When do I switch to a 1/2 lb per week loss please?

GOT_Obsessed

Hi. I am 5'3" and currently 178 lb. I am trying to get to 160. I am set to 1 lb. loss a week which gives me 1490 calories before exercise. I started at 219 and I am not finding sticking to my calories bad at all. I am seeing great results so far.

I have read that you should set it to a 1/2 lb a week closer to your goal. My goal is not 110 lb or anything tiny. 160 is a weight I would be jumping for joy to become. Do you recommend I switch it lower? If so when and why?

Thanks for reading and for your input. May we all reach our fitness and weight goals.

deannalfisher

I would say probably when you get to 170ish - adjust with 10lbs to go

mmapags

The advice above is good. Just a question out of curiosity but first, congrats on the great progress you have made so far! Why stop at 160 at 5'3"? That would still not be in the normal BMI range.

Another question is have you take a diet break yet? They can be very beneficial to give your body a "reset" on the hormonal level and help your progress. There is some great info on this here: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1

Probably one of the best threads ever on MFP!

DebLaBounty

I'd say within 10-15 pounds of your goal weight.

LivingtheLeanDream

Well done on your loss so far.

Are you eating calorie dense and not as filling foods by any chance? If you get 1490 plus exercise that's not too bad. But maybe a diet break is all that's needed ie you eat at maintenance cals for a week or two and then get back to deficit.

You can also change to 0.5lb any time - loss will be slower but you'll have more calories to work with.

Normally it's the last 15-20lbs when people change to 0.5lb a week.

All the best.

mmapags

LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »

Well done on your loss so far.

Are you eating calorie dense and not as filling foods by any chance? If you get 1490 plus exercise that's not too bad. But maybe a diet break is all that's needed ie you eat at maintenance cals for a week or two and then get back to deficit.

You can also change to 0.5lb any time - loss will be slower but you'll have more calories to work with.

Normally it's the last 15-20lbs when people change to 0.5lb a week.

All the best.

Good info. Another thought is that if going to .5 lbs will make compliance easier, then do it sooner rather than later. The trick is that going to only a 250 cal per day deficit makes accuracy of weighing much more critical as there is less margin of error.

If compliance is not an issue at 1490, I'd stay there as long as I could. (with the exception of a diet break every 12 weeks or so) I'd also round that up to an even 1500. Lol, but that's just me....

ITUSGirl51

You don’t have to change it to .5 a week loss from 1 lb. you can just add more calories to your daily allotment.
I tried changing from 1 lb to .5 lb and I felt like the deficit was too small and the change was too fast to be happy with my progress. So I just upped the daily allotment of calories from 1270 to 1400. I’m still losing .5 to 1 lb a week. I couldn’t function on 1270 calories and not kill myself with exercise trying to get more.

I have 5 lbs more to my new goal and when I get 2 lbs from my goal I will bump another 100 calories and then another 100 for maintenance. I feel like this is more reasonable than an extra 250 all at once.

GOT_Obsessed

mmapags wrote: »

The advice above is good. Just a question out of curiosity but first, congrats on the great progress you have made so far! Why stop at 160 at 5'3"? That would still not be in the normal BMI range.

Another question is have you take a diet break yet? They can be very beneficial to give your body a "reset" on the hormonal level and help your progress. There is some great info on this here: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1

Probably one of the best threads ever on MFP!

Hi. For me getting to 160 from where I was is a big reduction. It was never about getting to a normal BMI. It was all about lowering my blood pressure and lessening the presure on my knee. I have definitely gotten there.

I don't need to look hot and sexy. I need to get to a weight I can sustain for the rest if my life. Once I get to 160 I can reassess.
I am not finding this process difficult yet but I still have a ways to go.

GOT_Obsessed

LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »

Well done on your loss so far.

Are you eating calorie dense and not as filling foods by any chance? If you get 1490 plus exercise that's not too bad. But maybe a diet break is all that's needed ie you eat at maintenance cals for a week or two and then get back to deficit.

You can also change to 0.5lb any time - loss will be slower but you'll have more calories to work with.

Normally it's the last 15-20lbs when people change to 0.5lb a week.

All the best.

Thanks. I will switch my diary to public. I think I do just fine with my food choices. I am almost never hungry.

GOT_Obsessed

Oh and I have not yet taken a diet break yet. I have not yet felt the need but will consider it. Thanks for your help everyone.

GOT_Obsessed

I did some reading on the diet break issue. Thanks for the link. It was very dry reading to me but some important info. (Especially the hormone stuff)

I am going to start my diet break today. Thanks.

freespirit6315

What exactly is a diet break? because I don't want to go back to my way of l eating that I have been doing and gained weight back.

cmriverside

freespirit6315 wrote: »

What exactly is a diet break? because I don't want to go back to my way of l eating that I have been doing and gained weight back.

