Rate of weight loss.

phoebe112476

I am a 41 yo women standing 5’ 5.5” tall. I have been following MFP for 2 months. I am set as sedentary and to lose a pound a week. I have a food scale and weigh most of my meals. I get little exercise but have been walking the dog more making my total daily steps 3,000-5,000 most days. I always eat within 10% of my weekly calories and have not eaten over. Many days I eat about a 100 under because I feel full at dinner and then can’t eat within a few hours of bed due to severe reflux symptoms. This is what results in total weekly being 5-10% less than my weekly goal.

These are my 10 weekly weights (on Saturdays):
228.5
220.5
219.5
219.0
216.0
214.5
212.5
210.5
210.5
206.5

I see a lot of talk on this forum about not losing too quickly and really want to be able to maintain the weight loss and lose fat instead of muscle (what little of it I have - ha!). Does this seem to be on track with healthy and maintainable weight-loss? Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

quiksylver296

So you've lost 22 lbs in 10 weeks? That's a bit quick, but that first week (8 lb loss) looks like a water weight woosh. So if we factor out week one, you've lose 14 lbs in 9 weeks. Not bad. As you lose weight, your weight loss is going to slow, the closer you get to goal weight.

You can go slower now if you want to, but I think you could continue like this for awhile without repercussions.

cheryldumais

Yes, I started out losing about 1.7 pounds per week but in the end I averaged about 1.4 and have maintained for a year. This rate may slow down as you get closer to your goal. You are doing really well! Congratulations.

AnnPT77

I agree with quiksylver's analysis (ignore the first week, average the rest).

Just a few comments:

* You're losing faster than the 1 pound a week you're set for, apparently. Do you want to be? Do you feel strong and energetic? (At 10 weeks in, I'd expect that if you're materially undereating, you might be feeling a bit of energy slowdown.) Do you feel like your current intake is sustainable, i.e., that you could keep eating this way forever without feeling like you're making big sacrifices? Do you feel full and satisfied most of the time? (These are the kinds of things that make a certain calorie level sustainable in a practical sense, but they're subjective.)

* Some form of strength exercise, along with enough protein and a moderate weight loss rate, is the best recipe for your goal of maintaining as much muscle tissue as possible. If you have time, you could start doing some bodyweight exercise program from the thread below, if you don't feel like going the full-blown lifting/gym route at first. Your call, obviously.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you

Overall, at your current weight, your weight loss rate doesn't seem objectively extreme, but the subjective factors matter, too.

If you stay at the same intake and exercise/activity levels, your weight loss rate will naturally slow as you get lighter. I don't know what your goal weight is - depends on your build among other things - but I would think you'd want to have your loss rate go to a maximum of pound a week somewhere in the 150-180 range, and to half a pound a week when you have 10-20 pounds left to go, approximately. If that doesn't happen naturally, you might need to eat a bit more.

Certainly, if you find yourself feeling fatigued or weak at any point, or having other negative symptoms, eat a bit more.

That you're losing 1.5 pounds a week while eating roughly 5-10% under goal calories (for a pound a week goal) would seem to imply that MFP's calorie estimates for you are not too far off, but they could be a little low (i.e., your daily maintenance might be a little more than it estimates), so loss rate is a good thing to keep an eye on.

Best wishes!