Learning a lot here! A lot of people say that they start to slow down with weight loss when they get

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MrsKila
MrsKila Posts: 320 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
A person could be the same shape and size, height and weight, and have two separate numbers for Goal Weight. What does it mean that your body starts to slow down with weight loss as if it knows what the goal number is for you? Hope this makes sense as a question.

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  • LazSommer
    LazSommer Posts: 1,851 Member
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    It means that you are eating closer to maintenance.
  • MrsKila
    MrsKila Posts: 320 Member
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    LazSommer wrote: »
    It means that you are eating closer to maintenance.

    That's definitely understandable. I understand that completely. My thing is one person gold weight can be 30 to 40 pounds away from another person's goal weight that weigh exactly the same amount. So really does that statement even make any sense?
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    What?

    I'm sorry I don't understand the question

    Is it why slow down weight loss as you near goal ? It's not a steadfast rule ..there's a rule of thumb that 1% weight loss a week is best due to maximising fat loss in any lb of weight loss ...more fat to lose quicker it comes off ..you want to minimise muscle loss

    For me I slowed so the leap to maintenance wasn't as hard cos to be honest losing weight is easy compared to maintenance
  • MrsKila
    MrsKila Posts: 320 Member
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    Sued0nim wrote: »
    What?

    I'm sorry I don't understand the question

    Is it why slow down weight loss as you near goal ? It's not a steadfast rule ..there's a rule of thumb that 1% weight loss a week is best due to maximising fat loss in any lb of weight loss ...more fat to lose quicker it comes off ..you want to minimise muscle loss

    For me I slowed so the leap to maintenance wasn't as hard cos to be honest losing weight is easy compared to maintenance

    I'm not sure if this answered my question or not. But thank you for taking the time to respond. I'm just reading a lot and I see all the time that people say I slow down my weight loss because I was close to the goal. It doesn't make sense to me because I see some people who weigh the same exact amount, but their goals are two different goals so why would the person whose goal is to weigh more than the other person start to slow down so early. And a lot of people say it's because they're hitting their goal weight. It just doesn't make sense to me but it probably will never make sense. Thank you
  • Mouse_Potato
    Mouse_Potato Posts: 1,495 Member
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    They may be deliberately slowing down. The general rule of thumb here is the last 10 or so pounds should be taken off at half a pound per week. So, the person may have reduced his or her deficit to 250 a day. The fact that they feel their goal weight is 20 or so pounds higher than another person is irrelevant.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
    edited August 2016
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    Well, a lot of people have goal weights that are healthy weights... not overweight. It is harder to have a big deficit the closer you are to a healthy weight so your weight loss slows down. If you start out 50+ lbs overweight you can lose more weight faster. You get a lot more calories to work with. You don't have to be quite as accurate. When you are down to 20 lbs or less overweight you have to eat a lot less or exercise a lot more to get the same rate of loss. You might be down to the minimum recommended calories already. For most people restricting more than that isn't sustainable or healthy so .5 lbs a week is recommended instead of 2 lbs per week.
    Different people have different comfort levels too.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
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    The leaner you get, the more difficult it is to continue to lose fat. Which is why we all don't walk around with 6 packs. This statement about slowing down the closer you get is based on that premise and that everyone chooses a reasonable goal. Some overshoot, some undershoot & the statement loses its relevance to a degree. The less you have to lose, the smaller the deficit.
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
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    I personally see the benefit as easing into maintenance. Plus, the less fat you have the harder it is to lose IMO.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    MrsKila wrote: »
    LazSommer wrote: »
    It means that you are eating closer to maintenance.

    That's definitely understandable. I understand that completely. My thing is one person gold weight can be 30 to 40 pounds away from another person's goal weight that weigh exactly the same amount. So really does that statement even make any sense?
    Height and weight are only PART of the equation. Gender, age, body fat, activity level, genetics etc all play into a person's maintenance calorie needs. Your weight loss slows down because you're easing into maintenance. Your maintenance calorie level will be different than others'.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    You slow down near goal for a number of reasons:

    (1) Your maintenance is less than it was when you were heavier, so unless you reduce calories your deficit is lower. Many people don't like to cut calories too far, especially when near goal (as the risk of losing muscle mass is higher and you might as well ease into eating at maintenance).

    (2) You actually are pretty lean and it's harder to lose then (this might not be the case if your goal is at the top of the BMI or above it, for example, so it depends on the person).

    (3) You are at a point where your maintenance calories are quite low (this is more the case for someone with a lower goal weight and who is smaller and will likely not be an issue for a 6'2 guy even close to goal).

    (4) You have worked up to exercising a lot and find a higher deficit tough to maintain.

    (5) The appetite comes back more aggressively if you reach a certain level of leanness or have been dieting for a while or you are suffering from diet fatigue.

    I'm sure there are more -- those come to mind for me.

    I agree that there's nothing magic about calling a number your goal that makes you slow down other than mental factors. But the general rule of thumb here assumes the goal weight will be one at which you were reasonably lean. And it's still not true for everyone.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    rybo wrote: »
    The leaner you get, the more difficult it is to continue to lose fat. Which is why we all don't walk around with 6 packs. This statement about slowing down the closer you get is based on that premise and that everyone chooses a reasonable goal. Some overshoot, some undershoot & the statement loses its relevance to a degree. The less you have to lose, the smaller the deficit.

    Pretty much this...

    Also, many people deliberately slow down their weight loss to make the transition to maintenance easier.
  • MrsKila
    MrsKila Posts: 320 Member
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    Thank you all!!

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