Readjusting my goals

msujack

I am 5'11" and currently at 235lbs. Initially when I set up my goals (in July since returning to MFP), I weighed 247lbs. I set up to lose 2lbs per month with a goal weight of 205lbs, noting to myself that my "ideal" weight per BMI charts should be around 180lbs. It was a little aggressive per the 0.5lbs per 25lbs per week loss recommended, and I knew that heading in. I felt that by shooting for it, I wouldn't be crushed if I went over my calories in a given day as I would still lose some weight and I have.

However, realistically looking at my goals, I am thinking that I should lower the goal to 1.5lbs per week as I hope to get to under 205, but I am not sure that 180ish is something realistic for me. When I graduated H.S. (pushing 20 years ago, wow) I weighed in the low 190's and played football, swam, and ran track (lettered in all sports for multiple years). I have definitely lost a lot of fitness over the years, but I don't feel that I have lost any strength. So, now that the background is laid out, on to my question:

Is it wise to have a goal of 200lbs at a 1.5lb/week rate (will be adjusted as I get under 225 to 1lb.)? Or am I over-estimating what my "ideal" weight should really be? I definitely have a "large frame" for BMI calculators, and I just saw one that said my ideal range should be 180-200lbs.

I have done a pretty good job of tracking my calories, rarely gone over my 1570/day goal. I have a food scale now, but haven't used it much yet as I have found that I haven't needed to as strict with the food intake to that level just yet.

Any constructive criticism on adjusting my goals is welcome. I don't want to lose muscle to make the scale read smaller, rather drop the excess fat.

mantium999

The more aggressive your weight loss, the more likely you will lose more muscle than you would like. If preservation of muscle is a primary concern, I would suggest setting a 1lb per week loss target, while also making sure to eat adequate protein and doing some form of weight training.

RodaRose

1570 might be too low for you. Do heavy weights to help preserve muscle.

jemhh

Are you actually eating 1570 or netting 1570?

My initial thought (assuming you are eating 1570) is that it is an unnecessarily low calorie goal. I would definitely up it to 1820 (if you go from 2 pounds to 1.5 pounds it will add back 250 calories) and then get strict with the food scale. I think that you will be better served in the long term by practicing good weighing/measuring/logging skills now rather than waiting until you get stuck to work on them.

As for your goal weight, I would not worry about it too much right now. Pick an initial goal (205 is fine) and aim for it. When you get there, if you're happy, stay there. If you think you want to lose more, lose more. You may go to maintenance and then decide 6 months later that you want to lose more. Bottom line, you don't have to have your ultimate goal in mind right now.

jeepinshawn

Personally I'd stick with the goal of loosing 2lbs per week and continue with weight lifting to help maintain strength. In your case you could make sure to eat back your exercise calories to help ensure you don't loose ot much muscle mass.

msujack

jemhh wrote: »

Are you actually eating 1570 or netting 1570?

My initial thought (assuming you are eating 1570) is that it is an unnecessarily low calorie goal. I would definitely up it to 1820 (if you go from 2 pounds to 1.5 pounds it will add back 250 calories)

I am netting about 1570. Generally eating back half of exercise calories at the moment. The reason I looked at adjusting my goal was the low calorie total. Once I realized that I could stick with this whole thing (counting calories, tracking weight, etc) I read through a lot of the message board posts and the cals seemed pretty low and I don't want to lose a lot of muscle mass. I am fine with losing some muscle mass, but I don't have any desire to get down to a traditional mid BMI range of around 170. That just isn't how my body is naturally built. When I last weighed 215lbs, I wore 36 inch waist pants kind of loosely.

jeepinshawn

msujack wrote: »

jemhh wrote: »

Are you actually eating 1570 or netting 1570?

My initial thought (assuming you are eating 1570) is that it is an unnecessarily low calorie goal. I would definitely up it to 1820 (if you go from 2 pounds to 1.5 pounds it will add back 250 calories)

I am netting about 1570. Generally eating back half of exercise calories at the moment. The reason I looked at adjusting my goal was the low calorie total. Once I realized that I could stick with this whole thing (counting calories, tracking weight, etc) I read through a lot of the message board posts and the cals seemed pretty low and I don't want to lose a lot of muscle mass. I am fine with losing some muscle mass, but I don't have any desire to get down to a traditional mid BMI range of around 170. That just isn't how my body is naturally built. When I last weighed 215lbs, I wore 36 inch waist pants kind of loosely.

I'm 5'10" and currently about 199lbs, down from 269, I have mine set-up for sedentary and 2lbs per week weight loss, it recommends 1300 calories per day,I usually earn about 700-1000 exercise calories per day, but still am doing fine at only eating an actual 1200-1500 calories...I sound similar to you in that I have broad shoulders and back, generally large framed, and I don't feel as if I am loosing any muscle mass...I still have a good 25 pounds of pure fat to loose so I'm just guessing the body is consuming the fat first because it is easier.

jemhh

msujack wrote: »

jemhh wrote: »

Are you actually eating 1570 or netting 1570?

My initial thought (assuming you are eating 1570) is that it is an unnecessarily low calorie goal. I would definitely up it to 1820 (if you go from 2 pounds to 1.5 pounds it will add back 250 calories)

I am netting about 1570. Generally eating back half of exercise calories at the moment. The reason I looked at adjusting my goal was the low calorie total. Once I realized that I could stick with this whole thing (counting calories, tracking weight, etc) I read through a lot of the message board posts and the cals seemed pretty low and I don't want to lose a lot of muscle mass. I am fine with losing some muscle mass, but I don't have any desire to get down to a traditional mid BMI range of around 170. That just isn't how my body is naturally built. When I last weighed 215lbs, I wore 36 inch waist pants kind of loosely.

Ok. I still think I'd go ahead and change it to 1.5 instead of 2. I'm looking at it based on my own experience, which was as a 38 yo woman last year during the majority of my loss. I averaged something like 1750-1850 calories eaten and exercised (either an hour of weights or 30-45 minutes walking/running) 6 days a week. I feel like a man at the same age but a bit taller/heavier should be able to eat more than I did. So I would slow it down a bit. You're going to lose some muscle mass, because losing fat without losing any muscle whatsoever is extremely difficult (I'm not sure that it's even possible) but you're not going to get to your goal and look gaunt or weak or anything like that. You seem to have a good mindset about it. Good luck!