Deficit at normal BMI/close to goal weight
oat_bran
Posts: 370 Member
If you're at a normal BMI or have less than 20 pounds to lose what average daily deficit do you manage to sustain long-term? Do you exercise to be able to eat more?
I'm a small female, 5'2'', currently 134lb, approximately 28-29%body fat and have about 20 pounds to lose or so. I'm having trouble sustaining more than 200 cal of average daily. Some months it's even less than that and I end up with a 0,5lb net loss that month. I eat 25-30%protein, 30-35%fat and at least 30-40g of fiber, mostly whole foods and drink a lot of water.
The deficit I manage to sustain is mostly due to exercise. I eat anywhere from 1850-2300 cals. I always try to eat less but end up eating more due to hunger. So I am sort of forced to exercise it off to end up with any deficit at all, which quite often I still fail to do. I do enjoy exercise but I does take a lot of time, to be honest. Sometimes I wonder if I force myself into a vicious cycle by making myself hungrier due to exercises and forcing to exercise off what I eat?
I also have periods 2-3 times each month where I'm just ravenous for several days (which is hormonal I assume) and that is responsible for cancelling out most of the progress that I do make on "normal" days.
I'm not trying to lose weight too fast but 1-0,5 monthly loss is too easy to undo by a couple of days of going over your TDEE, so it gets frustrating. But this post is not really to complain or ask for advice. I just want to know what deficit people tend to sustain at normal weight range and if it's through exercise or restricting calories. I imagine it's somewhat common to struggle to sustain any deficit at lower weights?
I'm a small female, 5'2'', currently 134lb, approximately 28-29%body fat and have about 20 pounds to lose or so. I'm having trouble sustaining more than 200 cal of average daily. Some months it's even less than that and I end up with a 0,5lb net loss that month. I eat 25-30%protein, 30-35%fat and at least 30-40g of fiber, mostly whole foods and drink a lot of water.
The deficit I manage to sustain is mostly due to exercise. I eat anywhere from 1850-2300 cals. I always try to eat less but end up eating more due to hunger. So I am sort of forced to exercise it off to end up with any deficit at all, which quite often I still fail to do. I do enjoy exercise but I does take a lot of time, to be honest. Sometimes I wonder if I force myself into a vicious cycle by making myself hungrier due to exercises and forcing to exercise off what I eat?
I also have periods 2-3 times each month where I'm just ravenous for several days (which is hormonal I assume) and that is responsible for cancelling out most of the progress that I do make on "normal" days.
I'm not trying to lose weight too fast but 1-0,5 monthly loss is too easy to undo by a couple of days of going over your TDEE, so it gets frustrating. But this post is not really to complain or ask for advice. I just want to know what deficit people tend to sustain at normal weight range and if it's through exercise or restricting calories. I imagine it's somewhat common to struggle to sustain any deficit at lower weights?
10
Replies
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A half pound a week is the typical recommendation for that little to lose.
Lots of women with < 20 to lose just lose it once a month, after their periods. Some posters have said it took a year to lose the last 10 pounds.
I found that the best way for me to manage hormonal hunger was to just eat lunch earlier, add an afternoon snack, and have a bigger dinner. My previous method of managing it with pints of Ben & Jerry's did me no favors
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I set my cals to maintenance and just left 1-200 cals on the board when I was able. I lose maybe 0.25 lb a week doing that, it's also what I do to deal with the slow creep that is my maintenance life. I don't really have a good answer for the hormonal hunger, I tend to try to keep really busy if I can and just get through it.7
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I lost ~65 to get a BMI of ~24. I have been n maintenance about 8 months. I get caught in the same vicious cycle, using exercise as a big eraser and then coming home hungry and eating back half of it or more. I do not have a consistent deficit. I set a 10 pound maintenance range and lost down to near the bottom of it at ~.7 pounds a week and then crept back up to near the top with the vicious cycle.I am very disciplined about the top; I have not gone over it and I am committed to never allowing myself to. To used a tired old phrase - once you do that, everything else is just details. One thing I did is stop screwing around with calculators. You have been doing this for months or more; you know what the actual numbers are by now.4
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It took me nine months to lose the last 20 pounds (well, 15) at a 250 per day deficit.
I had lots of days where I was way over...like 1000-1500 over in one day. Usually once or twice per week. I still lost at about the recommended rate - I was hungry. I exercised more. It's just a really thin tightrope to walk, that small deficit. I logged food like it was a religion. I ate 13 out of 14 meals prepared by me. I entered my recipes.
