Am I going about weight loss the wrong way?

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  • mirthegeologist
    mirthegeologist Posts: 143 Member
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    Regarding your question about eating back exercise calories, I think it’s important to eat back some of them. The additional calories will help you get all the nutrients that you need, but more importantly, it will help you from getting burnt out.

    With stats you posted (losing 72lbs at a rate of 1.5lbs/week), you are looking at 48 weeks of a calorie deficit. That’s almost a year. Don’t over exert yourself in the first two weeks—take a balanced approach where you are gradually increasing your activity and having a modest calorie reduction. It’s not the fastest way to lose weight, but it’s healthy and sustainable.

    Good luck!
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
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    msielbeck wrote: »
    Regarding your question about eating back exercise calories, I think it’s important to eat back some of them. The additional calories will help you get all the nutrients that you need, but more importantly, it will help you from getting burnt out.

    With stats you posted (losing 72lbs at a rate of 1.5lbs/week), you are looking at 48 weeks of a calorie deficit. That’s almost a year. Don’t over exert yourself in the first two weeks—take a balanced approach where you are gradually increasing your activity and having a modest calorie reduction. It’s not the fastest way to lose weight, but it’s healthy and sustainable.

    Good luck!

    That is inaccurate. The OP is looking at over a year because she should not lose weight at 1.5 pounds per week for her entire weight loss and there should be allowances for vacations, holidays, and special occasions to eat more food so she doesn't feel deprived or resentful.
  • mirthegeologist
    mirthegeologist Posts: 143 Member
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    NovusDies wrote: »
    msielbeck wrote: »
    Regarding your question about eating back exercise calories, I think it’s important to eat back some of them. The additional calories will help you get all the nutrients that you need, but more importantly, it will help you from getting burnt out.

    With stats you posted (losing 72lbs at a rate of 1.5lbs/week), you are looking at 48 weeks of a calorie deficit. That’s almost a year. Don’t over exert yourself in the first two weeks—take a balanced approach where you are gradually increasing your activity and having a modest calorie reduction. It’s not the fastest way to lose weight, but it’s healthy and sustainable.

    Good luck!

    That is inaccurate. The OP is looking at over a year because she should not lose weight at 1.5 pounds per week for her entire weight loss and there should be allowances for vacations, holidays, and special occasions to eat more food so she doesn't feel deprived or resentful.

    Yes, I agree with you — I should have clarified that I was only looking at raw numbers, and not the realities of real life (which includes vacations, holidays, and birthdays, not to mention bad days). The OP should absolutely plan on taking at least a year, and probably longer to achieve her weight loss goal. I was trying to show that she should look at her weight loss as a long term effort by doing quick math that assumed everything went perfectly.

    When I decided it was time to lose weight, it took me a while to accept that it was going to take me 7+ months to lose 30lbs IF everything went perfectly. It wasn’t until I calculated that 30lbs at 1lb/week was going to take me at least 30 weeks, that I realized how long I needed to stay motivated and determined.

    My point being, OP, eat your exercise calories, and look at your plan as a long term commitment.
  • liz0269
    liz0269 Posts: 139 Member
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    I completely agree with @msielbeck . The only way you will have permanent success is if you consider this a lifestyle change. It is better to make moderate changes that you can do forever than to overdo it, get burned out, and gain all of your weight back.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
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    The important aspect of a lifestyle is being happy or as happy as possible most days. Being unnecessarily harsh with yourself on the amount of food, the type of food, or exercise is not helpful and probably not sustainable.

    I mentioned various days off that I take and as @msielbeck mentioned that has included some bad days that I just chose to eat maintenance. I credit some of my sustainability to knowing when to take my foot off the gas. I don't have to lose weight everyday I just have to lose weight most days.

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