Lets discuss the 1-2lb weekly weight loss recommendation
tmoneyag99
Posts: 480 Member
So I don't want to lose any more precious lean body mass than necessary. My diet is satiating me, I'm energized. I'm working out regularly. When I started I needed to lose 80-90 lbs (Putting my 5'3" small frame at a healthy 130 - 120)
I'm down 15lbs.
I completed yesterday's diet journal which was full of lean meats and fresh vegetables. (I can't give up cheese yet)
when I hit complete it said "If every day looked like today you would be [Down 13lbs] in 5 weeks.
The math says that is a 2.6lb/week weight loss. Is the recommendations different for someone with large amounts of weight to lose (ie 80lbs) than someone losing 20-30lbs.
Also is that an "average" of 2.6lbs a week. ie you lose 1lb this week and 3 lbs next week and 2 pounds the next resulting in an rough average of 2lbs per week.
OR is it a hard and fast rule "No more than 2lbs per week"
I'm down 15lbs.
I completed yesterday's diet journal which was full of lean meats and fresh vegetables. (I can't give up cheese yet)
when I hit complete it said "If every day looked like today you would be [Down 13lbs] in 5 weeks.
The math says that is a 2.6lb/week weight loss. Is the recommendations different for someone with large amounts of weight to lose (ie 80lbs) than someone losing 20-30lbs.
Also is that an "average" of 2.6lbs a week. ie you lose 1lb this week and 3 lbs next week and 2 pounds the next resulting in an rough average of 2lbs per week.
OR is it a hard and fast rule "No more than 2lbs per week"
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Replies
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Do you eat exactly the same thing every day (same amounts of same foods, same amount of water, exactly the same activities)? If not, I wouldn't put too much stock into the "you would be down...in 5 weeks" thing. It's just looking at that particular day and nothing else - mine varies up to 5 pounds when I close my diary from day to day.
As to your question, I think it's a rough average. And you may lose a little faster at first when you have more to lose, and it will probably slow down. If you're concerned that you're losing too fast, you can try adding 100 calories more a day and then see where you are in a few weeks. I've been set to lose 1 pound per week since I started last August, and my loss has varied (sometimes 2 pounds in a week, sometimes 1, sometimes .5) and has slowed now that I've lost almost 40 pounds.
Adding some strength exercises (lifting, bodyweight exercises, etc.) can help you retain that muscle mass, as well as eating enough protein.
Great loss so far!1 -
tmoneyag99 wrote: »So I don't want to lose any more precious lean body mass than necessary. My diet is satiating me, I'm energized. I'm working out regularly. When I started I needed to lose 80-90 lbs (Putting my 5'3" small frame at a healthy 130 - 120)
I'm down 15lbs.
I completed yesterday's diet journal which was full of lean meats and fresh vegetables. (I can't give up cheese yet)
when I hit complete it said "If every day looked like today you would be [Down 13lbs] in 5 weeks.
The math says that is a 2.6lb/week weight loss. Is the recommendations different for someone with large amounts of weight to lose (ie 80lbs) than someone losing 20-30lbs.
Also is that an "average" of 2.6lbs a week. ie you lose 1lb this week and 3 lbs next week and 2 pounds the next resulting in an rough average of 2lbs per week.
OR is it a hard and fast rule "No more than 2lbs per week"
It's really more like 1% of total weight, but for you that's 1-2 lb / week.
It also has to do with what's reasonable given TDEE and percentage deficit and activity level.
But one week doesn't matter, and in this case it's one day, as MFP is just predicting what it thinks (based on the numbers input, averages, and assuming no errors in logging) you will lose if you eat the number of calories you did today every day for 5 weeks.The math says that is a 2.6lb/week weight loss. Is the recommendations different for someone with large amounts of weight to lose (ie 80lbs) than someone losing 20-30lbs.
When you have less to lose (especially as a smaller woman) your TDEE is less and you will not be able to have as high a deficit, so you will not be able to safely lose as much per week (in your case more like 1 lb rather than 2 per week). There also becomes a greater concern about losing more muscle than you need to.
