1 pound a week

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lyazzie
lyazzie Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Do many people choose this option (since it's recommended) or do a lot of you choose your own weight loss, such as a 1 1/2 lb a week weight loss?

I would love to know if there's anyone who stayed on the 1lb a week plan and have actually lost a lot of weight with just diet and exercise, and how long it took.

Seems like it would take forever to lose a pound, i guess i have no patience!

Replies

  • cbratthauer
    cbratthauer Posts: 228 Member
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    Do many people choose this option (since it's recommended) or do a lot of you choose your own weight loss, such as a 1 1/2 lb a week weight loss?

    I would love to know if there's anyone who stayed on the 1lb a week plan and have actually lost a lot of weight with just diet and exercise, and how long it took.

    Seems like it would take forever to lose a pound, i guess i have no patience!

    My trainer has my goals set at 1-2 lbs a week. The first month I stuck to the completely healthy eating and going to the gym 6 times a week and I lost 6 lbs.... I've strayed away from that but after a 2 lb and 1 lb loss the last couple of months I'm starting back on it... So far I've lost 2 lbs this week!
  • photorific
    photorific Posts: 577 Member
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    As much as I'd love to lose 2 (or more:laugh:) pounds per week - for me - 1 is attainable, which means I am less likely to get discouraged, so I've stuck with that goal. Any additional loss is a bonus! Slow and steady wins the race, I suppose...
  • sccamero
    sccamero Posts: 164 Member
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    I went from 2 lbs a week to 1 to 1 and a half lb a week. I generally lose more than that . I think it is just the minimum if you watch your diet.
  • SimplyDeLish
    SimplyDeLish Posts: 539
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    Mine is set to 2 pounds a week - although I don't always lose that much!
  • pnieuw
    pnieuw Posts: 473
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    I stuck to the 1 lb a week suggestion, but I'm losing about 2lbs by following the calorie limit religiously, and getting in a little bit of exercise when I can. It works!

    Go slow - too fast, and you'll bounce at the end. Remember, you're not on a diet. You are making changes to your eating to ensure long term sustainable change.

    Good luck!
  • savvynurse
    savvynurse Posts: 292
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    I stuck to the 1 lb a week suggestion, but I'm losing about 2lbs by following the calorie limit religiously, and getting in a little bit of exercise when I can. It works!

    Go slow - too fast, and you'll bounce at the end. Remember, you're not on a diet. You are making changes to your eating to ensure long term sustainable change.

    Good luck!

    AMEN to this. And trust me bouncing is NOT fun... unless theres a trampoline involved
  • katharos3
    katharos3 Posts: 154 Member
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    My MFP goal is set for 1.4 lbs a week. I want to lose only 1 lb a week (hoping my skin will shrink if I lose slowly lol) but I know I will cheat at least a few times during the week, so I increased my goal. It's working for now. I've lost 5 lbs in the last month. :)
  • Azuleelan
    Azuleelan Posts: 218
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    I've been losing a pound a week for months now. To be honest I can't lose more than that (I've tried) because I'm not that big... and I don't have an eating disorder.
    Stick to a pound a week, it feels slow but it's the healtiest way to do it, and you probably won't ever feel deprived.
  • cmcghehey
    cmcghehey Posts: 5
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    i have done .8 lbs a week on average ...there were a couple weeks where i lost more up 3lbs and sometimes less like .2 - but you have to choose your diet wisely... you can choose to eat 1200 calories of fat free foods/low carb/high protein... lose alot more with exercise etc...or you can eat barely anything of higher fat foods and lose less. I've lost a total of 16 lbs in 95 ish days ...i've had about 3-4 weeks throughout that timeframe where i havent really lost anything... but those were the times i chose not to exercise or eat what i wanted to...read jillian michaels "Making the Cut" it really helps you put into perspective the goals you set on MFP and what kinds of foods you should eat and exercises to do as well. You need to find the calories that you would eat to maintain your current wait - drop that by a big number and dont go over that number of calories. I didnt need to lose that much weight so for example currently my "KCAL" (calories to maintain weight) is 1367 or something...so i couldnt really cut it by 500 because that wouldnt be very healthy...but i can drop to 1200 and if i exercise i can eat more if my body needs the energy to help burn the fat...in any case, i am still losing weight and havent exercised in a couple weeks really... so I need to eat more and start exercising more to tone up all my flabby spots from losing the 16 lbs.. I weighing often helps you to see if the foods you are eating are not helping you lose weight, but i dont recommend that if you get discouraged easily because your body fluctates 1-3 lbs sometimes just in the day.... i just weigh daily to make sure im not gaining back the weight i worked to get off :)
  • fitzie63
    fitzie63 Posts: 508 Member
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    The key: When a person sets unrealistic goals~~~they set themselves up for frustration, potential failure and increased depression. The bottom line of obesity is depression. Once we fix up the "inside", i.e. the emotional self, we're prepared to fix up the "outside", i.e. the physical self/body.

