y cant i aim to lose 2lbs a week??

SueInAz

You must eat at least 1200 calories a day and drink plenty of water. You need to eat carbs too. I have been trying for years to lose weight and I found why I didn't succeed. . . . I was seeing a dietitian and she said I wasn't eating enough food so my body was in starvation mode all the time, another mistake I was making was that I wasn't eating any carbs at night thinking I was doing the right thing ! The dietitian said by not eating carbs at night by the time breakfast came around I was putting my body into starvation mode again because of the lack of food over night. When the body goes into starvation mode it store the food you eat as fat because it doesn't know when the next lot of food will come. Have 5 small meals during the day.

I must ask why are you putting yourself under such pressure by wanting to lose weight so fast, you are setting yourself up to fail before you even start ! ! ! The other thing to is the faster you lose weight the faster you will put it on again if you don't learn to eat healthy food instead of being on such a hardcore "diet ". Aim for 1 lb a week then you can be pleasantly surprised on the if you lose more some weeks.

good luck with your weight loss

Interesting take.

I can't lose weight if I eat a lot of carbs, no matter my calorie intake. I've played with my macro balance a lot this year and have discovered that I have to eat less than about 90 grams of carbs per day or I just don't lose weight consistently. I spent from April to August losing and gaining the same 5 pounds eating a low fat/high carb diet. Since lowering my carb intake in August I've lost nearly 10 pounds.

The time of day you eat your food doesn't really matter. Studies have been done which debunk the "don't eat after ?? PM" myth. If you stay under your calorie and macro goals, you will lose weight. (I will allow that does help those who aren't counting calories and logging as most people tend to eat EXTRA calories they don't need at night between bedtime and dinner.) There are quite a few people on this site who use intermittent fasting as a weight loss method. They basically eat all of their calories in a 5-8 hour window each day and nothing but water the rest of the day and they lose weight.

I definitely do agree that stress will prevent you from losing weight, as well as take control from your own hands. Stress releases cortisol which has been proven to inhibit weight loss.

Nette_54

I am trying to eat higher protein as it builds muscle which in turn burns fat, but I still have to eat carbs too, I am using the Curves ladies gym eating programme at the moment and it is working for me. Curves uses a 3 phase eating plan,

Phase 1 ) 1200 calories for 7 days
Phase 2 ) 1500 calories for 23 days ( doing this now and struggle to eat so much )
Phase 3 ) 2000 calories for 2 to 4 weeks ( unless I gain 2 lbs if so go back to phase 1 for a few days ) I hope I can do phase 3

Then go back to Phase 1 again until I reach my goal weight then I just stay on phase 3 ( if I gain 2 lbs go back to phase 1 for a few days then go straight back to phase 3 )

The idea is to kick start the metabolism to work better.

jbrautigam24

The reason you need to eat back those calories you burned while exercising is because if there is too much of a caloric deficit, your body will lose muscle mass. You may lose poundage this way, however, your body will not look "tight" or "firm" because there won't be any muscle.

jbrautigam24

The reason you need to eat back those calories you burned while exercising is because if there is too much of a caloric deficit, your body will lose muscle mass. You may lose poundage this way, however, your body will not look "tight" or "firm" because there won't be any muscle.


-ALSO, the 1200 calorie/day to lose 2 pounds per week is, at best, a guesstimate. Some people require more or less calories than that to lose. It depends on your current weight and body type.

momma3sweetgirls

1 lb of weight loss per week translates to a caloric deficit of 3500 calories or 500 calories a day So, to lose 2 lbs a week, you need a deficit of 7000 calories a week or 1000 calories a day.

Now, it is generally accepted (although often disputed here) that a woman, regardless of size, should consume no LESS than 1200 calories a day to give her body the nutrients it needs to perforn it's general functions (e.g. breathing, digesting, thinking, heart pumping, etc.).

Sooooo, if your BMR is say 1750, it is NOT feasible to lose 2 lbs a week because a deficit of 1000 calories would leave you with a NET intake of only 750 calories. This is too little to feed your body. However, you can quite feasibly lose 1 lb a week by reducing your intake to 1250 a week.

You only have 34 lbs to lose. This is a relatively small amount and it's better to lose it slowly to increase your chances of actually keeping it off.

raven56706

im interested in hearing answers about this too. I want to lose weight as well but i set my goals for 2 lbs a week. Should i change mine as well?

im 5'8

SW: 232
CW: 218
GW: 190

my current goal calorie is 1440.

dont mean to hijack the thread but this can be helpful for others

amflautist

I am eating around 1000 calories a day and I am not eating my exercise calories back. I am loosing about 2.5 calories a week. I have about 90 more pounds to go and I am not willing to take two years to do it. I am not hungry most of the time, but I like to wake up hungry so that I remember to eat breakfast. I don't believe you should eat if you aren't hungry, especially if you are trying to loose wait. The 1200 calories is an average. You may be one of those people who are below average in the number of calories your body needs. I take supplements to be sure my body is getting what it needs. Drink 10 + glasses of water a day, exercise a minimum 60 minutes per day and get at least 8 hours of sleep. As far as starvation mode is concerned, here is an interesting article: http://www.healthscience.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=512:are-you-in-the-starvation-mode-or-starving-for-truth&catid=102:jeff-novicks-blog&Itemid=267

That was an interesting article!!! I believe it. I have always politely averted my eyes at mfp when I read a discussion about "starvation mode". My only gripe with mfp is that the number on how many calories a person needs is the same for everyone. Our genetics are not the same. Our biochemical efficiencies are not the same!!! (May I politely say: check your poop. Suppose we all were to eat exactly the same stuff for a week. For some of us, the food would not be burned/absorbed in the intestines as efficiently => more poop. For others with extremely high efficiencies => less poop.)

Some of us need more calories, some of us need fewer calories to maintain a given weight. Everyone who is honestly recording all food and exercise, but not losing weight, needs to start experimenting. You can get off a plateau either by eating less or exercising more. Find your own numbers. The mfp numbers should be a starting guideline, but not a sacred cow.

SueInAz

That was an interesting article!!! I believe it. I have always politely averted my eyes at mfp when I read a discussion about "starvation mode". My only gripe with mfp is that the number on how many calories a person needs is the same for everyone. Our genetics are not the same. Our biochemical efficiencies are not the same!!! (May I politely say: check your poop. Suppose we all were to eat exactly the same stuff for a week. For some of us, the food would not be burned/absorbed in the intestines as efficiently => more poop. For others with extremely high efficiencies => less poop.)

Some of us need more calories, some of us need fewer calories to maintain a given weight. Everyone who is honestly recording all food and exercise, but not losing weight, needs to start experimenting. You can get off a plateau either by eating less or exercising more. Find your own numbers. The mfp numbers should be a starting guideline, but not a sacred cow.

Tell it, sister!

Seriously, I always cringe when I hear people saying to a 4'10" woman that she MUST eat 1200 calories per day. I have a very hard time believing that a woman that small needs the same caloric intake as a 6' tall woman. I'm a big believer of "do what is right for your body." You can tell if you aren't eating enough, the trick is paying attention to the signs and they might be subtle. It's not just how much are you might or might not be pooping but also:

is your hair dull or falling out?
do your gums bleed easily?
do you get irritable or depressed easily?
do you catch every cold or other illness that comes along?
do you often get dizzy when standing up?
are your nails weak, growing slowly or have horizontal lines?
is your skin chronically dry?
does 20 minutes of cardio wear you out so much you need a nap?

Weight loss is very personal and every person needs something just a little different in order to lose weight efficiently. You can't throw a blanket statement out like "eat 1200 calories every day" and expect everyone to have the same results. In addition to experimenting with caloric intake, some of us need to tweak our macronutrients, as well. As I mentioned earlier, it took several months, but I've finally realized that I have to watch my carb intake or I simply cannot consistently lose weight.

AngelikaLumiere

is your hair dull or falling out? NOPE
do your gums bleed easily? NOPE
do you get irritable or depressed easily? YEAH, BUT I AM A NATURALLY CRANKY PERSON
do you catch every cold or other illness that comes along? NOPE
do you often get dizzy when standing up? NOPE
are your nails weak, growing slowly or have horizontal lines? NOPE (I can pull staples with my finger nails.)
is your skin chronically dry? NOPE
does 20 minutes of cardio wear you out so much you need a nap? NOPE

So apparently eating 1000 per day isn't doing me any harm, is it?