How do I transition off weight loss diet?
DonT58
Posts: 23 Member
I'm a 56 year old male in ok health (but getting better). I've been losing weight by eating less for about a year - I've lost more than 70 lbs. Since I started counting calories I've lost about 46 lbs in less than 20 weeks. I'm doing a 1000 calorie a deficit with moderate exercise. I am not adding exercise in as extra calories. Currently I'm at 1450 calories a day, and I adjust this amount whenever I record a new weight.
Supposedly, at my desired weight, I should be able to eat 2100+ calories a day. My wife and I are doing the MFP thing together, and have changed up our eating habits completely. We both enjoy eating healthy and at these weight loss calorie levels. And for whatever it's worth what I used to consider feeling full I now think of as feeling sick. I can't imagine eating 2100 calories except on special occasions. We are non-drinkers and neither one of us wants to eat much added sugar.
I still need to lose 40 lbs to be considered at a healthy weight, but at this point I look pretty good and feel much better than I have in a couple of decades. I'm wondering when and if and how I should slow this process down?
Supposedly, at my desired weight, I should be able to eat 2100+ calories a day. My wife and I are doing the MFP thing together, and have changed up our eating habits completely. We both enjoy eating healthy and at these weight loss calorie levels. And for whatever it's worth what I used to consider feeling full I now think of as feeling sick. I can't imagine eating 2100 calories except on special occasions. We are non-drinkers and neither one of us wants to eat much added sugar.
I still need to lose 40 lbs to be considered at a healthy weight, but at this point I look pretty good and feel much better than I have in a couple of decades. I'm wondering when and if and how I should slow this process down?
0
Replies
-
70 gone 40 to go , I'd stick with the routine for now, add in 200 calories every 10 pounds0
-
Hey Don! 70lbs is insane! you are kicking some butt man! I agree with the above, start adding 200 calories per day every month or so and youll adjust to it, you actually will most likely lose faster! Im glad you asked about this now too, so that you didnt damage your metabolism when you got closer to your goal. When you get higher and higher calories you can start fitting in more "uhealthy" options0
-
70 gone 40 to go , I'd stick with the routine for now, add in 200 calories every 10 pounds
Thanks sounds like good advice. I've been thinking about staying with the 1000 calorie deficit until I get down to about 1400 calories a day. Maybe at that point I'll adjust to 1.5 lbs lost per week - that'll give me a couple of hundred more per day. I just don't know 1450 seems like a sweet spot to me - two or three days a week I don't think I should eat less. I also thought maybe I wouldn't go any lower for the rest of my weight loss - then like you say in a month or two start adding in a couple of hundred every ten pounds. Thanks again.
0 -
I was so conditioned to my calorie level and the 2# per week that I felt as you describe. But I was also concerned with the impact of a dramatic change so I tapered into maintenance as best as I could. Your body should readily adjust to baby steps both up and down in calorie consumption. good job on the 70, planning for the next 40 sounds astute0
-
At your weight you can eat way more to lose the next 40lbs. The biggest issue with starting out so low is that eventually you will probably have to lower the goal a bit to keep losing, or at least to keep losing at your desired rate. It will definitely be a good idea to switch to the 1.5lb/week goal instead though soon (or when you hit 1400 calories as you mentioned above), and that will be a good way to help you get accustomed to a larger intake. Once you reach your goals a good thing to do would be to set your goal to maintain and see what the calorie number is. So if on MFP it gives you 2100, then slowly add in an extra 100 calories every week or two until you reach that goal (this intake would be without exercise though, so if you continue to use MFP once you switch to maintenance you really should log and eat back at least half of the exercise calories you are provided -- you should actually probably do this now, since you are in effect creating more than a 1000 calorie deficit by not eating back those calories).0
-
Chrisparadise579 wrote: »Hey Don! 70lbs is insane! you are kicking some butt man! I agree with the above, start adding 200 calories per day every month or so and youll adjust to it, you actually will most likely lose faster! Im glad you asked about this now too, so that you didnt damage your metabolism when you got closer to your goal. When you get higher and higher calories you can start fitting in more "uhealthy" options
Thanks for you reply. Yes I'm very comfortable at 1450 calories and really can't imagine eating 2100 or more calories. I love the healthy food but it won't take too much cheese and oil (stuff I've been avoiding) on the salads and wraps to get some extra calories. I have a feeling once I start eating more I'll see increases in my strength and energy levels when exercising. This is not the first time I have heard I'll probably loss weight when I start eating more. I think going to hold off for a month or two. Thanks again for the helpful response.0 -
At your weight you can eat way more to lose the next 40lbs. The biggest issue with starting out so low is that eventually you will probably have to lower the goal a bit to keep losing, or at least to keep losing at your desired rate. It will definitely be a good idea to switch to the 1.5lb/week goal instead though soon (or when you hit 1400 calories as you mentioned above), and that will be a good way to help you get accustomed to a larger intake. Once you reach your goals a good thing to do would be to set your goal to maintain and see what the calorie number is. So if on MFP it gives you 2100, then slowly add in an extra 100 calories every week or two until you reach that goal (this intake would be without exercise though, so if you continue to use MFP once you switch to maintenance you really should log and eat back at least half of the exercise calories you are provided -- you should actually probably do this now, since you are in effect creating more than a 1000 calorie deficit by not eating back those calories).
