'Smaller' girls and rate of weight loss/calories eaten

JAT74

I am aiming this post at others in a similar position to me, not those who may wish to judge or tell me I'm not eating enough etc. so if that's not you, please don't comment!

Basically I am within a healthy BMI range at the moment (though only just at 144.5lbs) and am looking to lose another 27.5lbs, ideally by April. I'm 5 foot 4 and before re-joining MFP I wasn't logging for a while, but from many years experience of calorie counting and weighing/measuring I know roughly what I was eating and it was pretty much just over TDEE, so just enough to put on the weight over time, fairly slowly.

I have recently used BMR and TDEE calculators to check where I should be in terms of calorie intake and my BMR is approx.1300 with a TDEE of 1500 (based on sedentary), and an average of 1850 TDEE in reality due to the exercise I normally do daily.

This means that in order to create a large enough deficit for me to lose the minimum 2lbs per week I was hoping to, I'd have to eat 850 calories every day (gross), even when exercising, though I realise this is too low as I'd be netting 500. Before I started I was going to aim for 3lbs per week, but unless I can somehow spend 2-3 hours working out I now know this just isn't going to happen!

So far, in the 2 weeks I've been on here this time around I have been eating an average of 1100 calories, which basically enables me to lose about 1.5 lbs per week and given the fact I started at 147.5 lbs and am now 144.5 it seems that so far I am on track. Having said this it still feels very slow and I'd like to lose more as there seem to be too many days where I've looked at the scale and seen no change.

I'm feeling full after eating every day and don't want to go lower with my calories, though I could easily go down to 1000 as I would love to be able to find a way to lose weight faster. I am thinking about having 2 fast days (as per the Fast Diet/5:2 diet) where I eat 500 calories, because I know this would help, and I know a lot of people who have been successful doing this. I wouldn't exercise on those days. On the other hand, maybe I should just be happy with the rate I am losing weight and try and stick with what I'm doing already. I could also try increasing my exercise but in the past when I've tried to do this I have found I've got too hungry.

Any ideas/tips from others who have a similar weight loss goal in a similar time period who is more or less my current size? I understand that for people who are larger and who eat more at the start of their weight loss journey they are able to lose quicker as they have more of a margin to play with but if someone can come up with something to increase my weight loss I will listen!

I know that when I get to my goal I will be able to re-assess my BMR and TDEE and I'll probably be able to eat more to maintain my lower weight, so the way I see it it's only a temporary thing that I'll be eating low calories. Compared to a lot of people I don't have far to go and I know I can stick with my current regime until April, but if the weight loss takes longer than that, I can see that I will start to lose faith and maybe I won't be able to stick with it. That added to the fact summer here begins in May, I know I'll be very unhappy if I an not near my goal weight by then.

I understand that this is a long-term commitment and I when I get to where I want to be I will definitely do whatever I have to to stay there, but the longer it takes to get to that point the less likely I am to be motivated to continue.

dawn0293

I'm around your height and having less calories does stink. I do alternate day fasting along with my calorie counting so that I have some days that allow for a much larger caloric intake because after awhile the whole 1100 or 1200 calories a day thing does start to wear on your nerves. It's been working nicely for me.

dramaqueen45

My opinion, as a small frame 5'4" woman, is to keep what you're doing and maybe even eat more- up to 1200. The reason MFP puts you at 1200 at minimum is not to make your weight loss too slow (although for sustainable weight loss it's better to lose at the rate you're losing now- 1 - 1.5 pounds per week); it's to be sure that you're getting enough nutrients for your body to function well and your organs to function well. You need at least that many calories to stay healthy. I haven't had experience with the 5:2 diet but I believe the rate of loss may be projected to be pretty much the same, it's just that for those who don't like to log daily and like to eat more and more of what they want 5 days per week it's an easier plan for them. But no, I don't think there's a way for you to lose more quickly and still stay safe and healthy. Remember that losing is hard, but it's the most difficult to maintain. You're talking about the difference of a few months to lose it vs. the rest of your life to maintain. Why not give yourself the best chance of maintaining by eating what you like at a small deficit and losing it slowly while exercising to help build and maintain overall fitness? Because in the end it's about lifestyle change right? And if you do something too drastic it won't be sustainable (or healthy and safe) and you may become frustrated and quit OR if you are successful in losing you will gain it back because what you did to lose was way too drastic a plan.

