Starting out

Hi, on most diets you will loose more in the first 2 weeks then your weight loss will slow down .I am the same height as you and weigh 10st 11lbs ( 151lbs) I want to get to 10st (140lbs ) as i'm 54 I think that weight will suit me .regarding putting back on weight that will only happen if you slip back to unhealthy eating again and lack of exercise .Good luck with your diet and be proud of yourself for the weight you have lost so far .I have an holiday coming up in 8 weeks so here we go .

What made you pick 1,000 calories?

I have just been reading lots of random things online about weight loss and talking with my sister in law and that was the number I felt would be good for me where no time during the day I would feel like I was starving. The number seemed low enough to lose weight but high enough to keep me fueled.

Here's the thing. Nobody ever REALLY knows what the right starting calorie intake should be for someone. However, we know enough to get a reasonable estimate. After determining a reasonable estimate, then it's a matter of following a flexible process that's rooted in consistency.

That consistency is the fuel that truly tests your starting calorie intake.

If the starting intake isn't generating the results you're targeting from month to month, then you adjust.

I'm sure that makes sense.

Where you're dropping the ball is you're pulling a number out of thin air when determining your starting calorie intake. And that number happens to be too low.

Think in these terms....

Most active women have total daily energy expenditure in the neighborhood of 13-15 calories per pound of body weight. So at 142 lbs or whatever it is you said you weighed, your maintenance would be someplace around 1900-2000 calories. If you're very sedentary when you're not exercising... than maybe you ratchet that maintenance estimate down a bit.

But once you pinpoint a reasonable maintenance, the deficit you target should be conservative, generally speaking. Maybe in the tune of 15-30%.

So if you're maintenance is 1900, an appropriate place to start your deficit would be 1350 - 1600. If you were my client, you'd be starting at 1600.

I work with a lot of women who are of similar stature to you and by and large most of them realize the best success when they stick around the 10-12 cals/lb neighborhood with their deficits.

The goal should be to eat as much food as possible while still allowing for a reasonable rate of weight loss over time. By doing this, you:

i) keep your body happy from a metabolic standpoint... by eating too little you only stand to accelerate defensive shifts in your metabolic state

ii) you don't accelerate muscle loss

iii) you leave room for caloric adjustment over time. by going STARTING with the lowest intake, you leave yourself no options for when the time rolls around where you're plateaued. And it WILL roll around... that's for certain.

So long story short... I think you need to put a little more thought into this stuff. Be a little more deliberate and methodical. And if you have any questions, by all means... ask away!

Don't mention it. Without trying to sound like a jerk, I'd do more than consider it. I'd apply. As a nation, we're extremely effective at losing weight. At the same time, we're extremely poor at keeping it off. One of the main reasons this is the case is due to the fact that most people who are "just starting off" take extreme approaches.

Unbeknownst to them... they're sabotaging themselves before they even start. They're simply becoming another statistic perpetuating the abysmally low long term success rates.