How do I maximize weight loss?

This is what i use to do before i fell off the wagon.....:O.

I'm 238lb and 5'4,

i eat 1500 - 1800 a day
exercise everyday for 40 mins
and lose 2lbs a week sometimes, depending on "women things"

i eat fairy healthy but wouldn't say clean as i cannot afford this.

hope this helps
Amy from the UK

There's the rub ... eating back calories. If you're doing that, then you may need to re-think why you are working out in the first place. Is it to lose weight? Or, is it to be able to eat more calories per day?

Here's how I position exercise in my thought process: If I'm serious about losing weight (and I AM very serious), then I must make a commitment to eat a certain amount of calories and work out for a certain number of hours each day, week, month, etc. If I "eat back calories" I feel like I have cheated myself out of ever reaching my goal. So, I try to minimize those occasions and, if I do "fall off the wagon" for a day or two, I try to make that up somewhere over the next week.

You may want to incorporate more exercise minutes into each week, rather than cut more calories, so you don't feel starved and deprived of sustenance. Hope that helps!

You didn't mention if you are working out. I agree with the others, it's a great way to burn calories.

I've been steadily losing 1 pound a week for the past 10 weeks eating 1750 calories a day. I'm finding the calorie allotment quite easy to stick to, so I'm wondering what I should do to bump the loss up to 2 pounds a week. Should I cut my calories down? If so, by how much? When I ate 1450 calories a week, my weight loss was slower than at 1750, so I'm not sure if reducing calories would help? Not sure if increasing would either. Thoughts?

My stats are 5'7 and 237 pounds.

Don't get me wrong, I think losing a pound a week is great and I'm happy with it, but if there is something I can do to increase the loss I'm definitely willing to try it.

At the top of your home page, click on where it says Goals. then set it to 2 pounds a week to lose, and see how many calories it says you can have. If that's too few, then maybe 1-1/2 per week, and see how many calories that says.

I agree that I would get down too low on calories. Losing 1 pound a week consistently is GREAT!! And more likely to stay off than a rapid weight loss.

So basically it's impossible for me to get a 2 pound a week loss without doing damage to my metabolism? With over 70 pounds left to lose, I find that hard to believe. I know 1 pound a week is a good loss, but at my weight I don't see why 2 pounds is not a possibility?

It should be a possibility, but it would be difficult and not sustainable for very long, partly because you are reasonably close to where you'd want to switch back to 1 lb/wk loss.

Here's the thing - you're currently at a 500 cal/day deficit. You would need to create a 1000 cal/day deficit. And, you'd best start lifting heavy and making sure you eat enough protein if you want to preserve your LBM, because you're likely to lose more of it with a higher deficit. That said ...

You could exercise to create the new deficit, which is a LOT harder than most think (don't believe MFPs estimates, it's reported that they are inflated for many exercises).

Or, you could eat 500 cals less per day, but a 1250 cal/day allotment isn't sustainable for many people. They tend to feel tired, always hungry, and it makes it hard to stick to your diet. But, not all people feel this way, and maybe you're one of them. Plus, you need to be really careful with what you are eating so you get the nutrition you need. However, it's not unreasonable if you're thinking of trying it short term (a month, maybe two) and then bumping back up to your current calorie level.

Or, you could do a combo of the above. For example, decrease your intake by 250 cals and increase your exercise by 250 cals. To me, that seems like the most reasonable approach other than adjusting your expectations and being patient, which would be my advice since you are finding your diet easy to stick with - why mess with a good thing?

Well that was the explanation a Dietician with a Master's Degree gave me. What degree do you have? Associates in Starvation?

I have lost almost 80 lbs this year sticking to a 1200 calorie diet and I think if I was starving myself I would have been dead by now. Everyone is different so she will have to play around with it.

OP, this isn't a sprint. It's a marathon. Don't aim for a 2lb goal if you're already losing a steady pound per week. Let it happen naturally.