JAT74

It's not eating less calories that's my problem, because eating 1100 is alright, I can manage it and I don't find I'm hungry even if I exercise daily. The thing that's bugging me is the rate of weight loss while eating like this! If I had previously eaten a lot more and then dropped down to 1200 and was seeing the weight drop off at a rate of 3lbs a week, I'd be over the moon and really happy about the way things were going.

I could add in 2 fast days where I have 500 calories to speed things up but then I may start lacking in energy a little, though on those days I would not work out. I just don't know and I would like to hear from others in my position. I don't think people who don't have this problem really understand how disheartening it is, to eat so carefully but to lose so slowly. I know lots of 'thin' people who are around my goal weight who eat like this and work out and maintain their weight, and that I'm sure makes it worth it, but when you look in the mirror or on the scale and see high body fat and excess weight it's a little demotivating.

queenliz99

This is a lifestyle not a race.

dramaqueen45

Like I said I'm not sure if doing 500 two days a week will speed up the whole process. You would need to talk to someone who has experience with it, but I believe that the idea is that the overall week you're eating less and you lose at about the same rate. What I'm saying is that 2-3 pounds per week at your height and weight is not only not sustainable (if you do find a method that works) but very unsafe and unhealthy for you. I know it's frustrating. I'm the same height and I weigh about 10 pounds more and some weeks I don't see ANY loss (and I'm careful about logging plus I exercise 6 days per week) and sometimes I see less than a pound, but most weeks it's about 1 to 1.5 pounds. It is very slow and can get annoying!! In December I was a little less careful and I lost .8 pounds in a course of 3 weeks!! But I know it's healthier and more sustainable in the long run. I have done many "diets" in the past and have lost and gained many times and the reason it comes back is because these "diets" were too low in calories, or too weird (I've done the cabbage soup diet, the Special K diet, Slimfast, Hilton Head Metabolism diet, Weight Watchers, etc).

JAT74

Hi Dramaqueen45 I know exactly what you're saying. Yes the 5:2 diet is designed to be followed so you eat lower calories 2 days a week and then the other days you eat 'what you want', though I was thinking about doing it by sticking to the 1100 calories on the 5 days I am not fasting so I can lose weight a little quicker as I'd then be eating 1200 calories less every week overall. Ok that's not going to make a massive difference, but maybe it will speed things up a little.

Yes I do agree that time should not be so important and if it's slower it is more likely to stay off, but the problem I have is if I don't lose before the summer I know I will be really unhappy. Also, as I've been much bigger in the past (12 years ago) and I've got no idea how much I was eating before I started to lose the weight but I only had to start exercising and eating more healthily and I lost 56 lbs in 4 months and it really seemed so easy back then.

wkwebby

I'm 5'4" and 146 at the moment so in similar boat weight wise. However, I weight train and do cardio 5 days per week so I have plenty of muscle packed on me. My calories are set to 1600 for a daily goal to lose 0.25-0.50 lb/week (I'm looking to only get to 140 or slightly below). After a 2 month stall, I'm finally losing again.

I know you're getting disheartened, but where is your goal weight coming from? Can't you feel the difference? Stop looking at the scale and start measuring inches. This always help me look at the brighter side. Also, reevaluate your goal weight and see if you have too much muscle for this number to be realistic. It sounds like you've done great so far, but if you lose too fast, your lean muscle mass will suffer (especially at this weight) which will in turn reduce your BMR for the long term.

JAT74

I suppose another factor is my age now I'm 40 and also the fact I've gained and lost weight several times before. I know what to overdo things but I also don't want to give up because unless I can find a way to get to my goal weight and stay there I won't ever be happy with what I see in the mirror.

I am also working out 6 days a week and I already feel a lot stronger after 2 weeks but I am waiting for the day when I see a fit, toned and lean body looking back at me. I've always felt that I try really hard but have little to show for it when to others they do nothing at all and look amazing.

wkwebby

I am totally your weight twin then! Sort of...I'm 41. My goal weight initially was to be at 130, but my trainer has strictly forbade me to try to get there. He insists that 140 should be my ideal weight. Instead, we met in the middle with a Body Fat % of 20-24% which is within normal to athletic. I'll be happy with that and not look at the scale anymore after I've reached that number. I'm at 26% bf now (it took over a year to drop from 36%).

