250 calorie deficit

bunnyluv19

Hi,I'm a few pounds from my goal weight and currently working towards maintenance.I've added back 300 calories(50-100 per week) so far.Looking for anyone who has maintained a 250 deficit to lose more slowly close to goal give any advice for success and/or share your experience. thanks

bioklutz

It makes a lot of sense to slowly lose the last few pounds. It will be easier to adhere to your calories. You will have more energy and be less cranky. It should also make transitioning into maintenance a lot easier.

RoxieDawn

skinnygirl4u wrote: »

Hi,I'm a few pounds from my goal weight and currently working towards maintenance.I've added back 300 calories(50-100 per week) so far.Looking for anyone who has maintained a 250 deficit to lose more slowly close to goal give any advice for success and/or share your experience. thanks

Yep.. that's what I do when I lose weight. Its slow, not painful at all as long as you keep your expectations in order. I use a weight trending app, fluctuations are gonna make you think you are not losing any fat when in deed you are.

llbrixon

Toward the end I switched to losing 1/2 pound each week. At times I would lose more weight.

sijomial

I will always take the option that results in eating more food!

A soft landing to maintenance at goal weight makes perfect sense to me. Made the transition to maintenance very easy for me. From some of the posts in this forum quite a few people who lose rapidly all the way to goal seem a little lost and anxious at "suddenly" having to make a big step.

bunnyluv19

Thank-you, for all your replies

amyk0202

When I switched to maintenance, I added 100 calories a day & bumped it up every couple weeks. I ended up losing more than I intended to because my maintenance # seems to be higher this time than it was a couple years ago.

nowine4me

I'm curious how you know what your actual deficit is when using the MFP tool as designed? In other words, if I'm 150# female 5-7" set to lose .5 pound per week with a goal of 130, what is MFP assigning as my deficit?

cmriverside

nowine4me wrote: »

I'm curious how you know what your actual deficit is when using the MFP tool as designed? In other words, if I'm 150# female 5-7" set to lose .5 pound per week with a goal of 130, what is MFP assigning as my deficit?

Somewhere around 250-300. Since we all have slightly different lifestyles, ages, exercise levels, muscle mass - keep good records for a couple months and it will become clear if you are set at a good number.

You can also set yourself to "maintain weight" and see what it tells you.

nowine4me

@cmriverside. Thanks, I should have thought of that. Variance for me is exactly 250. Boom!

sllm1

That's what I do.

CasperNaegle

Sounds like you are spot on!!

lorrpb

250 daily = .5 lb loss per week. This is the recommended rate of loss with less than 10 lbs to lose, which is what approaching maintenance is. My loss within 5 lbs of maintenance is even less than that. I don't wish to lower my calories so I accept whatever rate of loss my body gives me. I will probably end up maintaining a few pounds higher than I initially picked, but after 147 lbs lost, who's counting?

powered85

I've been doing that for over a year now when I gain a lb or two after vacation etc. Can't go any bigger of a deficit as I get too tired and lethargic. I found the lighter I got the smaller of a deficit I could consistently keep on.

shrcpr

Yep, that is the most I can manage. Net of only 1,260 with 250 calorie deficit. It's hard because there's not much room for error.

powered85

shrcpr wrote: »

It's hard because there's not much room for error.

Exactly. That's where being honest, using a food scale and measuring in grams really helps you dial in when it's such a small room for error.

theclaw900

Running a little deficit gives you room if you go over too.

ahoy_m8

RoxieDawn wrote: »

skinnygirl4u wrote: »

Hi,I'm a few pounds from my goal weight and currently working towards maintenance.I've added back 300 calories(50-100 per week) so far.Looking for anyone who has maintained a 250 deficit to lose more slowly close to goal give any advice for success and/or share your experience. thanks

Yep.. that's what I do when I lose weight. Its slow, not painful at all as long as you keep your expectations in order. I use a weight trending app, fluctuations are gonna make you think you are not losing any fat when in deed you are.

all of this ^^^ plus tighten up the weighing/logging..... smaller deficit=smaller margin of error. It helps me to bank calories for the weekend for variety and, as @theclaw900 points out, gives you wiggle room at the end of the week when going out may make pre-logging less accurate.