    Just stay with your program, one meal at a time/one day at a time, faithfully and diligently. Accurately weigh/measure your food. Level off all excess quantities with a straight blade knife or spatula. Record every single item that goes in your mouth, every single day. Even after you reach your ultimate heart healthy goal, keep weighing, measuring, leveling off and recording all of it to keep yourself on track. If you do not stay with the program, I guarantee you will pile all the lost fat pounds back on plus additional fat because the body builds new FAT CELLS each time we do the yo-yo dieting bit. DIETING MAKES YOU FAT! Keep on doing that as I did for 55 years and it's a whole lot tougher to get that fat off your bones. Consider how you would deal with the chest cutter (heart surgeon) coming at you in the operating room. I'm in this for the long haul~~~the rest of my life because no chest cutter will ever put a scalpel into my chest.
  • cmcghehey
    cmcghehey Posts: 5
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    I also agree with the post above mine... the lb a week doesnt starve you....
  • Forensic
    Forensic Posts: 468 Member
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    I'm set at 2 pounds a week, but I have quite a bit to lose, so I'm going to lose it faster initially anyway. I'll up it later.
  • lclarkjr
    lclarkjr Posts: 359 Member
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    I've lost 24 lbs in the last 24 weeks overall and 10 lbs of that in the last 8 weeks since starting MFP. Look at it this way, there are 52 weeks in a year and to lose 50 pounds in the course of a year is quite an accomplishment for anyone! Slow and steady wins the race.
  • XxBri22xX
    XxBri22xX Posts: 183
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    I chose the 2 pound a week option. Im not patient enough to only lose 1 lb a week haha!
  • candistyx
    candistyx Posts: 547 Member
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    I chose 1 lb a week because I enjoy eating.
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,554 Member
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    I started out at sedentary and 1/2 pound a week, because I knew that I wouldn't stick to anything that restricted my calories severely. After a few months I changed that up to lightly active and 1 pound a week, but I manually adjust my calories so it is more like .8 pound a week according to MPF calculations.
    I eat almost all of my daily calories plus most of my exercise calories and I'm losing weight faster than MFP predicts - averaging 1 kg (2.2 pounds) every 10 days.

    So, my advice, set your cals to 1 pound a week and stick to it! See how your body reacts, you might find you lose even more.
    Don't be impatient - the weight didn't take 1 month to accumulate and it isn't going to take 1 month to disappear.
  • JMun
    JMun Posts: 409
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    I custom set my daily calorie goal to 1500. MFP gives me a 0.6lb per week projected loss.

    I find if I go too much lower then that I find it hard to stay focused without feeling deprived.

    I usually lose 1-1.5 lbs per week. But that's probably because I make a point of exercising 5 times a week (30-90 mins).

    Everyone's body is different but once you get your metabolism working the weight should just fall away consistently. Understanding what your own body needs is the real challenge but once you have that mastered you're golden :bigsmile:
  • mamagooskie
    mamagooskie Posts: 2,964 Member
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    I started with 2lbs a week loss and of course in the beginning for most people you lose more than that. However I hit a plateau at one point so I upped my calorie intake (started to eat more) aka 1 lb a week lost and that month 14 lbs I lost!!! guess I was sorta starving my body. So anyway ever since then I have continued to eat according to 1lb per week and my losses are great, slow but steady coming off.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    I lost more when I was at a 1 to 1.5 pound a week goal than at a 2 pound goal. The only time I lost 2# on the 2# goal was when I had a 48 hour stomach flu.
  • Foxybee1
    Foxybee1 Posts: 4
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    The more you burn the more you can loose if you don't eat the burned calories. So it depends on the amount of exercise and the amount of calories you are willing to intake.

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