How much of a deficit is too stressful on your body?

kjo1713

Hello all

I’ve noticed as I get closer to my goal weight my body has become way more sensitive to strenuous exercise and I’m thinking about food ALL the time where in the beginning of my journey I just felt motivated. Now I feel tired, hungry, and anxious and I’m pretty sure it’s related from what I read. Have others experienced this? How can I overcome this without completely giving up on the progress I have made so far? I don’t want to overdo it and feel bad each day. Maybe decrease deficit? Not sure but I lost weight rapidly at first and now almost not at all and just feeling all around not great and energized.

Any input would be appreciated!

Carriehelene

How much do you have left to lose? Have you adjusted your calorie goal? If you don’t have a lot left to lose, you should be losing more slowly, only 1/2 - 1 pound per week.

AnnPT77

Late on in weight loss - if it hasn't happened earlier - I think it's super important to find the sustainable habits that can work in maintenance - almost on autopilot - to stay at a healthy weight permanently.

Usually, IMO, that's going to involve really slow loss, plus experimentation with strategies.

If you're struggling, a maintenance break can be really valuable.

Maybe read this?

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1

A break is also good maintenance practice. Think long term!

At minimum, yes, taper loss rate - with less fat left to lose, a slower rate is much more sensible.

sijomial

"Maybe decrease deficit?" - Yes! In your situation I would aim for no deficit at all for a few weeks.
Taking a diet break isn't undoing your progress, it's actually consolidating it.
Learning to adjust your calorie allowance for changing circumstances is one of the skills needed to maintain long term at goal weight.

How are you cutting calories? If going low carb that might be part of the problem along with excessive and prolonged deficit.

One of the sustainable habits mentioned above that is required for maintenance is accounting for your exercise calories - are you already doing that?

What is your exercise of choice?
(Different exercise modalities and durations required different nutrition strategies from just being part of your everyday eating plan to needing precise and targetted fuelling.)

Depending on your exercise volume and intensity when your exercise performance tanks It could also be a sign you need to take more care over your exercise recovery.
The phrase "when in a hole, stop digging" - applies to both dieting and exercise.

Lietchi

I don't think there is a precise number we can give you to answer the question in the title.

But my experience: as I got more lean, staying in a consistent deficit definitely became more difficult. My deficit had already become smaller with time, but even that wasn't really working. So I changed my strategy. I set MFP at maintenance and then aiming for that number or anything below it, depending on my hunger and exercise that day.

As for exercise, especially since you mention strenuous exercise, that can definitely influence how you handle a deficit, since you're adding a layer of stress (exercise) on top of another layer of stress (deficit).

I second the idea posted above to take a maintenance break, sounds like your body might just need a break!

thisvickyruns

kjo1713 wrote: »

Hello all

I’ve noticed as I get closer to my goal weight my body has become way more sensitive to strenuous exercise and I’m thinking about food ALL the time where in the beginning of my journey I just felt motivated. Now I feel tired, hungry, and anxious and I’m pretty sure it’s related from what I read. Have others experienced this? How can I overcome this without completely giving up on the progress I have made so far? I don’t want to overdo it and feel bad each day. Maybe decrease deficit? Not sure but I lost weight rapidly at first and now almost not at all and just feeling all around not great and energized.

Any input would be appreciated!

Having a diet break might help?

Xellercin

I agree with everyone, sometimes you need to take a break from losing.

I lost a lot of weight steadily over time and never took breaks and it definitely damaged my metabolism.

I regained a bit of weight due to meds, and this time around losing, I take breaks and ramp up my eating quite a bit for a few weeks at a time. It keeps the whole system revving.

csplatt

I would eat at maintenance for a time while weight training. You may get enough recomp to be happy, or you can return to deficit in near future.

kshama2001

Did you change your weekly weight loss goal as you lost weight?

nanastaci2020

You indicate you lost weigh rapidly at first and now it has slowed down. How long have you been at it, and what is your overall weight loss? Losing weight slowly IS frustrating especially if your expectations are off. Realistic weight loss is usually no more than .5-1 pounds per week, unless you have a LOT of weight to lose.

JBanx256

That's going to depend on the individual:

-how large is this person? (a 300-pound person is going to be able to tolerate a much larger deficit than a 100-pound person)
-how long have they been dieting? (if someone has been in a deficit, especially a more aggressive one, it's going to start taking its toll)
-what's their current bodyfat level? (a person with a lot of extra bodyfat has more to work with, as opposed to someone who is very lean)
-what's their current training like? (doing Tai Chi once/week for half an hour versus strenuous lifting and cardio as in contest prep)
-etc etc etc

Stasi14

You should adjust you calories goals. As you exercise you should take more calories as by exercising you are burning calories and the body need more calories. To make sure you don’ t have too much calories you can calculated according your weight and how many times a week you do exercise.

njitaliana

How many daily calories do you eat? How long have you been dieting? How much have you lost?