Very slow weight loss

sam33a

Hi all,

I have been on here for a while - since July last year. My weight loss has been extremely slow throughout (I have lost a total of 26 lbs, eating 1200 calories per day). I really would love to hurry up the weight loss if possible. I weigh myself once a month and there have been months where I've stuck to my calories, weighing everything out and making sure I've not gone over, and only lost one pound. I admit I didn't exercise at all, until April this year. But even then the weight loss has continued to be slow (2 lbs lost last month).

Perhaps I'm not working out as hard as I should be but it's extremely frustrating to see others lose 2 lbs a week so easily while for me, a 2 lb loss in a month is a good month! What am I doing wrong? All I can think about lately is calories and fat, and getting the weight off me.

Also, I'm near my goal weight now but body fat is extremely high so I still look extremely overweight. Sadly, my weight tends to accumulate around my middle which makes things so much worse. This is perhaps due to my complete lack of exercise but what can I do now to lower it? Any recommendations would be much appreciated! Thanks

kimny72

If you dont have alot if weight to lose, it's perfectly normal to lose at a slower pace. When you don't have much wiggle room, you just have to put on your patient pants.

If you're a healthy weight but still have excess fat and want to look more "fit", losing at a pace of half-a-lb per week while focusing on strength training might be your best plan.

Strudders67

People losing 2lb a week are either eating unhealthily low calories in order to lose faster than is sensible or they have a lot of weight to lose in the first place. If you're close to goal, it really will be slow and requires the accurate logging that you're already doing. Stick with it- your trend is still downwards and for that you can congratulate yourself.

Like you, I was allocated 1200 calories a day as that's the minimum recommended for females and is therefore the minimum that MFP will set anyone. It took me a little over 5 months to lose my last 6.5 lbs. Now that I'm in maintenance, I get 1340 a day. I'm female, only 5'2 and sedentary in my normal life. So, for the last few months that I was losing weight, my deficit was only about 150 - which means weight loss is going to be really slow and there isn't much margin for not weighing properly, guessing the weight of restaurant meals, forgetting to log the mid afternoon or late night snack, not counting the extra tsp of oil that got added to the pan etc. On the plus side, I haven't had to change much now that I'm in maintenance.

Likekimny72 says, you may find that you benefit more from strength training to tone up the areas you feel are still 'fat'. In the meantime, you're doing a great job by slowly eating away at those last few pounds.

PAV8888

First of all, the "other people", if they are doing things safely, are currently morbidly obese, and thus can afford to lose 2lbs a week.

If your goal is within the normal weight range and you're close to it, you're not, and you can't afford it.

I've been a (relatively high) BMI within the normal range (mid high 23's low 24's, with lack of social eating during COVID pushing things a bit down towards 23) during the past few years of maintenance. Multiple methods indicate that even if I am extremely careful and conservative with my deficit, any loss is pretty much closer to a 1:1 ratio of fat to lean mass as opposed to even a middling good 2:1... and a far far sight from the 10+:1 I was getting when morbidly obese. And this includes DEXA scans in addition to BIA scales.

So... the faster you lose the more lean mass you'll lose and if you're not exercising, at all, that's not something you can afford to squander.

Please note that since most people have more lean mass than fat mass even a 1:1 ratio would serve to decrease their overall fat percentage... but since most of us are only interested in losing fat, the worse the ratio the more sub-optimal the result.

So you've done an exceptional job so far and you've brought your weight down to where you want to be. And your cautious approach means that (especially if you are doing things that are sustainable for you long term, in terms of how you've been losing) you have a fair chance to maintain your loss if you spend at least the next couple of years exercising similar levels of care and attention in order to avoid regain.

Weight loss that bring us to a healthy weight is good. It is a useful, to a degree even necessary component in a quest to optimize our health. But there is more to health than just weight. Nutritious food is a component. At least a minimal level of activity and exercise such that you meet or exceed the WHO Exercise recommendations for people your age is also a component:
https://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/factsheet_recommendations/en/
https://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/factsheet_adults/en/

Beyond that... magic has left this world and is nowhere to be found! Just as being sedentary means that maintenance is less calories as compared to being active, in the same way I am not aware of any way that any of us can increase (or even retain long term as it starts decreasing with age) our muscle mass and strength without engaging in appropriate exercise! 🤷‍♂️

Duck_Puddle

I run marathons and AT BEST lose 3 pounds a month (usually less). My base calorie allowance is also 1200 (plus exercise). So I assure you, slow loss is not purely a function of how much or how hard you’re working out.

If you’re very close to goal and aren’t happy with your body shape/appearance, @kimnyc72 has the best prescription. Is strength training an option for you? And by “option” I mean everything from desire to lockdown/quarantine gym availability to cost, etc. That will make the most noticeable change in how your body looks (in terms of fat/“toned”).