How Much Should I Try to Lose in a Week?

mellorunner

As the title says, I'm trying to figure out what my week to week weight loss goal should be. I'm a male, 5'10", currently at 154-155lbs. This whole summer I've been fluctuating between 153-158. In the past I've weighed mostly between 146-150 and haven't been able to get back to that this summer. (Usually I run a lot. Haven't been able to because of injury but I've been logging lots of time on the bike and in the pool). Currently I have MFP set to a 2lb a week loss and the activity level at lightly active. I don't want to use the TDEE set up because I prefer to adjust my eating day to day based on how much exercise I log that day. So I'm just looking for a baseline. Any ideas how much a 21 year old male, at 155 and looking to drop about 20lb, should be netting?

Much thanks!

arl1286

Why are you trying to drop that much weight? I'm your age and height, but female, and my goal is 140. I was there two months ago (before study abroad got the best of me lol) and I was VERY slim.

Anyway, if you're serious about it, probably 1 lb/week.

trackmyday1973

I wouldn't set fixed expectation weekly weight losses. That sets me up for failure if I do that. I follow the plan to the best and healthiest way possible. The rest will come on it's own.

I figure even if I lose .5 lbs every week...it adds up and will bring me closer to goal.

I uses to expect at least 5 lbs weekly weight losses in the past. That set me up for failure...because when I lost 2 lbs that week I wasn't happy and would give up.

Don't pressure yourself. Enjoy the journey The rest will follow

mellorunner

Why are you trying to drop that much weight? I'm your age and height, but female, and my goal is 140. I was there two months ago (before study abroad got the best of me lol) and I was VERY slim.

Anyway, if you're serious about it, probably 1 lb/week.

It's far more for athletic purposes than aethetics. I'm a collegiate distance runner so weight is very important. The less weight I have to carry around for 12.5-25 laps of the track means I run that much quicker. So the goal is to get the weight as low as possible before overall health is severely compromised.



Trackmyday197 - It isn't so much that I'm looking to always lose X amount per week, I'm just looking for advice on what to set MFP for to generate the deficit.

Wilhellmina

I got a husband who is a wee bit shorter, weighs a wee bit less and I am longing for the days he had a normal male weight. It's like skin over bones to be honest. I think your weight is just fine, but that's a matter of taste of course, wouldn't go too low tho, that is far from healthy as well.

mellorunner

I got a husband who is a wee bit shorter, weighs a wee bit less and I am longing for the days he had a normal male weight. It's like skin over bones to be honest. I think your weight is just fine, but that's a matter of taste of course, wouldn't go too low tho, that is far from healthy as well.

I'm alright with the skin+bones look, to be honest I prefer myself with a very lean/low weight look. But as I explained the biggest thing here is performance.

Armyantzzz

How about 1 lb per week..:happy: that would equal 4 lbs a month...:bigsmile:

mellorunner

Alright, so I've switched it over to 1lb a week.

Wow that is a lot of calories I'm allowed! Dieting may just have become a lot more fun/bearable. Sticking to 1300 or whatever a day was kinda no bueno for a guy who loves to eat. Plus I'm thinking giving myself a bit more wiggle room will make it a lot easier to survive the dining hall in the fall. In the past I would do well limiting myself for 3-4 days then crack and binge, and I think it was because I was trying to lose 2-4lbs a week and restricting too much.

arl1286

Alright, so I've switched it over to 1lb a week.

Wow that is a lot of calories I'm allowed! Dieting may just have become a lot more fun/bearable. Sticking to 1300 or whatever a day was kinda no bueno for a guy who loves to eat. Plus I'm thinking giving myself a bit more wiggle room will make it a lot easier to survive the dining hall in the fall. In the past I would do well limiting myself for 3-4 days then crack and binge, and I think it was because I was trying to lose 2-4lbs a week and restricting too much.

2-4 pounds per week?! Christ. haha changing it to just 1 must have given you an extra like 1000 calories. Much more reasonable if you're an athlete.

Wilhellmina

I got a husband who is a wee bit shorter, weighs a wee bit less and I am longing for the days he had a normal male weight. It's like skin over bones to be honest. I think your weight is just fine, but that's a matter of taste of course, wouldn't go too low tho, that is far from healthy as well.

I'm alright with the skin+bones look, to be honest I prefer myself with a very lean/low weight look. But as I explained the biggest thing here is performance.

Tis a personal thing of course. I wouldn't go for more then 1 lb. Going too extreme can weaken you and effect the performances.

MinnieInMaine

One pound max, 1/2 pound per week may actually be more doable. Also, FYI on the calories, you should eat back earned.

