Losing twice as much as expected? add more calories?

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tindy5799
tindy5799 Posts: 221 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi friends,

So I have MFP set up for a loss of 1 lb a week. At 5'7" with a sedentary lifestyle it told me I needed 1400 calories (now down to 1380 since I've lost 9 lbs). "Problem" is I have been losing about 2 lbs a week. Here's what I've tracked:


Started: Oct 1st. 2013- 162 lbs.
Oct 19th - 157 lbs.
Oct 29th - 155 lbs
Nov 5th- 153 lbs.

Do you think it's because people just lose more initially? I only had 30 lbs to lose so I though 1 lb a week was reasonable.
Am I underestimating my activity level? Do you think my body personally just requires more calories than someone else my height?

I am not hungry, I eat well on 1400 calories and occasionally go over. IF I workout (cause I don't often) then I eat back all of the calories.

Replies

  • wjstoj
    wjstoj Posts: 884 Member
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    I'm going to guess all of the above - but you probably aren't as sedentary as you think
  • samammay
    samammay Posts: 468
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    I would definitely eat more. I would switch to use the TDEE method. It made a big difference with me... I eat a ton more now and still lose as fast as I want to. :)
  • myurav
    myurav Posts: 165 Member
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    I have similar stats to you (5'7, currently 162), and my BMR is 1500 cals/day (done through BodPod, so it's accurate). It's possible that this is your body's reaction to you eating less than your BMR. If you're worried about losing too much, too quickly, maybe add a spoonful of PB at the end of the day to get to 1500 cals?

    But if you feel okay, and you're not feeling any side effects, go with it til you hit a plateau and then think about upping your cals :)
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    Try it and find out. Remember that these calorie calculators can only give an estimate. You may need to play around a little to find what works best for you.
  • amandarama_
    amandarama_ Posts: 29
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    I'm 5"7, 162 and I eat 1650 a day to lose one pound per week. You're probably just a little more active than you think.
  • Yodifer
    Yodifer Posts: 87
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    I would just keep doing what you're doing. I think once you get within 10 lbs of your goal you will see that slow down some.
  • Ideabaker
    Ideabaker Posts: 516 Member
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    I'm 5"7, 162 and I eat 1650 a day to lose one pound per week. You're probably just a little more active than you think.

    Agreed. I've read that sedentary means that you don't move much at all during the day...think someone who is bedridden and rarely leaves the room. See what happens when you move your settings to "Lightly Active".
  • daj150
    daj150 Posts: 815 Member
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    I'm going to guess all of the above - but you probably aren't as sedentary as you think

    This. Unless you sit at a desk all day, and when you are at home you never do anything except sit around and your weekends are just sitting around, then you can say you are sedentary. Otherwise, most people fall in the lightly active option.

    In regards to your body and losing more weight than expected, there are too many variables to take into account. A good rule of thumb is if you are not feeling hungry all of the time and you don't feel like you are going to fall asleep at any moment regardless of how much sleep you get, chances are your body doesn't mind what you are doing. A lot has to do with how much you eat and what you eat. So if the quality of the food you are eating has changed drastically, that account for larger initial weight loss. Once the body gets used to everything, the loss per week will drop significantly.
  • MrsBingley
    MrsBingley Posts: 145
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    I've encountered the same thing, even with one high intake day a week where I would eat just shy of maintenance calories.

    I thought it was just water at first, but I'm down about 23 lbs (10 before mfp) in 2 months when I was only expecting to lose a lb a week.
    I originally started out purposefully overestimating certain foods, since I measure with cups and had heard how easy it is to underestimate. I stopped doing that. I have been gradually increasing calories, but I'm still losing really fast.

    Now, I'm gonna eat maintenance calories on the 4 days I weight train and only eat a deficit on the other 3. We'll see how it goes, I guess.
  • tindy5799
    tindy5799 Posts: 221 Member
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    Lots of helpful info! I'll switch to lightly active and eat at that for a month.

    I really don't mind losing 2 lbs a week, and my body is doing just fine with it. I get 8 hours of sleep, occasionally workout, and I feel no negative physical response to my weight loss. So I'll up my calories slightly and see what happens.
  • tindy5799
    tindy5799 Posts: 221 Member
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    I've encountered the same thing, even with one high intake day a week where I would eat just shy of maintenance calories.

    Now, I'm gonna eat maintenance calories on the 4 days I weight train and only eat a deficit on the other 3. We'll see how it goes, I guess.

    Let me know how it goes! Maybe I'll try that later on. I try to stick something out for a whole month before changing methods.
  • KeViN_v2pt0
    KeViN_v2pt0 Posts: 375 Member
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    I would just keep doing what you're doing. I think once you get within 10 lbs of your goal you will see that slow down some.

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