Calorie Deficit
AOcanas10
Posts: 14 Member
Hi, I've been in a caloric deficit at around 2,100 calories a day. I've been stuck around 188 lbs. I want to drop maybe 8 to 10 more pounds to see how I feel. I've lost quite a bit at an intake of 2,100 calories a day. Does your body adapt to what your deficit was and now you need a "new" deficit number?
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Replies
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As you lose weight, you will need fewer calories to maintain at your new 'current' weight. It's not about your body adapting to the fewer calories, it's simply physics - you are smaller now so you need fewer calories to keep your body running. Try dropping your calories by 200 and see what results you get.4
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I'm around 5'8", 5'9" after the chiropractor lol, I've been sticking around 188lbs. I'm not sure how big my deficit is because I never did maintenance, went straight into a deficit. I've been at this deficit for probably 10 to 12 months. I have taken small breaks which is probably the diet break you're referring to. How long should the diet break be? Do you still record your calories in a diet break or is it eat whatever you want? So maybe try dropping to 1900 a day? Sounds low. Should I drop my macors an even amount to meet the 1900 calories if I decide to do this?0
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I'm around 5'8", 5'9" after the chiropractor lol, I've been sticking around 188lbs. I'm not sure how big my deficit is because I never did maintenance, went straight into a deficit. I've been at this deficit for probably 10 to 12 months. I have taken small breaks which is probably the diet break you're referring to. How long should the diet break be? Do you still record your calories in a diet break or is it eat whatever you want? So maybe try dropping to 1900 a day? Sounds low. Should I drop my macors an even amount to meet the 1900 calories if I decide to do this?
How much are you losing, on average, per week? That will give you an idea of what your deficit is.3 -
I was losing 1lb a week once I was in the deficit for a while, was losing more at first.0
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I was losing 1lb a week once I was in the deficit for a while, was losing more at first.
How much have you lost over the past 4 weeks?
How many calories does MFP give you if you put in your stats and select lose 0.5lb per week?
How are you calculating the calories you eat (weighing on food scale?) and burn in exercise (do you eat all of those back?)?5 -
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Here's the awesome Refeed thread:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1
The first couple pages will tell you a lot about taking a break.
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I was losing 1lb a week once I was in the deficit for a while, was losing more at first.
Assuming you've been reasonably compliant with your goal (consistent in you eating) for the past 4 weeks:
1. Subtract your ending weight from your starting weight for that time period to get total weight lost in pounds.
2. Divide the pounds by 4 to get average weekly weight loss in pounds (keep the decimal places)
3. Multiply the average weekly weight loss in pounds by 3500 (approximate number of calories in a pound of body fat). This is your average total calorie deficit per week for the time period.
4. Divide the average total calorie deficit per week by 7. This is your (approximate) daily calorie deficit for the time period.
If you weren't compliant with your calorie goal, but did log your eating reasonably accuratly, you can use more complicated arithmetic to estimate your average daily TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) from your own data (more accurate than using a "calculator" like MFP, assuming your intake logging is reasonably accurate).
If you're an adult female, but not in menopause yet, use a full menstrual cycle, which will possibly not be an exact, even number of weeks. So, instead of steps 1-4 above, change #2 to divide by the number of days in the whole cycle; #3 will then give you average daily deficit.
If you do this kind of estimate periodically, you can (if you choose) see how your TDEE declines with weight loss **, and you could even compare that rate of decline to the rate of decline a TDEE calculator (not MFP) would estimate, and get some idea whether you're possibly seeing some fatigue or unexpected adaptive thermogenesis effects. (Rate of decline = number of calories per pound (or few) of bodyweight your TDEE decreases, as weight decreases.)
** If it does decline. In theory, it should decline since a lighter person requires fewer calories. Some people find they feel better and are a little more active in daily life as they get lighter and more comfortable moving, so that the daily life activity part of their TDEE increases, cancelling out the decline from lighter body weight. I wouldn't assume this positive effect will happen, but it's possible.2 -
@AOcanas10 Sorry, I misread the original question. Yes, the 2100 is probably now more around your "maintenance" level calories to stay at your current weight. I would keep your protein levels constant and strip away some calories from carbs and/or fats to create a new deficit. A couple hundred like @ccrdragon might be a good place to try. Just see how your body reacts and adjust as needed.0
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Redordeadhead wrote: »I was losing 1lb a week once I was in the deficit for a while, was losing more at first.
How much have you lost over the past 4 weeks?
How many calories does MFP give you if you put in your stats and select lose 0.5lb per week?
How are you calculating the calories you eat (weighing on food scale?) and burn in exercise (do you eat all of those back?)?
Just been maintaining. Haven't put in new stats. I'm weighing on a scale and no I don't eat those back. I just stick to the 2100 a day.0 -
I was losing 1lb a week once I was in the deficit for a while, was losing more at first.
Assuming you've been reasonably compliant with your goal (consistent in you eating) for the past 4 weeks:
1. Subtract your ending weight from your starting weight for that time period to get total weight lost in pounds.
2. Divide the pounds by 4 to get average weekly weight loss in pounds (keep the decimal places)
3. Multiply the average weekly weight loss in pounds by 3500 (approximate number of calories in a pound of body fat). This is your average total calorie deficit per week for the time period.
4. Divide the average total calorie deficit per week by 7. This is your (approximate) daily calorie deficit for the time period.
If you weren't compliant with your calorie goal, but did log your eating reasonably accuratly, you can use more complicated arithmetic to estimate your average daily TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) from your own data (more accurate than using a "calculator" like MFP, assuming your intake logging is reasonably accurate).
If you're an adult female, but not in menopause yet, use a full menstrual cycle, which will possibly not be an exact, even number of weeks. So, instead of steps 1-4 above, change #2 to divide by the number of days in the whole cycle; #3 will then give you average daily deficit.
