Plausible goals

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maaadde
maaadde Posts: 90 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm 5'8 and currently around 157 lbs. My goal weight is about 135 but it feels so far away right now so I'd like to have some smaller, plausible goals on the way there. Which is why I'm asking - if I eat around 1300-1500 calories a day and work out about three days a week (strength and/or cardio), would it be reasonable to aim at a 10 lb weight loss before Christmas? And do you think I can reach my goal before, say, April?

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  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    edited October 2016
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    A good goal is trying to lose 10% of your current body weight. Do that, and then go from there. Don't rush. The slower you lose, the easier it is to keep the weight off, once you lose it. 0.5 lbs a week lose would be ideal. Especially since you are close to goal weight.
  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,644 Member
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    At 5'8" and 157lbs.... 1300-1500 calories seems low. Are you planning on eating your exercise calories back? When you have a little to lose and you are already in a healthy weight range your body holds on to that weight and it is much harder to lose.
  • maaadde
    maaadde Posts: 90 Member
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    Thank you for replying! Losing 10% of my current bw will put me pretty close to what I consider my goal weight. I have no rush per se but I find it discouraging when the scale hardly moves at all for several weeks :/

    If it's harder to lose when I'm already at a healthy weight, shouldn't I be eating a relatively low amount of calories to make sure I actually lose at all? Or what approach would you recommend? :)
  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,644 Member
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    maaadde wrote: »
    Thank you for replying! Losing 10% of my current bw will put me pretty close to what I consider my goal weight. I have no rush per se but I find it discouraging when the scale hardly moves at all for several weeks :/

    If it's harder to lose when I'm already at a healthy weight, shouldn't I be eating a relatively low amount of calories to make sure I actually lose at all? Or what approach would you recommend? :)

    Work out the appropriate amount of calories you should be eating for your height and weight, with a loss rate of 0.5lb a week at most. Lift heavy things and put them back down for body composition, which I suspect is really what you want.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    maaadde wrote: »
    Thank you for replying! Losing 10% of my current bw will put me pretty close to what I consider my goal weight. I have no rush per se but I find it discouraging when the scale hardly moves at all for several weeks :/

    If it's harder to lose when I'm already at a healthy weight, shouldn't I be eating a relatively low amount of calories to make sure I actually lose at all? Or what approach would you recommend? :)

    No. As you get closer to goal, it is generally advisable to eat in a smaller deficit. This helps you to keep losing more fat than muscle.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,988 Member
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    With only 22 pounds to lose, set your weekly weight loss goal to a half pound per week. That give you 1630 calories before exercise. (MFP uses the NEAT method, and as such the system is designed for exercise calories to be eaten back. However, many consider the burns given by MFP to be inflated and only eat a percentage, such as 50%, back.)

    Since you're female, the scale may not move down twice a month - at ovulation and premenstrually - and may actually go up for a few days due to water retention.
  • maaadde
    maaadde Posts: 90 Member
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    I see, thank you for your advice! :) maybe it'll actually be easier to stick to a diet a bit higher in calories in the long run too. I use a running/exercise watch to track my exercise calories so I usually add the amount it says minus the amount I would have burnt anyway (ie my BMR/time unit, which I've calculated to be about 70 calories an hour). That always puts me much lower than the MFP estimate, so hopefully that means it's somewhat correct. But to be clear - a bit higher calorie wise and eating exercise calories back? Yikes.

    Thank you for mentioning the part about my menstrual cycle. I do believe it affects my weight quite a lot but I kind of forget about that and feel like *kitten* if I've gained, so I'll try to keep that in mind :) you guys are so unbelievably nice and helpful, this is my favorite forum on all of the internet!
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,988 Member
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    Because of cyclic fluctuations (and because Lyle McDonald said to) I compare myself to last month, not last week.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6846ZTBu08k&index=4&list=PLUXvX9BaxgqG9yO5XWB3gA_QshvrrcjVr

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