Deficit for those last pounds?

determined_14

I've been losing at about a pound a week, even though I only had ten to fifteen pounds to lose as of February. I figured if it's not broke, don't fix it, but then I saw someone on here make reference to choosing a smaller deficit for those last pounds in order to maintain as much muscle mass as possible. Is that true? Will a bigger deficit (500 cals) result in me losing more muscle than, say, 250cals? I work hard for this muscle and I want to keep it!

determined_14

Nobody has any insight into this???

TavistockToad

a deficit of 250 cals for the last few pounds is better. plus if you can eat more, why not?

determined_14

Everyone says "it's better," and I assumed they just meant "more sustainable." Until that comment about better for maintaining muscle mass. So I wondered if anyone had some info or a source for that. I haven't felt deprived on the bigger deficit, but I did lower it yesterday because you're right: eating more is wonderful!

ana3067

0.5-1lb week max. I'm somewhere in that range right now, since I fluctuated up last month I'm not sure if my recent quick weight loss is just due to losing extra water weigh or if it means my deficit is a bit too large. But this is a comfortable range and minimizes lean body mass loss.

wathjo1

I don't, but i'd be interested in the responses. Good luck!

determined_14

ana3067 wrote: »

0.5-1lb week max. I'm somewhere in that range right now, since I fluctuated up last month I'm not sure if my recent quick weight loss is just due to losing extra water weigh or if it means my deficit is a bit too large. But this is a comfortable range and minimizes lean body mass loss.

Right, as I said, I had been doing 1lb/week. Everything was going fine (i.e., I was losing the weight). I knew that everyone one says, "Smaller is better on the last pounds!" but nobody says WHY. Then I saw the thing about lean muscle mass, and I was all, "I don't want to lose any more muscle than I have to!" But is this actually a measured thing? Are there sources or at least an explanation why, if I'm eating protein and strength training (I do), I would lose more muscle mass on the 500cal deficit for the last 5-10lbs?

BenjaminMFP88

The basics? The less bad energy storage you body has readily available, the more it has to pull from good energy storage. The concept behind lowering the deficit the closer one gets to their goals is predicated on discouraging the body from using good energy storage.

mburgess458

I think it also depends on what you mean by "the last 5-10 lbs". For example, if your goal is to be completely shredded with veins popping out all over and abs you could grate cheese on then I'd think you would need to lower your weight loss goal when you're 5-10 lbs from that.

If your goal is a reasonable BMI (mid to upper of the healthy BMI range) and a reasonable but not super low body fat % then maybe you don't need to lower your weight loss goals yet.

Doesn't the ending point make a big difference? If you are almost out of body fat I think you'd need to be losing pretty slowly.

determined_14

Thanks for the advice. No, I'm not planning on getting shredded. I have a bit of visible abs now, but most online body calculators (which I know are unreliable!) put me in the 25-30%bf range. I'm 5'6"-ish and am loosely aiming for around 135lbs., mostly because that's where I easily maintained from when I reached full height/filled-out-ness to when I got married and promptly put on 10-15 pounds for no apparent reason. And then I had a baby. I'm about 140 now, and I feel pretty comfortable here, but I still have some fat I'd like to lose.
Anyway thanks again for the comments.

jemhh

herrspoons wrote: »

If it's working for you then keep doing what you're doing.

This. The lower deficit is often recommended but not required or necessarily advantageous. If you feel good at your current calorie level, stick with it.