At what point does 2lbs a week become unrealistic?

SilverRose89

Hi guys, first of all let me start by saying I do not make a habit of comparing myself to other people, especially not my weight loss or weight loss goals. But this is something that I keep wondering about, so figured I would ask!

I am 5ft6.5 and 190lbs. My start weight was 198lbs, so I've lost 8lbs so far. It is a loss of around 1lb per week, with a couple of weeks where I maintained which was expected.

I am aiming for 160lb which will put me just back into the 'healthy weight' range for my height.

Now, part of me feels that because I have another 30lbs to lose, and could realistically lose quite a bit more if I wanted to be lower in that 'healthy range', I could be losing quicker until I'm closer to my goal.

Now, I don't plan on doing it because MFP tells me I'd need to eat at 1200 a day for this to happen and having attempted that before, I know it's just not realistic for me. But I see others losing at 2lb a week even though they are closer to their goal than myself (and have started at a lower weight too, maybe up the high end of their 'healthy weight' and want to get to the lower end) and I guess I feel a bit disheartened sometimes, and feel I could be pushing myself a bit more.

Sorry, I'm rambling now and not sure I'm particularly explaining myself well. So TL;DR - At what point does a 2lb loss a week become too much? I see people saying it's 'as you become closer to your goal'. Does 30lbs away count as close to my goal? As it doesn't feel it! But I realise often people have way more to lose than me, so maybe I am just losing sight of that.

kristen6350

I'd say since you are within 30lbs of your goal, 2lbs/week is too aggressive NOW. 1lb/week until you get within 15lbs is realistic.

Weight loss isn't linear, it's all an average by the time you are done. I'd eat more and enjoy it so you don't give up frustrated.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Generally 2 lbs per week is recommended if you have 50 lbs or more to lose. I'd set it for 1 lb per week.

kayeiam

My goal is 6lbs a week (1 - 2 lbs a week).

kayeiam

I mean 6lbs a month.. duh. I can not edit the above post... sorry

mskinner1091

I'm the same height as you & had close to the same starting weight. I've lost about 23lbs. I set my goal at 2lbs a week with a 1200/day calorie goal. I was definitely losing 2lbs a week. I'm now losing around 1lb a week & I'm completely happy with that. Just take your time. I realized I was being discouraged when trying to lose 2lbs a week. Good luck! You'll get there! I now weigh 161 from 185.

CherokeeBabe

2lbs a week is too much for most people. It may be quicker, but it's very hard to sustain long-term without slipping up. Could easily lead to binge eating when your body fights back and wants extra calories for proper fuel. Slow(er) and steady is the best bet in most cases unless otherwise recommended by a doctor.

Whittedo

I personally believe that it is up to the individual. I am comfortable losing 2 pounds a week and plan to continue until I reach my goal. I don't go to bed hungry and wake up ready to face the day, but just because it works for me doesn't mean it would work for you. Do what is comfortable and reach your goal, rather than be uncomfortable and fall off the wagon.

JAT74

It would be impossible for me as I was lighter to start with (147.5 starting weight at 5'4"). I've lost 8lbs since 5th January (now just under 140) so I've lost just under 1lb per week, but I've been working out daily, burning off at least 450 calories per day and eating an average of 1350-1450 per day in total.

I order for me to lose 2lbs per week, I'd have to eat about 900 calories per day maximum. I've done that before (at one point I ate 850 per day and lost about 25lbs in the space of around 3 months). I did light exercise at that time because that's all I could manage as I was lacking in energy and as soon as I'd dropped the weight and went back to eating more (even a little more) the weight started to come back on.

I remember just after that going up to about 1000-1100 calories and walking for at least an hour every day and I kept it off for a while but there was no room for movement ie. I couldn't have a day off or a few alcoholic drinks etc. and before I knew it I had given in to cravings and was binge eating and back up to 147lbs again. It was too hard watching others eat a lot more and when I went out shopping there were too many temptations.

Now I am losing a lot more slowly but I don't go hungry, can fuel my workouts well enough and I'm losing enough to see the scale go down every week or 2 weeks. I am now 22lbs from my goal, so my weight loss might slow down as I get closer to goal. I usually allow myself treats, save up my calories for one main meal when I know I am going out to restaurants so I can eat what I want and don't have to feel deprived.

