Starvation Mode VS Ideal Weight

cecsav1

We're all pretty much in agreement that starvation mode doesn't exist. But WHY does weight loss slow when you get close to your goal weight? If it's not starvation mode (and yes, I've read the posts about starvation mode. I'm not saying it's a real thing...) then what is it? What makes those last ten pounds so hard to lose?

sunnybeaches105

Your body weight went down, right? So how does that affect your TDEE calculations? Put another way, what numbers do you input into the MFP calorie calculator?

In addition, and I can only speak for myself here, but I often find myself feeling less than motivated when I only have 10 pounds to lose. It's the difference between me looking pretty good vs having visible abs. I know I want to get the weight off so I can bulk, but I don't "need" to lose it.

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Maxematics

It's harder because it's much more difficult to achieve a deficit the less you weigh and any inaccuracies in logging can easily wipe it out. Small deficits don't lead to large losses and any losses can be masked by water weight so it appears as if no weight loss occurs.

queenliz99

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/113609/relatively-light-people-trying-to-get-leaner/p1

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shrcpr

Your TDEE lowers and that makes it harder to carry a deficit, especially if you are an older shorter woman. You have to be extremely accurate and consistent. For me, to carry a 250 calorie deficit I'm only at 1300 calories. It is very easy to wipe a whole weeks deficit out with one meal.

I find it very hard and have pretty much decided to try and maintain during the rest of the summer and try to finish once party season is over. I maintain by eating a deficit during the week so I have extra on the weekends. Still have to count and be careful to stay at or under for the week.

capaul42

synacious wrote: »

It's harder because it's much more difficult to achieve a deficit the less you weigh and any inaccuracies in logging can easily wipe it out. Small deficits don't lead to large losses and any losses can be masked by water weight so it appears as if no weight loss occurs.

This, especially if you haven't recalculated your calories in awhile. I know mine goes down about 10 calories every time I lose about 5lbs. I didn't even know I had to recalculate until 2 months in as I only use the app so I never got the notifications people receive on the website. Found out by accident so now I recalculate every 10lbs.

cecsav1

Excellent answer @queenliz99! Thank you for the link definitely makes sense to me now.

abatonfan

Because the margin of error is smaller. For instance, at 130lbs and sedentary (3000 steps a day), I would maintain my weight on about 1550 calories. If I was on bare minimum 1200 calorie daily goal, I would only have a 350 calorie deficit (and a 350 calorie margin of error between weight loss and maintenance). It's very easy to overestimate calories (eating out and not accounting for the extra oil a cook might use, a few nibbles here and there, overestimating calories burned, etc.), so weight loss naturally becomes "slower" as the calorie deficit becomes smaller. If I was at my starting weight (100lbs heavier), my TDEE would be about 2200, which would give me a 1,000 calorie deficit if I was consuming 1200 calories (and a much larger margin of error. I could be more inaccurate in my logging and still lose weight).

lithezebra

It's the magic of physics. Also, your hormones, like ghrelin, are probably trying to trick you into gaining back all that luscious fat, because winter is coming. If you stick with your eating plan, you'll lose the weight, your hormones eventually give up, and suddenly you've been maintaining for years. At least that is how it worked for me.

Machka9

As the others have indicated, you weigh less. When you weigh more, you burn more calories. When you weigh less, you burn fewer calories.

For me, that's one of the really frustrating things about losing the weight. When I started, I was very gradually gaining on a little over 2000 calories/day, and probably would have been maintaining at about 1900. Recently I've discovered that my maintenance limit is 1500 calories/day. Bah Humbug. But at least I know that.

cecsav1

Noel_57 wrote: »

A 150 pound person needs less calories than a 200 pound person. Of course weight loss will slow down the less you weigh, assuming you are keeping your calories the same. I thought everyone knew that. The last 10 or 20 can take months to drop.

Well, I know now. Sorry for asking a stupid question.

capaul42

cecsav1 wrote: »

Noel_57 wrote: »

A 150 pound person needs less calories than a 200 pound person. Of course weight loss will slow down the less you weigh, assuming you are keeping your calories the same. I thought everyone knew that. The last 10 or 20 can take months to drop.

Well, I know now. Sorry for asking a stupid question.

Not a stupid question.

queenliz99

capaul42 wrote: »

cecsav1 wrote: »

Noel_57 wrote: »

A 150 pound person needs less calories than a 200 pound person. Of course weight loss will slow down the less you weigh, assuming you are keeping your calories the same. I thought everyone knew that. The last 10 or 20 can take months to drop.

Well, I know now. Sorry for asking a stupid question.

Not a stupid question.

Only stupid answers

GMAC2016

So then in theory, if you kept the same deficit as you lowered your weight and lowered calories proportionally (assuming you either don't reach, or will accept dropping below, a theoretical lower limit) your loss rate should remain the same?

I believe the comment above about motivation probably had as much or more to do with the decline in rate of loss.

cecsav1

Okay, so how does one know when calories need to be adjusted?

queenliz99

Adjust when your weight loss slows, stops or speeds up. All the numbers from calorie intake to calorie burns are all just estimates. Just keep logging, watch your weight and tweak your numbers until you reach your goal.