Achieving a sensible rate of weight loss

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cragglecat
cragglecat Posts: 58 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all, can anyone give me a view on this please? For the last few weeks I've averaged something like a 4 lb a week weight loss which I know is more than generally recommended. My calorie target is 1700 (mfp default value), I use a Fitbit and eat back most of my calories bar maybe a couple of hundred per day. Should I just up my daily calorie target to get a more sensible rate of loss or just carry on and assume I'll plateau? When I calculate my theoretical loss based on calorie deficit achieved, it is lower than I'm actually achieving. Does this all suggest my BMR requirements are perhaps higher than the default MFP figures are assuming? Any advice appreciated.

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  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,459 Member
    edited August 2015
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    cragglecat wrote: »
    Hi all, can anyone give me a view on this please? For the last few weeks I've averaged something like a 4 lb a week weight loss which I know is more than generally recommended. My calorie target is 1700 (mfp default value), I use a Fitbit and eat back most of my calories bar maybe a couple of hundred per day. Should I just up my daily calorie target to get a more sensible rate of loss or just carry on and assume I'll plateau? When I calculate my theoretical loss based on calorie deficit achieved, it is lower than I'm actually achieving. Does this all suggest my BMR requirements are perhaps higher than the default MFP figures are assuming? Any advice appreciated.

    Yes to bolded - definitely eat more. 4 lbs/week is nuts. Add another 200 or so - if you're losing 4 lbs a week on 1700, I think you'd probably be fine netting 2000. Track over a month or so and see where you're at then.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
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    How tall are you and what do you weigh?
  • cragglecat
    cragglecat Posts: 58 Member
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    5'9 and 204 lbs at the moment. 30 lb lost so far.
  • vinbar1
    vinbar1 Posts: 40 Member
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    If you keep everything the same you will start losing less. I was 202 now I am 170. I also started losing at high rates but without changing calorie intake I am at a good .5 to 1.5 loss a week. If not then eat more and enjoy life!! By the way AWESOME job losing 30lbs!!!
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    The winner get's to eat the most and still lose :smiley:
  • pinkys008
    pinkys008 Posts: 55 Member
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    Are you at the start of your diet? What kind of significant diet changes have you made? I did Atkins a few years ago, and it started with a huge scary weight loss that eased up into something more reasonable about a month in. Reduced calorie balanced macro diet had never given me that reaction though.
    What is the most significant change you've made? 1700 seems like it should be enough or very close to an appropriate amount of calories.
    I don't think that is the issue.
  • pinkys008
    pinkys008 Posts: 55 Member
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    Unless the calorie drop is the biggest change you made. Are you a very active person? Is it possible that you were maintaining you weight on 3000 cals a day, or something like that?
    Any diet supplements, or recent prescription changes?
  • pinkys008
    pinkys008 Posts: 55 Member
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    This keeps rolling around in my head, and I see a different angle. Are you comfortable eating 1700 cals? Do you feel hungry pangs, or weakness? Did you have a plateau before that? Maybe your body is just at the right stage and you are having kind of an anti plateau? If you feel hungry/uncomfortable and are losing quickly, bumping your calories up might be called for.

    Also, any other possible side effects that might indicate a sudden medical issue? Any prescriptions that should be adjusted since you have lost weight? If those are a potential concern, a check in with the doc could be a good idea. Just be straight up forward,"my weight loss had dramatically increased. I am happy (or unhappy) with my diet as it is, and want to make sure I am still healthy."
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
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    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    The winner get's to eat the most and still lose :smiley:

    This!
  • pinkys008
    pinkys008 Posts: 55 Member
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    Oh, hey, you are a dude. I'm sure that makes a difference too.

    Dudes usually get a higher starting calorie allowance, don't they?
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
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    Unless your metabolism went through the roof for no apparent reason that fast loss should be because of water mostly.
  • AspenDan
    AspenDan Posts: 703 Member
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    Depending on how big you are I can see an average of 4lbs the first few weeks being normal-ish...considering most big ppl lose a lot of water weight the first week. I myself lost 10 lbs the first week, and now I've settled at just over 2lbs a week.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    cragglecat wrote: »
    My calorie target is 1700 (mfp default value), I use a Fitbit and eat back most of my calories bar maybe a couple of hundred per day.

    Your Fitbit burn is TDEE—the calories necessary to maintain your current weight. If you follow these instructions, you'll be eating TDEE minus an appropriate deficit for your size.

    Set your goal to .5 lb. for every 25 lbs. you're overweight: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided

    Enable negative calorie adjustments: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

    No need to log any step-based activity—your Fitbit is tracking it for you. Log non-step exercise (like swimming or biking) either in Fitbit or in MFP—never both. Exercise logged in MFP overwrites your Fitbit burn during that time.

    You can learn more in the Fitbit Users group: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1290-fitbit-users
  • cragglecat
    cragglecat Posts: 58 Member
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    Thanks all. I feel absolutely fine, I'm not doing anything radical with reduction of specific macros eg low carb, I'm just being more active (walking) drinking more moderately and eating less stuff like crisps and confectionary. I've been trying to eat better for about six months but have only started to really focus on my calorie intake and activity using Fitbit tracking for 3 months and I've seen big losses as a result. I'll check out the links from editorggrl.

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