Yes I've been losing around 2.5 lbs per week - I figure it's at least partially because I'm not adding in the exercise calories. My bike tells me I'm using around 1200 calories. The reason I'm not adding in the exercise calories is because I'm not the most meticulous counter - ie. sometimes I estimate. Honest, I think it could be easy to be off 1200 calories some weeks. Plus it's also only 1200 per week (takes me almost 3 hours) - if I can tolerate it I might as well take it as weight loss. I used to burn that many on an inclined treadmill in less than an hour - 5 times a week - if I was doing that now I would have to be adding them in.
I only have a couple of milestones based on the BMI - first was not to be obese and I am transitioning that right now. In 38 lbs I reach the top of my healthy rate range, 195 lbs. - my second milestone. At that point I'm going to figure a body fat ratio and figure out an ideal weight. I had one doctor tell me 210 will be fine but I'm thinking 180 is where I am going to end up.
Thanks for taking the time to respond.
0 -
At your weight you can eat way more to lose the next 40lbs. The biggest issue with starting out so low is that eventually you will probably have to lower the goal a bit to keep losing, or at least to keep losing at your desired rate. It will definitely be a good idea to switch to the 1.5lb/week goal instead though soon (or when you hit 1400 calories as you mentioned above), and that will be a good way to help you get accustomed to a larger intake. Once you reach your goals a good thing to do would be to set your goal to maintain and see what the calorie number is. So if on MFP it gives you 2100, then slowly add in an extra 100 calories every week or two until you reach that goal (this intake would be without exercise though, so if you continue to use MFP once you switch to maintenance you really should log and eat back at least half of the exercise calories you are provided -- you should actually probably do this now, since you are in effect creating more than a 1000 calorie deficit by not eating back those calories).
Yes I've been losing around 2.5 lbs per week - I figure it's at least partially because I'm not adding in the exercise calories. My bike tells me I'm using around 1200 calories. The reason I'm not adding in the exercise calories is because I'm not the most meticulous counter - ie. sometimes I estimate. Honest, I think it could be easy to be off 1200 calories some weeks. Plus it's also only 1200 per week (takes me almost 3 hours) - if I can tolerate it I might as well take it as weight loss. I used to burn that many on an inclined treadmill in less than an hour - 5 times a week - if I was doing that now I would have to be adding them in.
I only have a couple of milestones based on the BMI - first was not to be obese and I am transitioning that right now. In 38 lbs I reach the top of my healthy rate range, 195 lbs. - my second milestone. At that point I'm going to figure a body fat ratio and figure out an ideal weight. I had one doctor tell me 210 will be fine but I'm thinking 180 is where I am going to end up.
Thanks for taking the time to respond.
2.5lbs/week is not recommended for the majority of people, though. Usually 2lbs/week is the highest rate recommended, so I definitely think you should consider eating back half of those exercise calories. you'll probably notice benefits once you increase your intake as well, such as more energy (especially for your bike rides) as you mentioned above. I don't think you shoudl be too focused/set on a specific number though. I have a general idea of what number I'd likely want to stop losing weight at, but this is based on wanting to reach a certain body fat percentage as I am interested in body building and want to be much leaner before I start actively working to build muscle. But I have no idea if I'll actually need or want to get down as low as I am thinking in my head, and I will be basing my decision to stop dieting on how I look and feel. This is one of the other reasons I Think it's good to eat as much as you can while dieting, since you don't necessarily know how long you'll be at it
0 -
An obese person with 110 lbs to lose can safely lose 2.5 # and more a week. As far as how long it will take it is up to you to decide the rate of loss but it is a simple math equation to determine how long it will take to reach your goal. I was able to calculate from day 1 how much I would weigh in 8 months time. I ended up within 1 lbs of that estimate.0
-
An obese person with 110 lbs to lose can safely lose 2.5 # and more a week. As far as how long it will take it is up to you to decide the rate of loss but it is a simple math equation to determine how long it will take to reach your goal. I was able to calculate from day 1 how much I would weigh in 8 months time. I ended up within 1 lbs of that estimate.
OP is no longer obese, nor does he have 110lbs to lose. He said he has about 40lbs to lose. At this point in time, 1.5-2lbs should be his highest goal, especially for considering diet adherence.0 -
An obese person with 110 lbs to lose can safely lose 2.5 # and more a week. As far as how long it will take it is up to you to decide the rate of loss but it is a simple math equation to determine how long it will take to reach your goal. I was able to calculate from day 1 how much I would weigh in 8 months time. I ended up within 1 lbs of that estimate.
OP is no longer obese, nor does he have 110lbs to lose. He said he has about 40lbs to lose. At this point in time, 1.5-2lbs should be his highest goal, especially for considering diet adherence.
OP does not in fact state his current weight or height so we don't know his current BMI category and many people with 40 pounds to lose are obese.
at 6'2" and 200 lbs I am on the verge of overweight. 240 would put me at obese.
0 -
I'm a 56 year old male in ok health (but getting better). I've been losing weight by eating less for about a year - I've lost more than 70 lbs. Since I started counting calories I've lost about 46 lbs in less than 20 weeks. I'm doing a 1000 calorie a deficit with moderate exercise. I am not adding exercise in as extra calories. Currently I'm at 1450 calories a day, and I adjust this amount whenever I record a new weight.
Supposedly, at my desired weight, I should be able to eat 2100+ calories a day. My wife and I are doing the MFP thing together, and have changed up our eating habits completely. We both enjoy eating healthy and at these weight loss calorie levels. And for whatever it's worth what I used to consider feeling full I now think of as feeling sick. I can't imagine eating 2100 calories except on special occasions. We are non-drinkers and neither one of us wants to eat much added sugar.
I still need to lose 40 lbs to be considered at a healthy weight, but at this point I look pretty good and feel much better than I have in a couple of decades. I'm wondering when and if and how I should slow this process down?
this is pretty easy to change.
You just add some more calorie rich dressing to your salad. Or if you use a diet butter go back to normal butter or olive oil, Eat a whole avocado ( quickly 200 calorie each)
From skim milk to normal milk
etc etc. Small adjustments will up your calorie total pretty quick without having to eat huge amounts.
0 -
With 40lbs to lose you should be cutting down your rate of loss to 1 to 1.5lbs a week to help preserve as much LBM as possible ...based on your current rate of loss that means adding back 500 calories a day into your diet
As you continue to drop your rate of loss should continue to get smaller ...this is how you set yourself up to maintain0 -
An obese person with 110 lbs to lose can safely lose 2.5 # and more a week. As far as how long it will take it is up to you to decide the rate of loss but it is a simple math equation to determine how long it will take to reach your goal. I was able to calculate from day 1 how much I would weigh in 8 months time. I ended up within 1 lbs of that estimate.
OP is no longer obese, nor does he have 110lbs to lose. He said he has about 40lbs to lose. At this point in time, 1.5-2lbs should be his highest goal, especially for considering diet adherence.
OP does not in fact state his current weight or height so we don't know his current BMI category and many people with 40 pounds to lose are obese.
at 6'2" and 200 lbs I am on the verge of overweight. 240 would put me at obese.
