Last lbs to the finish line

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gymprincess1234
gymprincess1234 Posts: 493 Member
edited February 2018 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello, everyone!

I was looking for a daily thread for those who are on their last leg, let's say, last 10, 20 or so lbs to lose till goal weight/range/size/fat %,etc.

(It there's one please let me know! :) )

I've lost 50lbs and got 18 to go, or more like 20, so I have a little room for fluctuation. My TDEE is 1612kcal, so I should be at 1112kcal for -1kg/week, but so far it doesn't seem realistic, therefore I'm at 1300kcal/day.
I work out 5-6x week combining cardio and circuit training, but other than that my lifestyle is very sedentary.
I've been eating all my workout calories back, so probably that's why my weight loss is so slow.

My question for you all : how low did you /are planning to go on your calories? Or did you go down but increase exercising/walking? Do you eat back workout calories?
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Replies

  • BecomingMoreAwesome
    BecomingMoreAwesome Posts: 150 Member
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    I just decided that I’m fine with going slowly. I’ve got my deficit set to .5 pound/week (about .25kg). I was miserable at a 500 calorie deficit, and I’d much rather take twice as long and not be miserable.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
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    Well done on your progress so far :smile:
    I've been in maintenance for almost 5 years so I'll just say that yes, I eat back all my exercise calories. It took me a while to figure out my TDEE and also the fact that it changes when activity changes too. So for me at 5ft 2 and 125lbs I maintain on 1950-2000 calories. I work out 5 times a week cardio/strength training x 30-40 mins.

    For the last 10 lbs it was really slow going, but when I consistently stayed within cals (1650-1700) I lost 0.5lb a week.

    I actually cut back my exercise since reaching maintenance (hadn't the same time as my hours at work changed and I was also having joint issues). When I was losing I would have averaged 90 mins a day, now I average 30 mins.
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,136 Member
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    There is a group I think in the Most Popular list called Not So Heavy Girls or something similar for those who are down to the last leg.
  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,384 Member
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    I've got about 15 to go! I'm trying to push through with 1200 cals and vigilant tracking. I'm getting impatient, hah. I'm also tempted to just lose 5lbs more then focus on recomping. Not sure yet!
  • batorkin
    batorkin Posts: 281 Member
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    I've been eating all my workout calories back, so probably that's why my weight loss is so slow.

    I'd recommend eating back half.

    Personally, I burn about 350 calories a day via exercise and don't eat any of them back. Taking a year to lose the last 20 pounds is not ideal to me but I know my method is not the most healthy way to lose weight.
  • sjd421
    sjd421 Posts: 54 Member
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    When you have 20lbs or less to lose it is generally recommended to reduce your deficit to .5lb a wk. I just hit the only 20lbs left to go and moved from 1lbs to 0.5lbs.
  • takemetosingapore19
    takemetosingapore19 Posts: 86 Member
    edited February 2018
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    I have almost exactly 20lbs to lose. I have lost 10lbs so far. I am losing much faster than the recommended weight loss on here, but I’m not starving. I always eat back all my exercise calories. I workout 1-2 hours daily and eat net 1200 calories. My total calories are more like 1500-1800 a day. Feel free to add me! I haven’t messed up a single day in the last 3 weeks. I only haven’t weighed in this week due to my period halting my weight loss. I have lost 10lb in my first two weeks and I am female.
  • Silentpadna
    Silentpadna Posts: 1,306 Member
    edited February 2018
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    I'm gonna be that guy for a second....


    There is no finish line! I hope you've done all this as a lifestyle change so you can carry your habits along to stay healthy! You have to do all this in maintenance too.


    But to the point, slower is healthier.
  • CryingBlue
    CryingBlue Posts: 270 Member
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    I have lost 45 pounds so far and have 18 to go to my first "goal" Then my plan is to go into mantiance for a few months then see if I want to drop any more weight.

    Currently I have my loss set to .5 a week and I will eat back half of my exercise calories. I also practice 5:2 intermittent fasting, so 2 days a week I eat 500 calories or less. It seems to help me with some self control issues when I have my fasting day. Helps to get my brain back in the game.
  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,384 Member
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    Silentpadna wrote: »
    There is no finish line! I hope you've done all this as a lifestyle change so you can carry your habits along to stay healthy! You have to do all this in maintenance too.

    Definitely. I plan to continue daily calorie counting and weighing myself everyday and plugging it into Libra. I definitely don't want to slip into old habits.

    The only difference between Maintenance and Weight Loss is the amount of calories you can eat.
  • takemetosingapore19
    takemetosingapore19 Posts: 86 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    You mean the starting line...

    :D<3
  • gymprincess1234
    gymprincess1234 Posts: 493 Member
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    Silentpadna wrote: »
    I'm gonna be that guy for a second....


    There is no finish line! I hope you've done all this as a lifestyle change so you can carry your habits along to stay healthy! You have to do all this in maintenance too.


    But to the point, slower is healthier.

    I totally agree, with finish line I mean end of 'deficit era' and start of maintenance.
  • gymprincess1234
    gymprincess1234 Posts: 493 Member
    edited February 2018
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    Thank you all for your responses!

