How do I maximize weight loss?
Replies
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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.0 -
Well that was the explanation a Dietician with a Master's Degree gave me. What degree do you have? Associates in Starvation?
omg LOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cracked up!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Being mean is sometimes so damn hilarious! lol0 -
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.0 -
First, I recommend getting your answers from a registered dietician. He or she can help you tailor a diet and excercise program to help you acheive your goals. Second, meet with a fitness expert or trainer to set additional goals and learn how to mix up your routine to avoid muscle memory. I tried a million different "diets" until I found something that works for me...high protien, low carb, and a calorie deficit daily...via exercise. One pound a week is good, but as someone who is like you and still has a lot to lose, I understand your frustration and desire to bump it up to two per week.0
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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.0 -
Patience and add some cardio and you can get to that 1.5,2 lbs a week loss.0
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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-women0 -
This is not how MPF is intended to work. I will not recreate the wheel as there are 100s of threads on this.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!0 -
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....0 -
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....
then I hate to tell you, but you've done it wrong. If you're working out 7 days per week for an hour, and you're only eating 1200 calories, you're up for more frustration and disappointment.0 -
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....
then I hate to tell you, but you've done it wrong. If you're working out 7 days per week for an hour, and you're only eating 1200 calories, you're up for more frustration and disappointment.
YOU THINK? I think it's more to find our own ways of losing weight. I have lost 8 lbs in 2 weeks... maybe it seems too much, I do have my splurges of food every now and then and I believe the fact that I'm confusing my metabolism helps. I do 1200 for 2 weeks and then splurge for a day or two and then back on it. I think I'm a stick to this for now, until I hit a plateu and then I'll have to find another way.
What is your advice? I don't mind hearing more about it... anything helps. 0 -
Do you exercise? Hat is the quality of foods you eat(clean or a lot of processed)? Do you weight train?
I agree with the person who said eating clean works wonders. Getting most of your calories from whole food benefit you in the long run as wells as help speed up your metabolism. Eating 5-6 times a day also helps to speed up the metabolism and keep sugar levels balanced. I think that 1700 calories is too much a day and 1400-1500 is better. The key is eating 5-6 times a day and exercising.0 -
http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/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....
then I hate to tell you, but you've done it wrong. If you're working out 7 days per week for an hour, and you're only eating 1200 calories, you're up for more frustration and disappointment.
YOU THINK? I think it's more to find our own ways of losing weight. I have lost 8 lbs in 2 weeks... maybe it seems too much, I do have my splurges of food every now and then and I believe the fact that I'm confusing my metabolism helps. I do 1200 for 2 weeks and then splurge for a day or two and then back on it. I think I'm a stick to this for now, until I hit a plateu and then I'll have to find another way.
What is your advice? I don't mind hearing more about it... anything helps.
There. Put in your information. get a realistic and livable calorie goal. You aren't "confusing your metabolism" or tricking your body. You're just not eating enough. It isn't a "find what works for us in our own way" situation, honestly. It's a "eat less than your TDEE" thing.. regardless of the approach, that's what it boils down to. If you're starving yourself on 1200 calories for two weeks, then gorging.. if you're losing weight, you're existing in a caloric deficit.Eating 5-6 times a day also helps to speed up the metabolism and keep sugar levels balanced. I think that 1700 calories is too much a day and 1400-1500 is better. The key is eating 5-6 times a day and exercising.
also wrong.
caloric goals aren't based on opinion. It's based on the need of the person. check the link above for scooby's. Also, don't fall into some delusion that you speed up your metabolism by eating 5 or 6 times a day.
What's next, muscle weighs more than fat?0 -
Sorry for posting here I am new to this site.0
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Thanks for your reply.0
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Well that was the explanation a Dietician with a Master's Degree gave me. What degree do you have? Associates in Starvation?
I think this is a valid explanation, but there are exceptions. I don't know how or why, but some people continue to lose at 1200 calories.0 -
Crossing 200lbs I had a 2 to 3 lb per week loss while eating toward a goal of 1750 and achieving 1500 to 2100 cals per day (except for one or two days where I goofed and only ate about 1250). I was doing a lot of cardio though: biking about 6 1/2 miles to work most days. If I also walked at lunch, I was closer to 2000, if I did nothing, I was closer to 1500. So partial "eat back" - and focused on the time right after the exercise.
So I would suggest trying more cardio, and eat back half of it immediately after the exercise, with foods that are about 2 parts carb calories to 1 part protein calories. Helps the muscles grow, and encourages higher metabolism overall. Also encourages the body to use any extra calories it finds to build muscles, since it keeps needing them on a regular basis. Outside of the post-exercise snack, I would encourage sticking with a stable diet that succeeds for you even in the absence of exercise.
I also occasionally picked up heavy objects, again with the goal of training my body to desire muscles instead of fat in any instances of momentary caloric excess. As I was not very serious about it, I doubt that it is essential to the success that I experienced at the time.