If you do this kind of estimate periodically, you can (if you choose) see how your TDEE declines with weight loss **, and you could even compare that rate of decline to the rate of decline a TDEE calculator (not MFP) would estimate, and get some idea whether you're possibly seeing some fatigue or unexpected adaptive thermogenesis effects. (Rate of decline = number of calories per pound (or few) of bodyweight your TDEE decreases, as weight decreases.)
** If it does decline. In theory, it should decline since a lighter person requires fewer calories. Some people find they feel better and are a little more active in daily life as they get lighter and more comfortable moving, so that the daily life activity part of their TDEE increases, cancelling out the decline from lighter body weight. I wouldn't assume this positive effect will happen, but it's possible.
Thanks! I'll look more into this.0 -
@AOcanas10 Sorry, I misread the original question. Yes, the 2100 is probably now more around your "maintenance" level calories to stay at your current weight. I would keep your protein levels constant and strip away some calories from carbs and/or fats to create a new deficit. A couple hundred like @ccrdragon might be a good place to try. Just see how your body reacts and adjust as needed.
Yeah this is all good info, thank you everybody. I just feel like going below 1800 calories a day is getting really low.0 -
I was losing 1lb a week once I was in the deficit for a while, was losing more at first.
Assuming you've been reasonably compliant with your goal (consistent in you eating) for the past 4 weeks:
1. Subtract your ending weight from your starting weight for that time period to get total weight lost in pounds.
2. Divide the pounds by 4 to get average weekly weight loss in pounds (keep the decimal places)
3. Multiply the average weekly weight loss in pounds by 3500 (approximate number of calories in a pound of body fat). This is your average total calorie deficit per week for the time period.
4. Divide the average total calorie deficit per week by 7. This is your (approximate) daily calorie deficit for the time period.
If you weren't compliant with your calorie goal, but did log your eating reasonably accuratly, you can use more complicated arithmetic to estimate your average daily TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) from your own data (more accurate than using a "calculator" like MFP, assuming your intake logging is reasonably accurate).
If you're an adult female, but not in menopause yet, use a full menstrual cycle, which will possibly not be an exact, even number of weeks. So, instead of steps 1-4 above, change #2 to divide by the number of days in the whole cycle; #3 will then give you average daily deficit.
If you do this kind of estimate periodically, you can (if you choose) see how your TDEE declines with weight loss **, and you could even compare that rate of decline to the rate of decline a TDEE calculator (not MFP) would estimate, and get some idea whether you're possibly seeing some fatigue or unexpected adaptive thermogenesis effects. (Rate of decline = number of calories per pound (or few) of bodyweight your TDEE decreases, as weight decreases.)
** If it does decline. In theory, it should decline since a lighter person requires fewer calories. Some people find they feel better and are a little more active in daily life as they get lighter and more comfortable moving, so that the daily life activity part of their TDEE increases, cancelling out the decline from lighter body weight. I wouldn't assume this positive effect will happen, but it's possible.
@AnnPT77 So I did 186.8-175=11.8. 11.8/4=2.95 2.95*3500=10325 10325/7=1475
Does this seem right to you? Also, if I just want to lose a pound a week, can I just simply manipulate this equation to do so? Is that ok?
0 -
I was losing 1lb a week once I was in the deficit for a while, was losing more at first.
Assuming you've been reasonably compliant with your goal (consistent in you eating) for the past 4 weeks:
1. Subtract your ending weight from your starting weight for that time period to get total weight lost in pounds.
2. Divide the pounds by 4 to get average weekly weight loss in pounds (keep the decimal places)
3. Multiply the average weekly weight loss in pounds by 3500 (approximate number of calories in a pound of body fat). This is your average total calorie deficit per week for the time period.
4. Divide the average total calorie deficit per week by 7. This is your (approximate) daily calorie deficit for the time period.
If you weren't compliant with your calorie goal, but did log your eating reasonably accuratly, you can use more complicated arithmetic to estimate your average daily TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) from your own data (more accurate than using a "calculator" like MFP, assuming your intake logging is reasonably accurate).
If you're an adult female, but not in menopause yet, use a full menstrual cycle, which will possibly not be an exact, even number of weeks. So, instead of steps 1-4 above, change #2 to divide by the number of days in the whole cycle; #3 will then give you average daily deficit.
If you do this kind of estimate periodically, you can (if you choose) see how your TDEE declines with weight loss **, and you could even compare that rate of decline to the rate of decline a TDEE calculator (not MFP) would estimate, and get some idea whether you're possibly seeing some fatigue or unexpected adaptive thermogenesis effects. (Rate of decline = number of calories per pound (or few) of bodyweight your TDEE decreases, as weight decreases.)
** If it does decline. In theory, it should decline since a lighter person requires fewer calories. Some people find they feel better and are a little more active in daily life as they get lighter and more comfortable moving, so that the daily life activity part of their TDEE increases, cancelling out the decline from lighter body weight. I wouldn't assume this positive effect will happen, but it's possible.
@AnnPT77 So I did 186.8-175=11.8. 11.8/4=2.95 2.95*3500=10325 10325/7=1475
Does this seem right to you? Also, if I just want to lose a pound a week, can I just simply manipulate this equation to do so? Is that ok?
The math looks right: Does that seem kind of right subjectively, that you've been losing close to 3 pounds a week recently, on average? Nearly 12 pounds, in just one month? If so . . .
Freakin' Beacon, man: Eat more. That would be way too fast to be losing weight, at your current weight, for a managed level of health risk.
It would imply that, if you've been eating 2100, your TDEE (all day calorie burn) is around 3475 (with exercise included). If true, you could lose a pound a week at around 2900 (total calories, not 2900 + exercise).
If you haven't lost in a few days (you did start out saying you'd been "stuck at 188"), it's possible that the high stress of the fast loss rate is causing more than minimal water weight weirdness for you (stress/cortison potential).
Best wishes!0 -
I was losing 1lb a week once I was in the deficit for a while, was losing more at first.
