How to lose more than 1 pound

lpherman01

Having lost 60 lbs in 6 months and having kept it off easily for another 6 months I can tell you that you have to eat enough calories to keep your energy levels up. I averaged 1500 calories on non-excercise days and 2000 on work-out days, and the weight came off. I was averaging 6000~7000 deficit per week due to exercise. Now for maintenance I eat aound 1750 on non-excercise days and 2200~3000 depending on the workout.

My point here is that you HAVE to exercise a lot to lose more than .5~1 lbs per week. You cannot starve youself to get there.

DebbieLyn63

You also have to look at how many calories you were used to eating before you starting cutting cals. I am 49 (5'6") and was very sedentary when I started here in August. My maintenance cals at the time were around 1800 (at 228 pounds). I ate between 1000-1200 gross per day and exercised for 30 minutes 3-4 times a week. I lost 8 pounds a month for the first 3 months. I steadily decreased my carbs and increased my proteins and healthy fats and really didn't have any trouble staying under goal after the first few days.
Over the holidays I ate a bit more and maintained overall for a month, I tried increasing my exercise and calories, but only maintained. I ended up overdoing the exercise and reinjuring my back, so had to take a few weeks off of my bike, dropped my cals back to 1200, and started losing again.
Now I stick to 1200. My macros are 50%Fat/30Pro/20Carbs. I exercise 30-60 mins, 3-4 days a week, and am steadily losing 1 pound per week. After losing 40 pounds, my TDEE isn't as high as it was in the beginning, so my weight loss is a bit slower than then. But I am also averaging about 200 cals more than I was when I was losing 2 pounds a week. With only 35 pounds to go, a 1 pound a week rate is good for me.

For some people, eating higher calories seems to work for them. The science of calories in vs calories out doesn't support higher weight loss at a lower calorie deficit, so I assume that it gives them more energy so that they are more active and burn more calories with their workouts and overall activity level. Some people also tend to binge when they are on too low of a calorie level, and those binges can negate their deficit. Increasing their daily calories can help prevent those binges and result in an overall lower weekly total.

You just have to find what works for you, that you can stick with for the next year or so, then evolve into a maintenance plan that will help you keep the weight off for good.

elisabeisme

I try to stick to the 1200 calories as closely as possible. My typical workouts consist of treadmill or elliptical about 3 times/week for 30-60 minutes and one day a week I work out with a trainer for an hour.

You've already adjusted down as far as you can with your diet. You need to burn more calories. I suggest increasing your workouts. To burn another half pound, you need to exercise away another 1750 calories without eating them back. I would increase % protein while you do this to encourage your body to hang onto muscle and burn fat. At your weight, that's about 2 strength training sessions and 2-3 hours more on the elliptical/treadmill per week.

Last summer I was very close to your stats. I'm 5'4" and currently at 167 lbs (down from original SW of 217). When I hit 200 lbs, I did a faster loss period for about 3 months where I was losing on average 1.25 per week. I was doing cardio 5 days a week and strength training 3 days a week. I also worked out weekly with a trainer. I asked him to focus on strength because I could do cardio on my own. Each week, he gave me a gym "homework" assignment of strength training I needed to do 2 times before I saw him again.