He weighs 233lbs. He states he wants to lose another 40lbs. Needing to lose 40lbs =/= obese, it depends on one's starting weight as well as lean body mass. As others have already recommended, OP will benefit from lowering his goal to 1-1.5lbs/week as well as eating back part of his exercise calories in order to make his transition to maintenance much easier as well as to help lower lean body mass losses. Just because one can lose weight very quickly doesn't mean it should be done.An obese person with 110 lbs to lose can safely lose 2.5 # and more a week. As far as how long it will take it is up to you to decide the rate of loss but it is a simple math equation to determine how long it will take to reach your goal. I was able to calculate from day 1 how much I would weigh in 8 months time. I ended up within 1 lbs of that estimate.
OP is no longer obese, nor does he have 110lbs to lose. He said he has about 40lbs to lose. At this point in time, 1.5-2lbs should be his highest goal, especially for considering diet adherence.
OP does not in fact state his current weight or height so we don't know his current BMI category and many people with 40 pounds to lose are obese.
at 6'2" and 200 lbs I am on the verge of overweight. 240 would put me at obese.0 -
This content has been removed.
-
[
OP does not in fact state his current weight or height so we don't know his current BMI category and many people with 40 pounds to lose are obese.
at 6'2" and 200 lbs I am on the verge of overweight. 240 would put me at obese.
I am 56 and am 6ft 2in. My current weight has been between 234-235 lbs in the morning. For a BMI of 30 I need to be at 233. So I need to be below 233 to be "overweight". To be at a normal healthy weight I need to be below 195 lbs. I use the Mayo Clinic BMI calculator - strangely I find different calculators give slightly different results.
Thanks again for your comments!0 -
I agree I am a woman and started out at 294lbs, I ate 1700 calories to lose the first 100lbs. I have 40 to go and I am eating 1300 calories and I eat activity calories sometimes. Eating that low is another extreme. It took me a year to lose 100lbs, however I have maintained it. Now I have deicided to work on the last bit. Those are not enough calories for a male.An obese person with 110 lbs to lose can safely lose 2.5 # and more a week. As far as how long it will take it is up to you to decide the rate of loss but it is a simple math equation to determine how long it will take to reach your goal. I was able to calculate from day 1 how much I would weigh in 8 months time. I ended up within 1 lbs of that estimate.
OP is no longer obese, nor does he have 110lbs to lose. He said he has about 40lbs to lose. At this point in time, 1.5-2lbs should be his highest goal, especially for considering diet adherence.
0 -
TheOwlhouseDesigns wrote: »You just add some more calorie rich dressing to your salad. Or if you use a diet butter go back to normal butter or olive oil, Eat a whole avocado ( quickly 200 calorie each)
From skim milk to normal milk
etc etc. Small adjustments will up your calorie total pretty quick without having to eat huge amounts.
I'm going to continue to avoid simple sugars and trans fat forever. Also I try to avoid saturated fats - I average around 12 grams, sometimes up to 20 and other times as low as 2 grams. I'll probably use more whole grain breads, more olives, olive oil, bananas and avocado sounds like something I need to try. I want to eat more cheese but I don't have room for much of it. I haven't cut out butter or mayonnaise but I think I'm going to keep it's use low. Some of this stuff is extremely calorie dense and like you say small changes add up quickly. Thank you for your comments.0 -
With 40lbs to lose you should be cutting down your rate of loss to 1 to 1.5lbs a week to help preserve as much LBM as possible ...based on your current rate of loss that means adding back 500 calories a day into your diet
As you continue to drop your rate of loss should continue to get smaller ...this is how you set yourself up to maintain
I'm interested in knowing more about preserving LBM. Do you have an online resource you can share?0 -
[
OP does not in fact state his current weight or height so we don't know his current BMI category and many people with 40 pounds to lose are obese.
at 6'2" and 200 lbs I am on the verge of overweight. 240 would put me at obese.
I am 56 and am 6ft 2in. My current weight has been between 234-235 lbs in the morning. For a BMI of 30 I need to be at 233. So I need to be below 233 to be "overweight". To be at a normal healthy weight I need to be below 195 lbs. I use the Mayo Clinic BMI calculator - strangely I find different calculators give slightly different results.
Thanks again for your comments!
