Safe Rate of Weight Loss

ladieofthebees
ladieofthebees Posts: 51 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello! I tried looking for the answer to this on the forums so forgive me if this has been asked/answered before...

I once read a useful post that gave a general guide for how much weight you should be aiming to lose each week, depending on how far from your goal you are (i.e., if you have a lot of weight to lose, 2lbs a week is okay, but if you have less than like 10 lbs to lose, you should be aiming for .5 lbs a week). Of course I now cannot find it.

I've been losing at a rate of about 2 lbs/week, diligently sticking to my MFP goals, logging, exercising, and following a lot of the sensible nutritional advice on the forums. I've gone from 240 lbs to about 202 - yay! I have been quite happy with this, not getting hungry or tired particularly, and feeling a lot healthier, but I have heard that this is not a healthy rate to sustain all the way down to my goal weight. Fair enough! But I'm not sure when to modify my goals.

With nearly 40 lbs down and a goal of around 155/160, I suppose I'm about 40/45 lbs away from my goal weight. Any suggestions as to when I should modify my MFP goals to 1.5/1/.5lbs?

I've heard the rule of thumb about 1% of body weight a week, but it has never made complete sense to me. Would that mean I would wait to be 150lbs to set my goals to 1.5lbs a week? Confusion!

Any help is appreciated, thanks everyone!

Replies

  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    edited April 2015
    I think this is what you are looking for:
    More than 75 lbs: 2 lbs/week
    40-75 lbs: 1.5 lbs/week
    10-40 lbs: 1 lb/week
    Less than 10 lbs: 0.5 lb/week
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    edited April 2015
    I agree loosely with Lounmoun above. She is saying that if you have 75 lbs to lose, set your goal at 2 pounds, etc.

    I kept mine at 2 pounds a lot longer than that.

    I started having real problems with energy and sleep and mood, so I adjusted. I also had problems with adherence. The high goal seems to be self-limiting.

  • Unknown
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  • jenncornelsen
    jenncornelsen Posts: 969 Member
    1592984904984984089984980 wrote: »
    Don't worry about that nonsense. Just eat less than you burn and you will shred the weight at a pace that your body sets. Just eat less!! Don't worry about anything else. When you're within a healthy weight range then concentrate on clean foods. But for now you will be able to shred weight easily just by eating less. Just stick to 2000 or less calories a day. Drink water, and not soda.

    2000 or less? if i ate 1900 i would gain. my bmr is 1500. it doesn't matter what u drink if it fits in your calories( and no im not knocking water) i put my goal to 1lb a week when i had 20lbs left because i was hungry at 2lbs a week. do what u can stick with
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    1592984904984984089984980 wrote: »
    Don't worry about that nonsense. Just eat less than you burn and you will shred the weight at a pace that your body sets. Just eat less!! Don't worry about anything else. When you're within a healthy weight range then concentrate on clean foods. But for now you will be able to shred weight easily just by eating less. Just stick to 2000 or less calories a day. Drink water, and not soda.

    xirt75uvfo1o.gif

    Dude! I'm pretty sure my maintenance is 1800. Did I stumble into the gaining weight section?
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    This content has been removed.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    1592984904984984089984980 wrote: »
    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    1592984904984984089984980 wrote: »
    Don't worry about that nonsense. Just eat less than you burn and you will shred the weight at a pace that your body sets. Just eat less!! Don't worry about anything else. When you're within a healthy weight range then concentrate on clean foods. But for now you will be able to shred weight easily just by eating less. Just stick to 2000 or less calories a day. Drink water, and not soda.

    xirt75uvfo1o.gif

    Dude! I'm pretty sure my maintenance is 1800. Did I stumble into the gaining weight section?

    Was I talking to you in my post? I was clearly going off of what she posted and her picture.

    Determined all that without her stats huh?
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    1592984904984984089984980 wrote: »
    Don't worry about that nonsense. Just eat less than you burn and you will shred the weight at a pace that your body sets. Just eat less!! Don't worry about anything else. When you're within a healthy weight range then concentrate on clean foods. But for now you will be able to shred weight easily just by eating less. Just stick to 2000 or less calories a day. Drink water, and not soda.