Assuming you've been reasonably compliant with your goal (consistent in you eating) for the past 4 weeks:
1. Subtract your ending weight from your starting weight for that time period to get total weight lost in pounds.
2. Divide the pounds by 4 to get average weekly weight loss in pounds (keep the decimal places)
3. Multiply the average weekly weight loss in pounds by 3500 (approximate number of calories in a pound of body fat). This is your average total calorie deficit per week for the time period.
4. Divide the average total calorie deficit per week by 7. This is your (approximate) daily calorie deficit for the time period.
If you weren't compliant with your calorie goal, but did log your eating reasonably accuratly, you can use more complicated arithmetic to estimate your average daily TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) from your own data (more accurate than using a "calculator" like MFP, assuming your intake logging is reasonably accurate).
If you're an adult female, but not in menopause yet, use a full menstrual cycle, which will possibly not be an exact, even number of weeks. So, instead of steps 1-4 above, change #2 to divide by the number of days in the whole cycle; #3 will then give you average daily deficit.
If you do this kind of estimate periodically, you can (if you choose) see how your TDEE declines with weight loss **, and you could even compare that rate of decline to the rate of decline a TDEE calculator (not MFP) would estimate, and get some idea whether you're possibly seeing some fatigue or unexpected adaptive thermogenesis effects. (Rate of decline = number of calories per pound (or few) of bodyweight your TDEE decreases, as weight decreases.)
** If it does decline. In theory, it should decline since a lighter person requires fewer calories. Some people find they feel better and are a little more active in daily life as they get lighter and more comfortable moving, so that the daily life activity part of their TDEE increases, cancelling out the decline from lighter body weight. I wouldn't assume this positive effect will happen, but it's possible.
@AnnPT77 So I did 186.8-175=11.8. 11.8/4=2.95 2.95*3500=10325 10325/7=1475
Does this seem right to you? Also, if I just want to lose a pound a week, can I just simply manipulate this equation to do so? Is that ok?
The math looks right: Does that seem kind of right subjectively, that you've been losing close to 3 pounds a week recently, on average? Nearly 12 pounds, in just one month? If so . . .
Freakin' Beacon, man: Eat more. That would be way too fast to be losing weight, at your current weight, for a managed level of health risk.
It would imply that, if you've been eating 2100, your TDEE (all day calorie burn) is around 3475 (with exercise included). If true, you could lose a pound a week at around 2900 (total calories, not 2900 + exercise).
If you haven't lost in a few days (you did start out saying you'd been "stuck at 188"), it's possible that the high stress of the fast loss rate is causing more than minimal water weight weirdness for you (stress/cortison potential).
Best wishes!
So I might have misunderstood you. I was heavier and was losing 1lb a week at 2100 calories a day. Now I'm stuck at an average of 187. I may have plugged the numbers in wrong or just misunderstood what you were saying0 -
I was losing 1lb a week once I was in the deficit for a while, was losing more at first.
Assuming you've been reasonably compliant with your goal (consistent in you eating) for the past 4 weeks:
1. Subtract your ending weight from your starting weight for that time period to get total weight lost in pounds.
2. Divide the pounds by 4 to get average weekly weight loss in pounds (keep the decimal places)
3. Multiply the average weekly weight loss in pounds by 3500 (approximate number of calories in a pound of body fat). This is your average total calorie deficit per week for the time period.
4. Divide the average total calorie deficit per week by 7. This is your (approximate) daily calorie deficit for the time period.
If you weren't compliant with your calorie goal, but did log your eating reasonably accuratly, you can use more complicated arithmetic to estimate your average daily TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) from your own data (more accurate than using a "calculator" like MFP, assuming your intake logging is reasonably accurate).
If you're an adult female, but not in menopause yet, use a full menstrual cycle, which will possibly not be an exact, even number of weeks. So, instead of steps 1-4 above, change #2 to divide by the number of days in the whole cycle; #3 will then give you average daily deficit.
If you do this kind of estimate periodically, you can (if you choose) see how your TDEE declines with weight loss **, and you could even compare that rate of decline to the rate of decline a TDEE calculator (not MFP) would estimate, and get some idea whether you're possibly seeing some fatigue or unexpected adaptive thermogenesis effects. (Rate of decline = number of calories per pound (or few) of bodyweight your TDEE decreases, as weight decreases.)
** If it does decline. In theory, it should decline since a lighter person requires fewer calories. Some people find they feel better and are a little more active in daily life as they get lighter and more comfortable moving, so that the daily life activity part of their TDEE increases, cancelling out the decline from lighter body weight. I wouldn't assume this positive effect will happen, but it's possible.
@AnnPT77 So I did 186.8-175=11.8. 11.8/4=2.95 2.95*3500=10325 10325/7=1475
Does this seem right to you? Also, if I just want to lose a pound a week, can I just simply manipulate this equation to do so? Is that ok?
The math looks right: Does that seem kind of right subjectively, that you've been losing close to 3 pounds a week recently, on average? Nearly 12 pounds, in just one month? If so . . .
Freakin' Beacon, man: Eat more. That would be way too fast to be losing weight, at your current weight, for a managed level of health risk.
It would imply that, if you've been eating 2100, your TDEE (all day calorie burn) is around 3475 (with exercise included). If true, you could lose a pound a week at around 2900 (total calories, not 2900 + exercise).
If you haven't lost in a few days (you did start out saying you'd been "stuck at 188"), it's possible that the high stress of the fast loss rate is causing more than minimal water weight weirdness for you (stress/cortison potential).
Best wishes!
So I might have misunderstood you. I was heavier and was losing 1lb a week at 2100 calories a day. Now I'm stuck at an average of 187. I may have plugged the numbers in wrong or just misunderstood what you were saying
Our most likely point of divergence was step #1, which I wrote unclearly.
1. Subtract your ending weight from your starting weight for that time period to get total weight lost in pounds. (Clarification: The time period is the most recent 4 weeks, from the sentence that precedes the numbered list).
You wrote:
186.8-175 = 11.8 pounds.
