Anyone else following a 'lose 1/2 lb. a week' plan?

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  • girlinahat
    girlinahat Posts: 2,956 Member
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    pick me! Pick me!!!

    I too am set to 0.5lb a week. I want to lose around 20lbs, and no, it's not shifting, but that doesn't matter too much to me because that is not my goal, it's a side-effect of my goal.

    My goal is to eat better (I have never been one to eat much processed stuff, but even the occasional pizza has been thrown out, as has most definitely the fish and chips). My goal is to get fitter - whether by going to the gym or just getting out more. My goal is to generally live a healthier lifestyle, but I am sorry, I am not going to give up beer, wine, chocolate, home-made biscuits and the odd eating out to get there.

    I started here on 1200 calories. I personally think MFP is deeply flawed in the way it will give people that as a goal. Time and time again I hear success stories from people who have realised that is not enough and raised their target. I'm only 5' so my actual calorie needs are pretty small, so I have set my goal calories to just above my BMR - which is 1300. I usually eat more than that and so what? I went to the gym twice this week and my yoga class and I feel good.
  • Riebop
    Riebop Posts: 275
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    I am about to make the switch from "1 lb a week" to "1/2 lb a week" and I try to eat more intuitively, too. I'll be your friend if you want to add me! :flowerforyou:

    Me and you always seem to be making the same move. I've been thinking about switching to 1/2 lb a week too. I'm only 5 pounds from a "healthy" BMI and want to lose no more than 15 more pounds. I guess I should make the switch. However, even with my goal set at 1 pound a week, I still only lose 1/2 pound... So, I'm not sure if I really should. The extra calories would be nice though. :P
  • KimRcrdsn
    KimRcrdsn Posts: 1
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    Great job! I hate excercising my self so hopefully I can start to see the weight drop off like you have seen. I have been on the program doing the 1300 cal diet for about 1 and 1/2 weeks, but I know I have to be patient...especially since I am not excercising.
  • manorexicmarshmallow
    manorexicmarshmallow Posts: 80 Member
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    Good for you. I am a big believer that everyone should do whatever works best for them.

    As for me, I am still sticking with 2 lbs/ a week, b/c 1) I have a lot more lbs to go, 2) I am impatient and would otherwise lose focus if I was going to slow, and 3) studies have shown that yo yo dieters are healthier than people who are regularly overweight, so I think my getting to my goal weight (even if temporary) will be the best thing for me.
  • hedwardsb
    hedwardsb Posts: 201 Member
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    I am on the 1/2 a pound a week. I tried a pound a week at first, but I was starving. I'm aiming not just to get myself more healthy but my entire family. I used to eat a lot healthier before I had children, but I've been reaching too much for convenience foods because they're easy & my children love to eat them. Although my children are all healthy weights, I'm concerned about what all the junk we've been eating is doing to their insides. Some of the things I'm doing include adding more whole grains including whole wheat flour to my baking and more produce. The food diary is really helping me with portion control.
  • belindablanks
    belindablanks Posts: 13 Member
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    bump
  • ebelliss
    ebelliss Posts: 126 Member
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    Just recently switched from a pound a week to 1/2 pound a week, after a 4 week plateau. I'm looking forward to fueling my body and getting the scale moving in the right direction! Anyone, feel free to add me!
  • mericksmom
    mericksmom Posts: 222 Member
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    I was an undereater and I started at 1200 then bumped it to 1500 next plan is to go up again to .5lb loss to get me going again, everytime i change it I lose some then maintain. I will go up to maintnence then slowly drop down again. this way I dont overdo anything. In the next week or two I will go to the next stage for 2 months.
  • graysmom2005
    graysmom2005 Posts: 1,882 Member
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    I joined MFP just a week ago to help me keep track of my food and exercise. I entered my information and chose the option to lose half a pound a week. I've lost weight before, but I've always done it really fast by eating 1000-1200 calories a day - which feels like starvation to me. I always end up gaining most of the weight back. This time, I've decided to try and follow a more relaxed, marathon-rather-than-sprint type of plan. I would like to lose about 45 pounds, in addition to the seven I've already lost. I don't care if it takes me a year or two to do it, if it means I can eat anything I enjoy in moderation.

    This time around, I've decided that I'm not going to 'diet'. Instead, I'm going to learn portion control. I'm going to plan my splurges and keep them occasional. I don't ever want to count Baked Lays or measure fat-free salad dressing again. I'm going to eat real food instead of packaged, processed diet food. I'm going to stop eating when I'm full and I'm not going to snack out of boredom.