I was careful. I had to be. I still had those over days.
Now in maintenance for many years, I still have over days...again, about one day (or two) per week.8 -
When I only have a few pounds to lose, I just set my goal at .5 a week. I am a runner and walker, so I do eat back those exercise calories. I don't generally count calories spent in doing warmup/cooldown stretches and exercises. I seem to burn more calories than expected - maybe because I run hills? - so it usually works for me to lose a couple of pounds a month. And yes, running makes me hungry, but I seem to keep it in check most of the time by eating more protein and cheese.1
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A couple of thoughts,
Have you looked at your calorie goal for maintenance, and is it acceptable?
If you are having difficulty keeping a small deficit, your goal weight may not be sustainable.
Have you tried switching to eating at your goal weight maintenance cals and just letting your weight adjust from there instead of struggling with a deficit?
Have you tried a low exercise couple of weeks? You could be righ thinking you are in an unhealthy cycle of exercising to eat etc.
You could also try upping your NEAT instead of more exercise. It may not trigger hunger the same.
I'm quite sure I've read that you have taken a diet break so I won't re-suggest it.
I was older when I lost from 130-105 at 5'1. It took a year to lose the weight. 1lbs a week to start, less than 1lbs a month at the end- closer to 1lbs every 6 weeks.
My cals were 1200 plus ~200 for exercise.
I had nowhere to adjust to as 1200 was going to be my maintenance too.
I didn't have the monthly hormone hunger, I was menopausal so I had the random hunger, not too bad, along with the hot flushes and sleepless nights. I knew what was causing the hunger, accepted it and then ignored it- I don't think it was as bad as what I've read some get.
Oops, sorry, just re-read your post, there is a bit of advice that you didn't really ask for.
Cheers, h.4 -
CarvedTones wrote: »I lost ~65 to get a BMI of ~24. I have been n maintenance about 8 months. I get caught in the same vicious cycle, using exercise as a big eraser and then coming home hungry and eating back half of it or more. I do not have a consistent deficit. I set a 10 pound maintenance range and lost down to near the bottom of it at ~.7 pounds a week and then crept back up to near the top with the vicious cycle.I am very disciplined about the top; I have not gone over it and I am committed to never allowing myself to. To used a tired old phrase - once you do that, everything else is just details. One thing I did is stop screwing around with calculators. You have been doing this for months or more; you know what the actual numbers are by now.
Yeah, that's kind of what I've been doing. I'm using my fitbit to estimate my TDEE every day (and I know it's estimates are accurate because I've tracking my weight on two spreadsheets for several months) and I have no choice but to track religiously. This way I end up having a 0.5-1.5lb net loss a month. But like the other person in this thread says, it's thin tightrope to walk. Every time I have those bottomless pit days, it takes all of my will power to not eat hundreds or even thousand of calories over my TDEE and cancel out a month or more of hard work... Anyway, thanks for your reply!4 -
middlehaitch wrote: »A couple of thoughts,
Have you looked at your calorie goal for maintenance, and is it acceptable?
If you are having difficulty keeping a small deficit, your goal weight may not be sustainable.
Have you tried switching to eating at your goal weight maintenance cals and just letting your weight adjust from there instead of struggling with a deficit?
Have you tried a low exercise couple of weeks? You could be righ thinking you are in an unhealthy cycle of exercising to eat etc.
You could also try upping your NEAT instead of more exercise. It may not trigger hunger the same.
I'm quite sure I've read that you have taken a diet break so I won't re-suggest it.
I was older when I lost from 130-105 at 5'1. It took a year to lose the weight. 1lbs a week to start, less than 1lbs a month at the end- closer to 1lbs every 6 weeks.
My cals were 1200 plus ~200 for exercise.
I had nowhere to adjust to as 1200 was going to be my maintenance too.
I didn't have the monthly hormone hunger, I was menopausal so I had the random hunger, not too bad, along with the hot flushes and sleepless nights. I knew what was causing the hunger, accepted it and then ignored it- I don't think it was as bad as what I've read some get.
Oops, sorry, just re-read your post, there is a bit of advice that you didn't really ask for.
Cheers, h.
