How slow is too slow?

cdnkitty

I've been focused on losing weight since Jan 1 of this year and in that time I've lost 9lbs, or an average of .81lbs/week. I don't know whether I should drop calories or eat more or what. I'm trying to not be frustrated at how slow this is going, after all it took awhile to get here, but even something along the lines of an actual pound per week would make me happy. Here are the details and any feedback on how to improve things would be welcomed.

- 5'7", CW 177, GW 152 (SW was 189 in Sept and then 186.5-ish Jan 1)

- Currently nursing my son who is almost 10 months (so on solids). I was eating an extra 300 calories per day to accommodate the nursing, this week I tried cutting it out but was only somewhat successful on that.

- Doing the 30DS (currently L3D1)

- Walking for an hour when the weather is good (1 - 4x a week)

- I do eat most of my exercise calories.

- Current daily limit is set to 1360 calories, and I'm aiming for a loss of 1lb a week.

- With the adjustment for nursing I'm eating anywhere between 1600 and 2000 calories although I'm still netting around 1300/day.

- When I was not watching my food but still nursing all the time I was gaining weight (but not eating that much more than now) so I don't know if it's just the breast feeding that's keeping things slowed down).

Opinions, suggestions please? Thanks!

Alyshia90

try not eating back you exercise calories. good luck x

natashamcn

Given that your net calories is in the 1300 a day range and you have lost 9 pounds, it seems you have made slow but steady progress. You don't want to go much below 1300 a day IMO. You don't have much left to lose so the closer you get to your goal the slower it will come off. Keep pushing ahead and good luck

llkilgore

Walking was my primary cardio when I began my weight loss efforts and I ran into the same problem: I was losing, just not hitting my weekly target. Eventually I figured out that MFP was cutting into my deficit by overestimating the calories burned. The math worked out a lot better when I began eating back only 2/3rds of the reported burn.

I'm in maintenance now and run 3 or 4 times a week, along with taking my dog for half hour or longer walks every day, and find that my weight remains steady when I eat back 100% of the calories reported here: http://www.mapmyrun.com/nutrition/calculate/ . The reported burns are lower on that site (I think) because they subtract out the BMR calories (the calories you'd burn anyway) for the time of the run or walk. I don't believe MFP does that.

My other advice is to take measurements in case fat loss is being partially masked by exercise related water retention. 30DS will do that to people.

josephine_x

Don't go any lower, you're feeding your baby, do you know roughly how many ounces she/he feeds per day? I think you need to allow 20 kcals per oz so for eg if baby was having 30 oz, that would be 600 cals. Than you add in your BMR, for eg we'll say 1450. So already you need to be eating 2050. You should be eating that, plus eating exercise cals. I know it seems so much but thats what your body needs or your metabolism will slow down and milk may dry up. I loved it when I was breast feeding, I could eat pretty much what I liked!!!

kelleyke

Walking was my primary cardio when I began my weight loss efforts and I ran into the same problem: I was losing, just not hitting my weekly target. Eventually I figured out that MFP was cutting into my deficit by overestimating the calories burned. The math worked out a lot better when I began eating back only 2/3rds of the reported burn.

I'm in maintenance now and run 3 or 4 times a week, along with taking my dog for half hour or longer walks every day, and find that my weight remains steady when I eat back 100% of the calories reported here: http://www.mapmyrun.com/nutrition/calculate/ . The reported burns are lower on that site (I think) because they subtract out the BMR calories (the calories you'd burn anyway) for the time of the run or walk. I don't believe MFP does that.

My other advice is to take measurements in case fat loss is being partially masked by exercise related water retention. 30DS will do that to people.

Really interesting site, thanks for that link

rileysowner

Do you measure your servings or estimate them? I ask because many people, most in fact, are bad at estimating. If you have not been measuring carefully, start doing so. Use measuring cups and spoons and a kitchen scale if you have one. I purchased one early on, and it has been one of my most useful purchases.

therealangd

I think you are doing great. .81 lb vs 1 lb that you have MFP set to, is about perfect. The difference in what you want, and what you are doing is 700 calories. 100 calories per day.

If you are eating 2000 calories per day with your eating and eating back all of your calories, I think it's ok to drop that 100 calories. If you want to. I think this is ok, because I think that you are over estimating your exercise calories because of MFP's estimates.

But I think you are doing a fantastic job doing exactly what you are doing.

Vegetablearian

slow and steady wins the race !

ArchyJill

3 things: 1) food scale, 2) heart rate monitor, 3) weights. The food scale doesn't lie (most people underestimate their serving size), neither does the heart rate monitor (most people overestimate their calorie burn), and weight lifting ramps up your metabolism.

But steady gradual weight loss is the key to keeping that weight off for the rest of your life, so I think you're doing pretty good.

piebird79

I have an 8 month old son I'm still nursing. He's on solids too. I have my goal set to maintenance and my lifestyle at sedentary, so MFP is giving me 1,690 calories a day. I always eat my exercise calories and I usually go over the 1690 by about 300 calories. I don't add breast feeding calories in my food diary, though if I did it'd probably be about 300 calories it'd give me at this point. I figure I'm eating around 2,000 calories a day on average. I am losing at a rate of about 1-1.5 pounds a week even given these parameters and I'm still producing an abundance of milk for the little guy. I lift weights 2-3 times a week and the only cardio I get is from the warm-up. Friend me if you like.

vingogly

... or an average of .81lbs/week. ... but even something along the lines of an actual pound per week would make me happy.

I'll just point out ... .81lbs/week *IS* along the lines of an actual pound per week. You've got about 25lbs to go yet, that's about eight months. I've taken a year to lose 43lbs ... that's (guess what?) about .82lbs/week. I have maybe another 37lbs to go, which means I should reach maintenance early in 2013. So what? My health's improved, I feel much better, and I don't feel food deprived or hungry. Doesn't matter to me if I reach maintenance this summer, this fall, or next winter.

My advice: give up on worrying about the numbers. You're not in a race with anyone, and the important thing is to be healthy, not to hit some arbitrary number on the scale. It's the journey and the commitment to better life choices that really matter in the long run.

KarenBoster

My daughter is nursing and having the same issues. Up your liquids and your calories. Keep in mind that you are probably using more calories than you think just from the carrying the baby and such. By all means don't stress and enjoy this time. The weight will com off. Are you checking your measurements? I bet you will find if you do this you will see the results you want even when it doesn't on the scale.

aliciamerritt

Just a word of encouragement, but I started the same time as you and have also lost the same amount :-) Just recently in the past two weeks I have found "The primal blueprint" and I am seeing much more rapid weight loss...almost 2 lbs just this week! not sure how it relates when one is nursing though! good luck.

Lotte34

ive been trying for about the same length of time an have only lost 3lb so don't fret

KarenBoster

You need to count in exercise from taking care of your baby, and add extra calories for it. This will give you an idea of calories used. Push stroller with child 35 cal./ 10 minutes
Carrying an Infant 50 cal. / 10 minutes

KarenBoster

I looked it up. You need 300-500 more calories were you are nursing. Looks like you need to eat more so you are not in starvation mode. Eat more and you will lose the weight.

lcteaches

I keep asking myself the same question - I've been working steadily on tracking food/exercise with MFP since Jan 1 and have lost 18 pounds and start to get discouraged when I see others who started around the same time and have lost 30-ish pounds. I have been fighting the urge to feel like a failure since this is going so slow but I try to tell myself, as long as I am losing something, I am going in the right direction. Sure it would be nice to get to my goal by the summer time, but I know myself, and as soon as I start trying to speed things up, SABOTAGE and I will be out of control! Slow and steady...it's a lifestyle change, not a diet.

Coco_Puff

Are you using other tools to track your progress? Pictures really tell the whole story, measuring yourself once a month for inch loss, and a snug pair of jeans to try own every two weeks. These are all helpful. The scale can let you down sometimes.

lcteaches

What is the primal blueprint????

vingogly

What is the primal blueprint????

Primal Blueprint Diet = yet another author cashing in on the paleo diet craze. First thing that hits your eye when you visit the Primal Blueprint site is a "buy now" slideshow of Mark Sisson's various products.

Funny, it's a "primal" diet ... didn't know our caveman ancestors had access to supplement pills.

rileysowner

I keep asking myself the same question - I've been working steadily on tracking food/exercise with MFP since Jan 1 and have lost 18 pounds and start to get discouraged when I see others who started around the same time and have lost 30-ish pounds. I have been fighting the urge to feel like a failure since this is going so slow but I try to tell myself, as long as I am losing something, I am going in the right direction. Sure it would be nice to get to my goal by the summer time, but I know myself, and as soon as I start trying to speed things up, SABOTAGE and I will be out of control! Slow and steady...it's a lifestyle change, not a diet.

Comparing your loss to someone else is pretty much always going to make you feel that way. I have a question for you though, those others who have lost more 1) Do they have more weight to lose than you do, if so they will lose a lot quicker generally. 2) Are they all female? Males generally lose weight much easier thanks to our hormonal make-up. The only accurate person to compare yourself to is someone the same sex, same height, same starting weight, same body fat%, with the same sort of job and family life as you; but someone like that would be you.