Success choosing to lose 1/2 pound per week?

VeganTrish

I just switched up my goals on here and was wondering what kind of success others have had losing at a slower pace. After years of yo-yo dieting I am ready to commit and get this weight off, but I want to eat. Being hungry is not an option for me anymore. it's just that after being so used to restricting food, have so many calories at my disposal each day feels a little strange! Would love to hear of others' experiences with this. Thanks!

wild_wild_life

I'm a fan. I lost 20 lbs mostly at 1 to .5 lbs/week. It didn't feel like a diet so much as being more careful about what I was eating. The only problem with a 250 cal deficit is making sure your estimations are accurate enough since being over a bit on calories and under a bit on burn will make your deficit disappear. Worked for me though. I can't imagine going back to eating the way I was before.

emnk5308

I would get discouraged by seeing only .5 to 1 lb loss per week.. =/ I do know plenty of people that are losing at a slower rate and are very happy with it. It helps you in the long run because it will be so much easier to keep the weight off I know I'm in for it when it comes time to maintain.

gertudejekyl

I was hoping to lose 6 pds a month...but I am achieving about 4 a month...still it feels great and I can't stand constant hunger. I am on week 7 of C25k and walk every day, weights at gym 3 days a week. I have repeated each week of C25k twice...I do the time version....I am up to 17 minute mile. I can now jog 26 minutes without stopping which is pretty good at 256 lbs:flowerforyou:

lmelangley

I started out at the 1 lb a week recommendation, and was as accurate as possible about portion sizes, but was loosey-goosey about it because I figured the goal was long term health, not a quick loss. I just wanted to modify my diet to something I could live with, and it worked. I began losing about 3lbs a month. After I lost a bunch of weight, MFP put me down to 1200 calories a day and I changed my goal to 1/2 lb/week because I stopped losing altogether when I ate that few calories.

My thought is that each of us needs to do what is right for us, and as long as we don't set ourselves up with unrealistic or non-sustainable goals, we'll get there. We just need to do a little better each day.

michellematteson

I have been doing very well. I started out about 22 weeks ago and have lost 23 pounds so far, with only a two week period where I couldn't lose a pound to save my life (before that two week period I had a week where I dropped 1.8 pounds, I think my body was just resting for two weeks before I dropped another 1.2 pounds). I would recommend not eating back calories, unless you drop below your BMR, then eating to stay over BMR may keep you from starving the next day. Also, the healthier the food, the more you can eat of it. I was amazed how much good food I could eat to get up to 1700-1800 calories a day.

tarapickett

I've been set up to do 1/2lb a week since I started MFP. I've been very happy with it because it helps me to make life changes instead of just losing quickly. I've lost 12lbs and I feel much, much better. Good luck in whatever you decide.

BeSophisticate

Losing weight doing things you'll never KEEP doing is a waste of time.

Getting fit and healthy doing things you can do FOREVER is the only way to go!

I'm with you on the small goals. Just say no to the yo-yo! :drinker:

Florawanda

I have averaged a little over 1 pound a week for the last 6 months, and will be quite happy to take it slowly... it is learning a new attitude to food, learning to be a bit more careful, exercising regularly and making sensible choices. While I have cut down hugely on chocolate and biscuits, I know realistically that I am not going to give them up, but I have to learn to be sensible about how much I have. The danger is that it can creep up without you realising it, and then the scales start to show a gain. Good luck with your steady loss and re-educating yourself to healthier ways!

Bobby_Clerici

I am thinking the same thing having reached my weight goals but just wanting to keep progressing slowly in order to lose more fat than muscle. Never peak out!
Once we feel we've climbed as high as we can go, there is nowhere else to go but down.
Down is NOT where I ever want to go again except on my body fat test:bigsmile:

BeSophisticate

I have been doing very well. I started out about 22 weeks ago and have lost 23 pounds so far, with only a two week period where I couldn't lose a pound to save my life (before that two week period I had a week where I dropped 1.8 pounds, I think my body was just resting for two weeks before I dropped another 1.2 pounds). I would recommend not eating back calories, unless you drop below your BMR, then eating to stay over BMR may keep you from starving the next day. Also, the healthier the food, the more you can eat of it. I was amazed how much good food I could eat to get up to 1700-1800 calories a day.

I guess I sort of do the opposite. I eat back almost all of my exercise calories 90% of the time because, if I don't, I'm unable to continue working out as vigorously as I would like. The energy just isn't there. Of course, my calorie target is lower, so that could be part of it. I admit, though, that some days I eat junk because I just have no appetite and can't even hit 1200, but what's life without the occaisional cupcake?

I also don't sweat the occaisional day I go over, even if it is by a heafty chunk. 80% healthy and 20% fun is my long-term, life-time goal and I'm okay with that. :happy:

Edited for spelling :ohwell:

islandnutshel

I think it is a brilliant place to start, especialy if you are worried about being hungry. The good thing about it is that you can always leave a deficit if you are not hungry. No one will be telling you to eat all your exercise calories if you havent got extreem settings.
I found the further I got in, the less hungry I was. I just got used to eating a reasonable sized portions. It would have been easier on me to ease into it.
Good for you. Slow and steady still wins the race.

islandnutshel

I was hoping to lose 6 pds a month...but I am achieving about 4 a month...still it feels great and I can't stand constant hunger. I am on week 7 of C25k and walk every day, weights at gym 3 days a week. I have repeated each week of C25k twice...I do the time version....I am up to 17 minute mile. I can now jog 26 minutes without stopping which is pretty good at 256 lbs:flowerforyou:

Congratulations for jogging for 26min without stopping. At your weight it is a much greater acheivment then most people would realise. I tried it at 230 and it took me months to build up to that time. Well done.

BeSophisticate

I have averaged a little over 1 pound a week for the last 6 months, and will be quite happy to take it slowly... it is learning a new attitude to food, learning to be a bit more careful, exercising regularly and making sensible choices. While I have cut down hugely on chocolate and biscuits, I know realistically that I am not going to give them up, but I have to learn to be sensible about how much I have. The danger is that it can creep up without you realising it, and then the scales start to show a gain. Good luck with your steady loss and re-educating yourself to healthier ways!

Agreed. I'm doing great now, but I'm terrified that scale creep will become my worst enemy once I've quit using MFP. I guess all I can do is hope that it'll take long enough to reach my goal that my habits will be well established.

VeganTrish

Thank you all so much for sharing your thoughts and experiences! I'm looking for long term sustainable weight loss and I really feel this is the way for me to go. I just have to keep telling the old me that this is not a race and that I need to focus more on the journey rather than the destination. I have such a good feeling about this!

melsinct

It took me almost one year to lose 30 pounds. I changed my lifestyle, lost slowly, never backslid and gained or "fell off the wagon" and have been maintaining my goal weight for almost 5 months. Losing quickly will get you to your goal faster but for me losing slowly helped me learn how to maintain my new weight. And honestly? Maintenance has been a breeze because of it!

toffee322

i chose 0.5 lb per week from the very beginning as i dont have a lot of weight to lose. i still go over all the time!! but i thinklosing more slowly is easier and much healthier for everyone..