Was that just for the 4 weeks, i.e, starting of week one was 186.8, end of week 4 was 175?
If you are stuck at 187, where did the 175 come from?0 -
I was losing 1lb a week once I was in the deficit for a while, was losing more at first.
Assuming you've been reasonably compliant with your goal (consistent in you eating) for the past 4 weeks:
1. Subtract your ending weight from your starting weight for that time period to get total weight lost in pounds.
2. Divide the pounds by 4 to get average weekly weight loss in pounds (keep the decimal places)
3. Multiply the average weekly weight loss in pounds by 3500 (approximate number of calories in a pound of body fat). This is your average total calorie deficit per week for the time period.
4. Divide the average total calorie deficit per week by 7. This is your (approximate) daily calorie deficit for the time period.
If you weren't compliant with your calorie goal, but did log your eating reasonably accuratly, you can use more complicated arithmetic to estimate your average daily TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) from your own data (more accurate than using a "calculator" like MFP, assuming your intake logging is reasonably accurate).
If you're an adult female, but not in menopause yet, use a full menstrual cycle, which will possibly not be an exact, even number of weeks. So, instead of steps 1-4 above, change #2 to divide by the number of days in the whole cycle; #3 will then give you average daily deficit.
If you do this kind of estimate periodically, you can (if you choose) see how your TDEE declines with weight loss **, and you could even compare that rate of decline to the rate of decline a TDEE calculator (not MFP) would estimate, and get some idea whether you're possibly seeing some fatigue or unexpected adaptive thermogenesis effects. (Rate of decline = number of calories per pound (or few) of bodyweight your TDEE decreases, as weight decreases.)
** If it does decline. In theory, it should decline since a lighter person requires fewer calories. Some people find they feel better and are a little more active in daily life as they get lighter and more comfortable moving, so that the daily life activity part of their TDEE increases, cancelling out the decline from lighter body weight. I wouldn't assume this positive effect will happen, but it's possible.
@AnnPT77 So I did 186.8-175=11.8. 11.8/4=2.95 2.95*3500=10325 10325/7=1475
Does this seem right to you? Also, if I just want to lose a pound a week, can I just simply manipulate this equation to do so? Is that ok?
The math looks right: Does that seem kind of right subjectively, that you've been losing close to 3 pounds a week recently, on average? Nearly 12 pounds, in just one month? If so . . .
Freakin' Beacon, man: Eat more. That would be way too fast to be losing weight, at your current weight, for a managed level of health risk.
It would imply that, if you've been eating 2100, your TDEE (all day calorie burn) is around 3475 (with exercise included). If true, you could lose a pound a week at around 2900 (total calories, not 2900 + exercise).
If you haven't lost in a few days (you did start out saying you'd been "stuck at 188"), it's possible that the high stress of the fast loss rate is causing more than minimal water weight weirdness for you (stress/cortison potential).
Best wishes!
So I might have misunderstood you. I was heavier and was losing 1lb a week at 2100 calories a day. Now I'm stuck at an average of 187. I may have plugged the numbers in wrong or just misunderstood what you were saying
Our most likely point of divergence was step #1, which I wrote unclearly.
1. Subtract your ending weight from your starting weight for that time period to get total weight lost in pounds. (Clarification: The time period is the most recent 4 weeks, from the sentence that precedes the numbered list).
You wrote:
186.8-175 = 11.8 pounds.
Was that just for the 4 weeks, i.e, starting of week one was 186.8, end of week 4 was 175?
If you are stuck at 187, where did the 175 come from?
AH Ok, I was assuming that I should of put the weight I want to be at, at the end. So I should of done 191-187, hypothetically
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This content has been removed.
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I was losing 1lb a week once I was in the deficit for a while, was losing more at first.
Assuming you've been reasonably compliant with your goal (consistent in you eating) for the past 4 weeks:
1. Subtract your ending weight from your starting weight for that time period to get total weight lost in pounds.
2. Divide the pounds by 4 to get average weekly weight loss in pounds (keep the decimal places)
3. Multiply the average weekly weight loss in pounds by 3500 (approximate number of calories in a pound of body fat). This is your average total calorie deficit per week for the time period.
4. Divide the average total calorie deficit per week by 7. This is your (approximate) daily calorie deficit for the time period.
If you weren't compliant with your calorie goal, but did log your eating reasonably accuratly, you can use more complicated arithmetic to estimate your average daily TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) from your own data (more accurate than using a "calculator" like MFP, assuming your intake logging is reasonably accurate).
If you're an adult female, but not in menopause yet, use a full menstrual cycle, which will possibly not be an exact, even number of weeks. So, instead of steps 1-4 above, change #2 to divide by the number of days in the whole cycle; #3 will then give you average daily deficit.
If you do this kind of estimate periodically, you can (if you choose) see how your TDEE declines with weight loss **, and you could even compare that rate of decline to the rate of decline a TDEE calculator (not MFP) would estimate, and get some idea whether you're possibly seeing some fatigue or unexpected adaptive thermogenesis effects. (Rate of decline = number of calories per pound (or few) of bodyweight your TDEE decreases, as weight decreases.)
** If it does decline. In theory, it should decline since a lighter person requires fewer calories. Some people find they feel better and are a little more active in daily life as they get lighter and more comfortable moving, so that the daily life activity part of their TDEE increases, cancelling out the decline from lighter body weight. I wouldn't assume this positive effect will happen, but it's possible.
@AnnPT77 So I did 186.8-175=11.8. 11.8/4=2.95 2.95*3500=10325 10325/7=1475
Does this seem right to you? Also, if I just want to lose a pound a week, can I just simply manipulate this equation to do so? Is that ok?
The math looks right: Does that seem kind of right subjectively, that you've been losing close to 3 pounds a week recently, on average? Nearly 12 pounds, in just one month? If so . . .
Freakin' Beacon, man: Eat more. That would be way too fast to be losing weight, at your current weight, for a managed level of health risk.
