How often should I adjust my calorie goal as I lose weight if I want to keep losing?

jfsilva25

I started at 230 pounds and I am now at 185 with another 5 to 10 to lose. Do I need to change my calorie goal based on my new weight? ~Thanks!

lgfrie

Your TDEE (maintenance calories) reduces by approximately 5 calories for every pound lost.

So you already get 5 x 45 = 225 calories less per day, based on your current weight loss. Or put another way, you are already losing almost 1/2 lb per week less than when you started - eating the same # of calories.

So yeah, in theory you would have to reduce your calorie quota to continue losing weight at the same rate. BUT ... eventually you will hit a wall, where if you reduce your cals further, you'll either be below a safe minimum (1500 male, 1200 female) or more generally, just not be getting enough food to feel satisfied and continue with successful weight loss. This is why it's a good idea to really think carefully about whether you want to push on at the same weight loss pace or reduce it, as you lose weight.

From my experience you are MUCH better off moderating your goal than reducing your caloric intake. The latter is really a challenging way to go about things, and ends badly for many people. I've had good success gradually reducing my weight loss goal so as to keep my calories more or less constant. In fact my calorie quota has gone up since I started dieting. 90 lbs lost.

Lietchi

jfsilva25 wrote: »

I started at 230 pounds and I am now at 185 with another 5 to 10 to lose. Do I need to change my calorie goal based on my new weight? ~Thanks!

If you still have the same calorie goal as when you started, it's probably time to update, yes. MFP should update automatically, but for many people it doesn't. If you go through the goal setup again, it will update your calorie goal. Since you have so little left to lose, I would suggest choosing a weight loss rate of 0.5lbs per week (presuming it's currently set at a faster rate of loss).

sijomial

What is your recent rate of weight loss?
I'd be more concerned that your rate of loss is appropriate for how much weight you now have to lose.

It's time to look forward to how you are going to handle the transition to maintenance and how fast you lose the last few pounds can make that harder or easier.

wunderkindking

I recalibrate mine every time I lose a pound, because seeing 10 calories come off my allowance is a nice, gradual, way to get myself used to that, as mentioned, transition to maintenance - and doesn't make me go OMGWTF and have to recalibrate things by much or feel deprived.

nytrifisoul

I wouldn't even waste my time with mfp calorie goal. For one, it won't let you set less then 1500 calories so if you want to lose 2lbs a week, its useless.

jfsilva25

Thanks for all the feedback! Much appreciated.