We have similar stats. I was at your weight a few months back, I hope you get to enjoy the next phase as much as I did. I noticed the most results from 235 down. I didn't start exercising until about 250, now I ride my road bike 100-150 miles a week and can realisticly say I am in better shape then a fair lot of riders. Anyhow, good work. Keep up the effort.0 -
An obese person with 110 lbs to lose can safely lose 2.5 # and more a week. As far as how long it will take it is up to you to decide the rate of loss but it is a simple math equation to determine how long it will take to reach your goal. I was able to calculate from day 1 how much I would weigh in 8 months time. I ended up within 1 lbs of that estimate.
How low did you go? Since we are the same height I'm wondering what my ultimate goal should be. One doctor said I will be fine at 210, but my BMI won't be under 25 until I'm less than 195. I remember being 185 in my late teens and had a couple of extra pounds on me. I'm not as strong as I was then, and never will be. I'm thinking I could be 180 and still have a couple of extra pounds hanging around. Looking in the mirror I can see what looks like 50 lbs that's gonna go.0 -
I got down to 200 before I started to work on adding muscle mass. Now about 210
Honestly I would set BMI aside at this point in your journey and focus on Body Fat %
BMI is generally regarded as a flawed metric for individual use. It was meant to measure whole populations.
At 210 I am aprox 18% bf which is accectable, at 200 I am aprox 15%, I am just starting to cut back down to 195 @ 14% for race weight.
I will be maintaing at 15-17% bf, scale weight will vary a bit as I fluctuate between adding muscle and then cutting fat. My goal is to add 15lbs of muscle weight over the next year and still be somewhere around 200 lbs. Which is roughly equivalent to me being 185 now. ( if I was at 185 now with my current muscle mass, guessing at maybe 11% )
Should be noted I am also currently training for a 100 mile bicycle race. Cycling has a brutal weight penalty to it. ( pro cyclist are generally small skinny dudes, not 6'2" 200 lbs ) If not cycling I feel great and look ok at 17% bf @205 and that would likely be ideal for me.0 -
A decent overview of BF% can be read here. http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2012/07/02/body-fat-percentage/
There are diffrent formulas used to estimate BF% by taking various measurements but I have found this one has matched my results of water float testing as well as Bioelectric impedance testing on a high end machine at my docs.
http://www.davedraper.com/bodyfat-calculation.html
0 -
I got down to 200 before I started to work on adding muscle mass. Now about 210
Honestly I would set BMI aside at this point in your journey and focus on Body Fat %
BMI is generally regarded as a flawed metric for individual use. It was meant to measure whole populations.
I took a new weight today - 232.0. That's 2.7 lbs lost last week. I adjusted my daily calorie intake to 1430 to keep the 1000 calorie deficit. I think I'm going to continue this trend for 1 to 3 more weeks then adjust the deficit to 750 calories.
I'll have to find my body fat % to determine the reasonableness of my next 195 lb BMI based milestone. I'll add another 250 calories when I meet that milestone (whereever it ends up) then continue to lose until I reach my desired weight and body fat %. At that point I'll add calories in until I maintain my desire weight.
Thanks for you contribution. Good luck in the bike race.
0 -
Hey Don,
We're the same height and close enough on age (55). I started at 245 in June 2013 and loss 1-1.5 lbs per week until I got down to 205 and then I started to ease in to maintenance. My initial caloric goal was 1850, plus eating back most of my exercise calories, but I was losing to fast so I slowing increased (by 100 a week) until I hit 2250 and losing 1 lb a week. Once I hit 205 I continued to increase calories by 100/week until I stopped losing at about 200 lbs and 2605-2700/day.
I started weight training in June 2014 but still eating at maintenance. This helped me gain strength and I'm now down to 194 lbs. and approximately 19-20% BF. In high school and in to my early 30s I was 180-190 lbs. My goal is to get to 17-18% BF and then reassess.0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.9K Introduce Yourself
- 43.9K Getting Started
- 260.3K Health and Weight Loss
- 176K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.6K Fitness and Exercise
- 430 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.6K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153.1K Motivation and Support
- 8.1K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.4K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.8K MyFitnessPal Information
- 15 News and Announcements
- 1.2K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.7K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions