Slow down 2 lb/wk pace, before goal, for better maintenance?

jerrodh

Howdy y'all.

I'm down about 35 lb now, since the beginning of October. It's been an average pace of just over 2 lb/week, which is what I've been shooting for. I'm not sure if I'll go for a full 60 lb lost (to ~165-ish) or knock it off at 50 lb (175). Ultimately, though, here's my concern:

This is my **3rd** or maybe even **4th** big (40+ lb) diet. And I just turned only 30. I'm well aware that this much yo-yo-ing is itself unhealthy. My reality is that I'm an expert dieter, but a terrible maintainer. Every time I've lost, I've maintained for only around a year before simply letting go. As life's stresses have ebbed and flowed, so has my discipline to even monitor my weight, let alone intake.

So, I ask:

In preparation for the impending hard part -- successful, lifelong maintenance -- should I begin NOW to gradually increase my daily intake, to "slow down" from my current 2 lb/week pace? I haven't done this in my previous diets -- the start of maintenance has always been a cold-turkey surge of a thousand calories a day once I hit goal.

I'm not sure about the biochemistry, but it seems at least psychologically, a more-gradual transition to a maintenance routine would help. Even if it takes me quite a bit longer to finally reach my goal.

((Unlike previous diets, this time I'm also adding exercise -- road cycling -- to help with the psychology of maintenance and overall health. Fingers crossed.))

Anyway, perhaps I already know the answer, but... Thoughts?

Cheeky_and_Geeky

Following!

I am also great at losing huge amounts of weight, but maintaining is what's difficult for me. I've been on MFP since July 2013 & have lost 45lbs. I think I average almost 2lbs a week loss, except I lose about a pound a week now that I'm at a healthy BMI. I feel like I will maintain better now that I'm not doing some crash diet. I'm looking at my macros, work out moderately, & eat within my calorie goals daily. I upped my calories about 3 months into MFP & will increase them again in February.

nxd10

Two pounds a week is a really big deficit - especially since you don't have that much to lose (40 pounds is not 100).

I would definitely drop it to one pound a week. Many people drop to 1/2 pound/week when they get close to their goal. I did not do that in terms of deficits, but my body naturally did that as I got close to my goal. I slid right into maintenance. You need to know you're going to keep logging for at least a year - maybe a lot longer. That's what will really help you maintain. Some people can do it without logging. You don't seem to be able to. Go with what works!

Mr_Knight

There is, unfortunately, no evidence that going slow, or adding tapering, or etc, contributes to long term weight loss maintenance.

The battle never really ends, so choose to fight this on whatever terms make most sense for you.

spoiledpuppies

I've also read that it doesn't matter how fast you get to goal--it only matters what you do after. So for some people, slowing down might help because it takes them longer to reach goal, thereby giving themselves more time to develop healthy habits.

I just lost to a few pounds below my goal, at a rate of somewhere around 1.5+ per week. What I'm doing now is adding just 100 calories to my daily goal for a week, then I'll go up another 100 calories next week, and so on until I find maintenance. I may end up losing a few more pounds before really finding my maintenance calories (and I kind of don't want to because my body fat percentage is already quite low). But I think going "cold turkey" to a higher goal would cause too many temptations. I want to settle in slowly to my maintenance number.

Mav3rick54

Howdy y'all.

I'm down about 35 lb now, since the beginning of October. It's been an average pace of just over 2 lb/week, which is what I've been shooting for. I'm not sure if I'll go for a full 60 lb lost (to ~165-ish) or knock it off at 50 lb (175). Ultimately, though, here's my concern:

This is my **3rd** or maybe even **4th** big (40+ lb) diet. And I just turned only 30. I'm well aware that this much yo-yo-ing is itself unhealthy. My reality is that I'm an expert dieter, but a terrible maintainer. Every time I've lost, I've maintained for only around a year before simply letting go. As life's stresses have ebbed and flowed, so has my discipline to even monitor my weight, let alone intake.