It's sustainable like this at my current weight but there's no way I'd go back to lower calories just to lose more quickly, though I know it would work.

DancingMoosie

I only had 30-40lbs to lose and lost around 25 in about 13wks. It can happen. And I ate over 1200. I think it also depends on how active you are and how much muscle you are maintaining. I slowed down after the 25lb loss, and gradually lost the rest over another 3-4 mos.

TimothyFish

It doesn't matter how close to your goal you are. My goal weight is 208, so 2 lbs per week is less than 1% of my weight and won't be unrealistic, even when I reach my goal weight. On the other hand, for someone near 100 lbs, 2 lbs per week would be closer to 2% of their weight and much harder to accomplish.

SilverRose89

Ah, thanks guys! See THIS is why I love this community. :flowerforyou:

I guess I just needed a bit of reassurance that I'm doing fine and not being super lazy about it all. I know for a fact that if I push myself too hard I will give up as history shows me that.

DancingMoosie wrote: »

I only had 30-40lbs to lose and lost around 25 in about 13wks. It can happen. And I ate over 1200. I think it also depends on how active you are and how much muscle you are maintaining. I slowed down after the 25lb loss, and gradually lost the rest over another 3-4 mos.

If left to my own devices, I am the least active person ever, but I am actually working out 3-4 times a week at the moment, and enjoying it. I'm just in the process of adding some lifting into the mix too, I doubt I have much muscle to maintain, but that's probably all the more reason to maintain it!

Ellaskat

I only had aboout 18 pounds to lose, I'm 5'6, started at 148, goal of 130. I'm comfortable eating 1200 cals a week, and I have bee consistently meeting my cal goals every week. I just finished 8 weeks, and I have lost 10 pounds, so about 1.2 pounds a week, though I have 2-3 week periods where I lose nothing. I'm cool with my progress. Wheni take my measurements into consideration, I'm realizing I may have less to lose than previously thought- they match the measurements I had when I last weighed 127, suggesting 10 pounds of muscle gain to me. With only 18 pounds, I thought 2 pounds would just be too step and set me up for failure. I'd rather have a smaller goal that I'm able to stay on track with.

4legsRbetterthan2

A few thoughts:

make sure you check the 1200 calculation, MFP bottoms out there (even if that does not create the deficit to actually give you a 2lb/week loss) so if you are going to eat at that goal it might not acutally be a 2lb per week loss, just so you have accurate expectations.

My rule is do what works for you. I am happy at the 1/lb per week loss rate, some weeks i get up to 1.5, but I have a tough time being happy at 2 lbs/week. (I am about 10 lbs heavier than you right now and have a similar goal weight). I definitely want to reach my goal eventually, but you know in the mean time I am working full time, taking masters courses, and trying to improve my fitness level, so I also need to make sure I take care of myself to succeed in all that. Weight loss is a thing for me, but its not EVERYTHING to me. Just another way to look at it....

SideSteel

A very very general guideline that certainly has exceptions, would be .5 to 1% change in bodyweight per week.

But that's really a secondary question.

The primary question is:

What do I have to do with my training and diet in order to sustain a 2lb/week weight loss?

Followed by:

Can I adhere to that?


For most people the answer is that you have to bring calories really low and bring activity up quite a bit and it's an awful scenario that you won't adhere to.


Also, I would challenge your claim that you see lots of people losing 2/week who have less to lose than you do. That's quite rare if you are referring to steady, weekly losses. I'd also like to see how those people are doing weeks or months from now.


Here's are some great questions I think you should ask yourself right now:

1) Am I losing weight somewhat regularly over time?
2) Am I forming good habits around food and exercise that I can adhere to for a very long time or does this feel like a stressful diet that will one day be "over"?
3) Do I have enough energy to function and to perform adequately in the gym?

^ This stuff is important. It's WAAAAAY more important than whether or not you are losing .5 lbs per week or 2lbs per week.

shaythep

I am 5'3 and started at 206 lbs. I'm now 174 lbs. I have about 27 more pounds to lose but I've never lost 2 lbs a week. NEVER. The most is 6 lbs a month for me. I often wonder how other people are losing 2 lbs a week but as long as I'm losing I'm happy.

SilverRose89

4legsRbetterthan2 wrote: »

A few thoughts:

make sure you check the 1200 calculation, MFP bottoms out there (even if that does not create the deficit to actually give you a 2lb/week loss) so if you are going to eat at that goal it might not acutally be a 2lb per week loss, just so you have accurate expectations.