While I did study nutritional biochem as part of my chemistry degree, I am neither nutritionist nor doctor, so please consider my suggestions in the light of both your personal situation and the advice of your own advisers. Your mileage may vary, and my personal experience, while positive for me, may only serve as anecdote in your life.0 -
my goal is 1440. I ate 1442 calories today so my net calories say 1442. I know it's good for net calories and goal to be similar so that's why I did that. Although my exercise says -0. I am trying to lose 10 pounds. I am so confused on what I am supposed to do. Am I supposed to exercise now? please help0
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my goal is 1440. I ate 1442 calories today so my net calories say 1442. I know it's good for net calories and goal to be similar so that's why I did that. Although my exercise says -0. I am trying to lose 10 pounds. I am so confused on what I am supposed to do. Am I supposed to exercise now? please help
Since you didn't really read the rest of the replies, I'll just repost what I put earlier too:
http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
There. Put in your information. get a realistic and livable calorie goal. You aren't "confusing your metabolism" or tricking your body. You're just not eating enough. It isn't a "find what works for us in our own way" situation, honestly. It's a "eat less than your TDEE" thing.. regardless of the approach, that's what it boils down to.0 -
A lot of good information in here. yes. what was said. 1lb a week is awesome. .5 pounds a week is great. Exercise too. Lift heavy, it will be worth it in the end.
With the 2 lbs over 70 pounds, the skin won't have time to contract . Your going to have to deal with loose skin at the end. What are your plans for skin removal, sugary or just live with it.0 -
I think you should mainly stay where you are at, but in general, make sure you recalculate your calories needed every month or so (or every 5 to 10 pounds dropped) because as you weigh less, you need fewer calories.0
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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?
At your weight, with 70 lbs to lose, you can try a high protein, slightly lower calorie diet and increase cardio exercise / resistance training to try to protect against LBM loss.
Caveats
- fast loss can lead to kidney stone formation, increase fluid intake and be careful of supplements like vitamin D/calcium
- LBM loss is a lot likelier at these rates
- skin takes longer to adjust, results can be esthetically not what you want - a slower loss allows the body to adjust.
- low cal diets are best when followed by a Dr and/or nutritionist and include a blodd panel to assure that you are not in nutritional deficiencies now or later - some can be deadly.
- changes in metabolism are likelier at higher losses but can be offset from weight training - but it is useful to spend at least some time learning it.
-hormonal and mental changes can be significant.
So, yes, you can lose at a faster rate, is it worth it to you? Only you can decide.0 -
Hi! Great job on losing and having a plan!
I spent quite a bit just researching this site for how to set my calories. I think to up the weight loss, you can set your profile to lose 2 pounds a week and it will re-configure your calories needed to do this. I put myself at light activity and do not log all the "stuff" I do during the day unless it is a cardio workout. I have trouble losing .5 pounds a week!!!
Keep going!!0 -
One thing that they don't tell you about weight loss is that it takes patience. Lots of it. 1lb per week is a very good pace. Just keep doing what you're doing; it's obviously working.0
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What's your hurry girl? Losing faster is actually less desirable.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?0 -
1. What makes you think you can avoid muscle memory?First, I recommend getting your answers from a registered dietician. He or she can help you tailor a diet and excercise program to help you acheive your goals. Second, meet with a fitness expert or trainer to set additional goals and learn how to mix up your routine to avoid muscle memory. I tried a million different "diets" until I found something that works for me...high protien, low carb, and a calorie deficit daily...via exercise. One pound a week is good, but as someone who is like you and still has a lot to lose, I understand your frustration and desire to bump it up to two per week.
2. Why would you want to?
Unless you're thinking of the muscle confusion system, which is just a useless (and ineffective) marketing gimmick used by the fitness industry to keep selling more stuff.0 -
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....
then I hate to tell you, but you've done it wrong. If you're working out 7 days per week for an hour, and you're only eating 1200 calories, you're up for more frustration and disappointment.
YOU THINK? I think it's more to find our own ways of losing weight. I have lost 8 lbs in 2 weeks... maybe it seems too much, I do have my splurges of food every now and then and I believe the fact that I'm confusing my metabolism helps. I do 1200 for 2 weeks and then splurge for a day or two and then back on it. I think I'm a stick to this for now, until I hit a plateu and then I'll have to find another way.
What is your advice? I don't mind hearing more about it... anything helps.
There's no such thing as "confusing your metabolism." Your metabolism doesn't think. If it doesn't think, it can't be confused.
What you're describing is more of an eating disorder type behavior, a binge/starve cycle. Be careful as that can be very dangerous.0 -
When I exercise for as little as 20 minutes a day (treadmill or elliptical) while sticking to my recommended calories, I have consistently lost 2 pounds a week.
This ^^
Exercise!!0 -
You've already stated that eating less calories did not work for you. So just keep doing what you're doing. You're being very successful, just keep it up. That's the hard part - consistency. Going for too much will burn you out faster and you'll never make it to your goal. Just sit back and relax and keep doing what you're doing for the next 2-3 years. It has to be sustainable long term or you will give up like 90% of the people who try to lose weight.0
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