    All of my 'naturally thin' friends seem to eat this way, and it works for them. Hopefully, in time, it will work for me too.

    I'd love to meet/friend anyone else who is following a similar strategy. Anyone?

    Absolutely! I have only really started losing weight again after a year and a half plateau once I moved it to half a pound and then started eating most of my calories back. My body was hanging on, and I'd splurge on the weekends because my body was starved! Great outlook!!!
  • 1953Judith
    1953Judith Posts: 325 Member
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    My weight loss goal has always involved losing about 1 pound a month, 1/4 of a pound a week.

    I have been trying to tackle habits one at a time rather and let the pounds fall slowly. I am in my fifth year. I started at 235, I am currently at 178. I have 30 lbs to go. Recently I have had my thyroid medication tweaked and have been working on healthy habits in terms of following a strict schedule for taking medicine. Suddenly, I am losing weight at a much more rapid weight, 1 lb per week. It scares me to lose this fast. I eat well and because I have tackled change very incremently, I rarely feel deprived (I still struggle with evening emotional/boredom appetites).

    I am really pleased with the slow weight loss method and very proud of myself. A cruise ship doesn't turn on a dime. I am in this for a lifetime of better health. If you are chosing a slow method of weight loss, you must be prepared to be your own cheerleader. It will not show to others for a long, long time. I lost 50 lbs before people had a clue I was losing weight.
  • LotsOtots5
    LotsOtots5 Posts: 174
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    I started out on 1 lb a week but after losing 8 lbs, I got stuck for a while. I was hungry and wasnt' losing and it just wasn't worth it to me!! I knocked my goal down to .5, thinking that if I was lucky, maybe, just MAYBE I'd start losing again. That was 2 weeks ago. Guess what? Lost .5 lbs! To me, as long as I'm not gaining, I'm doing good. I haven't got far to go to my "goal" weight and at this point, it's going to be painfully slow so why not enjoy it? I eat reasonably (about 1600 cal. a day) and exercise moderately. This is something that I can do forever and that's what it's all about :)
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
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    I had to bump to a 1/2 lbs a week. Otherwise I was too starved and it didn't work for me.
  • UpEarly
    UpEarly Posts: 2,555 Member
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    It's nice to see this thread resurrected and to meet some new online friends who are following the same 1/2 pound plan! I originally started eating this way back in April, and I'm pleased to say that it has worked beautifully! I lost 25 pounds between April 10th and July 16th, which actually exceeded my goals and expectations. :-)
  • AI1108
    AI1108 Posts: 488 Member
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    I joined MFP just a week ago to help me keep track of my food and exercise. I entered my information and chose the option to lose half a pound a week. I've lost weight before, but I've always done it really fast by eating 1000-1200 calories a day - which feels like starvation to me. I always end up gaining most of the weight back. This time, I've decided to try and follow a more relaxed, marathon-rather-than-sprint type of plan. I would like to lose about 45 pounds, in addition to the seven I've already lost. I don't care if it takes me a year or two to do it, if it means I can eat anything I enjoy in moderation.

    This time around, I've decided that I'm not going to 'diet'. Instead, I'm going to learn portion control. I'm going to plan my splurges and keep them occasional. I don't ever want to count Baked Lays or measure fat-free salad dressing again. I'm going to eat real food instead of packaged, processed diet food. I'm going to stop eating when I'm full and I'm not going to snack out of boredom.

    All of my 'naturally thin' friends seem to eat this way, and it works for them. Hopefully, in time, it will work for me too.

    I'd love to meet/friend anyone else who is following a similar strategy. Anyone?

    I follow this 100%. I don't believe you should just stop yourself from eating your norm to lose a few lbs but eat your normal food in moderation. I had myself set at 1200 cals but would eat 1000-1100 which felt crazy to me and I would work out like mad just to have exercise calories to "fall back on" but still only see minimal results. Now I set myself to 1400 and keep my exercise calories as an added bonus. Whether I exercise or not I eat in moderation and have still seen really good results.. I love it and definitely think I could stick with it. :-) I know I use mfp A LOT now but I know that I eventually want to forget about the numbers and teach myself how much my body can really handle and what is moderate for me. I feel like once I train myself, I can "eat like my thin friends" and still be happy with my body.

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