Switching to .5/week loss

nicolemarie045

Hello, so today I got within 5 lbs of my weight loss goal...after much searching the boards and advice from others I switched to .5/week loss from the .9 I was at. I had been stuck in a plateau for almost a month after starting a new core conditioning workout class, but I am still nervous bumping my calories up by 200 every day. Did anyone else have this stress/nerves with changing their intake goals? Did it work/not work? I just need some reassurance as in my brain I will stop losing weight now and never get the last 5 lbs off!

DKev

I was definitely nervous about doing this but it helped me lose that last stubborn 10 pounds. I was even more nervous going onto maintenance but I'll give them this much, it works!

keiraev

I am in exactly the same position. Only want to lose about 4 more lb , and I have just switched to 0.5 a week.

I have jumped from 1200 ish to 1410 a day this week, and although I haven't weighed myself yet I feel so much more satisfied physically and mentally being able to eat 200 more calories a day.

I am going to stay with this number for at least the next 4 weeks to see how it pans out.

noexcuses1218

I went to .5 because I was tired of stressing out every day about how little food I could eat. For me, 1200 calories is just not reasonable or realistic, and life got much better when I went to 1380. Now I can exercise because I want to, not so I can earn more for a 150-calorie snack when I'm starving at night.

Don't know if it will affect the weight loss just yet. But it's much less stressful, and that can't be a bad thing.

keiraev

Now I can exercise because I want to, not so I can earn more for a 150-calorie snack when I'm starving at night.

This was exactly how I felt! It was ridiculous!

jmruef

I was completely stressed out about it - but I did it, and it worked. Those last 5 pounds are killer hard to get off, but eating more does help.

sharonus

I switched my goal to .5 lb/week loss when I was about 3 pounds from goal. If I used my math skills, I would understand that means it should take 6 more weeks for me to reach goal. It probably took five, but it felt like it was soooo slow and I started to get frustrated. I finally reached goal, but I think if I were to do it over again, I'd just leave my goal at 1 lb/week and then get those extra maintenance calories when I was at goal!

brandiuntz

I switched to .5lbs when I hit 20lbs left. I was stuck and always hungry at the calories allotted for 1lb a week. Dropping to .5lb set my calories to an amount that works for me. I started losing again.

I realized that losing weight slowly (it's taken 2 years to lose 47lbs) is what's working for me. I'm about 13lbs from my goal and feeling more fit and healthy than I did in my 20's (I'm 40). Getting healthy and losing weight is a marathon, not a sprint, and I'm okay with that.

As a reminder, a .5lb per week goal is still a calorie deficit. You're still eating fewer calories, so you will lose weight.

jdavis193

I am in exactly the same position. Only want to lose about 4 more lb , and I have just switched to 0.5 a week.

I have jumped from 1200 ish to 1410 a day this week, and although I haven't weighed myself yet I feel so much more satisfied physically and mentally being able to eat 200 more calories a day.

I am going to stay with this number for at least the next 4 weeks to see how it pans out.

I agree with this. I went from 1200 to 1300 or 1400. When I was at 1200 I was so tired and kind of craky even though I was losing a lb a week.

Rilke

I have been unable to decide whether or not to bump up my calories and aim for .5/week . . . this thread finally pushed me into a decision. Here's hoping it works. I've been battling with these last 7-9 pounds for months and months.