Here is a great guideline for setting weekly weight loss goals:
If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

nxd10

You're close to your ideal weight. Half a pound a week. Even if you don't want to do that, you'll be lucky if you can do that because your body will be very parsimonious with those calories.

FoodLoverDeb05

I agree with Arl 1 pound a week if you are serious and that still may be on the high side.

corgicake

Twenty pounds would land you well below your goal range... five to ten will get you there. That being said, losing a half or quarter of a pound each week would get you there in a reasonable time frame and minimize muscle loss. As you said this is intended for performance so setting to two pounds a week would be counterproductive.

Edit: quarter-pound loss would be done by going into custom settings and setting the calorie budget to have half the deficit of a half-pound loss.

thisismeraw

I would set your weekly goal to 0.5lbs per week. Your body will not want to let go of weight now because you are already at a great weight and heading towards a low weight. I understand your reasons for your low weight goal but don't sacrifice health for speed in running. You should be at the very least netting your BMR. Eating too little will increase your muscle loss which you don't want.

mellorunner

Twenty pounds would land you well below your goal range... five to ten will get you there. That being said, losing a half or quarter of a pound each week would get you there in a reasonable time frame and minimize muscle loss. As you said this is intended for performance so setting to two pounds a week would be counterproductive.

Edit: quarter-pound loss would be done by going into custom settings and setting the calorie budget to have half the deficit of a half-pound loss.

20 will put me at the low end of my goal range, or close to it (~155-20 = ~135 = Happy Me).

Anyways, the consensus seems to be somewhere between .5lb - 1lb a week with a focus on making sure I reach my net calorie goal and eat back all exercise calories. Sounds doable.

deksgrl

Half a pound a week. As a young active male, you should easily be able to lose weight on 2,000 or more calories.

wamydia

As the title says, I'm trying to figure out what my week to week weight loss goal should be. I'm a male, 5'10", currently at 154-155lbs. This whole summer I've been fluctuating between 153-158. In the past I've weighed mostly between 146-150 and haven't been able to get back to that this summer. (Usually I run a lot. Haven't been able to because of injury but I've been logging lots of time on the bike and in the pool). Currently I have MFP set to a 2lb a week loss and the activity level at lightly active. I don't want to use the TDEE set up because I prefer to adjust my eating day to day based on how much exercise I log that day. So I'm just looking for a baseline. Any ideas how much a 21 year old male, at 155 and looking to drop about 20lb, should be netting?

Much thanks!

I'm a little confused as to your reason for not wanting to use the TDEE set up. The activity level you set (lightly active) is meant to be in reference to your day to day activities outside of exercise. So, if you lay on the couch all day you are sedentary, but if you have a job working in construction you probably have a high activity level. If you set up MFP that you want to lose .5lb/ week, it will adjust your calories by subtracting what you need to lose that weight from your TDEE. Then, when you log your exercise, it adds the exercise calories back to your total to eat for the day. So, as long as you are logging your exercise correctly, you are already adjusting how much you eat for your daily exercise while still maintaining the deficit for weight loss. I may not be understanding the question completely, so please clarify if I"m wrong.

As for how much to try to lose, I would suggest going with .5lb/ week. As a general rule, the lighter you are, the harder it is to lose weight. And I think the more you push yourself to lose a lot (like 2lb/ week) the harder it is to stay in your calorie goal because your daily calorie expenditure is already low even when you are just trying to maintain. To me, .5lb/ week sounds most realistic, but hopefully you get more input from people around your weight and height.

mellorunner

I don't want to use TDEE because (if I'm understanding it correctly), TDEE takes your exercise calories into account based on an average across the week or something, right? I prefer to change slightly day to day because my exercise changes. I know it doesn't really matter as long as the deficit is there over the long term but I prefer to hit the deficit each day (which wouldn't work with the TDEE if, for example, it figured I burned an average of 500 calories a day exercising but one day is a recovery day so I only burn 300. That leaves me 200 over). So really it's a control thing.

And I'm surprised at so many people saying half a pound. I understand the reasoning but I just feel like at that rate it will take ages to make an appreciable difference in my weight.

deksgrl

And I'm surprised at so many people saying half a pound. I understand the reasoning but I just feel like at that rate it will take ages to make an appreciable difference in my weight.

It just takes longer to lose weight when you do not have very much to lose. Cutting calories enough to lose more puts you into an unhealthy range. For fitness, you need that fuel, or your performance will suffer, and possibly cause other negative consequences. Dieting and exercise cause stress on your body. Your body responds by releasing the stress hormone called cortisol. Elevated cortisol has damaging effects and actually prevents weight loss.