spunkyabroad

1.5 lbs a week is good progress. That's the average rate I've lost at and I'm also very short. 151 cm. My calories are also under 1200 but I wouldn't want to go any lower either. Maybe you just need to convince yourself that 1.5 lbs a week isn't slow.

dramaqueen45

I agree with the post above- you may lose muscle if you lose too fast as well. Plus if you are lifting (you are lifting some right?) you will tone and build muscle which will help speed up your metabolism so that's a bonus too. Also, at 40 years old you are bound to just have a slower metabolism. I am 47 and years ago I used to be able to eat pretty much whatever I wanted, didn't exercise that much and I weighed and maintained at 120 pretty easily. Now 27 years and two children later plus a bum thyroid I have to really be careful, eat at a deficit, exercise 3-4 days doing some cardio and the other 3 days doing lifting.

pscarolina

You don't want to be told to eat a normal amount of food so I will skip that. The women you see with the toned lean body you want have preserved their muscle mass. Dieting leads to fat and muscle loss, especially if you are not lifting weights and eating enough to promote muscle retention. What kind of workouts are you doing? Are they mostly cardio?

JAT74

Wkwebby I also weight train and do cardio, cardio probably 3 days and weight training 4 days if I think about it. I have always trained, though not always consistently. The last 2 weeks are the first time in a while that I've done this much training.

Unlike you though, I don't have much muscle and a very high body fat % for my weight and size, the scales today said 31% on one scale and 36% on another. One of them separates water and fat which gave me the lower reading, but I usually take an average between the 2 to see my actual percentage.

Even in the past when I've found I'm losing inches, it's like the muscles are pulling my waist and other body parts in, and I don't actually lose much fat which is frustrating. My goal weight of 117lbs comes from my lightest weight in the past, which was about 121 lbs and I had 25% body fat. I maintained that for quite a while and was fairly happy with my size and shape, though I wanted to lower my body fat a little at the time and had fat to lose mostly on my thighs and arms still, which were quite large compared to the rest of me. That's why I am aiming for a slightly lower weight.

j6o4

Quality over quantity. If a slower weight loss will give me more quality result, this is the path I would choose, which I did. When I was losing weight, my goal was to get lean, to get a nice physique with some abs. Because I wanted abs, I had to concentrate on losing fat and not weight. I didn't want to be a smaller version of what I already was. Like you, I didn't have much to lose but lost more than I thought I would have to get abs. The rate of my progress was only 1lb/week, which to some may seam slow but I much rather have quality results rather than to lose weight as fast as I can and not be happy with my physique.

astrose00

I think the issue is that the "smaller" you are (meaning, the less excess fat you have) the slower the weight loss will be. I'm not even sure someone at your height and weight can lose that much that fast. and if you do then you run the risk of being skinny fat (despite lifting weights) because your body has to burn something for energy so it will burn the muscle you are working to maintain. I'm not judging your methods or your reasons for wanting to lose. I also prefer fast over slow. I just don't know that you will be able to accomplish it. But you will lose SOMETHING and be closer to where you need to be. So all won't be lost (pardon the pun!).

Sorry if this isn't what you want to hear/read but I'm pretty certain you won't get the results you're hoping for. Anyway, I'm an amazon (5'8") in this convo so I'm out!

wkwebby

I would start with increasing the weight during your training sessions, honestly. It doesn't sound like you have to decrease calories, but the muscle needs to get built up to lose while you're not doing anything. This is by no means an easy task though.

Don't lose hope (I did for a long time until a year ago) of losing that weight. It takes time and tweaking and experimentation on what to change. You should think of this as a puzzle and riddle. This gets me intrigued and still interested to keep going even if I stall in my weight.

Your cardio days are fine, but sounds like your weight training days need to be "upped" in terms of weight to give you that extra sore feeling. Then hopefully, you'll see shredded in no time at all! In all honesty though, it takes some serious focus on muscle building to keep and put on a little while you're eating at a deficit.

JAT74

Pscarolina I'm doing Jillian Michaels Body Revolution at the moment, I have other workout programs and a home gym with lots of equipment too but I prefer to follow something like what I'm doing because I find I stick to it better as it's a 90 day program and I can do it along with the DVD. She recommends using lighter weights so I have increased the weights from the 3lb, 5lb and 8lb she recommends to 4lb, 6lb, 8lb, 10lb and I can go higher as I find I'm getting stronger because I have weights up to 20lb or more I can use. Her program includes 4 weights days and 2 cardio days but I sometimes do other cardio in the gym in place of hers, or add dog walks for extra cardio plus some Yoga because I also like that.

