Setting deficit with less to lose.

envbj77

I have about 3-4 lbs to m goal and its been a really slow process. Over the past week I began incorporating exercise into my routine burning up to 400 calories. Over the past month my fitbit has shown me I burn anywhere from 2000-2400 calories a day.

If I go with the lower end my tdee would be 2000, my question is do I stay with a deficit of 500 per day to lose 1 lb a week and consume 1500 calories or go with a half lb a week with a smaller deficit and consume about 1700 calories a day.

I've read it's better to aim for a half lb loss per week when you're close to goal. I'm trying to understand why.

misscharleygirl

I asked a similar question yesterday, but I think it fell off the radar and I didn't get an answer. I'll be eager to hear what everyone has to say.

herblackwings39

I'd suggest .5 lb a week. With 3 or 4 lbs setting it for a higher loss probably isn't realistic. You could probably even gradually increase from where you are now toward your TDEE in preparation for maintenance so you don't have a 300-500 calorie jump later.

schmanarchy

Most of the time weight loss goals are a little over ambitious and the last 5 lbs are just so tough because your body mass is getting pretty low and your body needs fewer calories to operate efficiently. It seems though that you have that figured out and that you are tracking your calories/day pretty well.

The main reason people advise against drastic calorie deficits when approaching goal weight is purely nutritional. A woman of average height and build requires around 1200 calories/day to meet her nutritional needs. This number will vary depending on your height and frame. So if cutting 500 cal (1 lb per week) will put you under 1200, then don't do it! But In your case this isn't an issue.

At this point it just comes down to basic thermodynamics and biology: if your calories in are lower than your calories out then you WILL lose weight. If you feel up to the challenge, knock off 500/day for a week and see how things go. If you can handle that then stick with it 'til you hit your goal. If not, bump up the calories but keep a deficit going and it will just take a little bit longer, but YOU WILL GET THERE. Good luck!

Crazy4Healthy

I personally think you should go to .5 a week. Trying to lose 1 lbs a week with only 3-4 lbs to go is a lot to ask of your body. I also agree with another poster that it will be much easier as you get to maintenance to not be adding back 400-500 calories a day all at once. Gradually increase it now until you are at the .5 mark. If you know your TDEE, you can manually enter your goal cals so you don't have to go precisely .5 a week. You could slow increase by say 100 cals a day until you get to the .5 mark. Also be sure to eat back those exercise cals, your body needs them and will also help to preserve your muscle. Be sure to get enough protein as well.

fluffykitsune

I think before losing those last few lb, eat a week or two at maintenance and then aim for .5lb loss. I know you want to get it off already, but this is also the time you need to reassure and coax your body to drop the weight.

1ConcreteGirl

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watfordjc

I've never been close to my goal weight (155 lb) so can't really offer advice based on experience.

When I get to 176 lb (my previous lightest weight) I will continue what I'm doing to try and get to 155 lb. I expect to reach a point where I stall, and the following are a list of things I intend to try (one by one to see which is effective for me) to get my body fat lower:

* Double-checking food logging and being religious in weighing food and drink.
* A smaller calorie deficit.
* A maintenance day/weekend/week.
* Calorie cycling.
* Carb cycling.
* Meal timing.
* Different macro-nutrient ratios.
* Increased cardio, double cardio, fasted cardio, more intense cardio, and HIIT.
* Less cardio and more weight training.
* Calorie surplus and increasing lean mass before switching back to trying to cut the rest of the fat.

If you aren't already being really strict in weighing everything, I'd stick with 1 lb a week and double-check calorie consumption first assuming you feel OK doing that and aren't nutrient deprived. It might be worth trying "advanced" fat loss techniques, but you have recently added exercise so I personally would wait to see the results from that (1-4 weeks, bearing in mind an increase in activity may lead to muscles retaining some water) before changing something else like calorie deficit so you know for sure which it was that helped (it could be both combined give you better results, but a bit of trial-and-error and patience will make things easier later if you are ever in a similar situation).

A smaller deficit makes it easier to switch to maintenance. If you have been restricting calories for a while your body may have adapted and your TDEE might be less than expected making maintenance calories a calorie surplus until your body adapts again. I have no science to back me up, but would assume a larger deficit switching to maintenance (and possibly back to deficit for a bit to shift any unexpected gains) and a smaller deficit switching to maintenance would have a similar effect in terms of how long it takes, but I haven't been there yet and if the former works for me I might not even try the latter (although I have been reducing my deficit as I have lost weight, I will continue to aim for a loss of 1% of my body weight per week until I feel it is no longer working and have checked everything else that might account for it).