When to lower weight loss goal?

mburgess458

I'm sure this has been discussed a lot before but I couldn't find anything through searching so I must be using the wrong search words/phrases.

I have seen plenty of people giving guidelines for what an appropriate weekly weight loss goal is based on how much you have to lose. Do you guys lower your weekly weight loss goal as you approach your goal weight or just let your weight loss naturally trail off as you have less to lose?

For example, I started out thinking I wanted to lose 30-40 lbs. I set my weekly weight loss goal at 1 lb per week. There have been plenty of fluctuations, but I have generally lost a pound a week for 33 weeks. At this point I'm thinking another 8-13 lbs would be great. Should I go with the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" approach and stick with my pound a week goal and just not get anxious if my actual weight loss slows? Or is there a good reason to increase my calories a little bit now to go to a 0.5 lb per week goal?

I'm assuming that I will do something like a reverse diet when I reach my goal so that I increase calories very slowly to get to maintenance. Is lowering my goal to 0.5 lbs a week now simply starting that process a little earlier (or making the transition to maintenance easier later)?

RodaRose

Congratulations on your weight loss.
You can decrease to 0.5 or leave it at 1 lb. If you feel comfortable at 1 lb per week, then keep it. Either way you are losing weight.