ChiaGnome

I'm in a similar position, 150lbs at 5'5" and just on the cusp of healthy and overweight according to BMI. Though I've dropped about 70 lbs so far, I've been stuck at 150 forever - though admittedly I haven't been strict with my diet or workout recently. This week I started tracking what I eat more closely and have started a running routine, so I'm hopeful this will have positive effects. I think at this point, you have to pay more attention to details, and progress is generally slower. I also attribute some of the slow-down to the winter months as I haven't been "playing" outside as much, and have definitely decreased my biking (I cycle commute to work in the warmer months, but it's too cold and dark to do so in the winter). Anyway, good luck to you!

JAT74

wkwebby I am also trying to eat lower carb and have increased my protein to around 80-100g per day if possible as well as lowering sugar intake so I am hoping that will help change my body composition.

I would definitely be happy at 125lbs and would happily revise my goal to that if I was lean and strong, though I don't want to look too muscular, I prefer a softer look.

astrose00

j6o4 wrote: »

Quality over quantity. If a slower weight loss will give me more quality result, this is the path I would choose, which I did. When I was losing weight, my goal was to get lean, to get a nice physique with some abs. Because I wanted abs, I had to concentrate on losing fat and not weight. I didn't want to be a smaller version of what I already was. Like you, I didn't have much to lose but lost more than I thought I would have to get abs. The rate of my progress was only 1lb/week, which to some may seam slow but I much rather have quality results rather than to lose weight as fast as I can and not be happy with my physique.

^^^ Uh, what he said. Did you see his profile picture??? I would listen to him. You would be surprised at how much truly "lean" people weigh while looking markedly smaller than skinny fat people of the same weight. I lift weights and people 50lbs lighter than me wear the same pants size. That's crazy.

pscarolina

JAT74 wrote: »

wkwebby I am also trying to eat lower carb and have increased my protein to around 80-100g per day if possible as well as lowering sugar intake so I am hoping that will help change my body composition.

I would definitely be happy at 125lbs and would happily revise my goal to that if I was lean and strong, though I don't want to look too muscular, I prefer a softer look.

You're never going to look "too muscular" on 1,100 calories per day. Women don't gain bulky muscle easily without "help" & building muscle while in a caloric deficit is nearly impossible.

ETA - is there some event coming up that has you wanting to lose so much so quickly?

JAT74

Yes I've seen and heard that before astrose00, especially on here. I remember I was on this site a couple of years ago and saw some amazing transformations where people went from high weights with very high body fat % to very very lean. Some of them were eating a similar number of calories to me but they looked amazing and were heavier than I would gave guessed.

Those people are my motivation and if I ever get to where I want to be maybe the scales can be thrown away if I am the size I feel comfortable with. I am currently a UK size 10-12 (I think US 8-10) but have size 6 & 8 (4 & 6) clothes in my wardrobe which I'd love to be able to fit into again, I just hope I can manage it.

If anyone else has got there and has photos they would be amazing to see.

wkwebby

JAT74 wrote: »

wkwebby I am also trying to eat lower carb and have increased my protein to around 80-100g per day if possible as well as lowering sugar intake so I am hoping that will help change my body composition.

I would definitely be happy at 125lbs and would happily revise my goal to that if I was lean and strong, though I don't want to look too muscular, I prefer a softer look.

You won't get bulky muscular unless you eat WAY more protein than that and lifted in the hundreds of pounds. Since you're maxing out your weights at 20lbs., try to go to 25lbs. When this gets too easy or just you don't get sore the next day, your weights are too light. That's how I look at weight training days. On BAD lifting days, I'm not sore at all the next day, on the Good days, I'm sore for two. On GREAT days (up to debate), I am sore for at least 3 days after I lifted. Soreness after weight training is a gauge for how much you tore up your muscles, thereby allowing you to repair it into a leaner form of it.

So what would you gauge your weight training days as?

nuttynanners

5'5" here, hope I'm not crashing the party. Every day I am jealous of my large framed, 6'1" boyfriend who can practically eat whatever the hell he wants. In fact, I gained weight because I started to follow the same daily diet as him for 2 years, and I ruined ALL of my 50 lb weight loss I had once earned. Oops.

