lost weight is faster than I projected using various calculators and I would like to slow it down (in the interest of eventually keeping it off).

I am losing an average of 1.25 pounds a week when I projected/targeted half a pound a week (tracking for about 2.5 months). Obviously, I understand that I should eat more calories, but does anyone have an idea of how to go about calculating how many? Basically, I am eating about 50 calories under what it would take to maintain my goal weight with a sedentary lifestyle. I do exercise 2-4 times per week for about 30 minutes and eat back the calories. The calculators tell me that to maintain my current weight I should eat 150 more calories than my current calorie target. I hope that all makes sense.

Many thanks for any insight or tips!

onefortyone

Well, 3500 calories = 1lb. So if you're only 150 cals a day under maintenance, then you wouldn't be losing 1.25lbs a week - so your maintenance calories must be slightly higher than the internet estimates.

So! If you're losing 1.25lbs, and you only want to lose 0.5lbs, then you have an 'extra' deficit of 0.75lbs a week, which is 2625 calories a week. So if you increase your calories by 375 a day, you should then be at a deficit of 0.5lbs a week.

I am losing about 1.25lbs a week also, but have my deficit at 1lb per week - so I chalk it up to logging inaccuracies in my favour, and I'll take it

I hope that made sense!

zirr_

If you're only eating that little under your goal and the weight is still coming off easy, everything should be ok. If you don't feel like its a super struggle to eat at where you are it should be easier to keep the weight off.

Also as you lose more it will slow down anyway... I'd just be happy with it. A pound a week is fairly steady and safe.

Pbrookf

Thank you! I think I have been too stuck on the numbers the calculators gave me. The one I like best is this one: http://www.mayoclinic.org/calorie-calculator/itt-20084939

I like to put in my goal weight and then eat the calories it would take to maintain that goal weight.

The MFP calculator would leave me starving. I am going to up my calorie target and see how it goes.

ana3067

MFP is a poor choice to calculate your calories.

Here are two links I recommend, if you exercise consistently then include that in your calculations (average it all out), or if you like eating exercise cals then omit the exercise and keep using the net method

http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire.html
health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced

Oh, and subtract 10% if your goal is 0.5lbs a week. 20% for up to ~1lb a week.

AyanaJolie

I don't think you should worry about how many calories your eating or how much weight you are losing. I think you should listen to your body and if you feel good that's amazing. I don't believe that losing weight fast means you can't keep it off. Whether your losing it slow or fast it's about whether your eating healthy, your feeling mentally and physically good. Stop worrying about calories and start worrying about energy levels. And just being consistent.

Jetta_C

If I were you, I would take this easy, early weight loss as a gift. It will get harder later as your body becomes more metabolically efficient.