Wanting to lose weight slowly

papple227

Hey Everyone!
I lost about 55lbs back in 2016/2017 and was able to maintain it until I got pregnant with my 3rd in 2020. After giving birth and losing all the initial pregnancy weight I maintained my new postpartum weight (20lbs heavier). However, over the last few months, I’ve notice that it’s been creeping up, so I am back.
I lost weight quickly last time and this time I’m really hoping to slow down and only focus on losing .25 to .5 lbs a week. Does anyone have any tips on taking weight loss slow? I am very go go go and get sucked into competing with myself, but I’m really wanting to have this experience less of a race and more of a lifestyle change

kshama2001

Go here: https://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change-goals-guided or More > Goals in app.

1. Put in your stats.
2. normal daily activities refers to your job. (If you are a SAHM put at least Lightly Active.)
3. Ignore How many times a week do you plan on exercising? - that does not get included in the equation. Log your exercise separately.
4. Select Lose 0.5 pound per week.

If you adhere to this rate of loss, some weeks or even months it may feel like you are not making any progress at all. I suggest using a weight trend app, such as Happy Scale for iphone or Libra for Android, and focus on the trend.

See also: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10636388/free-customized-personal-weight-loss-eating-plan-not-spam-or-mlm/p1

Lietchi

I'm the queen of slow losses 😆 intentionally, I will add - I was worried about lose skin and also prefer to eat as much as possible while still losing weight.

My biggest recommendation is: use a weight trending app (e.g Libra) because at a slower rate of loss, weight fluctuations will more easily mask fat loss on the scale. So enter your weigh-ins into the app and wait at least one menstrual cycle before evaluating whether or not you are actually losing weight.

My second recommendation: find some other goals on top of the weight loss that you can focus on. Whether it's simply logging daily, a certain quantity of water to drink daily, a number of steps per day, ... Any goal that helps you build good habits to keep the weight off after you lose it.

AnnPT77

Good advice above.

I also did some ultra-slow weight loss for an extended time (over a year) to creep off some regain in maintenance. I was still firmly in a healthy range and the same jeans size, and somehow not in the mood for a bigger deficit, but I wanted to lose 10-15 pounds.

Looking backward, estimating from loss, it was maybe a 150 calorie average daily deficit or so. My calorie goal was set closer to 250 deficit, but I did occasionally decide to eat past that goal, so that's where things averaged out.

I agree with everything Lietchi said, except a little quibble about the weight trending app. When I was losing that slowly, there was a period of 4-6 weeks when even Libra thought I was maintaining or even gaining, but I was pretty sure I was still losing slowly. The expected scale drop showed up suddenly after that.

I knew why, which helped my attitude: When I re-start progressive strength training after a long-ish break, I usually gain a couple of pounds of water weight, and hang onto them until I stop progressively training regularly. Eventually, even ultra-slow fat loss will outpace the water retention on the scale, but if the fat loss is less than half a pound a week, it's going to take a month ore more for that to happen. The same thing could happen for other reasons, though.

Attitude wise, I think this is an easier process if you know your own body very well, concerning what causes fluctuations in water weight and for how long. Tactics wise, the smaller the deficit, IMO the more important really solid accurate-as-practical food/activity logging is.

I'd do the same thing again, though.

For me, it didn't take a lot of discipline, nor did I want to fight with some impulse to see the scale drop, so I can't help with that part. I was pretty sure it would work, I wasn't super stressed about the extra pounds . . . and I loved how painless it was.

Best wishes!

Lietchi

I did say 'at least one menstrual cycle' but should have specified at least two full cycles is better 🙂

And that's from personal experience, when it actually took more than two months before the trend confirmed it!
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10900381/about-small-deficits-plateaus-weight-trends-and-consistency-and-looking-for-maintenance#latest