I won't say too much... but I wouldn't fast that often if I were you. I just don't think it's a sustainable lifestyle. You are trying to practice healthy habits that you can build upon with when you are in "maintenance".

I know some people have success with that kind of thing, but I would burn out so quickly that way.

Maybe try playing around with your cardio to strength ratio, favoring strength training a bit more? Maybe try different workouts to target muscles you have not previously been engaging?

Above all, keep going, you sound like you're well on your way

JAT74

Wkwebby it's not an ordinary weights routine that I'm doing. In my gym I was lifting a lot more, but what I am doing with Body Revolution is more like HIIT training with more reps for most of the weights sections and shorter workouts so it would be hard to lift more for most of the exercises as they are around 15 reps in each set and done fairly fast. I read a lot of reviews of the program before I got it and the results people had by the end were amazing, not for everyone but for those who did it the way it was supposed to be done. Even those who weight trained beforehand in the traditional way Jillian Michaels recommends a 1200 calorie diet and she keeps it low carb which is similar to what I'm doing, so I'm hoping for comparable results.

When I was weight training in my gym by myself I was lifting much heavier but for less reps and my workouts were taking too much time. I was getting injuries from time to time and losing motivation because I was doing it alone. I've got books and printouts I can follow but I prefer this method of training because I feel it motivates me more.

When I've finished the 90 days I might go back to the gym and re-visit my old workouts but at the moment this works well as I can always fit my workouts in and I am anticipating the next workout because they get harder every 2 weeks so it stays interesting.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

I'm about your size. 5'4" 125 lbs.

2 lbs per week is not an appropriate weight loss goal at your current height/weight. I'd aim for half a pound per week. The leaner you get the greater the risk of muscle loss from dieting, so personally I think it's better to make sure you're not losing too much. I think 1.5 lbs per week is even a bit too much.

You say you're worried about how you'll look this summer so I'll tell you a bit of a cautionary tale-- I ate at a reasonable deficit but didn't do anything else to preserve muscle. When I got to my goal weight I still felt terrible and unhappy because I had sacrificed too much muscle just to get to that "perfect number." You're not going to have your weight stamped across your forehead-- it'd be better imo to look healthy and fit at 135 lbs than it would be to look flabby at 115.

JAT74

nuttynanners my boyfriend and his diet is another problem I have! He trains too, he's older than me and doesn't have a 6 pack but weighs the same as me and is very lean everywhere else. He can eat what he wants and the worst case is he'll increase from 15%-17% body fat so when he wants to strip some fat off all he needs to do is eat less junk food and other than that it's easy for him. He weight trains 3 times a week and does cardio twice a week.

When he's being bad with his eating which is normally twice a year, that's when I tend to gain weight because I can't sit there watching him eat chocolate, crisps or takeaways. I always eat a lot less of that kind of food than him but even a little contributes to the weight gain over time. I don't have my own chocolate or crisps etc. but I'll have maybe a quarter of what he has (or did before I started on here).

He's not been well and he also wants to lose a little weight right now as neither or us were great with our eating or exercise over the past few months so I am not being tempted at the moment but I'll have to try and resist when he does decide to eat that way again. The good thing is I'm the one who goes shopping so if I don't buy any junk then he tends not to eat it, though he does ask me to get it for him.

VeryKatie

Perhaps I could recommend working on you patience. You're losing weight plenty quickly, but not overly safely.

Hope2BFit81

I'm 5'4.5" 127-128 lbs, I have 1-2 fast days a week where I'll only eat a moderate dinner. I average about 7800 calories a week - some days I'll have 850 others I'll have 1300. The less you have to lose, the harder it is. I've been doing this for nearly 2 weeks. My goal is also 117ish. I be sure to have a protein drink daily, and have a good source of protein with dinner. I aim for 80g of protein daily. Good luck!

JAT74

Sorry VeryKatie but I don't agree, and your comment isn't helpful. I am not losing weight quickly or unsafely.

Hope, you're eating pretty much the same amount of calories as I am at the moment, but minus the fast days which I'm not adding in right now. Are you also working out? If not, maybe that's why it's taking you a long time to reach your goal especially as you're got less to lose than me.

I usually have 2 protein drinks per day, one is a meal replacement I have for breakfast and the other is for dinner, though some days I replace it with a soup as I don't always want a cold drink at night. I have been aiming for 80-100g of protein per day though, and carbs below 100g.