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will this work to lose weight?

lyds7870
lyds7870 Posts: 1 Member
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
So basically before lockdown started I was at my ideal weight, one that both I was happy with and that I didn't have to restrict my intake to be. Since lockdown started I've gained about 7lbs, which is getting me down and I feel sluggish and not myself. I am 5'7, 146 pounds, and 21 years old. I was planning on eating around 1,790 cals a day which MFP says I will lose 0.5lbs a week doing which I am happy with as I don't want to do anything too drastic and don't have that much to lose but I was wondering if a week of eating say 1,550 cals a day to lose 1lb initially would work to motivate me so I see some results straight away. Will this make it harder to lose the week after back at 1,790 or will it just kickstart the weight loss in a way that will keep me motivated?

Replies

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 35,460 Member
    lyds7870 wrote: »
    So basically before lockdown started I was at my ideal weight, one that both I was happy with and that I didn't have to restrict my intake to be. Since lockdown started I've gained about 7lbs, which is getting me down and I feel sluggish and not myself. I am 5'7, 146 pounds, and 21 years old. I was planning on eating around 1,790 cals a day which MFP says I will lose 0.5lbs a week doing which I am happy with as I don't want to do anything too drastic and don't have that much to lose but I was wondering if a week of eating say 1,550 cals a day to lose 1lb initially would work to motivate me so I see some results straight away. Will this make it harder to lose the week after back at 1,790 or will it just kickstart the weight loss in a way that will keep me motivated?

    It probably won't hurt you physically to have a bigger deficit for one week, but whether it's "motivating" is IMO 100% a function of your personality and outlook. (Just don't expect a calorie deficit equivalent to 1 pound of loss will result in 1 pound of loss by the end of the week. It doesn't often work that way.)

    Some people would be motivated by what you propose. Others would be frustrated and want to cut further, more aggressively, maybe dangerously, to get a "reward" of the scale dropping. Some would do better if they cut 100 calories per day this week, 100 more the next week, 50 the following week to ease into that deficit.

    Motivation is individual.
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