Hello Everyone,

I have been working on losing weight since May 2013. I lost 10 lbs. before I was introduced to MFP. I have been using MFP for approx. 2 months I have lost 12 additional pounds (total 22 lbs. since May) but it seems that I have been 160 lbs. for a while now. My goal is to lose one pound a week. I am allowed around 1400 calories a day. I have tried cutting my calories but I find myself hungry. Exercise goal is 60 minutes 5 times a week. Some weeks I meet my exercise goal but for sure I am working out 3 to 4 times a week for at least 45 minutes (moderate walking). I have only exceeded my allowed calories on a couple of occasions but it seems as if I have stopped losing weight. I do my best to drink 8 glasses of water a day as well. I have some questions:
1) How can I boost my metabolism again, or get back to losing a pound a week?
2) Do I eat more when I exercise to make up for the calories I burned? (when I do not MFP gives me a warning that I am not eating enough)
3) Should I recalculate my exercise goal?

You should create your own thread.
1. Click "General Diet and Weight Loss Help" at the top.
2. Click the "New Topic" button.

Hello Everyone,

I have been working on losing weight since May 2013. I lost 10 lbs. before I was introduced to MFP. I have been using MFP for approx. 2 months I have lost 12 additional pounds (total 22 lbs. since May) but it seems that I have been 160 lbs. for a while now. My goal is to lose one pound a week. I am allowed around 1400 calories a day. I have tried cutting my calories but I find myself hungry. Exercise goal is 60 minutes 5 times a week. Some weeks I meet my exercise goal but for sure I am working out 3 to 4 times a week for at least 45 minutes (moderate walking). I have only exceeded my allowed calories on a couple of occasions but it seems as if I have stopped losing weight. I do my best to drink 8 glasses of water a day as well. I have some questions:
1) How can I boost my metabolism again, or get back to losing a pound a week?
2) Do I eat more when I exercise to make up for the calories I burned? (when I do not MFP gives me a warning that I am not eating enough)
3) Should I recalculate my exercise goal?

1. Weight loss is not linear. The smaller you become the fewer calories you need to maintain your weight..... so the same deficit may be hard to come by, unless you are not getting enough nutrition. When you get to within 10-15 pounds of goal ..... a 1/2 pound loss each week is good progress. You did not screw up your metabolism...... I'm sure that can happen, but it's very extreme.

2. If you are using MFP as designed ..... YES you should be eating (at least some) of your calories back. MFP gave you a calorie deficit BEFORE exercise. Too large a deficit results in muscle loss (as well as fat loss). The reason I say .... at least some .... calorie burns tend to be overstated. Cardio workouts & Heart Rate Monitors seem to work for many...... HRMs were not really designed to work with strength training.... total guesstimate.

3. Re: exercise goal...... this is about the SHAPE of your body after the weight has come off. This is more for fitness than it is for weight loss. This is also a lifestyle change ..... do you see yourself working out forever (to maintain a weight loss)? That's the amount of exercise you should be doing now.

Honestly start lifting some weights.

It is more important at this time to keep your Lean Body Mass intact and remember muscles burn fat like no tomorrow.

Take measurments as well and don't rely on the scale in the bathroom to tell you you are doing it right use a tape measure too.

There are a few good groups I have found....

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/10118-eat-train-progress

and

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/4601-stronglifts-5x5-for-women

Hi Amy,

Do you eat back your exercise calories?

Thanks

IT'S SOOOO Frustrating, isn't it? I keep hearing people tell me to be PATIENT, BE PATIENT but dude... I worked so hard the first 2 weeks of my journey, soooo hard! I did 1200 cals and at least an hour of working out a DAY, for the entire 2 weeks and only lost 1 lb PER WEEK! It pissed me off so I gave up and ate all the weight back the following weekend, THEN... I caught myself, being back to my original weight and unhappy. I decided to just keep at it and hide the freaking scale! I am not going to look at it for the entire month of SEPTEMBER cause the ***** makes me so unhappy and miserable! I am going to work out every day for an hour and stick to my cals! I say you do the same! WHY BE MISERABLE? You're gonna do it either way so why not just push the nerve wrecking moments aside? Weigh yourself today and wait a month...... but work out hard core EVERY day and log all your cals.... TRUST ME! It is best for us impatient women. I have no patience, specially when I work so hard... I wanna see the outcome NOW. lol....