It would imply that, if you've been eating 2100, your TDEE (all day calorie burn) is around 3475 (with exercise included). If true, you could lose a pound a week at around 2900 (total calories, not 2900 + exercise).
If you haven't lost in a few days (you did start out saying you'd been "stuck at 188"), it's possible that the high stress of the fast loss rate is causing more than minimal water weight weirdness for you (stress/cortison potential).
Best wishes!
So I might have misunderstood you. I was heavier and was losing 1lb a week at 2100 calories a day. Now I'm stuck at an average of 187. I may have plugged the numbers in wrong or just misunderstood what you were saying
Our most likely point of divergence was step #1, which I wrote unclearly.
1. Subtract your ending weight from your starting weight for that time period to get total weight lost in pounds. (Clarification: The time period is the most recent 4 weeks, from the sentence that precedes the numbered list).
You wrote:
186.8-175 = 11.8 pounds.
Was that just for the 4 weeks, i.e, starting of week one was 186.8, end of week 4 was 175?
If you are stuck at 187, where did the 175 come from?
AH Ok, I was assuming that I should of put the weight I want to be at, at the end. So I should of done 191-187, hypothetically
Your goal weight has exactly nothing to do with the process of weight loss, except (1) it has implications for how fast it may be sensible to lose, and (2) it tells you when to stop losing. Whether your goal weight was 175 or a ridiculous (for you) 122, the number of calories to eat now to achieve a certain deficit (a certain weight loss rate) would be the same.
If your goal is 175, you'd be well advised to lose a pound or less per week now . . . which you seem to be doing, overall. Keep doing it. Maybe even consider adding 250 calories daily, soon, to cut the average loss rate down to half a pound a week on average: A sort of on-ramp to maintenance eating.
Presumably your long term goal is to stay at 175 permanently, more or less? Slowing loss rate as you get close is a good way to practice, and helps you minimize muscle loss and health risk en route.
All the best!3 -
I was losing 1lb a week once I was in the deficit for a while, was losing more at first.
Assuming you've been reasonably compliant with your goal (consistent in you eating) for the past 4 weeks:
1. Subtract your ending weight from your starting weight for that time period to get total weight lost in pounds.
2. Divide the pounds by 4 to get average weekly weight loss in pounds (keep the decimal places)
3. Multiply the average weekly weight loss in pounds by 3500 (approximate number of calories in a pound of body fat). This is your average total calorie deficit per week for the time period.
4. Divide the average total calorie deficit per week by 7. This is your (approximate) daily calorie deficit for the time period.
If you weren't compliant with your calorie goal, but did log your eating reasonably accuratly, you can use more complicated arithmetic to estimate your average daily TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) from your own data (more accurate than using a "calculator" like MFP, assuming your intake logging is reasonably accurate).
If you're an adult female, but not in menopause yet, use a full menstrual cycle, which will possibly not be an exact, even number of weeks. So, instead of steps 1-4 above, change #2 to divide by the number of days in the whole cycle; #3 will then give you average daily deficit.
If you do this kind of estimate periodically, you can (if you choose) see how your TDEE declines with weight loss **, and you could even compare that rate of decline to the rate of decline a TDEE calculator (not MFP) would estimate, and get some idea whether you're possibly seeing some fatigue or unexpected adaptive thermogenesis effects. (Rate of decline = number of calories per pound (or few) of bodyweight your TDEE decreases, as weight decreases.)
** If it does decline. In theory, it should decline since a lighter person requires fewer calories. Some people find they feel better and are a little more active in daily life as they get lighter and more comfortable moving, so that the daily life activity part of their TDEE increases, cancelling out the decline from lighter body weight. I wouldn't assume this positive effect will happen, but it's possible.
@AnnPT77 So I did 186.8-175=11.8. 11.8/4=2.95 2.95*3500=10325 10325/7=1475
Does this seem right to you? Also, if I just want to lose a pound a week, can I just simply manipulate this equation to do so? Is that ok?
The math looks right: Does that seem kind of right subjectively, that you've been losing close to 3 pounds a week recently, on average? Nearly 12 pounds, in just one month? If so . . .
Freakin' Beacon, man: Eat more. That would be way too fast to be losing weight, at your current weight, for a managed level of health risk.
It would imply that, if you've been eating 2100, your TDEE (all day calorie burn) is around 3475 (with exercise included). If true, you could lose a pound a week at around 2900 (total calories, not 2900 + exercise).
If you haven't lost in a few days (you did start out saying you'd been "stuck at 188"), it's possible that the high stress of the fast loss rate is causing more than minimal water weight weirdness for you (stress/cortison potential).
Best wishes!
So I might have misunderstood you. I was heavier and was losing 1lb a week at 2100 calories a day. Now I'm stuck at an average of 187. I may have plugged the numbers in wrong or just misunderstood what you were saying
Our most likely point of divergence was step #1, which I wrote unclearly.
1. Subtract your ending weight from your starting weight for that time period to get total weight lost in pounds. (Clarification: The time period is the most recent 4 weeks, from the sentence that precedes the numbered list).
You wrote:
186.8-175 = 11.8 pounds.
Was that just for the 4 weeks, i.e, starting of week one was 186.8, end of week 4 was 175?
If you are stuck at 187, where did the 175 come from?
AH Ok, I was assuming that I should of put the weight I want to be at, at the end. So I should of done 191-187, hypothetically
So then, you are not really stuck. You lost 4 lbs in 4 weeks. Right on schedule. Why is this concerning to you?6 -
How long have you been "stuck". Is it really stuck, or just something in the range of normal fluctuation?
Like for example I weighed in at 168 at the start of this week, down from 169 the week before. But, then I ordered Chinese food. I stayed pretty close to my calories (all estimated, but within a few percentage points). Now for the past few days I've been "stuck" at around 171. Doesn't mean I'm not losing, definitely doesn't mean I gained. It just means the food had a lot of sodium and such. I've been drinking a lot of water and expect by the end of the weekend to be down at about 167.
