Folks who have lost 50+ pounds

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  • larrodarro
    larrodarro Posts: 2,512 Member
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    I've lost 65 pounds since September, going from 240 down to 175. My daily goal for the first couple of months was around 1800 or something like that. {I had lost 40 pounds before finding MFP} Now it's 1840, but I do 500 to 1000 calories worth of exercise most days, so it's rare for me to eat less than 2300 calories. I only stalled out once, and that was around Christmas. I work in the hospitality business and my customers always bring me food, so I think it was more about off the books snacking than anything else. I was late starting weight training, and had lost a lot of muscle along with all the fat. If I was you I would start doing strength training. It will turn fat to muscle faster than anything else. And it makes you feel so much better walking down the street.

    It is time for me to start maintenance. I don't want to exercise less, so I will have to eat more calories. I had cut out almost all milk and bread, so that will be where I make my first increases.
  • Remaking_Me
    Remaking_Me Posts: 62 Member
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    If you talk to a nutritionist, they will never tell you to lock in at 1200 calories a day.
    If you are exercising at ALL, you need to be eating min of 1500+ unless you're like 4'11".

    I did what youre doing (I havent lost 50lbs) and I stayed stuck at my weight for months and couldnt figure it out.
    I have been given clearance to CHANGE my food type (Im eating 100grams of protein a day!) and my calories
    are 1440-1700 based on how much protein I take in.
    NOW?
    THE WEIGHT IS COMING OFF.
    Talk to someone about what you're eating.... NOT just people on MPF or using the website. For me
    the website's suggestions were totally wrong and it wasted a year of my time following them.

    Go get an assessment done by a fitness/nutrition expert and get your stats and numbers figured out.
    Have someone help you build a plan that fits your body type, metabolism, and other aspects.
    IT WILL HELP!!!! :D
  • aarar
    aarar Posts: 684 Member
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    I've lost nearly 100lbs and never needed to get down to 1200. The lowest I ever went was 1500 for the first 3-ish months that I used MFP. I've never stalled more than a couple of weeks and when I did stall is was because I was getting lazy with weighing my food and probably eating more than I thought.
  • keeponkickin
    keeponkickin Posts: 1,520 Member
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    Hi, I am posting here because I need to talk to people who have reached their goal weight and have lost 50 or more pounds.
    I'm about halfway to my goal and find it's getting harder and harder to lose weight. Which is natural. So far I've been eating over 1200 calories a day (anywhere from 1300-1500, sometimes more which I found was hindering my weight loss). Now I want to try eating 1200 calories.

    So I have a question, did eating 1200 calories a day help you when you stalled?

    No, eating less kinda backfires. I tried mixing things up. Zigzag calories or had a spike day here and there. As you've learned the gap closes as you lose and it gets harder. If you lower too much in the beginning then you leave yourself nowhere to go as you drop. Change up your workouts, watch your carb ratios, lift weights. Weight loss isn't linear. Slow and steady wins the race.
  • perseverance14
    perseverance14 Posts: 1,364 Member
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    No. I lost over 70 pounds and each time my weight loss started to drastically slow, I'd INCREASE my intake and the weight would start dropping again.
    I really hope the same thing happens to me
    That happened to me as well, my weight loss was slowing to .05 but I wanted 1 lb. so I went to 1500, still the same, then 1600, started losing more than I want, almost 3 lbs. one week, so still trying to figure out where to land but probably going to 1700 after the next weigh day, depends on the results. I do feel like I am still losing a little to fast, time will tell. You just have to work at it till you figure out the place you need to be, then don't worry, because it will change as you lose more weight. :)
  • JenGranzow
    JenGranzow Posts: 116 Member
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    I lost and have kept off (for two years now) 72 pounds. In the beginning, I just counted calories, but I got hangry, so I started to exercise so that I could eat more. Lo and behold, I love to work out. I did lots of cardio, and that worked for a little while, but the single biggest thing that changed the shape of my body and rev my metabolism was strength training (I still do lots of cardio, because I love it, but I also love to lift!). A previous poster said lifting changes your fat to muscle and that is simply not true. It's impossible. If you strength train, you will create lean muscle, and that improves your metabolism so you are burning more calories during the day, not just while you're actually working out. Be honest about what you are actually eating and get to know proper portion sizes. Just keep on keeping on, day in and day out, and be patient, and you will get there.
  • fooninie
    fooninie Posts: 291 Member
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    Exercise was the only thing that helped. Diet is great, but after a while, you need the muscle gains to help with metabolism.
  • LoneWolf_70
    LoneWolf_70 Posts: 1,151 Member
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    eating that low only works for a short period. It slows your metabolism. you need to eat more, train harder (not longer, harder)
  • KaterinaTerese
    KaterinaTerese Posts: 345 Member
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    Instead of decreasing calories, try more low-intensity cardio in addition to whatever exercise you're doing, like walking/standing more. Worked for me when I took off my initial 50lbs.
  • TerrieBeastall
    TerrieBeastall Posts: 1 Member
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    I eat about 1500 calories, I sometimes cycle them and go down to 1400 and up to 1600 just to swtich stuff up. But mostly I stick to the 1500. I do about a 25 min high impact workout 3 times a week at home. And its been working for me. When I started plateauing it was almost always cause I was getting relaxed on my recording and was actually eating more than I thought.