So, I ask:

In preparation for the impending hard part -- successful, lifelong maintenance -- should I begin NOW to gradually increase my daily intake, to "slow down" from my current 2 lb/week pace? I haven't done this in my previous diets -- the start of maintenance has always been a cold-turkey surge of a thousand calories a day once I hit goal.

I'm not sure about the biochemistry, but it seems at least psychologically, a more-gradual transition to a maintenance routine would help. Even if it takes me quite a bit longer to finally reach my goal.

((Unlike previous diets, this time I'm also adding exercise -- road cycling -- to help with the psychology of maintenance and overall health. Fingers crossed.))

Anyway, perhaps I already know the answer, but... Thoughts?

Except for the age....I could have written this....in to see advise

1princesswarrior

Here is the advice given by my doctor and many on here (I may not have the numbers exactly right):

40+ lbs to lose 1.5-2 lbs a week
20-40 lbs to lose 1-1.5 lbs a week
10-20 lbs to lose 0.5-1.0 lbs a week
Up to 10 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs a week

At least that is what my doctor suggested, she wrote it down and I have it hanging on my refrigerator. I know it's similar to what I've seen recommended by some very wise MFP members.

acogg

See that bicycle? See yourself next to it? Ride the bike and eat! Eat healthy, and ride your bike!

heybales

Contrary to some thinking it doesn't matter how fast you lose - it does, with effects that explain exactly why it's so hard to maintain.

Several studies have shown the bigger deficits lead to adaptive systems that burn less than expected because they have just flat out gotten more efficient. Nothing to do with exercise, though that showed less calorie burn too, but everything about your daily burn.
Which spells bad news at maintenance - because now it's lower than it needed to be.
Though even in this 6 month study - recovery had started at 3 months, but that was with only 10% weight lost in 3 months before going to true tested maintenance.

At least you were exercising.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/heybales/view/reduced-metabolism-tdee-beyond-expected-from-weight-loss-616251

arrseegee

Bear in mind that when you increase your calories to maintenance you are going to see a slight increase on the scale because when you are no longer eating at deficit your glycogen (carb) stores in your liver and muscles will replenish, and in order to do that a few lbs of water get trapped in there too.

Many people increase as they get to maintenance so that this increase in water weight isn't such a scary overnight thing, but also given that you have had problems before it may be worth it for you so that you can gradually get used to eating closer to what you'll be doing to maintain. It's so much easier to lose weight than to maintain it, because in weight loss you are constantly needing to be careful about what you're eating and then I think some people (myself included) can easily overshoot when you get to maintenance. If you have been eating at a big deficit then for some people it seems that when you eat a 'normal' amount of food again they realise what they've been missing and can find it hard to reign their calorie intake in!

I am continuing to log my food in maintenance and I plan on doing that for at least a few more months. After that my plan is to keep an eye on the scale and how I'm looking/feeling and if it starts heading upwards I'll be logging again to make sure I'm not overeating. I've been in maintenance since November and am now eating 500-600 calories per day more than I was eating while I was losing, and it really doesn't feel like that much more. I think it would be easy for me to eat way over my TDEE if I wasn't careful.

florentinovillaro

IMO it's a slide scale. The heavier you are, the faster you lose.

If you don't increase your activity as you lose weight, or increase your deficit, your losses per week, month, year will begin to slow down eventually leveling off automatically, again IF activity level and %deficit remains the same.

Examples:

A 300 lb person walking at the same speed as a 200 lb person will burn more calories because he/she will have more weight to move around, ending up in more calories burned. The 200 lb person could add 100 lbs of weight on his back and achieve the same burn.

A car with 8 people in it will burn more gas than a car with 1 person in it. If car number 2 with 1 body in it picks up 7 more people. The engine will burn the same amount of gas as car number 1.

Less weight means more efficiency, which means it will take longer to burn the same amount of calories or fuel.

lawlorka

My plan is to slowly transition into maintenance. I use the TDEE method right now and what I have it set at estimates a loss of 1.1lb per week, which is accurate as that is on average what I am currently losing. I have 19lbs to go until I reach my goal weight.