No, no, thanks for advice. I was just tired of hearing the same eat-more-protein/fat/fiber-drink-water type of advice. But you said a few things that got me thinking. If I assume that my activity level will be the same at goal weight I am eating at or slightly under my goal weight maintenance most days. But the question is whether I will be able/motivated to maintain the same activity level at maintenance. If not, means I'd get to eat somewhat less. So it's something to think about. I always sort of assume that once I'm not at a deficit, I won't be as hungry, even if the amount I eat has decreased. But even now there days where I eat at maintenance and still feel hungry, so I'm starting to do that.
And yeah, starting today I'm gonna try to decrease both the amount of exercise I do and and my intake and see how I feel.
I'm also considering going off the pill to see if it's what's causing the hormonal hunger.
Anyway, thanks for the ideas.9 -
Once you get into the healthy weight range it's just that much more difficult to maintain a deficit. I'm right there with you at the moment! I have lost 42lbs so far over the last 18 months and I'm trying to lose a few vanity pounds for my honeymoon at Christmas. Currently 5'4", 132 lbs, goal weight 130lbs for now. I think I'll settle there but we'll see.
I have my goal set to maintenance and aim for a weekly calorie deficit of 1,750 to lose 0.5lb per week. My chart is a perfect peak at weekends where I go over and trough during the week where I'm under. It is working for me. I do exercise around 5 times a week for about 45 mins each time partly for my general health and partly so that I can eat a few more calories. I agree that it's a fine line between burning calories and feeling more hungry when you exercise. I find that cardio makes me more hungry than lifting weights so I strike a balance between the two. Lifting weights burns way fewer calories but increased muscle tone is better for burning calories in the long run.
I am regularly ravenous the few days leading up to my period. I eat at maintenance for a few days if I need to.
You might want to reassess your goal weight if, even now, some days your are eating a maintenance and are still hungry. If you are hungry now, you are going to be even hungrier at goal weight when you have fewer calories to maintain!
ETA - I do eat back my calories burnt running, as the calculation is pretty accurate for that, however I don't log any weight training and just see that as a bonus.3 -
I didn't start with very much to lose. I think I've lost about 16lbs or so thus far, with at least another 5 to go. What's helped me recently is just setting my goal to maintain, being as tight as I can manage with my logging, and just trying to leave some calories there on as many days as I can manage. I'm still losing but very slowly though I think I can deal with that. I also struggle with some disordered eating and guilt issues and this stops me freaking out about being over and 'ruining' my deficit even if I'm only over by a tiny amount.7
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I'm 5'2", 125 lbs, lightly active (playing with my toddlers and 10k steps a day), and eat around 1,400-800 (depending on how active I am that day) to lose weight. Anything lower and I will binge.1
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Once you get into the healthy weight range it's just that much more difficult to maintain a deficit. I'm right there with you at the moment! I have lost 42lbs so far over the last 18 months and I'm trying to lose a few vanity pounds for my honeymoon at Christmas. Currently 5'4", 132 lbs, goal weight 130lbs for now. I think I'll settle there but we'll see.
I have my goal set to maintenance and aim for a weekly calorie deficit of 1,750 to lose 0.5lb per week. My chart is a perfect peak at weekends where I go over and trough during the week where I'm under. It is working for me. I do exercise around 5 times a week for about 45 mins each time partly for my general health and partly so that I can eat a few more calories. I agree that it's a fine line between burning calories and feeling more hungry when you exercise. I find that cardio makes me more hungry than lifting weights so I strike a balance between the two. Lifting weights burns way fewer calories but increased muscle tone is better for burning calories in the long run.
I am regularly ravenous the few days leading up to my period. I eat at maintenance for a few days if I need to.
You might want to reassess your goal weight if, even now, some days your are eating a maintenance and are still hungry. If you are hungry now, you are going to be even hungrier at goal weight when you have fewer calories to maintain!
ETA - I do eat back my calories burnt running, as the calculation is pretty accurate for that, however I don't log any weight training and just see that as a bonus.
Yeah, I'm often wondering if my level of hunger is "normal". Especially on those bottomless pit days. I'm considering trying to go off the pill to see if it changes anything. If it doesn't then yes, you're right, I might need to reassess my goal weight.2 -
I'm 5'2, 138 and maintain on around 1800. I started at 185 in August 2017. My current goal is 130 and I'm working my way there EVER so slowly. What I've found helps me most is rather frequent and longer maintenance breaks. I always come back feeling more refreshed and able to face a deficit for a couple of months before I start needing another one. When I have trouble sticking to my .5 lb per week deficit, I know it's time to maintain for a couple of weeks.
I'm not sure if ditching the BCP would help or hurt. Guess there's no way to know but to try. I've not been on anything hormonal since my early 20s. I find my energy, mood, and appetite are very closely tied to my cycle. In a way, it's good because at least I know what's causing it, but still annoying!
Exercise makes me super hungry - far more than the calories I earn for it. I still try to be active in my daily life, but I'm definitely not one to work out for food. The trade off just isn't there for me.8 -
I'm a bit taller (5' 7" - well, technically 5' 6.5" lol) and I'm down to around 20 pounds to lose, give or take a few pounds for muscle mass.
I find that if I want to exercise, my loss is just going to be slow, and I've come to accept that (begrudgingly). Currently losing about .5-1 lb/month. It's painfully slow sometimes. I've added more steps to my days in hopes of boosting that rate a little bit, without altering my eating, but my (not counting workouts) step count was so low, even more than quadrupling my daily steps only gives me a couple hundred calories a day extra burn - so still a pretty minimal effect (and too soon to really see the effects yet).
Best of luck, and hang in there! I've lost faster in the past, but not when I was also fitting in any fitness.0 -
I'm a great lover of this thread (below).
As you probably know I am a petite, older, sedentary, woman. MFP gave me 1200 for maintenance.
By implementing a lot of superfluous movements, those that you spend years getting rid of for time efficiency, I have, over the years managed to get that 1200 to a 15-1600 (not inc exercise). Not a lot for most, but for someone with my stats, and sloth like inclinations, pretty darn good.
@HoneyBadger155, those extra steps will make a difference.
The extra movement become unnoticeable little calorie burners over time.
@oat_bran, thought the link may help you get movement in without the hunger exercise gives you.
Cheers, h.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p13 -
middlehaitch wrote: »I'm a great lover of this thread (below).
As you probably know I am a petite, older, sedentary, woman. MFP gave me 1200 for maintenance.
By implementing a lot of superfluous movements, those that you spend years getting rid of for time efficiency, I have, over the years managed to get that 1200 to a 15-1600 (not inc exercise). Not a lot for most, but for someone with my stats, and sloth like inclinations, pretty darn good.
@HoneyBadger155, those extra steps will make a difference.
The extra movement become unnoticeable little calorie burners over time.
@oat_bran, thought the link may help you get movement in without the hunger exercise gives you.
Cheers, h.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p1
I'm envious! I'm 5'5" tall and 148 pounds. I'm also 62 years old. I maintain around 1300 calories/day. I get another 100 to 150 for steps. I would love to be 135 but I've given up and have been maintaining for the last year or so. I think everyone is different and I suspect that I lost some muscle in the weight loss. I believe if I build it up I might get a bit more. I'm also hypothyroid and although I take my meds my body temp usually runs cool (94.5 to 97 F). I'm guessing that puts me a bit lower than the average person.2 -
I'm 5'2, 138 and maintain on around 1800. I started at 185 in August 2017. My current goal is 130 and I'm working my way there EVER so slowly. What I've found helps me most is rather frequent and longer maintenance breaks. I always come back feeling more refreshed and able to face a deficit for a couple of months before I start needing another one. When I have trouble sticking to my .5 lb per week deficit, I know it's time to maintain for a couple of weeks.
I'm not sure if ditching the BCP would help or hurt. Guess there's no way to know but to try. I've not been on anything hormonal since my early 20s. I find my energy, mood, and appetite are very closely tied to my cycle. In a way, it's good because at least I know what's causing it, but still annoying!
Exercise makes me super hungry - far more than the calories I earn for it. I still try to be active in my daily life, but I'm definitely not one to work out for food. The trade off just isn't there for me.
I'm currently trying to slightly lower the amount of exercise I do to see how it will affect my hunger levels. I've been at my current activity level (moderate to high) for a very long time and I'm thinking I may not realize that the calories I earn from it are less than what is necessary to satisfy the increase in hunger I experience from it.
Yeah, I'm somewhat afraid to go off the pill. I've heard a lot of people experience an increase in appetite and gain wait after stopping taking it, especially the type of the pill I'm on. But like you said, there's no other way but to try. It might change everything.HoneyBadger155 wrote: »I'm a bit taller (5' 7" - well, technically 5' 6.5" lol) and I'm down to around 20 pounds to lose, give or take a few pounds for muscle mass.