Basically, a long winded way of saying "make sure to give it a little time before deciding you are 'stuck'".3 -
I was losing 1lb a week once I was in the deficit for a while, was losing more at first.
Assuming you've been reasonably compliant with your goal (consistent in you eating) for the past 4 weeks:
1. Subtract your ending weight from your starting weight for that time period to get total weight lost in pounds.
2. Divide the pounds by 4 to get average weekly weight loss in pounds (keep the decimal places)
3. Multiply the average weekly weight loss in pounds by 3500 (approximate number of calories in a pound of body fat). This is your average total calorie deficit per week for the time period.
4. Divide the average total calorie deficit per week by 7. This is your (approximate) daily calorie deficit for the time period.
If you weren't compliant with your calorie goal, but did log your eating reasonably accuratly, you can use more complicated arithmetic to estimate your average daily TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) from your own data (more accurate than using a "calculator" like MFP, assuming your intake logging is reasonably accurate).
If you're an adult female, but not in menopause yet, use a full menstrual cycle, which will possibly not be an exact, even number of weeks. So, instead of steps 1-4 above, change #2 to divide by the number of days in the whole cycle; #3 will then give you average daily deficit.
If you do this kind of estimate periodically, you can (if you choose) see how your TDEE declines with weight loss **, and you could even compare that rate of decline to the rate of decline a TDEE calculator (not MFP) would estimate, and get some idea whether you're possibly seeing some fatigue or unexpected adaptive thermogenesis effects. (Rate of decline = number of calories per pound (or few) of bodyweight your TDEE decreases, as weight decreases.)
** If it does decline. In theory, it should decline since a lighter person requires fewer calories. Some people find they feel better and are a little more active in daily life as they get lighter and more comfortable moving, so that the daily life activity part of their TDEE increases, cancelling out the decline from lighter body weight. I wouldn't assume this positive effect will happen, but it's possible.
@AnnPT77 So I did 186.8-175=11.8. 11.8/4=2.95 2.95*3500=10325 10325/7=1475
Does this seem right to you? Also, if I just want to lose a pound a week, can I just simply manipulate this equation to do so? Is that ok?
The math looks right: Does that seem kind of right subjectively, that you've been losing close to 3 pounds a week recently, on average? Nearly 12 pounds, in just one month? If so . . .
Freakin' Beacon, man: Eat more. That would be way too fast to be losing weight, at your current weight, for a managed level of health risk.
It would imply that, if you've been eating 2100, your TDEE (all day calorie burn) is around 3475 (with exercise included). If true, you could lose a pound a week at around 2900 (total calories, not 2900 + exercise).
If you haven't lost in a few days (you did start out saying you'd been "stuck at 188"), it's possible that the high stress of the fast loss rate is causing more than minimal water weight weirdness for you (stress/cortison potential).
Best wishes!
So I might have misunderstood you. I was heavier and was losing 1lb a week at 2100 calories a day. Now I'm stuck at an average of 187. I may have plugged the numbers in wrong or just misunderstood what you were saying
Our most likely point of divergence was step #1, which I wrote unclearly.
1. Subtract your ending weight from your starting weight for that time period to get total weight lost in pounds. (Clarification: The time period is the most recent 4 weeks, from the sentence that precedes the numbered list).
You wrote:
186.8-175 = 11.8 pounds.
Was that just for the 4 weeks, i.e, starting of week one was 186.8, end of week 4 was 175?
If you are stuck at 187, where did the 175 come from?
AH Ok, I was assuming that I should of put the weight I want to be at, at the end. So I should of done 191-187, hypothetically
Your goal weight has exactly nothing to do with the process of weight loss, except (1) it has implications for how fast it may be sensible to lose, and (2) it tells you when to stop losing. Whether your goal weight was 175 or a ridiculous (for you) 122, the number of calories to eat now to achieve a certain deficit (a certain weight loss rate) would be the same.
If your goal is 175, you'd be well advised to lose a pound or less per week now . . . which you seem to be doing, overall. Keep doing it. Maybe even consider adding 250 calories daily, soon, to cut the average loss rate down to half a pound a week on average: A sort of on-ramp to maintenance eating.
Presumably your long term goal is to stay at 175 permanently, more or less? Slowing loss rate as you get close is a good way to practice, and helps you minimize muscle loss and health risk en route.
All the best!
Thanks again! So I started around 246 lbs and got down to 187 lbs. I've been stuck at that weight for maybe 2 months now. I've been eating 2100 calories to get there. I'm wanting to get to 175 to see how I feel. So are you saying that I should be able to stay at 2100 to get to 175? I'm not sure if I have to revisit my numbers since I'm lower now. This has always been a question of mine.1 -
Sometimes it works out that the fact you burn less at smaller weight, means you have less deficit if you keep eating the same amount.
Usually though, the deficit remains too great, at least greater than reasonable.
So the math Ann was talking about.
Pick a block of time - the time period you were actually losing weight, don't count the first week of higher water weight loss though. (and don't count 2 months of no weight change though eating same amount)
Get starting and ending weight for that block of time.
Do the math as you did it - just with these new correct numbers.
What was your average eating level during that time? And realize that goal eating level and actual eating level don't always mean the same thing.
And not NET eating level. Gross, total calories eaten.
This will show what your maintenance calorie burn was during that block of time on average with whatever level of activity was being done then.
And yes with the weight loss mentioned - you'd be burning a lot less in daily living if you kept just as active.
If your workouts were the type that did not increase in intensity - like walking 3.5 mph for instance - that would have burned less too.0 -
I was losing 1lb a week once I was in the deficit for a while, was losing more at first.
Assuming you've been reasonably compliant with your goal (consistent in you eating) for the past 4 weeks:
1. Subtract your ending weight from your starting weight for that time period to get total weight lost in pounds.
2. Divide the pounds by 4 to get average weekly weight loss in pounds (keep the decimal places)
3. Multiply the average weekly weight loss in pounds by 3500 (approximate number of calories in a pound of body fat). This is your average total calorie deficit per week for the time period.