At 15lbs to go I'm going to change the setting to what will give me an estimated loss of 0.9lbs per week, then at 10lbs, 0.6lbs per week, and 5lbs, 0.4lbs per week until I hit goal.

For me, I've never dieted before ever. I am 5'2" and got to 156lbs and decided to do something about it. I also can't ever remember being 120lbs as I never used to be all that bothered by my weight so never weighed myself until last year.

I think as I have absolutely no experience in this that the slow transition will help me. I'm currently at 1642cals per day, and my TDEE for maintenance at goal weight will be about 2100. That's a big jump. I'm sure physically there is no difference from tapering in or just suddenly upping your calories to maintenance, but I feel much better about this approach, and since so much of this process is mental, I want to give myself the best possible chance at success.

jackielou867

I've also read that it doesn't matter how fast you get to goal--it only matters what you do after. So for some people, slowing down might help because it takes them longer to reach goal, thereby giving themselves more time to develop healthy habits.

I just lost to a few pounds below my goal, at a rate of somewhere around 1.5+ per week. What I'm doing now is adding just 100 calories to my daily goal for a week, then I'll go up another 100 calories next week, and so on until I find maintenance. I may end up losing a few more pounds before really finding my maintenance calories (and I kind of don't want to because my body fat percentage is already quite low). But I think going "cold turkey" to a higher goal would cause too many temptations. I want to settle in slowly to my maintenance number.

I would go with this.
It is pretty much what I did and I maintained successfully for a few weeks now, except for a little blip at Christmas.
I do not consider myself to be on a diet anymore, BUT I have completely and utterly changed the way I eat, for the better, and forever.
You really have to face up to the fact that you cannot eat like you did before. It made you FAT! If you go back to eating the junk and crap you ate before you will get FAT!
I did the yo yo diet thing for 20 years. Time to say enough. Not just for your vanity, but for your health.
When you reach your goal throw out all your FAT clothes. Buy nice new clothes that fit, and make you look and feel good. And if ever they start to feel tight on you then you know you are doing something wrong and you need to nip it in the bud.
Don't get me wrong, I do still have days where I go a little crazy, special events, meals out etc.
I am no goody 2 shoes. I eat ice cream, but now I eat 100ml not half a litre. I eat chocolate, but a square not a bar.
I was on 1700 calories a day, if I went over 500 one day I would aim to be 500 under over the rest of the week.

fougamou

I transitioned into maintenance -- going from 2 lbs, to 1 1/2 to 1 to 1/2 lb a week over time.

Can't speak to the science of it, but psychologically, it made sense to me. Mentally it put me into a place where my "diet" didn't "end" When I got to maintenance it was less of a feeling of "I am finished" and more of a sense of "I reached a point where I can add in a few more calories"


FWIW, so far I am doing nothing different than I was doing when I was losing, except my calorie goal is higher.

Swiftdogs

I'm easing my way toward maintenance. Whether it's psychological, physical, or both, it makes sense for me. I'm at a 150 calorie/day deficit now and still losing.

lynleeg88

I'm with you. Expert dieter! 200 to 130 back to 170 down to 145 up to 200....sigh...so horrible maintainer.

I think whatever fits you psychological is the best course, as long as it is healthy. It will help in the long run.

And once you reach your goal, allow me to give you advice I failed to follow but feel would help. Weigh every other day and never let yourself get above 5 lbs of your 'maintenance' weight.

And I once read about the hypothalamus, how...I think it was 30 days? 60? of staying at the same weight resets your metabolism to that current weight. Supposedly, that is why you can weigh 180, get down to 160 in a month or so if your lucky, but then gain back so quickly. I would do more research on that though, it has been awhile.

nxd10

I know I responded earlier, but I was just thinking that 2 pounds a week sounds an awful lot like a crash diet. NOT what you need if you're good at dieting and not maintenance.

I really do wish you luck this time.

You might want to go to the National Weight Loss Registry. They have been studying people who successfully maintain, because most people - like you - regain. Their insight might help.

Joanjett88

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