My rule is do what works for you. I am happy at the 1/lb per week loss rate, some weeks i get up to 1.5, but I have a tough time being happy at 2 lbs/week. (I am about 10 lbs heavier than you right now and have a similar goal weight). I definitely want to reach my goal eventually, but you know in the mean time I am working full time, taking masters courses, and trying to improve my fitness level, so I also need to make sure I take care of myself to succeed in all that. Weight loss is a thing for me, but its not EVERYTHING to me. Just another way to look at it....

Ah thank you for that!

I just double checked what MFP says if I set it to 2lbs a week and it says 1200 per day for a loss of 1.7lbs a week. So, actually, for 2lbs it would need to be even lower. Which to me right now would be completely unrealistic.


My thoughts on whether I'm happy with this rate of loss change on a daily basis to be honest. Some days I think it's great I've lost this weight and other days I beat myself up because last year I lost 17lbs but put it back on so had to start again. Everytime I see a loss my brain says "yeah but it doesn't count because you're only losing again what you already lost before" (I know, I know, stupid brain.).

But yeah, I am happy on these calories and eating back some exercise calories too. It's working well for me, so I don't plan on changing it.

RaspberryTickleChicken

From all the long term maintainers I have spoken with (and my own experience) the whole 2 lbs per wk will not be an issue the closer you get to your goal.

In the first month I lost 10 lbs right off the bat, then it settled to be more like 1-2ish per.

It will naturally & gradually slow down ... sometimes to a crawl the closer to goal. It is not uncommon to lose FRACTIONS of a lb the last few weeks to goal.

Why? Because you have less weight to lose at that point so I don't think this is something to fret over or be too overly concerned.

This is also something that I never paid attention to, as long as I had progress I was a pretty happy camper.

Best of luck to you!

4legsRbetterthan2

Ah thank you for that!

I just double checked what MFP says if I set it to 2lbs a week and it says 1200 per day for a loss of 1.7lbs a week. So, actually, for 2lbs it would need to be even lower. Which to me right now would be completely unrealistic.


My thoughts on whether I'm happy with this rate of loss change on a daily basis to be honest. Some days I think it's great I've lost this weight and other days I beat myself up because last year I lost 17lbs but put it back on so had to start again. Everytime I see a loss my brain says "yeah but it doesn't count because you're only losing again what you already lost before" (I know, I know, stupid brain.).

But yeah, I am happy on these calories and eating back some exercise calories too. It's working well for me, so I don't plan on changing it.

It happens. I regained a couple lbs over my break and am having to relose them. I got super slopy and lazy and I know it. The good news is I learned alot the last time around so got right back into it. My first round of this it took me months to even learn how to eat right and lose at all, so thats something....

Just try to focus on the here and now, you can't change what you did but you can change what you are doing.

Ysmir

SideSteel wrote: »

1) Am I losing weight somewhat regularly over time?
2) Am I forming good habits around food and exercise that I can adhere to for a very long time or does this feel like a stressful diet that will one day be "over"?
3) Do I have enough energy to function and to perform adequately in the gym?

^ This stuff is important. It's WAAAAAY more important than whether or not you are losing .5 lbs per week or 2lbs per week.

^ Well said.

There comes a time in everyone's life when they have to face up to the fact: If you can't live with your plan, then your plan will fail. It doesn't really matter how many pounds a week you lose, only that you are getting healthier, and stronger. Be smart about it, and fuel your body with an eye toward sustainability.

Saltfae

Its definatly easier to lose weight when you have more of it. Your body want to keep the extra weight so it going to fight you. Take any win you can and theres no need yo compair yourself with others.

SilverRose89

SideSteel wrote: »

A very very general guideline that certainly has exceptions, would be .5 to 1% change in bodyweight per week.

But that's really a secondary question.

The primary question is:

What do I have to do with my training and diet in order to sustain a 2lb/week weight loss?

Followed by:

Can I adhere to that?


For most people the answer is that you have to bring calories really low and bring activity up quite a bit and it's an awful scenario that you won't adhere to.


Also, I would challenge your claim that you see lots of people losing 2/week who have less to lose than you do. That's quite rare if you are referring to steady, weekly losses. I'd also like to see how those people are doing weeks or months from now.


