Losing but not quite sure how it works.

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sarahredhaira
sarahredhaira Posts: 79 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been using mfp since October, and it's working brilliantly. My aim is to lose 1.5lb per week. Loss was faster initially, as expected. Still a long way to go, but at what point should I change the 1.5lb, and why do I need to change it? Not sure I understand why it doesn't stay set at the same until I reach my goal. (No idea what my goal is either, or what I do when I get there!). I've a fair way to go yet, but I would like to understand it a little better. Apologies if it's pretty obvious!

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  • Maxematics
    Maxematics Posts: 2,287 Member
    edited January 2016
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    When you notice the deficit is hard to sustain is what did it for me. I started at 139 pounds and, for me, losing at a rate of two pounds per week was easy though the recommendation was one pound per week for my size. Once I hit 120 after two and a half months, I noticed I was getting hungrier and I found it to be odd. I also had trouble sleeping at night. I increased my calories and everything fell into place. Now I'm going for a final goal of 110 pounds after taking a maintenance break for a while. I'm 113.6 right now. A 250 daily deficit is all I aim for. Some days I can eat less, some days I can't. That's how I know I'm almost at my end.
  • smh3276
    smh3276 Posts: 3 Member
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    Ok, I am going to give it a go, although there are people much more knowledgeable than me here that might need to correct me.

    The more you weigh, the more calories you burn through normal activity. This makes sense because you have to carry more weight around. So at the beginning, it is easier to achieve the 750calories/day deficit that give you 1.5lb loss/week.

    As you lose the weight, to maintain that 750 deficit you have to eat less calories, and it might get difficult to maintain or unhealthy. For example, MFP will never suggest going below 1200 calories/day, so if you do not burn 1950 calories a day you cannot get the required calorie deficit.

    How low in calorie intake you can go is something that is not constant, it depends on the person and you might need to experiment a little. For example, I do not feel comfortable and sure that I get all of the nutrients I need at less than 1400/day, so I work with smaller calorie deficits, even if it means that I will lose weight more slowly.

    Hope I helped!

  • erinc5
    erinc5 Posts: 329 Member
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    People change their goal based on how much they have left to lose. The closer you get to your goal weight or healthy BMI, then the harder it is to eat at such a high deficit.

    For example. Right now, I am set to 1 lb per week. I am 5'7" and about 174 lbs. So, I eat right under 1450 for a 500 cal/day deficit. Once I get down to around 145, then a 500 calorie deficit will be about 1300 calories, which is still manageable, but I could choose to eat more and lose a bit slower. However, if I was 145 and wanted to reach 135 with a 2 lb per week deficit that would be 1000 calorie deficit per day, so I would only be allowed about 800 calories per day at that rate. I would not be happy with that!
  • srecupid
    srecupid Posts: 660 Member
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    sarahredhaira wrote: »
    I've been using mfp since October, and it's working brilliantly. My aim is to lose 1.5lb per week. Loss was faster initially, as expected. Still a long way to go, but at what point should I change the 1.5lb, and why do I need to change it? Not sure I understand why it doesn't stay set at the same until I reach my goal. (No idea what my goal is either, or what I do when I get there!). I've a fair way to go yet, but I would like to understand it a little better. Apologies if it's pretty obvious!

    You don't need to change it as long as it's sustainable for you. The 1.5lbs is the target you are aiming to lose per week. MFP uses that number to calculate how many calories you should eat

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