? about recommended rate of loss and, uh, motivation
Replies
-
Would I like to be at goal already because FFS 3 years (not quite that long but will be by the time I'm at goal and 80lbs lost)? Sure. But now I feel like I'm completely equipped to maintain where I will eventually be. It's just a thing I do now. Part of my daily routine. So even though I have my moments of frustration I've never thrown in the towel and never had any significant regain. I can only see that as a win.
Men can typically have slightly more aggressive goals, they have higher lean mass and TDEE so the impact of faster losses will be smaller. As will hormonal changes that come from being in a deficit (women's bodies down regulate and get hormonally funkier than males). So I do think that difference needs to be acknowledged when talking about rate of loss.1 -
Losing weight really slowly is excellent preparation for maintenance. Don't underestimate the effort that goes into maintaining weight once you're at you're goal weight. I lost my weight slowly and I can assure you that losing 1/2 lb per week feels much more like what I am doing now (maintaining 137-138 lbs) than what I did before weight loss (being at 185 lbs).5
-
]Counting the calories close enough to lose only .5 pounds/week gets tedious to me, and it can take WEEKS to even see if it's working. I lose motivation before I even get started. I love being able to step on the scale every 2-3 days and see a slightly lower number each time.
I'm much the same way.0 -
FWIW, just as a clarifier... health has nothing to do with this for me. So the whole "lifestyle for the rest of my life" mentality doesn't really come into play (for me).
I’ve been mulling over this comment for a while, then reread your OP, and I think I might be seeing where some of the disconnect here is. You’re talking about an intentional bulk/cut cycle of 10-15 pounds between winter and summer, right? So you’re already at a healthy weight, you just gain some in winter then lose it going into the summer? You don’t say how tall you are, but assuming 180 is a healthy weight for you, I’m guessing you’re on the tall side of average for a man.
Assuming I’m characterizing your position correctly, it sounds a lot like maintenance with a somewhat larger range than many prefer, not what most (?) of us think of or are talking about when we talk about losing weight. When I talk about a lifestyle change, it’s not about developing the perfectly balanced nutritional eating habits, it’s about not regaining weight once I reach my maintenance range. I started this year with 73 pounds to get me to a healthy BMI. I do not want to ever be that obese again if I can avoid it, thus the “lifestyle change.” I get that weight will fluctuate, although as a short woman, gaining and losing 15 pounds every year would really be a bit much. But there really is something different about losing a large amount of weight for health, and an annual bulk/cut (especially for a larger, healthy, presumably athletic male). The “take it slow and be patient” advice doesn’t make sense for you because it’s not targeted at you.
So am I in the ballpark here, or have I not had enough caffeine yet this morning?4 -
I'm 5' 8" tall. 180lbs is definitely overweight by most measures. For me, it's basically the high end of what I can hide under my regular clothing, so it's the top of what I'll allow for myself.0
-
-
MegaMooseEsq wrote: »
To look better.0 -
MegaMooseEsq wrote: »
To look better.
Well, I guess if gaining and losing the same 15 pounds every year so you look better (presumably duing bathing suit weather) works for you, and if health truly doesn’t come into play, then I suppose I agree that slow and steady doesn’t apply here.0 -
Forever or just the season?1
-
I'm right with the OP. Honestly, I've settled into a 0.5 lb loss per week as my maintenance number with the expectation that a less strict approach to tracking will result in more or less steady state. It's been working thus far.
My perspective is likely skewed because I'm a relatively tall male and have a pretty healthy calorie base, but during my loss cycle I refused to target less than 2 pounds per week. This still gave me a pretty generous amount of calories (~1700 per day) and allowed me to get the weight loss 'over with' in a pretty efficient manner (50lbs in 6 months).
I honestly don't see how anybody can stay in loss mode for much longer than that. It's a bit of a grind and honestly, the only thing that kept me going over even the short period I was losing was the ability to see meaningful results on the scale each week (sometimes every day). Half a pound per week isn't worth the effort to me.2 -
I'm right with the OP. Honestly, I've settled into a 0.5 lb loss per week as my maintenance number with the expectation that a less strict approach to tracking will result in more or less steady state. It's been working thus far.
My perspective is likely skewed because I'm a relatively tall male and have a pretty healthy calorie base, but during my loss cycle I refused to target less than 2 pounds per week. This still gave me a pretty generous amount of calories (~1700 per day) and allowed me to get the weight loss 'over with' in a pretty efficient manner (50lbs in 6 months).