4. Divide the average total calorie deficit per week by 7. This is your (approximate) daily calorie deficit for the time period.
If you weren't compliant with your calorie goal, but did log your eating reasonably accuratly, you can use more complicated arithmetic to estimate your average daily TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) from your own data (more accurate than using a "calculator" like MFP, assuming your intake logging is reasonably accurate).
If you're an adult female, but not in menopause yet, use a full menstrual cycle, which will possibly not be an exact, even number of weeks. So, instead of steps 1-4 above, change #2 to divide by the number of days in the whole cycle; #3 will then give you average daily deficit.
If you do this kind of estimate periodically, you can (if you choose) see how your TDEE declines with weight loss **, and you could even compare that rate of decline to the rate of decline a TDEE calculator (not MFP) would estimate, and get some idea whether you're possibly seeing some fatigue or unexpected adaptive thermogenesis effects. (Rate of decline = number of calories per pound (or few) of bodyweight your TDEE decreases, as weight decreases.)
** If it does decline. In theory, it should decline since a lighter person requires fewer calories. Some people find they feel better and are a little more active in daily life as they get lighter and more comfortable moving, so that the daily life activity part of their TDEE increases, cancelling out the decline from lighter body weight. I wouldn't assume this positive effect will happen, but it's possible.
@AnnPT77 So I did 186.8-175=11.8. 11.8/4=2.95 2.95*3500=10325 10325/7=1475
Does this seem right to you? Also, if I just want to lose a pound a week, can I just simply manipulate this equation to do so? Is that ok?
The math looks right: Does that seem kind of right subjectively, that you've been losing close to 3 pounds a week recently, on average? Nearly 12 pounds, in just one month? If so . . .
Freakin' Beacon, man: Eat more. That would be way too fast to be losing weight, at your current weight, for a managed level of health risk.
It would imply that, if you've been eating 2100, your TDEE (all day calorie burn) is around 3475 (with exercise included). If true, you could lose a pound a week at around 2900 (total calories, not 2900 + exercise).
If you haven't lost in a few days (you did start out saying you'd been "stuck at 188"), it's possible that the high stress of the fast loss rate is causing more than minimal water weight weirdness for you (stress/cortison potential).
Best wishes!
So I might have misunderstood you. I was heavier and was losing 1lb a week at 2100 calories a day. Now I'm stuck at an average of 187. I may have plugged the numbers in wrong or just misunderstood what you were saying
Our most likely point of divergence was step #1, which I wrote unclearly.
1. Subtract your ending weight from your starting weight for that time period to get total weight lost in pounds. (Clarification: The time period is the most recent 4 weeks, from the sentence that precedes the numbered list).
You wrote:
186.8-175 = 11.8 pounds.
Was that just for the 4 weeks, i.e, starting of week one was 186.8, end of week 4 was 175?
If you are stuck at 187, where did the 175 come from?
AH Ok, I was assuming that I should of put the weight I want to be at, at the end. So I should of done 191-187, hypothetically
Your goal weight has exactly nothing to do with the process of weight loss, except (1) it has implications for how fast it may be sensible to lose, and (2) it tells you when to stop losing. Whether your goal weight was 175 or a ridiculous (for you) 122, the number of calories to eat now to achieve a certain deficit (a certain weight loss rate) would be the same.
If your goal is 175, you'd be well advised to lose a pound or less per week now . . . which you seem to be doing, overall. Keep doing it. Maybe even consider adding 250 calories daily, soon, to cut the average loss rate down to half a pound a week on average: A sort of on-ramp to maintenance eating.
Presumably your long term goal is to stay at 175 permanently, more or less? Slowing loss rate as you get close is a good way to practice, and helps you minimize muscle loss and health risk en route.
All the best!
Thanks again! So I started around 246 lbs and got down to 187 lbs. I've been stuck at that weight for maybe 2 months now. I've been eating 2100 calories to get there. I'm wanting to get to 175 to see how I feel. So are you saying that I should be able to stay at 2100 to get to 175? I'm not sure if I have to revisit my numbers since I'm lower now. This has always been a question of mine.
If you have lost 4 pounds in the past 4 weeks, stay at 2100.
If you have lost 4 pounds in the past 4 weeks, your current daily deficit is about 500 calories.
With only 12 more pounds to lose, you would not be well served (in terms of health risk, or maintenance prep) by losing faster than one pound per week.
With only 12 more pounds to lose, you might be better served by losing only half a pound a week. To do that, you would eat about 2350.
IMO, sensible people want their weight loss to slow down as they get close to goal. Yes, that's what I did myself. And, since I'm now trying to lose a few vanity pounds here in year 4+ of maintenance, that's exactly what I'm doing now, losing so slowly that I wouldn't even know I was losing, other than with my weight trending app and many weeks of daily weigh-in data.
Get a weight trending app. It's not a crystal ball, it's a statistical analysis tool for visualizing trends. And you need to get at least a month of daily weigh-ins in it, to get a reasonable trend-line started IMO.
There are free weight trending apps: Happy Scale for iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others.
If you literally lost zero pounds in the past 4 weeks, and you literally actually ate 2100 (or very close) every day, then drop to 1850 . . . to lose half a pound a week.
It doesn't seem very reasonable to me to believe that 2100 calories is your maintenance calories at your current size. I admit I'm mysteriously a good calorie burner, but my current maintenance calories are that or a bit higher, and I'm decades older (64), several inches shorter (5'5"), 50ish pounds lighter (130-point-something this morning), sedentary, and 100% more female. Sure, it's possible; but it doesn't seem likely.
I vote: Stay at 2100. Get a weight trending app and use it. Be patient.
Best wishes!6 -
I was losing 1lb a week once I was in the deficit for a while, was losing more at first.
