Should I Reduce my Deficit?

If it were me I'd probably set it to no more than 20%.

Have you been to your doctor at all? If not, perhaps you should just so you're on the right page. Get an updated blood panel and all that.

When I first started I went to my GP to get an updated blood panel and to say basically, "Look, this is what I'm doing, this is what I'm planning and I want to stay on track, etc etc". Then I had repeat panels 6 months later to see how things were going and my GP was quite pleased with my results.

The general MFP advice is to lose up to 0.5lbs per week per 25lbs you want to lose.
I usually modify that: to 0.5lbs per 25lbs you are above the bottom of your healthy BMI weight range.

One reason being that a person who has more fat can afford to lose weight much faster than a person who has less fat. Another being that someone's goal weight may be in the obese or overweight range for them, in which case they don't need to slow down their weight loss the same way that a person who is trying to lose weight within their normal weight zone has to.

An alternative to the above is to consider that in general it is OK to lose weight at a rate of up to 0.7% of your bodyweight a week. In fact, for obese people that % goes up to 1% and even 1.5%

None of the above addresses compliance. It always makes sense to lose slower as opposed to giving up.

None of the above makes any statement about specific individuals. They are all statements that apply to the population "in general".

So, IN GENERAL, an individual with a BMI >35 can afford to lose 0.7% to 1% of their bodyweight a week without too many problems, assuming they can safely and consistently generate the required caloric deficit, and assuming for MFP, that their true net calories don't drop below 1200 for women and 1500 for men.

In addition to all the above, many TDEE sites advocate an even slower rate of weight loss, usually denoted as -20% off TDEE.

As you've noticed, with the exception of very active obese people, a 20% cut off TDEE will generally result in a slower rate of weight loss than most of the limits I've discussed above.

There is risk and potential for damage in everything we do. You have to balance that against the benefit you seek. Though, I would like to unequivocally state that most of the time the extra benefit of losing weight a little bit faster is marginal for a multitude of reasons.

But, it also sounds like you have specific concerns. Things that, for example, you are addressing with iron supplements. Low blood pressure, etc. So why not discuss your rate of weight loss with your Dr. in view of associated health concerns?

(multitude of reasons: what is the point of risking compliance, muscle mass, and health, to reach a "goal" weight faster, when the real "goal" should be maintaining the weight loss for the longest possible length of time)

RedRaven49 wrote: »

I wasn't prescribed the suppliments - MFP showed I was getting about 2mg daily and I was feeling the things that iron deficiency causes, so I bought iron suppliments of my own accord. I will however take no board what you're saying. Potentially healthy enough to carry on this way until I get to a lower weight. Will check with doctor soon.

In re-reading my post it sounds like I am encouraging a cut that is > 25% off of TDEE.

I am not an advocate of that

I usually say that the most important thing is compliance: maintaining the deficit for a long enough time to reach goal.

And when you start measuring time to goal in months, or in many cases years, I don't really think it is worthwhile to eat at 1200 calories (like many women do on MFP) to reach goal weight in 9 months when you could reach goal weight in 12 months by eating 1600 calories a day.

Furthermore I am NOT an advocate of dropping to minimum calories right away, especially for people who have a long way to go.

One rule of thumb that *I* like to use is to calculate maintenance calories at goal weight at the lightly active and active levels.

Ideally I want to achieve all my weight loss while eating at least the first and not much more than the second on a consistent basis.

The hidden variable being that you will probably be able to increase exercise calories as you lose weight and your power ratio changes.