How do I maximize weight loss?

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....

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.

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.

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. 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?

Thanks for your reply.

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.

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.

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.

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!!

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?

What's your hurry girl? Losing faster is actually less desirable.

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.

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.