when to switch to 0.5lbs/week

armaretta

Hello! I'm debating with myself on when to switch from 1 lbs/week loss to 0.5lbs/week loss. I'm currently 136 stark naked, first thing in the morning, after I've peed (heehee :laugh: ). I'm 5'2" and I think i'm between 26-27% BF (according to tape measure method here http://www.linear-software.com/online.html and my clumsy attempts with my husband at using calipers, the two methods agree sorta so it's probably close?). I want to get down to about 18-20%. I think that's going to be another 10-15 lbs. or so, assuming I lose a little muscle, but hopefully I won't lose any.

After completing 1 and 1/2 rounds of power 90, I've been doing Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 6 days/week as well as jogging about 20-30 minutes 6 days/week. According to HRM, I'm burning about 500-600 cals per day. I'm starting to wonder if I've been eating enough. Don't I need to eat more than 1200 net cals, even on rest days, to maintain my new muscles and prevent starvation mode? This 1200 is based upon a sedentary lifestyle, which I have definitely changed since I started. Should I consider myself "active" now?

I try to eat back most of my exercise calories, follow at 40/30/30 ratio pretty close, and eat pretty clean. My weight loss has slowed way down now. I've struggled on one pound the past three weeks. I'm not surprised by this since I'm getting close to my goals, but want to make sure I'm still doing things properly. It doesn't seem right to be eating the same at my best fitness level as I was at my worst. I was a zig zagger, but I was struggling for energy on the lower part of the zag :yawn:

So, should I eat more? Should I change my weekly goals? Should I go back to zig zag?

superhippiechik

I knew it was right for me when I switched over and started losing again. Try it for a week and see what happens!

thegooser

I was in a similar situation, and I went to 0.5 lbs/wk and actually lost weight more quickly. I was given the advice that I may be too close to starvation mode to lose any more weight.

barbiex3

I don't know if you need to increase it to .5 pounds per week for sure, but EAT back your exercise calories & make sure that you are on the right activity setting for your lifestyle. Those are VERY VERY important.

You are waround 136 at 5'3"? I forgot exactly, but I would say that you are at the high end of your BMI, and still a fairly high percent body fat, so you could stick it out at the lose a pound per week. You are hitting a wall because your body is not used to being so small.


Perhaps try a cheat day or zig zaggin calories or upping intensity...






Personally, I didn't change to .5 per week until I was at 16% body fat, and I started MFP at 24% body fat and it worked good for me.
at 5'8.5" I was at 130 when i switched to .5 lbs/week & I started weight loss at 160lbs

robin52077

change to ACTIVE and .5 lbs a week. 1200 is WAY too low, you should probably be closer to 1600 at this point. You'll need about 2000 to maintain, so better start working your way up. Jumping from 1200 to maintenance will be too much of a jump. Add 200 for a couple of weeks, then 200 more, etc... by the time you get to your happy maintenance number, you will be at your happy weight.

sarah307

switch to 0.5 lbs loss per week when you are 10 lbs away from your goal

your NET calories should be MINIMUM 1200-1400 (higher b/c you are now close to your goal).. your activity level should be things that you do during every normal day, like errands and your job activity levels, depending on what kind of job you have.. then log your actual 'exercise workouts' .. and eat those additional calories back.

i am 5'2'' also and i switched to lose 0.5 lbs/wk when i weighed about 130 (10 lbs from goal) .. and now i am at my goal! i actually found that i still lost usually more than the half of a pound, but it eating more definitely got me off my plateau!

*** in my opinion and experiences!!
hope this helps!

sarah307

change to ACTIVE and .5 lbs a week. 1200 is WAY too low, you should probably be closer to 1600 at this point. You'll need about 2000 to maintain, so better start working your way up. Jumping from 1200 to maintenance will be too much of a jump. Add 200 for a couple of weeks, then 200 more, etc... by the time you get to your happy maintenance number, you will be at your happy weight.

just wanted to say that every persons maintenance level is a different amount of calories.. not everyone is 2000 at maintenance, that is just typical/average.

My maintenance is 1710 cals/day

robin52077

change to ACTIVE and .5 lbs a week. 1200 is WAY too low, you should probably be closer to 1600 at this point. You'll need about 2000 to maintain, so better start working your way up. Jumping from 1200 to maintenance will be too much of a jump. Add 200 for a couple of weeks, then 200 more, etc... by the time you get to your happy maintenance number, you will be at your happy weight.

just wanted to say that every persons maintenance level is a different amount of calories.. not everyone is 2000 at maintenance, that is just typical/average.

