what now

Ohnoes

Hi! I've been working towards a goal of 150 lbs for almost a year now. I am currently 155, and 5 foot 7. I guess I might ultimately be happy at 145, which leaves me 10 more to lose. I am currently set to lose a pound a week. I see a lot of talk about scaling back to a half pound a week closer to maintenance. What is the science behind this? I'm still losing pretty easily. Will losing more slowly help me when I am maintaining, or is it just a matter of preventing a stall/plateau? I'm very active, workout about five times a week, mother of two small kids, physically demanding job etc etc and it's still coming off fast. Maybe too fast? I guess what I'm asking is will this hurt my progress, losing a pound plus a week then switching to maintenance?

I basically lost my weight by trading 800 calories a day surplus from alcohol for lifting and hiking and cardio.
Me + heavy weights - beer = normal weight.
My diet of salad, fruit, cheeseburgers and chocolate has basically remained the same. Lol.
Slowing down would mean eating a heck of a lot more, and I'm currently having some appetite problems (probably due to stress, I'm involved in the opening of a new restaurant).

Soooooo, many thanks in advance for advice, should I continue at 1500 calories a day (pound a week) or move to 1800 (half pound)?

Love4fitnesslove4food2

If you're having no issues adhering to 1500 then there's no harm in staying there until you reach goal. I would try to get those appetite issues worked out though or change what you're eating so that you're able to fit more calories in less volume (high fat snacks like nuts, seeds, avocado, olives, and nut butters help) because eventually you'll have to increase your calories and/or decrease your workouts in order to maintain.

Ohnoes

Ive been adding more avocado to my salads, trying to make a habit of snacking on nuts, I have a case of probars at work that I'm always forgetting to eat. Somebody suggested that I drink a lil Orange juice ten minutes before meals to stimulate my appetite? Is that a thing? I'm just now starting to see some nice muscle definition in my arms and shoulders and I don't want to lose it or get too skinny. I've been too skinny (drugs, not an eating disorder cause I know that might get brought up so full disclosure) and it was not cool... I looked gross. My whole motivation for lifting was to lose weight without getting scrawny so I'm a little scared of dropping too low. Which is funny cause a year ago today I was FAT. Isn't life strange?
Thanks for your input, I really appreciate it!

Love4fitnesslove4food2

If you're worried about getting too skinny then I would say that changing your calorie target would be preferable--whole eggs, whole milk, olive oil to cook proteins/veggies, avocado, nuts and seeds for snacks, peanut butter with apples/bananas for snacks, less "diet" foods (like low calorie yogurt/frozen meals/etc) and heartier choices. Peanut butter and jelly are an excellent choice--you can use hearty bread (80 calories per slice for ezekiel bread) + 2 tbsp peanut butter + 1 tbsp all fruit preserves = 400 calories + 1 cup 2% milk = 520 calories. That's a pretty easy meal if coupled with a 2% chobani greek yogurt and would be just under 700 calories. See how easy that is?

Ohnoes

Thanks. I do eat kind of like that, thing is I make myself the pbj, eat half, get full or distracted, try to force a few more bites, give up. I can eat at night, just not when I'm in work mode. I should concentrate on adding to my evening meal. I'd do the ice cream after dinner thing but I've been doing ice cream tastings at work and I don't think I can handle any more. I really appreciate the advice. Helps to hear someone else say it.

SherryTeach

Ive been adding more avocado to my salads, trying to make a habit of snacking on nuts, I have a case of probars at work that I'm always forgetting to eat. Somebody suggested that I drink a lil Orange juice ten minutes before meals to stimulate my appetite? Is that a thing? I'm just now starting to see some nice muscle definition in my arms and shoulders and I don't want to lose it or get too skinny. I've been too skinny (drugs, not an eating disorder cause I know that might get brought up so full disclosure) and it was not cool... I looked gross. My whole motivation for lifting was to lose weight without getting scrawny so I'm a little scared of dropping too low. Which is funny cause a year ago today I was FAT. Isn't life strange?
Thanks for your input, I really appreciate it!

Someone told you to drink orange juice, which is basically sugar water, for any reason? Need a nutrition or calorie boost: eat nuts, a boiled egg, a piece of string cheese, a piece of fruit, a snack-bag size of iron-enriched whole grain cereal.

Ohnoes

The oj was suggested as an appetite stimulant, not a calorie boost.

Jenn842512

I set my original goal from just under 180 to 130 and ended up at 118. Now I fluctuate between 120 and 125 but I've gained a ton of muscle too....

As I got down to a healthy happy place I stopped caring about the number and just paid attention to how clothes fit and how I feel!

Ohnoes

That's awesome. I aspire to that... I don't own a scale (i weigh myself in the bathroom fixtures aisle at target lol) and I log estimates (don't weigh food) just so I have a general idea of where I am at. So that I can transition away from the numbers someday. But mfp has been a great tool! This calorie counting thing is tedious sometimes. I'm not sure what my correct number is yet, I feel great but I'm just barely in the healthy non overweight bmi range and I've got some flab here and there.