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  • Plornt
    Plornt Posts: 3 Member
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    Personally I find eating 1200 calories recently stupidly hard. When I first started in September last year I went by eating 500-700 calories a day, since February ive pretty much been hovering around 1000-1500 a day. I find that some foods just dont fill me anymore and the motivation went. However that being said recently I found exercise really helps, not only does it stop me from even wanting to eat food but it also allows me to eat more earlier in the day if I feel like it.
  • Eastern_Echo23
    Eastern_Echo23 Posts: 198 Member
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    I lost about 100 pounds a few years ago and gained it all back.... In this current run i have lost 33 and expect to add another kilo this week... so hopefully i'll be at 35! I would like to be friends but you did clearly state 50+ in the title :D
  • LosingLaurensWay
    LosingLaurensWay Posts: 86 Member
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    So far I've lost about 130 lbs, the best thing to do is the weight loss trifecta - calorie reduction, cardio and weight training. Muscle helps maintain a constant burn in the body and no as a woman you will not bulk up unless you are taking hormones and actively training to bulk. Make sure you aren't going too low in your calories or your body will go into survival mode and hold on to everything. Also watch how many calories you burn as that can throw you below your allotted amount. A slow loss of weight is much healthier than a rapid drops. Don't look at shows like the biggest loser for inspiration, they are destroying the bodies. It has taken me two years to lose this much and I still have another 100 to go. You WILL have plateaus and slow periods (I've had about 5, one of which lasted 5 months). Just keep at it, use the weight loss trifecta and you will lose weight.
  • Rainboots80
    Rainboots80 Posts: 218 Member
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    I have been doing 1200 because I stalled but it did not help at all. Today I changed to 1350 and going to see what happens
  • chocolatexxmintt
    chocolatexxmintt Posts: 85 Member
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    I've lost 45.6 lbs altogether and 14.5 lbs since using this site. I eat 1200 calories daily. I switch up my workouts every day. No two days are the same in any given week.
  • beastmode_kitty
    beastmode_kitty Posts: 844 Member
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    I've lost 62 pounds myself to date. I used to eat just 1200 calories a day at the start and it helped, but then I started to plateau too much. I exercised 5 days a week, 2 hours+ a day, not a lot of lifting, more cardio than anything and found it just wasn't doing anything for me. So within the past couple months I switched things up. I do lifting 3 times a week, and cardio just 2 times a week. I also do the IIFYM method as well, and keep my calories around 1400 on non-workout days and around 1700 on workout days. It has been working well for me. The scale doesn't move much, but I notice the inches more than anything.
  • spideywebb77
    spideywebb77 Posts: 126 Member
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    Weight loss may not have slowed down. I think one of the things that can be over looked is % weight loss. When I weighed 297 a 2lb weight loss would have been .7% of my total weight. Now that I am 239 it would be .84%. Just something to keep in perspective.

    I set a 1 year plan in place to lose 137 lbs. That is 2.62 lbs a week. At the start that was only .88%. If I could maintain that rate through to the end (doubt it) it would be 1.61% which is almost doubling my weight loss %. Just a little something to keep in mind
  • Siigh_duck
    Siigh_duck Posts: 161 Member
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    I've done 1200 the entire time... I always eat back most of my exercise calories though xD
  • gavulac
    gavulac Posts: 1 Member
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    It really depends on your exercise. If you do not eat enough calories it can actually hinder your weight loss.
  • dcgal23
    dcgal23 Posts: 3 Member
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    I would caution about randomly choosing a calorie goal, because everyone is different. My resting metabolism is around 1450 calories/day, so I have to consistently eat around 1200 calories in order to lose weight, if I do not have the chance to hit the gym. Before I had my metabolism checked (weight loss clinic, hooks you up to a breathing machine and measures), I thought that a 'healthy diet' would be a caloric goal of 1500/day, which is why I could not lose any weight. I'm down about 45 pounds now and very close to my goal weight, but the scale barely moves anymore because I am so close. Consider checking out your resting metabolism at a clinic where you live and any mystery regarding your body's caloric needs will be solved:smile:

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