Assuming you've been reasonably compliant with your goal (consistent in you eating) for the past 4 weeks:
1. Subtract your ending weight from your starting weight for that time period to get total weight lost in pounds.
2. Divide the pounds by 4 to get average weekly weight loss in pounds (keep the decimal places)
3. Multiply the average weekly weight loss in pounds by 3500 (approximate number of calories in a pound of body fat). This is your average total calorie deficit per week for the time period.
4. Divide the average total calorie deficit per week by 7. This is your (approximate) daily calorie deficit for the time period.
If you weren't compliant with your calorie goal, but did log your eating reasonably accuratly, you can use more complicated arithmetic to estimate your average daily TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) from your own data (more accurate than using a "calculator" like MFP, assuming your intake logging is reasonably accurate).
If you're an adult female, but not in menopause yet, use a full menstrual cycle, which will possibly not be an exact, even number of weeks. So, instead of steps 1-4 above, change #2 to divide by the number of days in the whole cycle; #3 will then give you average daily deficit.
If you do this kind of estimate periodically, you can (if you choose) see how your TDEE declines with weight loss **, and you could even compare that rate of decline to the rate of decline a TDEE calculator (not MFP) would estimate, and get some idea whether you're possibly seeing some fatigue or unexpected adaptive thermogenesis effects. (Rate of decline = number of calories per pound (or few) of bodyweight your TDEE decreases, as weight decreases.)
** If it does decline. In theory, it should decline since a lighter person requires fewer calories. Some people find they feel better and are a little more active in daily life as they get lighter and more comfortable moving, so that the daily life activity part of their TDEE increases, cancelling out the decline from lighter body weight. I wouldn't assume this positive effect will happen, but it's possible.
@AnnPT77 So I did 186.8-175=11.8. 11.8/4=2.95 2.95*3500=10325 10325/7=1475
Does this seem right to you? Also, if I just want to lose a pound a week, can I just simply manipulate this equation to do so? Is that ok?
The math looks right: Does that seem kind of right subjectively, that you've been losing close to 3 pounds a week recently, on average? Nearly 12 pounds, in just one month? If so . . .
Freakin' Beacon, man: Eat more. That would be way too fast to be losing weight, at your current weight, for a managed level of health risk.
It would imply that, if you've been eating 2100, your TDEE (all day calorie burn) is around 3475 (with exercise included). If true, you could lose a pound a week at around 2900 (total calories, not 2900 + exercise).
If you haven't lost in a few days (you did start out saying you'd been "stuck at 188"), it's possible that the high stress of the fast loss rate is causing more than minimal water weight weirdness for you (stress/cortison potential).
Best wishes!
So I might have misunderstood you. I was heavier and was losing 1lb a week at 2100 calories a day. Now I'm stuck at an average of 187. I may have plugged the numbers in wrong or just misunderstood what you were saying
Our most likely point of divergence was step #1, which I wrote unclearly.
1. Subtract your ending weight from your starting weight for that time period to get total weight lost in pounds. (Clarification: The time period is the most recent 4 weeks, from the sentence that precedes the numbered list).
You wrote:
186.8-175 = 11.8 pounds.
Was that just for the 4 weeks, i.e, starting of week one was 186.8, end of week 4 was 175?
If you are stuck at 187, where did the 175 come from?
AH Ok, I was assuming that I should of put the weight I want to be at, at the end. So I should of done 191-187, hypothetically
Your goal weight has exactly nothing to do with the process of weight loss, except (1) it has implications for how fast it may be sensible to lose, and (2) it tells you when to stop losing. Whether your goal weight was 175 or a ridiculous (for you) 122, the number of calories to eat now to achieve a certain deficit (a certain weight loss rate) would be the same.
If your goal is 175, you'd be well advised to lose a pound or less per week now . . . which you seem to be doing, overall. Keep doing it. Maybe even consider adding 250 calories daily, soon, to cut the average loss rate down to half a pound a week on average: A sort of on-ramp to maintenance eating.
Presumably your long term goal is to stay at 175 permanently, more or less? Slowing loss rate as you get close is a good way to practice, and helps you minimize muscle loss and health risk en route.
All the best!
Thanks again! So I started around 246 lbs and got down to 187 lbs. I've been stuck at that weight for maybe 2 months now. I've been eating 2100 calories to get there. I'm wanting to get to 175 to see how I feel. So are you saying that I should be able to stay at 2100 to get to 175? I'm not sure if I have to revisit my numbers since I'm lower now. This has always been a question of mine.
If you have lost 4 pounds in the past 4 weeks, stay at 2100.
If you have lost 4 pounds in the past 4 weeks, your current daily deficit is about 500 calories.
With only 12 more pounds to lose, you would not be well served (in terms of health risk, or maintenance prep) by losing faster than one pound per week.
With only 12 more pounds to lose, you might be better served by losing only half a pound a week. To do that, you would eat about 2350.
IMO, sensible people want their weight loss to slow down as they get close to goal. Yes, that's what I did myself. And, since I'm now trying to lose a few vanity pounds here in year 4+ of maintenance, that's exactly what I'm doing now, losing so slowly that I wouldn't even know I was losing, other than with my weight trending app and many weeks of daily weigh-in data.
Get a weight trending app. It's not a crystal ball, it's a statistical analysis tool for visualizing trends. And you need to get at least a month of daily weigh-ins in it, to get a reasonable trend-line started IMO.
There are free weight trending apps: Happy Scale for iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others.
If you literally lost zero pounds in the past 4 weeks, and you literally actually ate 2100 (or very close) every day, then drop to 1850 . . . to lose half a pound a week.
It doesn't seem very reasonable to me to believe that 2100 calories is your maintenance calories at your current size. I admit I'm mysteriously a good calorie burner, but my current maintenance calories are that or a bit higher, and I'm decades older (64), several inches shorter (5'5"), 50ish pounds lighter (130-point-something this morning), sedentary, and 100% more female. Sure, it's possible; but it doesn't seem likely.
I vote: Stay at 2100. Get a weight trending app and use it. Be patient.
Best wishes!
Thanks!!1 -
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