I find that if I want to exercise, my loss is just going to be slow, and I've come to accept that (begrudgingly). Currently losing about .5-1 lb/month. It's painfully slow sometimes. I've added more steps to my days in hopes of boosting that rate a little bit, without altering my eating, but my (not counting workouts) step count was so low, even more than quadrupling my daily steps only gives me a couple hundred calories a day extra burn - so still a pretty minimal effect (and too soon to really see the effects yet).
Best of luck, and hang in there! I've lost faster in the past, but not when I was also fitting in any fitness.
When you say that your loss needs to be slow if you want to exercise, do you mean that exercise increases your hunger or that you can't have a bigger deficit without if negatively affecting your performance ? Or both?middlehaitch wrote: »I'm a great lover of this thread (below).
As you probably know I am a petite, older, sedentary, woman. MFP gave me 1200 for maintenance.
By implementing a lot of superfluous movements, those that you spend years getting rid of for time efficiency, I have, over the years managed to get that 1200 to a 15-1600 (not inc exercise). Not a lot for most, but for someone with my stats, and sloth like inclinations, pretty darn good.
@HoneyBadger155, those extra steps will make a difference.
The extra movement become unnoticeable little calorie burners over time.
@oat_bran, thought the link may help you get movement in without the hunger exercise gives you.
Cheers, h.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p1
Thanks for the advice. The thing is, I'm actually doing a lot of NEAT already to increase my TDEE. When I say "exercise" I don't really make a distinction between NEAT and intentional exercise because I don't think the body knows a difference or that decreasing exercise and increasing NEAT will make a difference in my hunger levels if the TDEE is the same. My TDEE at the moment is averaging 2300-2400cals daily and most of it is actually due to NEAT. So I get to eat a lot. The problem is that I'm still hungry quite often. So I'm actually thinking about DECREASING the amount of activity I do (including NEAT) to see if I'll decrease my hunger levels and would allow me to increase my deficit.0 -
When you say that your loss needs to be slow if you want to exercise, do you mean that exercise increases your hunger or that you can't have a bigger deficit without if negatively affecting your performance ? Or both?
Both for me, but the performance is the bigger issue. Plus my overall energy levels just DROP, leaving me more lethargic than I would like.
3 -
HoneyBadger155 wrote: »
When you say that your loss needs to be slow if you want to exercise, do you mean that exercise increases your hunger or that you can't have a bigger deficit without if negatively affecting your performance ? Or both?
Both for me, but the performance is the bigger issue. Plus my overall energy levels just DROP, leaving me more lethargic than I would like.
Hmm, this is interesting. I often notice myself having difficulty exercising or feeling overall lethargic, but I've been attributing it to my hormones, or BC, because I was convinced that with a deficit that small, it's not possible that it can affect my energy levels that much. But you're the second person I see on this forum who menions that their energy levels are affected significantly by even a small deficit so it makes me think...0 -
middlehaitch wrote: »A couple of thoughts,
Have you looked at your calorie goal for maintenance, and is it acceptable?
If you are having difficulty keeping a small deficit, your goal weight may not be sustainable.
Have you tried switching to eating at your goal weight maintenance cals and just letting your weight adjust from there instead of struggling with a deficit?
Have you tried a low exercise couple of weeks? You could be righ thinking you are in an unhealthy cycle of exercising to eat etc.
You could also try upping your NEAT instead of more exercise. It may not trigger hunger the same.
I'm quite sure I've read that you have taken a diet break so I won't re-suggest it.
I was older when I lost from 130-105 at 5'1. It took a year to lose the weight. 1lbs a week to start, less than 1lbs a month at the end- closer to 1lbs every 6 weeks.
My cals were 1200 plus ~200 for exercise.
I had nowhere to adjust to as 1200 was going to be my maintenance too.
I didn't have the monthly hormone hunger, I was menopausal so I had the random hunger, not too bad, along with the hot flushes and sleepless nights. I knew what was causing the hunger, accepted it and then ignored it- I don't think it was as bad as what I've read some get.
Oops, sorry, just re-read your post, there is a bit of advice that you didn't really ask for.
Cheers, h.
This is brilliant advice. I'm in the same boat, struggling with consistency and disordered tendencies developing. I'm getting help for those, no worries.
Thanks for sharing.1
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