Read that thread that was linked. Especially the first few pages. Here it is again:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1

solieco1

mmapags wrote: »

The advice above is good. Just a question out of curiosity but first, congrats on the great progress you have made so far! Why stop at 160 at 5'3"? That would still not be in the normal BMI range.

Another question is have you take a diet break yet? They can be very beneficial to give your body a "reset" on the hormonal level and help your progress. There is some great info on this here: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1

Probably one of the best threads ever on MFP!

Thanks for this link.

GOT_Obsessed

Hi, so day 2 diet break/maintenance is in the books. Man this is really tough for me. First of all I really did not have much for high calorie foods in the house. With my long hike on Sun. I had room for 1600 calories at supper time!

I thought getting some greasy assed Wendy's would help get me near my alottment but I didn't even want much of an indulgence. I do know that I have done a great job finding ways to prevent cravings. I can't believe I ever ate that much food in the past.

This diet break has totally reassured me that when I get to where I want to be, I can sustain healthy eating longterm.

Now I am unclear on how to calculate something and am hoping someone is able to help. When I get to 160 is there a way to know what will my maintenance calories will be? I am 5'3", lightly active, and very poor at math. Thanks.

Tacklewasher

GOT_Obsessed wrote: »

Hi, so day 2 diet break/maintenance is in the books. Man this is really tough for me. First of all I really did not have much for high calorie foods in the house. With my long hike on Sun. I had room for 1600 calories at supper time!

I thought getting some greasy assed Wendy's would help get me near my alottment but I didn't even want much of an indulgence. I do know that I have done a great job finding ways to prevent cravings. I can't believe I ever ate that much food in the past.

This diet break has totally reassured me that when I get to where I want to be, I can sustain healthy eating longterm.

Now I am unclear on how to calculate something and am hoping someone is able to help. When I get to 160 is there a way to know what will my maintenance calories will be? I am 5'3", lightly active, and very poor at math. Thanks.

Just play with MFP. Put your weight in as 160, sedentary to maintain weight and it will spit out a decent number.

Francl27

I didn't. It actually got harder for me to stick to my calories when I started eating more. My 'diet break' (going in vacations when I was close to my goal) totally messed me up, personally, so unless you're always hungry all the time, I really don't recommend one.

erickirb

Since your goal is still well above the "normal" weight for your height, you will be fine staying at 1lb loss per week until you get to your goal weight. If you were less than 20% BF% and still trying to lose, that is when 0.5lbs/week would be ideal

GOT_Obsessed

Tacklewasher wrote: »

GOT_Obsessed wrote: »

Hi, so day 2 diet break/maintenance is in the books. Man this is really tough for me. First of all I really did not have much for high calorie foods in the house. With my long hike on Sun. I had room for 1600 calories at supper time!

I thought getting some greasy assed Wendy's would help get me near my alottment but I didn't even want much of an indulgence. I do know that I have done a great job finding ways to prevent cravings. I can't believe I ever ate that much food in the past.

This diet break has totally reassured me that when I get to where I want to be, I can sustain healthy eating longterm.

Now I am unclear on how to calculate something and am hoping someone is able to help. When I get to 160 is there a way to know what will my maintenance calories will be? I am 5'3", lightly active, and very poor at math. Thanks.

Just play with MFP. Put your weight in as 160, sedentary to maintain weight and it will spit out a decent number.

I did not want to do that because then my report will show that I dropped to 160, achieved goal, etc. won't it?

GOT_Obsessed

erickirb wrote: »

Since your goal is still well above the "normal" weight for your height, you will be fine staying at 1lb loss per week until you get to your goal weight. If you were less than 20% BF% and still trying to lose, that is when 0.5lbs/week would be ideal

Thanks Erick. Why does it recommend switching it to .5 for those with a lower body fat percentage? Is it just too few calories?

erickirb

GOT_Obsessed wrote: »

erickirb wrote: »

Since your goal is still well above the "normal" weight for your height, you will be fine staying at 1lb loss per week until you get to your goal weight. If you were less than 20% BF% and still trying to lose, that is when 0.5lbs/week would be ideal

Thanks Erick. Why does it recommend switching it to .5 for those with a lower body fat percentage? Is it just too few calories?

Your body can not access fat stores for the full deficit when you don't have a lot of fat. In those cases, the body tends to also use muscle as fuel, so you risk losing muscle, not just or mostly fat.