.5 lbs or 1 lb/week?

zealousanemone

So I've been doing the weight loss thing for probably a year and a half now. I lost about 20 lbs last year using SparkPeople, then stalled out at 150-155 for a long time (in part because I stopped really trying to lose.) I just got back on the wagon and am committed to losing more. I'd like to get down to 145. I've been 135 in the past, but I don't need to get there necessarily.

Anyway. I'm in a normal weight range for my height, so these are vanity pounds I guess, not medically "necessary." I've gone down about 5-6 lbs in the last month or so I've been trying to lose weight, so now I'm at 147-149ish, depending on the day. FYI I'm a 33 year old woman.

I have MFP set to lose 1 lb a week and sedentary. I stand all day at work as a librarian (7-8 hrs,) and walk everywhere, but when I'm at home, I'm mostly just sitting around playing video games, reading, or writing. I did a pedometer for about a week as a test, and I walk between 5,000 and 8,000 steps a day, typically. One day a week I do a pretty intense hike and I get a lot more exercise that day (but also eat back most of the calories burned.) At my weight/height/age, I am allotted 1260 calories a day. I stick pretty close to this on most days, although it is hard.

Anyway, I have been losing, but I've read some places on here that as you get closer to your goal weight, you should go down to .5 lbs/week loss. Why is this, and am I in a position where I should be doing that? I don't really have a specific time limit on getting down to 145. I just want to be able to make the weight loss stick.

Suggestions?

galgenstrick

For me 0.5lb/week is too slow. A lot of people will disagree, but I always shoot for 1lb/week minimum. The reason is there is no reason to drag on weight loss that long. If your diet is in check and you're doing some cardio 3x a week, and proper weight lifting 3-5x per week, you will have virtually no muscle loss at 1-2lb fat loss per week and getting that activity in is going to give you plenty of calories to feel satiated.

That said, if you're not active, and trying to lose weight only through your diet, then 0.5lbs/week is probably a good target. But I don't think anyone would recommend losing weight without some form of physical activity. at the minimum, resistance training should be required in any weight loss program.

zealousanemone

Oh you reminded me - I do some weight lifting/bodyweight exercises 3-4x a week at home. (planks, wall sitting, squats, kettlebell swing, etc.) I don't know how much of a difference it makes, but I have noticed myself getting stronger, so that's nice!

TimothyFish

The concept originated with an answer someone made to a Yahoo Answers question a few years ago. It has been much repeated on here ever since, but it has no basis in any known research. Unless you weigh less than a hundred pounds or have a very low BF%, there's no reason to limit yourself to less than one pound.

galgenstrick

zealousanemone wrote: »

Oh you reminded me - I do some weight lifting/bodyweight exercises 3-4x a week at home. (planks, wall sitting, squats, kettlebell swing, etc.) I don't know how much of a difference it makes, but I have noticed myself getting stronger, so that's nice!

for resistance training, body weight exercises are fine, but you need to focus on getting better -- progressive tension overload. That means holding a plank longer every workout, more weight on the kettlebells etc. That's going to be the best way to maintain or build muscle. And of course, to add to that, you need adequate protein intake every day. very generally, 0.8-1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day.

galgenstrick

TimothyFish wrote: »

The concept originated with an answer someone made to a Yahoo Answers question a few years ago. It has been much repeated on here ever since, but it has no basis in any known research. Unless you weigh less than a hundred pounds or have a very low BF%, there's no reason to limit yourself to less than one pound.

did it really? I actually didn't know where that came from, but I always see people saying something like "the last 10-15 pounds should be lost at 0.5lbs/week", that's like a 5-8 month cut for the last 10 pounds and sounds completely unnecessary to me, especially if you're doing a bulk/cut type program, you want to spend as much time as possible in the bulking phase while staying under 15% BF. So cutting for 8 months and bulking for only 5 or 6 just wouldn't be effective.

mommarnurse

I think at your lower weight, a 1/2 lb a week loss seems pretty decent.

afatpersonwholikesfood

I would rather lose more slowly and be able to eat a bit more. It's up to you what you would prefer.

SlimBride2Be

You've got 2lb to lose- no harm in taking a month over it. Will make the transition into maintainace easier.

Sued0nim

I think

It's not a race and if you're in no great rush then losing at 0.5lbs a week actually puts you in a better position for maintenance because really it's a minor tweak to the diet you will have for the rest of your life and that's a good learning curve (diet=food and drink intake).. So cutting 250 calories a day or similar is a good approach...and also makes fuelling those workouts better

But if you wanted to lose more it wouldn't matter unduly, you may lose slightly more LBM as you drop weight than you would at a slower rate