10%,,, Is it true?

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auntiebabs
auntiebabs Posts: 1,754 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I recently heard that you should not lose more than 10% of your body weight at one time. That you should stop and maintain for a couple of months and let your body get used to it's new size, let your skin catch up, etc.

And then in a couple of months go back to losing.

Frustrating I'm at 11.5% now and only have another 5 or so more lbs to go, but still I want to be smart and do the healthiest thing.

(I'm almost 50 and I want to be having fun at 80. Seeing what hell my parents have gone/are going through has inspired me to make some changes)

Replies

  • hemlock2010
    hemlock2010 Posts: 422 Member
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    There are people on MFP who have talked about taking periodic breaks to let their bodies adjust, which sounds more or less like what you're talking about. But my strong feeling would be that that matters most for people who are going to be losing a lot of weight overall. For someone so close to goal weight, it just seems a silly obstacle to place in your way.

    Just my .02.
  • bjshooter
    bjshooter Posts: 1,174 Member
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    I don't think there are exact rules tbh.

    I Also believe that your body forces a plateau, when it needs one. Good luck with how ever you decide to lose the last few lbs :D
  • Rworthy
    Rworthy Posts: 271 Member
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    Well unless you're doing some crazy diet, you can't lose 10% of your body fat "at one time" - it usually takes a few months at least to lose that much weight. I think you'll be totally fine if you only have 5 more pounds to lose. I would like to see the source of your hypothesis, as it probably has more to do with morbidly obese people letting their skin catch up to their weight loss, and has nothing to do with your overall health. But, I'm by no means an expert on this.
  • auntiebabs
    auntiebabs Posts: 1,754 Member
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    I would like to see the source of your hypothesis

    It was really just hearsay from a friend.
    Was wondering whether this was an accepted theory.
    On one level it makes sense to me, but wanted some feed back from others folks out there.
  • italy1677
    italy1677 Posts: 26
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    I'd lose the 5 pounds you have left then maintain, it's sort of silly to stop for a few months with just 5 pounds left :wink:
  • DianaPowerUp
    DianaPowerUp Posts: 518 Member
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    If you've lost a lot of weight, and have some excess skin, it may be a good idea to let your body try and catch up, I don't know. If you don't, I don't see why you'd stop at some arbitrary %, when you're so close to your goal.

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