    I'm sorry, but this is terrible advice. 2000 calories isn't appropriate for alot of people who are trying to lose weight. I'm only 5'2 and if I wasn't breastfeeding, I'd be gaining on 2000 calories.

    To OP, the guideline listed above is a good guide to follow. However, also listen to your body and look for cues. If you start to notice your energy levels going down, or your nails being brittle, hair falling out at a higher than normal rate, then you know to up your calories. If you begin to exercise more too, up your calories. Basically, keep trucking along and see how you feel, and keep that guide in mind. :)
  • ladieofthebees
    ladieofthebees Posts: 51 Member
    Lounmoun wrote: »
    I think this is what you are looking for:
    More than 75 lbs: 2 lbs/week
    40-75 lbs: 1.5 lbs/week
    10-40 lbs: 1 lb/week
    Less than 10 lbs: 0.5 lb/week

    This was exactly what I was looking for, thanks :)
  • ladieofthebees
    ladieofthebees Posts: 51 Member
    To OP, the guideline listed above is a good guide to follow. However, also listen to your body and look for cues. If you start to notice your energy levels going down, or your nails being brittle, hair falling out at a higher than normal rate, then you know to up your calories. If you begin to exercise more too, up your calories. Basically, keep trucking along and see how you feel, and keep that guide in mind. :)

    This is pretty much what I had in mind :smile:! I just wanted to keep that metric handy as a sort of loose guideline. Thanks!
  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
    1592984904984984089984980 wrote: »
    Don't worry about that nonsense. Just eat less than you burn and you will shred the weight at a pace that your body sets. Just eat less!! Don't worry about anything else. When you're within a healthy weight range then concentrate on clean foods. But for now you will be able to shred weight easily just by eating less. Just stick to 2000 or less calories a day. Drink water, and not soda.

    You could probably try to be more wrong than you already are, but I think you would fail.
  • onyxgirl17
    onyxgirl17 Posts: 1,722 Member
    1592984904984984089984980 wrote: »
    Don't worry about that nonsense. Just eat less than you burn and you will shred the weight at a pace that your body sets. Just eat less!! Don't worry about anything else. When you're within a healthy weight range then concentrate on clean foods. But for now you will be able to shred weight easily just by eating less. Just stick to 2000 or less calories a day. Drink water, and not soda.


    Weight loss is not "one set of calories fits all". Small, sedentary women gain on 2000 cals a day. My TDEE is 1750 so I'd gain 2 pounds a month eating 2000 calories a day.
  • BramageOMG
    BramageOMG Posts: 319 Member
    edited April 2015
    You are doing fine at -2lbs per week, why change anything. Not sure why you want to stop at 160.. but maybe you are 7' 3"...
  • PrizePopple
    PrizePopple Posts: 3,133 Member
    BramageOMG wrote: »
    You are doing fine at -2lbs per week, why change anything. Not sure why you want to stop at 160.. but maybe you are 7' 3"...

    Wut.gif

    Well, aren't you just a ray of sunshine.
  • aliaslocke
    aliaslocke Posts: 19 Member
    BramageOMG wrote: »
    You are doing fine at -2lbs per week, why change anything. Not sure why you want to stop at 160.. but maybe you are 7' 3"...

    160lbs is a healthy weight at a much lower height than that.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    BramageOMG wrote: »
    You are doing fine at -2lbs per week, why change anything. Not sure why you want to stop at 160.. but maybe you are 7' 3"...

    What the...? What is going on in here?
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    edited April 2015
    .
  • onyxgirl17
    onyxgirl17 Posts: 1,722 Member
    BramageOMG wrote: »
    You are doing fine at -2lbs per week, why change anything. Not sure why you want to stop at 160.. but maybe you are 7' 3"...
    Wtf
This discussion has been closed.

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