My maintenance is 1710 cals/day

hmmmm.....you "think" your maintenance is 1710 a day. You're not there yet so you don't know for sure, right?

My point is that MFPs "maintenance" has been very wrong for lots of people because the activity level settings are off. People are choosing lightly active and thinking they need to eat 1700 for example, when due to the lower numbers given out by these calculators, they may actually need OVER 2000.

I have to choose VERY ACTIVE on here and it STILL won't give me high enough calories to maintain. I burn 2000-2500 calories a day on most days just because I work on my feet.

Which is why some people who are at "2 lbs per week" and stall, switch it to 1 lb and start losing 2 lbs....because at 1200 they were literally starving and at 1400 or 1500 or whatever they actually were at that 1000 calorie deficit for 2 lbs, but thinking they were at a 500 deficit for 1 lb....then they change it to HALF a pound as they approach maintenance and wonder why they lose MORE than that. It's because their maintenance is way higher than they ever thought.

see?

try using this to calculate maintenance. see if there's a difference...
http://www.cordianet.com/calculator.htm
because it matches my BodyMedia pretty darn close.

sarah307

change to ACTIVE and .5 lbs a week. 1200 is WAY too low, you should probably be closer to 1600 at this point. You'll need about 2000 to maintain, so better start working your way up. Jumping from 1200 to maintenance will be too much of a jump. Add 200 for a couple of weeks, then 200 more, etc... by the time you get to your happy maintenance number, you will be at your happy weight.

just wanted to say that every persons maintenance level is a different amount of calories.. not everyone is 2000 at maintenance, that is just typical/average.

My maintenance is 1710 cals/day

hmmmm.....you "think" your maintenance is 1710 a day. You're not there yet so you don't know for sure, right?

My point is that MFPs "maintenance" has been very wrong for lots of people because the activity level settings are off. People are choosing lightly active and thinking they need to eat 1700 for example, when due to the lower numbers given out by these calculators, they may actually need OVER 2000.

I have to choose VERY ACTIVE on here and it STILL won't give me high enough calories to maintain. I burn 2000-2500 calories a day on most days just because I work on my feet.

Which is why some people who are at "2 lbs per week" and stall, switch it to 1 lb and start losing 2 lbs....because at 1200 they were literally starving and at 1400 or 1500 or whatever they actually were at that 1000 calorie deficit for 2 lbs, but thinking they were at a 500 deficit for 1 lb....then they change it to HALF a pound as they approach maintenance and wonder why they lose MORE than that. It's because their maintenance is way higher than they ever thought.

see?

try using this to calculate maintenance. see if there's a difference...
http://www.cordianet.com/calculator.htm
because it matches my BodyMedia pretty darn close.

awesome! THANKS! now that i think about, that sounds about right

armaretta

I don't know if you need to increase it to .5 pounds per week for sure, but EAT back your exercise calories & make sure that you are on the right activity setting for your lifestyle. Those are VERY VERY important.

You are waround 136 at 5'3"? I forgot exactly, but I would say that you are at the high end of your BMI, and still a fairly high percent body fat, so you could stick it out at the lose a pound per week. You are hitting a wall because your body is not used to being so small.

Perhaps try a cheat day or zig zaggin calories or upping intensity...

Personally, I didn't change to .5 per week until I was at 16% body fat, and I started MFP at 24% body fat and it worked good for me.
at 5'8.5" I was at 130 when i switched to .5 lbs/week & I started weight loss at 160lbs

Honestly, I appreciate your response, but you kind of make me feel bad about myself. :embarassed: I'm not sure you read my post very closely. I actually ask advice on my activity setting. Also, I know I must seem at an unhealthy weight and BF to you, but 1% of my weight at my height shows a lot. And I'm pretty proud of myself after losing over 30 lbs. I'm also not kidding myself into thinking I'm going to be running marathons in my current condition. I might adjust my goals and outlook when I get to my goal of 125/18-20%BF, but I'm not quite there yet. I stated that I was a zig zagger, but was not feeling up to par on my lower days, which is also part of what I asked questions about.

You are obviously in great shape and I admire your dedication to maintaining your health! I might have needed to be more to the point in what I was asking. I also greatly envy your 5'8" stature. I think all shorties wish they were a little taller at times.

change to ACTIVE and .5 lbs a week. 1200 is WAY too low, you should probably be closer to 1600 at this point. You'll need about 2000 to maintain, so better start working your way up. Jumping from 1200 to maintenance will be too much of a jump. Add 200 for a couple of weeks, then 200 more, etc... by the time you get to your happy maintenance number, you will be at your happy weight.

just wanted to say that every persons maintenance level is a different amount of calories.. not everyone is 2000 at maintenance, that is just typical/average.

My maintenance is 1710 cals/day

hmmmm.....you "think" your maintenance is 1710 a day. You're not there yet so you don't know for sure, right?

My point is that MFPs "maintenance" has been very wrong for lots of people because the activity level settings are off. People are choosing lightly active and thinking they need to eat 1700 for example, when due to the lower numbers given out by these calculators, they may actually need OVER 2000.

I have to choose VERY ACTIVE on here and it STILL won't give me high enough calories to maintain. I burn 2000-2500 calories a day on most days just because I work on my feet.

Which is why some people who are at "2 lbs per week" and stall, switch it to 1 lb and start losing 2 lbs....because at 1200 they were literally starving and at 1400 or 1500 or whatever they actually were at that 1000 calorie deficit for 2 lbs, but thinking they were at a 500 deficit for 1 lb....then they change it to HALF a pound as they approach maintenance and wonder why they lose MORE than that. It's because their maintenance is way higher than they ever thought.

see?

try using this to calculate maintenance. see if there's a difference...
http://www.cordianet.com/calculator.htm
because it matches my BodyMedia pretty darn close.

awesome! THANKS! now that i think about, that sounds about right

Thanks you guys! I think you are confirming my suspicions about MFP being a little off for me. I think I will adjust to 0.5lbs/week loss and see how I feel after a couples weeks of that.

mamagooskie

I am approx 15lbs from my goal weight and just made the switch. I am hoping that this will work to get the last bit off since I've been "stuck" for awhile now.

robin52077

awesome! THANKS! now that i think about, that sounds about right

you're welcome.
You may notice I am one of this websites biggest supporters of "OMG just EAT already!"
1200 is the absolute bare MINIMUM anyone should ever NET and WAY WAY too many people are trying to "stay under" that, and it is just SAD.
Most of them could lose better at 1500-1600, and be happier, healthier, more energy, etc.

Rae6503

You may notice I am one of this websites biggest supporters of "OMG just EAT already!"
1200 is the absolute bare MINIMUM anyone should ever NET and WAY WAY too many people are trying to "stay under" that, and it is just SAD.
Most of them could lose better at 1500-1600, and be happier, healthier, more energy, etc.

This is exactly how I feel too!

I'm at 0.5lbs right now and over that most days. I average about 2000 calories a day. I've lost 7lbs in 2 months.

I agree that the OP should change her goal to a half pound but she already said she was going for that. Good luck!

sarah307

@ armaretta

glad you got an answer to your questions.. AND good luck with everything! AND you HAVE come a far way and congrats on all the progress you have made! looks like you have been doing awesome!

watchmeshrink16

Bump!!

armaretta

try using this to calculate maintenance. see if there's a difference...
http://www.cordianet.com/calculator.htm
because it matches my BodyMedia pretty darn close.

Wow, I really like that calculator! It breaks things down a little better. If that is correct, I've been eating way too little for the level of exercise I was doing. I was barely eating enough to maintain without exercise. I was always careful to at least NET close to 1200, but that is definitely not enough it seems. It also explains why my occasional gorgefests on holidays would be followed by a sudden drop in weight, the opposite of what you would normally expect.

It also tells me that I have a pretty good amount of lean mass to maintain. It's mostly a matter of maintaining that as much as possible and melting away the last few pounds of fat. I think 20%BF at about 125 lbs. is a good, realistic goal for me to reach for. I can decide if I want to go more extreme later.

Good grief! How do people on no-carb diets eat enough calories without carbs and still maintain exercise without fainting? I get a case of the brain stupids if I don't have enough carbs anyways.

Ashleypeterson37

Bump!

sarah307

I get a case of the brain stupids if I don't have enough carbs anyways.

this made me laugh!

armaretta

@ armaretta

glad you got an answer to your questions.. AND good luck with everything! AND you HAVE come a far way and congrats on all the progress you have made! looks like you have been doing awesome!

Thank you!

tmontgomery69

bump

Rae6503

But with the number from this site,

http://www.cordianet.com/calculator.htm

You should NOT eat extra for exercise right?