    This made me think, when I calculate TDEE, I mark my activity as 'sedentary', because I spend my days sitting in uni and those 6x1h cardio/strenght workouts I eat back. Is anyone similar? Or do you mark it was 'moderate' activity then? I'm confused

    I think I will try cutting my deficit calories to 1200, which is a middle ground, and see how I do. If that doesn't work and I end up binging, will just have to do 0,25kg loss a week.
  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,384 Member
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    gymprincess1234 wrote: »
    Thank you all for your responses!

    This made me think, when I calculate TDEE, I mark my activity as 'sedentary', because I spend my days sitting in uni and those 6x1h cardio/strenght workouts I eat back. Is anyone similar?

    I think I will try cutting my deficit calories to 1200, which is a middle ground, and see how I do.

    I go off my Sedentary TDEE since I have a desk job, then I log intentional exercise to eat back. Usually only exercise that makes me sweat.
  • SCoil123
    SCoil123 Posts: 2,108 Member
    edited February 2018
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    My original goal was a healthy BMI. Now that I’m there I’d like to lose about 10 more lbs and reduce my bf% from 25-26% where it is now to around 20-23%

    This week my knee cap got fractured so I’m going to have to stop relying on my workouts and focus on trying to lose these last few lbs by diet alone. I workout a lot and that’s how I’ve always lost weight. I’m really struggling with how little I can eat now to stay on track

    Edited to add - I have eaten back 80-100% of my exercise calories up to now losing 30lb and have lost very slowly. I’m ok with slow as long as it is sustainable loss
  • takemetosingapore19
    takemetosingapore19 Posts: 86 Member
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    SCoil123 wrote: »
    My original goal was a healthy BMI. Now that I’m there I’d like to lose about 10 more lbs and reduce my bf% from 25-26% where it is now to around 20-23%

    This week my knee cap got fractured so I’m going to have to stop relying on my workouts and focus on trying to lose these last few lbs by diet alone. I workout a lot and that’s how I’ve always lost weight. I’m really struggling with how little I can eat now to stay on track

    Edited to add - I have eaten back 80-100% of my exercise calories up to now losing 30lb and have lost very slowly. I’m ok with slow as long as it is sustainable loss

    I eat my exercise calories too! When I don’t eat them I get faint and lose a pound a day. When I eat them back I’m losing 2-5lb a week.

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    gymprincess1234 wrote: »
    Thank you all for your responses!

    This made me think, when I calculate TDEE, I mark my activity as 'sedentary', because I spend my days sitting in uni and those 6x1h cardio/strenght workouts I eat back. Is anyone similar? Or do you mark it was 'moderate' activity then? I'm confused

    I think I will try cutting my deficit calories to 1200, which is a middle ground, and see how I do. If that doesn't work and I end up binging, will just have to do 0,25kg loss a week.

    If you do sedentary then you should be logging exercise and eating additional calories to account for activity beyond sedentary. Conversely, you could use the TDEE method which just incorporates all of your activity into your activity level.

    I have a desk job but still get in around 8K-10K steps per day and I do purposeful exercise 6-7 days per week...I'm most definitely not sedentary, so I don't select sedentary.
  • Silentpadna
    Silentpadna Posts: 1,306 Member
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    takemetosingapore19 wrote: »
    SCoil123 wrote: »
    My original goal was a healthy BMI. Now that I’m there I’d like to lose about 10 more lbs and reduce my bf% from 25-26% where it is now to around 20-23%

    This week my knee cap got fractured so I’m going to have to stop relying on my workouts and focus on trying to lose these last few lbs by diet alone. I workout a lot and that’s how I’ve always lost weight. I’m really struggling with how little I can eat now to stay on track

    Edited to add - I have eaten back 80-100% of my exercise calories up to now losing 30lb and have lost very slowly. I’m ok with slow as long as it is sustainable loss

    I eat my exercise calories too! When I don’t eat them I get faint and lose a pound a day. When I eat them back I’m losing 2-5lb a week.

    Unless you are morbidly obese, if you are losing up to 5 lbs per week, you are not eating back enough. You didn't provide context so it's hard to tell for sure, but if you are consistently losing that much, watch out. Your body will not reward that. (I'll repeat the caveat though: if you are way overweight and under doctor's supervision, that rate may be okay for you).
  • gymprincess1234
    gymprincess1234 Posts: 493 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    gymprincess1234 wrote: »
    Thank you all for your responses!

    This made me think, when I calculate TDEE, I mark my activity as 'sedentary', because I spend my days sitting in uni and those 6x1h cardio/strenght workouts I eat back. Is anyone similar? Or do you mark it was 'moderate' activity then? I'm confused

    I think I will try cutting my deficit calories to 1200, which is a middle ground, and see how I do. If that doesn't work and I end up binging, will just have to do 0,25kg loss a week.

    If you do sedentary then you should be logging exercise and eating additional calories to account for activity beyond sedentary. Conversely, you could use the TDEE method which just incorporates all of your activity into your activity level.

    I have a desk job but still get in around 8K-10K steps per day and I do purposeful exercise 6-7 days per week...I'm most definitely not sedentary, so I don't select sedentary.

    This was very helpful! I was confused about how the TDEE method works, thank you! :)

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