Changing goals

lewispwest

Hi everyone,

I know there is a copypasta floating around telling you what your weekly lb loss rate should be on your goals but I was hoping for a specific answer from you lot on mine.

As it stands I have lost 50lbs/70lbs on the 2lb/a week rate. This currently gives me 1,500kcals a day. I had a look at changing that to 1.5lb/a week and it jumps me up to 1,750kcals a day.

Is it me or does that seem like a very large swing? Should I go with the 1,750kcals or stick with 1,500kcals that has been working for me?

abatonfan

No, that spike in calories is expected. MFP estimates 1lb weight loss to equal a 3500 calorie deficit, or a 500kcal per day for 7 days deficit. Decreasing weight loss by a half pound only requires a 1750 calorie (250kcal per day for 7 days) deficit. You went from a 2lb loss to 1.5lb loss, which adds an extra 250kcal to your diet.

lewispwest

So you say go for it or stay put?

accelerashawn

If you have consistently lost 2lb a week for 25 weeks... i'd be surprised. I would think it would start off pretty drastic and then slow down.

If you feel healthy and energetic then i would stick with the current plan but if you'd like to up the calories...try adding 50-100ish every couple days until you're at a comfortable place.

The more you lose the less you burn day by day...so i figured once you lost 50ish lbs you should be burning significantly fewer calories during each day so your weight loss should taper.

MinnieInMaine

I'm guessing this is what you're referring to:

If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

So with 20 pounds left to lose, a goal of 1 pound per week would be best. What you could do, if you're nervous about that big of an uptake in calories, is to custom set your calories and gradually add 100 calories per week. The gradual change will also prepare you for maintenance once you get there.

lewispwest

So with 20 pounds left to lose, a goal of 1 pound per week would be best. What you could do, if you're nervous about that big of an uptake in calories, is to custom set your calories and gradually add 100 calories per week. The gradual change will also prepare you for maintenance once you get there.

Yeah that's what I was thinking. Going straight to maintenance from 2lbs/week will be very bad for me so I think I will take your advice and manually up my calories steadily.

If you have consistently lost 2lb a week for 25 weeks... i'd be surprised. I would think it would start off pretty drastic and then slow down.

The more you lose the less you burn day by day...so i figured once you lost 50ish lbs you should be burning significantly fewer calories during each day so your weight loss should taper.

I've averaged a loss of about 3.3lbs a week since I started in April. It has slowed down but not by much. Was losing a stone a month on average but it's just over a month now.