I honestly don't see how anybody can stay in loss mode for much longer than that. It's a bit of a grind and honestly, the only thing that kept me going over even the short period I was losing was the ability to see meaningful results on the scale each week (sometimes every day). Half a pound per week isn't worth the effort to me.
This is EXACTLY me.
I'm only back to regular logging/tracking now for about 3 weeks. But I set a higher calorie goal (slower loss) hoping for easier/better consistency, and I've just been maintaining. The numbers show my intake = maintenance, so it's not surprising when I get on the scale, but it's still hard mentally. I'm pretty active, so 1850 cals per day has, historically, led to 1.5-2lbs week. I'm going to ride out this slow and steady approach through the end of the month to really give it a chance, but...0 -
I find this whole discussion interesting from a sociological level, seeing the different lenses through which different users view weight loss, the intent, and consequences thereof.
For me a mindset shift was necessary when I started seriously resistance training a few years ago. Prior to that I, like many users, focused on the scale weight as my goal and sole indicator for success, getting down a little under 160lbs around our wedding. At almost 6'1' my guess is that was around 12% body fat (assumed lean mass around 140lbs). At that point in 2013, if you'd have told me I'd be "relatively happy" with the way I look at 175lbs I probably would've suggested I just decided being a little fat was ok. Scale this morning said 174.8lbs and I am far happier with my physique now than I was then having added at least 10lbs of muscle since starting to lift in 2015. That said, I don't feel like I'm done or "in maintenance"; I've shifted my thinking to be about continuously improving what the mirror shows. Technically I'm "cutting", eating under maintenance the majority of the time but weighing myself, measuring/weighing and logging food isn't a grind, it's habitual and critical data collection.5 -
MegaMooseEsq wrote: »MegaMooseEsq wrote: »
To look better.
Well, I guess if gaining and losing the same 15 pounds every year so you look better (presumably duing bathing suit weather) works for you, and if health truly doesn’t come into play, then I suppose I agree that slow and steady doesn’t apply here.
Historically, I've cut during the spring and summer for race season, in order to be lighter and faster... then bulked during the winter to try to gain strength/muscle. It was an intentional cycle based on my goals. I'm not racing much anymore, and am kind of over the bulk/cut stuff... so ultimately I'd like to get to, I dunno... 165ish and maintain/recomp for an extended period of time. I just don't want it to take me 6/8/10 months to get there.0 -
I mean...all my weight I’ve ever wanted to lose has always been vanity weight. Last time I did this two years ago I just did the all-in method and actually reaching the bare minimum of calories was rare. Dropped it all super quick and loved the results. It wasn’t the second that I stopped tracking that I gained it back, but over the course of a year of not tracking steadily I gained it all back.
But I don’t know what I was expecting putting my body through months of below 1,000 calorie nets. Of course I came back from that eventually eating a little above maintenance. And I didn’t know the difference since my stomach only knows two extremes and not the happy middle. I consider what I did two years ago to be setting myself up for inevitable failure.3 -
MegaMooseEsq wrote: »MegaMooseEsq wrote: »
To look better.
Well, I guess if gaining and losing the same 15 pounds every year so you look better (presumably duing bathing suit weather) works for you, and if health truly doesn’t come into play, then I suppose I agree that slow and steady doesn’t apply here.
Historically, I've cut during the spring and summer for race season, in order to be lighter and faster... then bulked during the winter to try to gain strength/muscle. It was an intentional cycle based on my goals. I'm not racing much anymore, and am kind of over the bulk/cut stuff... so ultimately I'd like to get to, I dunno... 165ish and maintain/recomp for an extended period of time. I just don't want it to take me 6/8/10 months to get there.
Okay, that makes sense. Well, to an extent I think it's apples and oranges. If you can lose that weight healthily (or don't care about maintaining your health while losing weight) and are confident in your ability to maintain after the weight is gone, then there's no real reason to go slow. I think a lot of us in the "slow loss" camp are concerned about both of those factors, which changes the equation.1 -
I know myself well at age 62. If something is a grind, I won't do it for even 15 minutes if I can get out if it. But that didn't incline me to an always-fast loss rate (which I think would've been achievable for me in a practical sense, BTW).
More self-knowledge: I'm hyper-analytic, enjoy data-based decision making, love learning new things (at a dilettante level, at least
), and am a bit of an empiricist/science nerd. So, in my mind, I cast weight loss as a fun science fair project for grown-ups. This worked great, for me.
Unlike OP, my main driver was health improvement. I haven't been particularly appearance motivated since the adolescent angst phase ended many decades ago. I try to keep appearance minimally respectable overall (it has social benefits), but my obese weight was pretty normal and acceptable in my social circles.
My athletic performance (as a competitive rower) was already as good as I needed it to be, as a late adopter, and someone who likes being active in multiple domains (visual arts, music, learning, more), not just throwing myself into one thing, like athletic achievement.
Health focus led me to start weight loss relatively fast (2 pounds/week region at first) but slow it intentionally as I got closer to goal. Risk of muscle loss or bone degradation are things I really want to minimize: As an older woman, it's hard to recover.
By the time I got to the point where 0.5/week seemed optimally conservative for health conservation, I had other reasons to do it:
* I was uncertain of exact goal weight, and it was easier to dial it in experientially when going slowly;
* I intended to reverse diet slowly to maintenance because of a perceived small chance for better NEAT recovery and the 0.5 rate was a step on that road; and
* (Knowing myself as a hedonist ), I believed that adding calories to my day in smaller increments would tend to add small, pleasant, nutritious things to my day rather than some big crazy blow-out item, and thus would smooth the transition to maintenance eating.
None of this seemed like a grind. Weighing/logging/tracking will be a long-term feature for me, as a way to sustain myself in a happy place. It's a habit, like tooth-flossing. I just do what I do because I do it. And emotions, about this or anything else? I really don't have many.
TL;DR: It's good to understand your own personal motivations and psychology, and build on those. Those things will influence which risks seem worthwhile, what will be sustainable for you, and what will help you succeed. One size won't fit all.
3 -
It's funny you say that...
I log in MFP, but export and analyze in Excel. My food log tracks 3-day, 5-day, and 10-day averages... my biggest motivation right now is keeping that 10-day average in the negative (deficit), lol.1 -
It's funny you say that...
I log in MFP, but export and analyze in Excel. My food log tracks 3-day, 5-day, and 10-day averages... my biggest motivation right now is keeping that 10-day average in the negative (deficit), lol.
So, what is the locus of "the grind" for you, then? What specifically is taking the "mental effort"? Is it just a sense of urgency to reach goal, an impatience?
(This is not an implied criticism: Keep in mind that I just admitted being basically an undisciplined hedonist with null emotions, not much of a platform from which to get judge-y. I'm truly curious.)
3 -
Managing my intake on a daily basis... both total calories and balanced macros. Doing it, then not seeing progress that matches/rewards my efforts is discouraging.4
-
Managing my intake on a daily basis... both total calories and balanced macros. Doing it, then not seeing progress that matches/rewards my efforts is discouraging.
I guess I can understand that, especially in the context of being appearance motivated. (Again, this is not a veiled dig. It's coming from my perception that appearance improvement, if that's the goal, is likely to be quite slow. I don't know if it's true for you, but among some of my friends who are more appearance focused, there's some sense of pushing back against aging as a counter-force.)
I feel like my health focus still has some rewards, like a recent surprise best-ever HDL cholesterol level in my 2nd year of weight maintenance, which feels like a victory after years of bad values. But more centrally, now that my goal is weight maintenance, it's also health maintenance. Every month outside of assisted living is its own reward.
Interesting thread.
2 -
Managing my intake on a daily basis... both total calories and balanced macros. Doing it, then not seeing progress that matches/rewards my efforts is discouraging.
I guess I can understand that, especially in the context of being appearance motivated. (Again, this is not a veiled dig. It's coming from my perception that appearance improvement, if that's the goal, is likely to be quite slow. I don't know if it's true for you, but among some of my friends who are more appearance focused, there's some sense of pushing back against aging as a counter-force.)
It is slow. But more problematic, it's also subjective.1
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.9K Introduce Yourself
- 43.9K Getting Started
- 260.3K Health and Weight Loss
- 176K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.6K Fitness and Exercise
- 428 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.6K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153.1K Motivation and Support
- 8.1K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.4K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.8K MyFitnessPal Information
- 15 News and Announcements
- 1.2K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions