Aim to lose 1 pound or half a pound per week?

Yes, move it to .5 per pound, if you're struggling.

When I adjust to anything more than 1/2 pound, I am cranky and hangry, and I NEVER lose because I binge. I have had it set at 1/2 a week for about four months, and have had huge success here. Some weeks it's a pound, some weeks the scale doesn't move, sometimes it only moves a little...but I did the math and divided my total weight loss by how many weeks and it came out to 0.6/week...so it's been VERY accurate scaled for me. And I'm not hangry and mean anymore, lol.

jenb8529 wrote: »

Admittedly I don't have much to lose (5'7 female started at 156 lbs with goal of reaching 135 lbs). The first week I lost about 5 pounds (thank you water weight) eating about 1310 calories a day. I work a desk job and pretty sedentary. But lately I've been struggling on 1310; I'm wondering if I should try to switch from the goal of losing 1 pound a week to .5. I don't know what would be more effective for a more smaller weight loss goal.

Start lifting weights if you're not already and get on a workout routine/ regimen.

I always suggest Power lifting because odds are you're not doing it, look up strong lifts 5x5

jenb8529 wrote: »

I guess I am afraid of switching to half a pound because is something that small really accurate? Could other factors (sodium intake, time of month, etc) contribute instead of actual weight loss?

I took a full year to lose 15 lbs, so LESS than half a lb per week! Yes, it is hard to measure your progress week to week because normal weight fluctuations can entirely cover up that half a lb. So I weighed weekly, but only judged my "success" by my weight on the first of the month.

When I felt like I had to see some results to keep my spirits up, I bumped up my daily exercise to widen my deficit a little. As a side benefit, more exercise improves mood, so... win win. It wasn't the most exciting way to do it, but I knew if I tried to stick to less than 1500 cals per day, I would burn out and probably rebound. So I had faith I was doing the right thing and was thrilled when one day I realized my weight was fluctuating around 130 rather than 145. Patience is unfortunately really important when you are already in the healthy range, because you often have to choose between eating a really small # of cals, or not seeing consistent results. Keep playing with it till you find what feels right and best of luck :drinker: