Question for 31prvrbs!
twinmomtwice4
Posts: 1,069 Member
In a recent post from this morning you wrote...
"I'd aim for the smallest deficit to start (15%), you can always adjust later. The longer your weight loss journey will be, the more leeway you want to give yourself. You goal should always be to start losing as high as possible, that way as plateaus come, or if you need to drop cals further, you are already at a decent cal amount, and won't be reduced to starving. And yes any number calculated using your TDEE will include exercise cals, so no need to eat back what MFP gives."
I'm about 2 weeks in to increasing my calories. I started off slowly increasing my calories but now I'm jumping in with both feet. I'm going by my TDEE - 20% but what you wrote about going for the smallest deficit initially instead has me questioning that 20%.
I have about 40 lbs to go still so do you think I should go with a 15% deficit at this point in case I do hit a plateau? And then, in that case, bump it back up to 20%?
Going down to a 15% deficit kind of scares me but I'm completely committed to this train of thought and I value what all you "been there, done that" ladies have written because of your great success!!
Just curious what your opinion is!
"I'd aim for the smallest deficit to start (15%), you can always adjust later. The longer your weight loss journey will be, the more leeway you want to give yourself. You goal should always be to start losing as high as possible, that way as plateaus come, or if you need to drop cals further, you are already at a decent cal amount, and won't be reduced to starving. And yes any number calculated using your TDEE will include exercise cals, so no need to eat back what MFP gives."
I'm about 2 weeks in to increasing my calories. I started off slowly increasing my calories but now I'm jumping in with both feet. I'm going by my TDEE - 20% but what you wrote about going for the smallest deficit initially instead has me questioning that 20%.
I have about 40 lbs to go still so do you think I should go with a 15% deficit at this point in case I do hit a plateau? And then, in that case, bump it back up to 20%?
Going down to a 15% deficit kind of scares me but I'm completely committed to this train of thought and I value what all you "been there, done that" ladies have written because of your great success!!
Just curious what your opinion is!
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Replies
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I know you said Kiki, but I have my two cents from what I am walking through to share.
When I finally made the real jump it was to 1800 which is 20% of TDEE, when I hit my plateau I actually when up to now 15% cut. Honestly, if I plateau again I would go up before I go down. My thought is that if I am losing at a new cut value and plateau it is because my metabolism has slowed to meet that number, so I rather try going up to see if I start to loose again...I know Kiki will expound...I am supposed to be working...lol.
I would say jump to your 15% cut and then go up by 100 if you plateau, not down....0 -
Okay, what you're saying makes sense too!
Basically when you hit a plateau you want to increase your food intake and jump start your metabolism again, right?
So then wouldn't I keep my deficit at 20% right now and then go up to 15% defiicit at that point?0 -
Okay, what you're saying makes sense too!
Basically when you hit a plateau you want to increase your food intake and jump start your metabolism again, right?
So then wouldn't I keep my deficit at 20% right now and then go up to 15% defiicit at that point?
Yes, you sure can do that. That is what I did.0 -
@newlucia
have you ever came to a point where you had to decrease your caloric intake .... bc i have been doing this for about 2 wks went from 1200 to 1750 now my tdee with a 15% deficiet is 1833 , i do however eat back all my exercise calories... do you eat back all your excerise calories? i am loving actually eating fat carbs protein in a healthy manner and i am afraid the scale will eventually creep up and i will lose this new found love i have for eating more !0 -
Okay, what you're saying makes sense too!
Basically when you hit a plateau you want to increase your food intake and jump start your metabolism again, right?
So then wouldn't I keep my deficit at 20% right now and then go up to 15% defiicit at that point?
Yes, you sure can do that. That is what I did.
Thanks for the explanation and all your help!! I really appreciate it!!
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@newlucia
have you ever came to a point where you had to decrease your caloric intake .... bc i have been doing this for about 2 wks went from 1200 to 1750 now my tdee with a 15% deficiet is 1833 , i do however eat back all my exercise calories... do you eat back all your excerise calories? i am loving actually eating fat carbs protein in a healthy manner and i am afraid the scale will eventually creep up and i will lose this new found love i have for eating more !
When I bumped my cals, I started at 1800 and over the course of 12wks lost 7.2lbs after not losing a thing for 8 mos at 1200, 1350, and 1500. At 1800 I plateaued and bounced around for 4wks. I was soooooo tempted to drop calories but thought to myself, if less didn't work before why in the world would it now right. I still was at 20% of tdee, soooooo let me go up. So I added 100 cals which took me to 15%, oh my I shot up 4lbs the first week, almost waivered and was so tempted to drop, but something kept saying...no way wait it out. I did 4wks of the bounce up and down boogie. Well, I have learned when you weigh is key...no weighing after a heavy lift, must wait two days...nor after high sodium, wait two days, and NO TOM either. So, approaching the 4wk mark I chose just the right day when none of those items were a factor and guess what a 1.4lb loss. I nearly fell ov.er. I then went on vacay...crazy sodium and Tom hit same time so I was up 5lbs on the scale...BUT, I know I didn't suck back 17500 extra cals, so it is water weight...my clothes still fit the same. I just joined a 2wk no scale challenge and I am glad I did...the scale just drives you crazy. I don't want to be weighing morning and night anymore. So, I took a measurement this morning and my period isn't completely over and there is another loss off my waist. I look in the mirror and see myself slimming.
So, said all that to say, if I hit another plateau at this point in my journey I will not go down I will go up and only if at the 4wk mark I have trended upward, I will then give it 2 more weeks and see if that trend persists and then I would cut by 50 or 100 cals at that point.0 -
@newlucia
have you ever came to a point where you had to decrease your caloric intake .... bc i have been doing this for about 2 wks went from 1200 to 1750 now my tdee with a 15% deficiet is 1833 , i do however eat back all my exercise calories... do you eat back all your excerise calories? i am loving actually eating fat carbs protein in a healthy manner and i am afraid the scale will eventually creep up and i will lose this new found love i have for eating more !
When I bumped my cals, I started at 1800 and over the course of 12wks lost 7.2lbs after not losing a thing for 8 mos at 1200, 1350, and 1500. At 1800 I plateaued and bounced around for 4wks. I was soooooo tempted to drop calories but thought to myself, if less didn't work before why in the world would it now right. I still was at 20% of tdee, soooooo let me go up. So I added 100 cals which took me to 15%, oh my I shot up 4lbs the first week, almost waivered and was so tempted to drop, but something kept saying...no way wait it out. I did 4wks of the bounce up and down boogie. Well, I have learned when you weigh is key...no weighing after a heavy lift, must wait two days...nor after high sodium, wait two days, and NO TOM either. So, approaching the 4wk mark I chose just the right day when none of those items were a factor and guess what a 1.4lb loss. I nearly fell ov.er. I then went on vacay...crazy sodium and Tom hit same time so I was up 5lbs on the scale...BUT, I know I didn't suck back 17500 extra cals, so it is water weight...my clothes still fit the same. I just joined a 2wk no scale challenge and I am glad I did...the scale just drives you crazy. I don't want to be weighing morning and night anymore. So, I took a measurement this morning and my period isn't completely over and there is another loss off my waist. I look in the mirror and see myself slimming.
So, said all that to say, if I hit another plateau at this point in my journey I will not go down I will go up and only if at the 4wk mark I have trended upward, I will then give it 2 more weeks and see if that trend persists and then I would cut by 50 or 100 cals at that point.
I've said it plenty of times but you are SOOOOOOOO inspiring!!! Everything you've written here makes perfect sense to me!
So glad you more experienced ladies are helping us figure this all out! Thank you!! :bigsmile:0 -
I love this post too. I found Kiki today (31prvrbs I believe??)and I think she posted this one too. Well, whoever did, it's excellent! denise@newlucia
have you ever came to a point where you had to decrease your caloric intake .... bc i have been doing this for about 2 wks went from 1200 to 1750 now my tdee with a 15% deficiet is 1833 , i do however eat back all my exercise calories... do you eat back all your excerise calories? i am loving actually eating fat carbs protein in a healthy manner and i am afraid the scale will eventually creep up and i will lose this new found love i have for eating more !
When I bumped my cals, I started at 1800 and over the course of 12wks lost 7.2lbs after not losing a thing for 8 mos at 1200, 1350, and 1500. At 1800 I plateaued and bounced around for 4wks. I was soooooo tempted to drop calories but thought to myself, if less didn't work before why in the world would it now right. I still was at 20% of tdee, soooooo let me go up. So I added 100 cals which took me to 15%, oh my I shot up 4lbs the first week, almost waivered and was so tempted to drop, but something kept saying...no way wait it out. I did 4wks of the bounce up and down boogie. Well, I have learned when you weigh is key...no weighing after a heavy lift, must wait two days...nor after high sodium, wait two days, and NO TOM either. So, approaching the 4wk mark I chose just the right day when none of those items were a factor and guess what a 1.4lb loss. I nearly fell ov.er. I then went on vacay...crazy sodium and Tom hit same time so I was up 5lbs on the scale...BUT, I know I didn't suck back 17500 extra cals, so it is water weight...my clothes still fit the same. I just joined a 2wk no scale challenge and I am glad I did...the scale just drives you crazy. I don't want to be weighing morning and night anymore. So, I took a measurement this morning and my period isn't completely over and there is another loss off my waist. I look in the mirror and see myself slimming.
So, said all that to say, if I hit another plateau at this point in my journey I will not go down I will go up and only if at the 4wk mark I have trended upward, I will then give it 2 more weeks and see if that trend persists and then I would cut by 50 or 100 cals at that point.
I've said it plenty of times but you are SOOOOOOOO inspiring!!! Everything you've written here makes perfect sense to me!
So glad you more experienced ladies are helping us figure this all out! Thank you!! :bigsmile:0 -
Ok, I see it is anewlucia, so thank you Lucia, this is excellent and encouraging stuff since I know with all my heart this is the way to go! Denise:drinker: :drinker:0
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@newlucia
have you ever came to a point where you had to decrease your caloric intake .... bc i have been doing this for about 2 wks went from 1200 to 1750 now my tdee with a 15% deficiet is 1833 , i do however eat back all my exercise calories... do you eat back all your excerise calories? i am loving actually eating fat carbs protein in a healthy manner and i am afraid the scale will eventually creep up and i will lose this new found love i have for eating more !
When I bumped my cals, I started at 1800 and over the course of 12wks lost 7.2lbs after not losing a thing for 8 mos at 1200, 1350, and 1500. At 1800 I plateaued and bounced around for 4wks. I was soooooo tempted to drop calories but thought to myself, if less didn't work before why in the world would it now right. I still was at 20% of tdee, soooooo let me go up. So I added 100 cals which took me to 15%, oh my I shot up 4lbs the first week, almost waivered and was so tempted to drop, but something kept saying...no way wait it out. I did 4wks of the bounce up and down boogie. Well, I have learned when you weigh is key...no weighing after a heavy lift, must wait two days...nor after high sodium, wait two days, and NO TOM either. So, approaching the 4wk mark I chose just the right day when none of those items were a factor and guess what a 1.4lb loss. I nearly fell ov.er. I then went on vacay...crazy sodium and Tom hit same time so I was up 5lbs on the scale...BUT, I know I didn't suck back 17500 extra cals, so it is water weight...my clothes still fit the same. I just joined a 2wk no scale challenge and I am glad I did...the scale just drives you crazy. I don't want to be weighing morning and night anymore. So, I took a measurement this morning and my period isn't completely over and there is another loss off my waist. I look in the mirror and see myself slimming.
So, said all that to say, if I hit another plateau at this point in my journey I will not go down I will go up and only if at the 4wk mark I have trended upward, I will then give it 2 more weeks and see if that trend persists and then I would cut by 50 or 100 cals at that point.
Ok, Ive been at cut for 7 weeks now, and as you know, no change. I did however just find out that my TDEE is about 130 cals less than what I was using from the online calculators.
So based on your progress, if I went by what my original TDEE was from online, and not having any losses at this amount, then I would increase my cals by 50-10 and see what happens.
However, since my TDEE is actually lower than what I was using, what do I do now? Do I still increase, or do I decrease to my "true" 15% Cut and see what happens?0