That said, when I started I had similar stats to you and occasionally lost 2.5 or 3 lb/week, and it did me no harm. Weight loss is not linear and going over 2 lb in a week (when aiming for 2) happens and is no big deal. If consistently losing 3 lb/week you might want to consider slowing it down, that's all.2 -
Yesterday you logged 800+ exercise calories and ate none of them back. Your MFP goal is without exercise, and you have a scheduled deficit of 1000 is my guess? So exercising means you burn more, and will have a larger deficit if you do not eat additional. You probably won't be able to continue long term at ~1200 calories a day if you ARE burning 800+ calories in exercise without feeling tired/sluggish/run down.
But anyhow, the 800+ exercise calories is why you're seeing a higher than expected 5 week prediction. Which is to be taken lightly as there are there are bound to be errors in the food log, and/or in the calorie burn estimations.3 -
that thing is never right.
pretend it isnt there.
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StaciMarie1974 wrote: »Yesterday you logged 800+ exercise calories and ate none of them back. Your MFP goal is without exercise, and you have a scheduled deficit of 1000 is my guess? So exercising means you burn more, and will have a larger deficit if you do not eat additional. You probably won't be able to continue long term at ~1200 calories a day if you ARE burning 800+ calories in exercise without feeling tired/sluggish/run down.
But anyhow, the 800+ exercise calories is why you're seeing a higher than expected 5 week prediction. Which is to be taken lightly as there are there are bound to be errors in the food log, and/or in the calorie burn estimations.
I didn't look at the Exercise calories reported to MFP. I'm going to exercise my skepticism on that since it was just 30min of low impact aerobics that resulted in only 3k steps. I am monitoring out calories from Garmin and Calories in with MFP.
Note: Checked Garmin and that activity only Yielded 250 additional caloric output in addition to my normal day. Conclusion, the MFP + Garmin prediction is errored.
Thank you for your response @StaciMarie1974 . You helped me identify the discrepancy.0 -
My guess is, it would be different. Any TDEE calculator is going to vary, based on body weight. My guess is there are doing a very basic TDEE calculation and subtracting your net calories from your TDEE and calculating your projected weight loss from that, over a 5 week period. I just did a rough estimate and it was in line with what MFP tells me each day.0
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So let me start by saying- as big a fan as I am of this site, I do not like the way it calculates the calories available at the bottom of the journal. It is encouraging people to eat back excess workout calories and I think that is a bad recommendation. First, you have to remember that everyone's body is different and this is based on the mean. Second, everything we enter into the database is estimates. Some of us work real hard at making things as accurate as possible by using a food scale to weigh food, measuring cups/spoons, a pedometer, health rate monitor, etc. But even when we are as accurate as possible, it is all still based on averages. Trust me, there is no fool proof way to calculate with 100% accuracy the number of calories you have consumed or how your body is going to burn them. If you keep everything in perspective, the averages will keep you close to goals and you will get a pretty good idea of what your TDEE is.
That being said, is there a magic number at which you are losing lean body mass by losing more than the standard 1-2 pounds per week? I think absolutely not. The amount of weight you lose is dependent on the calories in versus calories out. Muscle mass is maintained by proper intake of water, protein and healthy fats, along with a core exercise program. If you are meeting proper daily nutritional goals and vitamin goals and committed to a reasonable exercise routine; losing more than the 1-2 pound weight target does not necessarily mean that you are losing muscle mass at all. In fact, you may have gained muscle mass while burning fat.
So for me, I use the MFP data at this point to start my day and plan my calorie intake for the day. I never eat back my calories burned. My weight loss on average has been slightly higher than 2 pounds per week. I have lost a total of 70 pounds and I am roughly 13 pounds away from my goal. I am running approximately 5 miles 3 days per week and doing a core body routine for 2 days of the week. I try to reach minimum step counts on the weekend and stay more active during workout days as well. I don't feel like I have lost muscle mass. In fact I have added weight to nearly all of my strength training routines.
I guess the bottom line is- don't get too caught up in the 1-2 pounds maximum weight loss. Its a target and definitely is different for all of us. Good luck. You can do this...1 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »tmoneyag99 wrote: »So I don't want to lose any more precious lean body mass than necessary. My diet is satiating me, I'm energized. I'm working out regularly. When I started I needed to lose 80-90 lbs (Putting my 5'3" small frame at a healthy 130 - 120)
I'm down 15lbs.
