Best weight loss tips

AussieKT96

Hi MFP people,

I am embarking on a weight loss and physical health journey as I have let myself go over the last few years.

I am hoping to lose 25+ kilos this year and need some tips on how to stay motivated and what has worked for you when losing weight. I have put weight loss as 0.8kg/week and it is giving me 1520 calories per day. Should I eat this amount of less to help quicken the weight loss?

AnnPT77

My tip would be to try to make weight loss easy, rather than trying to make it fast.

Losing 25+ kilos is going to take many weeks to months, possibly even parts of a couple of years, even if you lose fast. In my mind, that puts a premium on keeping things achievable and health-promoting. Sometimes a gradual weight loss will get a person to goal weight in less calendar time than some extreme thing that causes episodes of deprivation-triggered over-eating, breaks in the action, or even giving up altogether.

Then, assuming one reaches goal weight, there's staying at a healthy weight long term, ideally permanently. Moderation during loss gives more opportunity to learn and practice eating and activity patterns that can keep us at a healthy weight almost on autopilot when other parts of life get stressful and demanding . . . because they will.

Many people here (and I'm one) suggest losing no faster than 0.5%-1% of current weight per week, with a bias toward the lower end of that unless severely obese and under close medical supervision for deficiencies or complications. If 0.8kg is that for you at this point, it should be fine.

If there's an occasional day when you feel less hungry, sure, eat a little less. I wouldn't make a habit of it, though, until you have 4-6 weeks of weight loss experience at your target calorie level. MFP, fitness trackers, and other calorie calculators just spit out an average number of calories for similar people. But each of us is an individual, not an average. It's hard to tell how close to average we are until we have that track record to examine. Losing too fast increases health risk and can make giving up more likely.

Eating below goal may be a particular temptation at first. It's not true for everyone, but some people have a high-motivation honeymoon period of a few weeks when it all seems easy, so they lowball calorie intake . . . then the fatigue, weakness, cravings or even hair loss hit like a mack truck.

Will bad things happen for sure? Of course not. But risk goes up.

I lost 50-some pounds (around 23 kilos) in just under a year, and have been maintaining a healthy weight for 7+ years since. I used this eating approach:

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

That won't be perfect for everyone. IMO, no one method is. But it's one among many to consider.

I'd been active for a while while still obese, so I pretty much just kept my same enjoyable exercise routine during loss. For someone who isn't active, it can be health-promoting to get some exercise, but I'd be inclined to suggest gradually phasing in eating/activity changes to keep things manageable. If weight loss is the key goal, calorie management is the major tool.

Once a person has the emotional energy bandwidth to start exercising, find some fun way of moving more that's a slight challenge, and gradually increase from there as fitness improves.

Some people act like being overweight is a sin we need to expiate via suffering: Extreme, restrictive eating rules stacked on top of intense, punitive daily exercise. That's not IMO a very durable strategy. The big payoff IMO is in finding new permanent habits, both eating and activity patterns, that are relatively enjoyable, or at least tolerable and practical.

Just my opinions throughout, of course.

Best wishes for success: The results are worth it, in quality of life improvement, IME.