Here's are some great questions I think you should ask yourself right now:

1) Am I losing weight somewhat regularly over time?
2) Am I forming good habits around food and exercise that I can adhere to for a very long time or does this feel like a stressful diet that will one day be "over"?
3) Do I have enough energy to function and to perform adequately in the gym?

^ This stuff is important. It's WAAAAAY more important than whether or not you are losing .5 lbs per week or 2lbs per week.

Sorry I missed this post. Very well said, thank you.

And while I know I certainly have seen people with less than me to lose, lose 2lb a week you are quite correct that I have no idea if it's steady and how they will be doing months from now.

I can answer yes to those three questions (and a definite 'no' to does it feel stressful and something I hope one day will be over). Which I'm really glad I asked myself.

Thanks :flowerforyou:

(I really do love this forum)

maillemaker

I never hit 2 pounds a week, despite having MFP set to that goal. Most likely due to inaccurate logging, I guess. Over a 6 month period of 30 pound weight loss I averaged 1.2 pounds per week on my best run so far.

WalkingAlong

Most authorities would say AIMING for 2 lbs/week is fine, and achieving anything from .5-2 lbs. (or 1% of your body weight, if more) is considered safe, conservative weight loss.

yopeeps025

Here is a great guideline for setting weekly weight loss goals:
If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

StaciMarie1974

It depends, and is really based in math & science...

A smaller body burns less calories for BMR, daily activity and exercise. When you burn less, it becomes harder to have a 1000 calorie per day deficit. When a particular person reaches that point will depend on their stats (men burn more than women, youth burns more than aged) as well as their lifestyle. If you're on your feet for your job & moving all day, you're more active and burning more than if you're sitting at a desk for 8-10 hours a day. And then it also depends on what time you have to invest in exercise, what you do in that time, how hard you work out.

For mathematical examples...
Comparing weight of 190 to 170
BMR 1677 vs 1589 daily <---based on your stated height/weight and your profile says your age is 25, you're female
Sedentary activity 335 vs 318 daily
Running an hour a day at 6mph 675 vs 600 daily*

Total burned per day 2687 vs 2507 or about 180/day less at 170 vs 190

If you're not able to work out long enough, hard enough to burn that many calories thru exercise if would be hard to have a 2 pound a week goal now, let alone in 20 pounds. Sometimes being a girl has a downside - men burn more. My husband (who is working to lose ~60 pounds) could have a lazy day with no intentional exercise and burn almost as much as I did (I'm in maintenance, weighing ~125) on a day I ran a 1/2 marathon. No joke!

For the running, I used a calculator at Runningworld.com then took about 75% of that as the values given were VERY high. Used running as its more intense than walking, but of course I have no idea what your fitness level is. And its not actually realistic to run 7 days a week. But it was good for a numerical comparison. You can adjust as need be to suit you.

SilverRose89 wrote: »

Sorry, I'm rambling now and not sure I'm particularly explaining myself well. So TL;DR - At what point does a 2lb loss a week become too much? I see people saying it's 'as you become closer to your goal'. Does 30lbs away count as close to my goal? As it doesn't feel it! But I realise often people have way more to lose than me, so maybe I am just losing sight of that.

brightsideofpink

SideSteel wrote: »

A very very general guideline that certainly has exceptions, would be .5 to 1% change in bodyweight per week.

But that's really a secondary question.

The primary question is:

What do I have to do with my training and diet in order to sustain a 2lb/week weight loss?

Followed by:

Can I adhere to that?


For most people the answer is that you have to bring calories really low and bring activity up quite a bit and it's an awful scenario that you won't adhere to.

Here's are some great questions I think you should ask yourself right now:

1) Am I losing weight somewhat regularly over time?
2) Am I forming good habits around food and exercise that I can adhere to for a very long time or does this feel like a stressful diet that will one day be "over"?
3) Do I have enough energy to function and to perform adequately in the gym?

^ This stuff is important. It's WAAAAAY more important than whether or not you are losing .5 lbs per week or 2lbs per week.

I love this response and it can't be overstated.