I completed yesterday's diet journal which was full of lean meats and fresh vegetables. (I can't give up cheese yet)
when I hit complete it said "If every day looked like today you would be [Down 13lbs] in 5 weeks.
The math says that is a 2.6lb/week weight loss. Is the recommendations different for someone with large amounts of weight to lose (ie 80lbs) than someone losing 20-30lbs.
Also is that an "average" of 2.6lbs a week. ie you lose 1lb this week and 3 lbs next week and 2 pounds the next resulting in an rough average of 2lbs per week.
OR is it a hard and fast rule "No more than 2lbs per week"
It's really more like 1% of total weight, but for you that's 1-2 lb / week.
It also has to do with what's reasonable given TDEE and percentage deficit and activity level.
But one week doesn't matter, and in this case it's one day, as MFP is just predicting what it thinks (based on the numbers input, averages, and assuming no errors in logging) you will lose if you eat the number of calories you did today every day for 5 weeks.The math says that is a 2.6lb/week weight loss. Is the recommendations different for someone with large amounts of weight to lose (ie 80lbs) than someone losing 20-30lbs.
When you have less to lose (especially as a smaller woman) your TDEE is less and you will not be able to have as high a deficit, so you will not be able to safely lose as much per week (in your case more like 1 lb rather than 2 per week). There also becomes a greater concern about losing more muscle than you need to.
That said, when I started I had similar stats to you and occasionally lost 2.5 or 3 lb/week, and it did me no harm. Weight loss is not linear and going over 2 lb in a week (when aiming for 2) happens and is no big deal. If consistently losing 3 lb/week you might want to consider slowing it down, that's all.
This.
I would also add, i personally recommend .5% of total body weight for individuals who are already within a healthy weight range.
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adipace815 wrote: »So let me start by saying- as big a fan as I am of this site, I do not like the way it calculates the calories available at the bottom of the journal. It is encouraging people to eat back excess workout calories and I think that is a bad recommendation.
It's not a bad recommendation when you understand how this app works and when you understand that fueling your fitness is important to recovery, performance, and fitness development.
As an avid cycling enthusiast, I regularly get out on the road for 30-50 mile rides. I can burn 1200 + calories on a 30 mile ride...1,800+ on a 50 mile ride. My target to lose about 1 Lb per week WITHOUT exercise is 1,900 calories...if I go on a 50 mile ride and burn 1,800 and don't eat back those calories, I'm giving my body a whole whopping 100 calories to work with that day for basic functions and going about my daily...that would be pretty bad.
This app calculates your calorie targets based on no exercise...common sense that exercise as an additional, unaccounted for activity should be accounted for somewhere.8 -
rainbowbow wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »tmoneyag99 wrote: »So I don't want to lose any more precious lean body mass than necessary. My diet is satiating me, I'm energized. I'm working out regularly. When I started I needed to lose 80-90 lbs (Putting my 5'3" small frame at a healthy 130 - 120)
I'm down 15lbs.
I completed yesterday's diet journal which was full of lean meats and fresh vegetables. (I can't give up cheese yet)
when I hit complete it said "If every day looked like today you would be [Down 13lbs] in 5 weeks.
The math says that is a 2.6lb/week weight loss. Is the recommendations different for someone with large amounts of weight to lose (ie 80lbs) than someone losing 20-30lbs.
Also is that an "average" of 2.6lbs a week. ie you lose 1lb this week and 3 lbs next week and 2 pounds the next resulting in an rough average of 2lbs per week.
OR is it a hard and fast rule "No more than 2lbs per week"
It's really more like 1% of total weight, but for you that's 1-2 lb / week.
It also has to do with what's reasonable given TDEE and percentage deficit and activity level.
But one week doesn't matter, and in this case it's one day, as MFP is just predicting what it thinks (based on the numbers input, averages, and assuming no errors in logging) you will lose if you eat the number of calories you did today every day for 5 weeks.The math says that is a 2.6lb/week weight loss. Is the recommendations different for someone with large amounts of weight to lose (ie 80lbs) than someone losing 20-30lbs.
When you have less to lose (especially as a smaller woman) your TDEE is less and you will not be able to have as high a deficit, so you will not be able to safely lose as much per week (in your case more like 1 lb rather than 2 per week). There also becomes a greater concern about losing more muscle than you need to.
That said, when I started I had similar stats to you and occasionally lost 2.5 or 3 lb/week, and it did me no harm. Weight loss is not linear and going over 2 lb in a week (when aiming for 2) happens and is no big deal. If consistently losing 3 lb/week you might want to consider slowing it down, that's all.
This.
I would also add, i personally recommend .5% of total body weight for individuals who are already within a healthy weight range.
That pretty much matches up with my thought process.
I think that too many people take "1-2 pounds (or 1% of bw) is a safe rate of loss" to mean that everybody should aim for that rate of loss. For a lot of people (people who are within or close to a healthy range) a slower rate makes sense.1 -
rainbowbow wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »tmoneyag99 wrote: »So I don't want to lose any more precious lean body mass than necessary. My diet is satiating me, I'm energized. I'm working out regularly. When I started I needed to lose 80-90 lbs (Putting my 5'3" small frame at a healthy 130 - 120)
I'm down 15lbs.
I completed yesterday's diet journal which was full of lean meats and fresh vegetables. (I can't give up cheese yet)
when I hit complete it said "If every day looked like today you would be [Down 13lbs] in 5 weeks.
The math says that is a 2.6lb/week weight loss. Is the recommendations different for someone with large amounts of weight to lose (ie 80lbs) than someone losing 20-30lbs.
Also is that an "average" of 2.6lbs a week. ie you lose 1lb this week and 3 lbs next week and 2 pounds the next resulting in an rough average of 2lbs per week.
OR is it a hard and fast rule "No more than 2lbs per week"
It's really more like 1% of total weight, but for you that's 1-2 lb / week.
It also has to do with what's reasonable given TDEE and percentage deficit and activity level.
But one week doesn't matter, and in this case it's one day, as MFP is just predicting what it thinks (based on the numbers input, averages, and assuming no errors in logging) you will lose if you eat the number of calories you did today every day for 5 weeks.The math says that is a 2.6lb/week weight loss. Is the recommendations different for someone with large amounts of weight to lose (ie 80lbs) than someone losing 20-30lbs.
When you have less to lose (especially as a smaller woman) your TDEE is less and you will not be able to have as high a deficit, so you will not be able to safely lose as much per week (in your case more like 1 lb rather than 2 per week). There also becomes a greater concern about losing more muscle than you need to.
That said, when I started I had similar stats to you and occasionally lost 2.5 or 3 lb/week, and it did me no harm. Weight loss is not linear and going over 2 lb in a week (when aiming for 2) happens and is no big deal. If consistently losing 3 lb/week you might want to consider slowing it down, that's all.
This.
I would also add, i personally recommend .5% of total body weight for individuals who are already within a healthy weight range.
That pretty much matches up with my thought process.
I think that too many people take "1-2 pounds (or 1% of bw) is a safe rate of loss" to mean that everybody should aim for that rate of loss. For a lot of people (people who are within or close to a healthy range) a slower rate makes sense.
It's also optimal for their training, energy, body composition, micronutrition, and sustainability.2 -
How is it possible to gain muscle mass at that rate of weight loss? I've heard of noob gains but at that loss rate?adipace815 wrote: »That being said, is there a magic number at which you are losing lean body mass by losing more than the standard 1-2 pounds per week? I think absolutely not. The amount of weight you lose is dependent on the calories in versus calories out. Muscle mass is maintained by proper intake of water, protein and healthy fats, along with a core exercise program. If you are meeting proper daily nutritional goals and vitamin goals and committed to a reasonable exercise routine; losing more than the 1-2 pound weight target does not necessarily mean that you are losing muscle mass at all. In fact, you may have gained muscle mass while burning fat.
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Why do you want to try and give up cheese?1
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Asher_Ethan wrote: »Why do you want to try and give up cheese?
1) It's a good source of calcium. Osteoperosis runs in my family
2) I like it and I can control my portions
3) It makes food taste good.
4) Right now it's not hindering me from weight loss. If I get to a point where it's causing problems either healthwise or weight wise then I will consider it. Otherwise, there is no reason to give up cheese for me.0 -
Asher_Ethan wrote: »Why do you want to try and give up cheese?
Good question! OP, just eat less and fit it into your calorie budget, if you really like cheese. The only thing I've really cut out in the past year has been alcohol. I'll have a beer now and then, but now less than one gets me a little hammered. All other foods have been fair game, I just eat to gain the maximum nutritional benefit. By default, that means less of some of the foods I really like (peanut butter, cheese, chocolate, baked goods, etc.).0 -
tmoneyag99 wrote: »Asher_Ethan wrote: »Why do you want to try and give up cheese?
1) It's a good source of calcium. Osteoperosis runs in my family
2) I like it and I can control my portions
3) It makes food taste good.
4) Right now it's not hindering me from weight loss. If I get to a point where it's causing problems either healthwise or weight wise then I will consider it. Otherwise, there is no reason to give up cheese for me.
Oh i thought when you said "(I can't give up cheese yet)" you were talking about having to give up cheese for weight loss. You don't ever have to give up cheese if you don't want to!0 -
I have learned it is important to eat back at least half of the additional exercise calories the app lists after a workout. It will never be a 100% accurate so it is good to not eat them all but eating half is very important to fuel your body after hard work. Do not deprive yourself by eating less calories than you need as it can truly set you back in the long run. If you are working out and making healthy food choices regularly without cheating the number given CAN be Very accurate. Great job on what you have accomplished so far and keep it up!0
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I have learned it is important to eat back at least half of the additional exercise calories the app lists after a workout. It will never be a 100% accurate so it is good to not eat them all but eating half is very important to fuel your body after hard work. Do not deprive yourself by eating less calories than you need as it can truly set you back in the long run. If you are working out and making healthy food choices regularly without cheating the number given CAN be Very accurate. Great job on what you have accomplished so far and keep it up!
I was just in the garmin group and several are commenting on the outrageous activity numbers being reported on MFP with our devices. I've likely eaten plenty for yesterday. The exercise calories were really out of wack.1 -
Your body will burn fat quicker when you are obese and this rate of loss will gradually decline as your body fat % lowers. Someone on MFP made a brilliant post with estimations on how much you have to lose and what you can reasonably expect to lose/week. Something of the order:
100lbs = 2lb/week
60-100 = 1.5 lb/week
40-60 = 1 lb/week
<40 = .5 lb/week
Now obviously this is not an exact science - biology is involved, so while the CICO equation works well in the abstract, in reality there are a multitude of factors that we are not including or biased towards - stress, hormones, environment, errors in logging, etc.
Your body is only capable of burning X% of fat / week. Losing at a rate greater than this risks losing desired tissue such as muscle mass, which will ultimately work against you in the long term.
Good call on the cheese...never try to give up the cheese.3 -
tmoneyag99 wrote: »I have learned it is important to eat back at least half of the additional exercise calories the app lists after a workout. It will never be a 100% accurate so it is good to not eat them all but eating half is very important to fuel your body after hard work. Do not deprive yourself by eating less calories than you need as it can truly set you back in the long run. If you are working out and making healthy food choices regularly without cheating the number given CAN be Very accurate. Great job on what you have accomplished so far and keep it up!
I was just in the garmin group and several are commenting on the outrageous activity numbers being reported on MFP with our devices. I've likely eaten plenty for yesterday. The exercise calories were really out of wack.
Interesting, I've never had an issue with over-reporting of calorie burns from Garmin to MFP.0 -
tmoneyag99 wrote: »
I was just in the garmin group and several are commenting on the outrageous activity numbers being reported on MFP with our devices. I've likely eaten plenty for yesterday. The exercise calories were really out of wack.
Yes! They are crazy numbers sometimes which is why it is good to cut it in half. That way we don't intake more than needed. Besides I can barely get to my regular calorie goal as is. Crazy when you are no longer eating for hunger and eating to actually nourish your body. That's the biggest realization I have had this far.
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tmoneyag99 wrote: »I have learned it is important to eat back at least half of the additional exercise calories the app lists after a workout. It will never be a 100% accurate so it is good to not eat them all but eating half is very important to fuel your body after hard work. Do not deprive yourself by eating less calories than you need as it can truly set you back in the long run. If you are working out and making healthy food choices regularly without cheating the number given CAN be Very accurate. Great job on what you have accomplished so far and keep it up!
I was just in the garmin group and several are commenting on the outrageous activity numbers being reported on MFP with our devices. I've likely eaten plenty for yesterday. The exercise calories were really out of wack.
I've never had an issue with my Garmin 510...but I always entered calorie burns manually.0 -
VintageFeline wrote: »tmoneyag99 wrote: »I have learned it is important to eat back at least half of the additional exercise calories the app lists after a workout. It will never be a 100% accurate so it is good to not eat them all but eating half is very important to fuel your body after hard work. Do not deprive yourself by eating less calories than you need as it can truly set you back in the long run. If you are working out and making healthy food choices regularly without cheating the number given CAN be Very accurate. Great job on what you have accomplished so far and keep it up!
I was just in the garmin group and several are commenting on the outrageous activity numbers being reported on MFP with our devices. I've likely eaten plenty for yesterday. The exercise calories were really out of wack.
Interesting, I've never had an issue with over-reporting of calorie burns from Garmin to MFP.
I did yesterday. And the board/group has people posting about it right now.0 -
How is it possible to gain muscle mass at that rate of weight loss? I've heard of noob gains but at that loss rate?adipace815 wrote: »That being said, is there a magic number at which you are losing lean body mass by losing more than the standard 1-2 pounds per week? I think absolutely not. The amount of weight you lose is dependent on the calories in versus calories out. Muscle mass is maintained by proper intake of water, protein and healthy fats, along with a core exercise program. If you are meeting proper daily nutritional goals and vitamin goals and committed to a reasonable exercise routine; losing more than the 1-2 pound weight target does not necessarily mean that you are losing muscle mass at all. In fact, you may have gained muscle mass while burning fat.
I am not suggesting that you are building muscle equivalent to burned fat. When you are losing weight it is because you are at a calorie deficit and your body is now using it's stored energy (muscle and fat storage), leading to weight loss. I think it is true that the body uses fat and muscle in a non-discriminatory manner. In other words, it uses both. However, I also believe that protein intake targets the muscle and that even in a calorie deficit it is possible to maintain or build muscle while burning fat storage. Its why an exercise program is essential to a weight loss program. You can burn calories and lose weight being a couch potato if your calorie intake is below your TDEE, but you will be burning fat and muscle while doing it.1 -
adipace815 wrote: »
How is it possible to gain muscle mass at that rate of weight loss? I've heard of noob gains but at that loss rate?adipace815 wrote: »That being said, is there a magic number at which you are losing lean body mass by losing more than the standard 1-2 pounds per week? I think absolutely not. The amount of weight you lose is dependent on the calories in versus calories out. Muscle mass is maintained by proper intake of water, protein and healthy fats, along with a core exercise program. If you are meeting proper daily nutritional goals and vitamin goals and committed to a reasonable exercise routine; losing more than the 1-2 pound weight target does not necessarily mean that you are losing muscle mass at all. In fact, you may have gained muscle mass while burning fat.
I am not suggesting that you are building muscle equivalent to burned fat. When you are losing weight it is because you are at a calorie deficit and your body is now using it's stored energy (muscle and fat storage), leading to weight loss. I think it is true that the body uses fat and muscle in a non-discriminatory manner. In other words, it uses both. However, I also believe that protein intake targets the muscle and that even in a calorie deficit it is possible to maintain or build muscle while burning fat storage. Its why an exercise program is essential to a weight loss program. You can burn calories and lose weight being a couch potato if your calorie intake is below your TDEE, but you will be burning fat and muscle while doing it.
Bingo! The human body will use calories to maintain it's functions.
Thank you for this. Tonight I'm pushing my trainer to let me lift heavier tonight.0
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