1 year on MFP. Am I on track?

What is your question, whether the full 28lbs is fat and not muscle?

It's hard to tell without your starting weight and goal weight.

It all depends on what you are doing. You could have packed on some muscle in that time depending on how you were lifting. Newbs to heavy weight training have packed on up to 25lbs of muscle in a years time but that usually isn't all just lean muscle, that would include fluids and associated fat that goes with it. So, I guess the quick answer is that you may have lost more fat than the 28lbs and traded it for muscle or you may have only lost 28lbs of fat. Granted, it is very difficult to gain muscle, much less retain muscle while in a caloric deficit so I think you probably only lost about 28lbs of fat over the years time and a little bit of muscle. How fast you lose the extra weight is all up to you. Usually, the longer it takes to come off, the easier it is to keep off as long as you maintain your healthy eating habits and eat at maintenance levels. You could have lost more but each person's goals are different. Did you want to lose more than 28 in a year? If so, you fell short. If not, then you're doing just fine.

Okay, first the math: In theory if you lost 28lbs in a year, that means you had an average calorie deficit of 1880/week.

If you had logged every day 100% accurately at a 500 calorie deficit per day, then in theory you would've seen a ~52lb loss in a year (1lb or 3500 calories/week). You didn't, and here's why:

• You probably are not logging super accurately.
• Those 6-8 weeks "off" when you probably didn't eat at as big a deficit, or maybe even ate at a surplus.
• A 500-calorie deficit from what? Your TDEE fluctuates with activity level. Also, if you estimated it using an online calculator, it might not be accurate for your body.
• You may be over-estimating calorie burn from exercise.
• As you lose weight, your TDEE gets smaller, too. So you need to reduce your calorie intake to maintain a 500-calorie deficit.

None of this indicates whether you're losing fat or lean muscle. If you're lifting weights progressively and regularly, and combining your calorie deficit with regular workouts, there's a good chance you're holding onto more lean muscle mass that way. But you aren't going to build more at a deficit. That's not how it works. And you can really only tell by measuring your body fat %, and even that is not always super accurate. But you should be able to tell based on how your clothes fit, how your measurements have changed, and how you feel.

Bottom line, if you're feeling happier and healthier, then yes, you're doing great!

Also, I just saw the part of this post where you said you're 18 years old. You need to remember that your body and muscles are still developing, and above all it's important not to obsess too much or starve yourself.

Healthy habits last a lifetime. But keep it all in balance.

kieran9810 wrote: »

No, i just mean for someone who's lifting and on a calorie deficit does that seem like an okay loss for 12 months, it seems a little low to me?

If you are happy with it, then that's great. You've lost 28 lbs. That's respectable, esp if you didn't have much to lose. It would be too slow for me, Ive lost 42 in 5.5 months and now I'm 15 away from goal, but my goals may be different from yours. At 5'2 and starting at 172, I wanted to lose a 1.5-2 a week. A quarter pound a week would have made me hit my head against a wall. Nothing wrong with slow(er) and steady though.

caracrawford1 wrote: »

I wanted to lose a 1.5-2 a week. A quarter pound a week would have made me hit my head against a wall.

See, and for me, a half pound a week is actually something like TDEE-20%, which is about the maximum I can do without it being unhealthy. It all depends.

arrrrjt wrote: »

My work just sent out and email asking if we wanted to award a coworker for losing 100+ lbs in a year. Guess my 45 wasn't enough for it

Wow, where do you work that they comment on people's weight like that? I would hate working at a place like that. Why is it even any of their business?

Besides, if I lost 100 pounds, I'd only weigh 45 pounds. So, no. Not gonna happen. Why don't people understand that weight loss is relative to starting size?

It's a relatively friendly place, and I know they mean well... but I know there are a lot of people in the office who struggle with weight (we have a great group that emails a couple times a month). Everyone's happy for him, and I really hope he sustains it - but it's almost like if you don't have a drastic loss it doesn't mean as much *shrug*.