Personally, I started out 10 months ago aiming for 2lbs/week. It fit into my day well and it was sustainable. I had a lot to lose and so my body burned calories quicker than many people even at a sedentary level. As I lost weight, that 'bonus' went away. In order to continue to lose at 2 lbs, I would have had to cut calories or exercise more than I already was. That wouldn't have been realistic or sustainable to me. So I've come to a place of peace losing closer to .5-1 lb/week.

I have also started to spend more time with weights. As I've done that, I've noticed the scale has become less important. Yes, I still want to lose weight, and as long as the trend is downward, I'm happy, but I'm more than okay now sacrificing calorie-burning cardio for strength building.

ninerbuff

1% of one's body weight is realistic. So if you're under 200lbs., 2lbs a week starts to become more and more challenging.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

dopeysmelly

SideSteel wrote: »

A very very general guideline that certainly has exceptions, would be .5 to 1% change in bodyweight per week.

But that's really a secondary question.

The primary question is:

What do I have to do with my training and diet in order to sustain a 2lb/week weight loss?

Followed by:

Can I adhere to that?


For most people the answer is that you have to bring calories really low and bring activity up quite a bit and it's an awful scenario that you won't adhere to.


Also, I would challenge your claim that you see lots of people losing 2/week who have less to lose than you do. That's quite rare if you are referring to steady, weekly losses. I'd also like to see how those people are doing weeks or months from now.


Here's are some great questions I think you should ask yourself right now:

1) Am I losing weight somewhat regularly over time?
2) Am I forming good habits around food and exercise that I can adhere to for a very long time or does this feel like a stressful diet that will one day be "over"?
3) Do I have enough energy to function and to perform adequately in the gym?

^ This stuff is important. It's WAAAAAY more important than whether or not you are losing .5 lbs per week or 2lbs per week.

I agree with this. I ignored the lbs/week thing and focused on % bodyweight per week, mainly because that 2lbs/week feels and looks and has a different impact on a body that is 6'2" and one is 5'2" (that's me!) and it sounded illogical to me. Also, it really does mean that you are focusing on what is right for YOU and not for anyone else.

For myself, I lost pounds very quickly to start with, then deliberately started slowing things down progressively, but I lost at a rate of about 1-1.3% bodyweight/week for the first 8 months and then it slowed to about 0.5% until I approached my target. Maybe it was a bit quick to start with, but it worked for me and I was OK with it.

HeySwoleSister

SilverRose89 wrote: »

4legsRbetterthan2 wrote: »

A few thoughts:

make sure you check the 1200 calculation, MFP bottoms out there (even if that does not create the deficit to actually give you a 2lb/week loss) so if you are going to eat at that goal it might not acutally be a 2lb per week loss, just so you have accurate expectations.

My rule is do what works for you. I am happy at the 1/lb per week loss rate, some weeks i get up to 1.5, but I have a tough time being happy at 2 lbs/week. (I am about 10 lbs heavier than you right now and have a similar goal weight). I definitely want to reach my goal eventually, but you know in the mean time I am working full time, taking masters courses, and trying to improve my fitness level, so I also need to make sure I take care of myself to succeed in all that. Weight loss is a thing for me, but its not EVERYTHING to me. Just another way to look at it....

Ah thank you for that!

I just double checked what MFP says if I set it to 2lbs a week and it says 1200 per day for a loss of 1.7lbs a week. So, actually, for 2lbs it would need to be even lower. Which to me right now would be completely unrealistic.


My thoughts on whether I'm happy with this rate of loss change on a daily basis to be honest. Some days I think it's great I've lost this weight and other days I beat myself up because last year I lost 17lbs but put it back on so had to start again. Everytime I see a loss my brain says "yeah but it doesn't count because you're only losing again what you already lost before" (I know, I know, stupid brain.).

But yeah, I am happy on these calories and eating back some exercise calories too. It's working well for me, so I don't plan on changing it.

It looks like you are losing and getting fit at a rate that is sustainable for you, and will ultimately carry over into maintenance. Don't mess with success!

sofaking6

I feel the same way, seeing people my same size losing weight 2 or 3 times as fast as I am makes me feel like a lazy pig. But I have tried cutting calories that much (for me to lose that much I have to keep it under 1000/day) and it SUCKED for me. Maybe others don't get as hungry, maybe they are able to do 90-120 minutes of exercise per day without feeling awful, but that's just not me. So I need to do what I *can* do - following my attainable calorie goals and continually improving my fitness - and trust that the outcome will be what I want.