How long should you stay in a calorie deficit?
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cmriverside wrote: »You feel awful and you're undereating by a LOT.
No wonder.
Jus' sayin'.
I don't know that we can say that. I don't remember seeing her stats.
If she was averaging 1250 cals/day *total*, I'd agree. But she's averaging 1250 cals/day *net* - which means she eats that *plus* all her exercise calories. And since we don't know the exact numbers on those exercise calories, we just can't know.
What we can look at is actual weight lost. If OP is actually losing more than 1 pound/week steadily, she's likely undereating (unless she has 50+ pounds to lose). If not, it's harder to say.1 -
I'm really glad I came across this tread. I read the article & it was very helpful. 2 months ago, after 10 months of steady wt loss, I just needed to eat more, so I adjusted to loose .5lb/ a week instead of 1. I lost 39lbs the first 10months & the last 2, I lost 2lbs. I feel so much better eating 1500cal/day & have no problem with that amount. I am increasing my exercise & plan to loose more that way. I have 10-15 more to go1
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SusanMFindlay wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »You feel awful and you're undereating by a LOT.
No wonder.
Jus' sayin'.
I don't know that we can say that. I don't remember seeing her stats.
If she was averaging 1250 cals/day *total*, I'd agree. But she's averaging 1250 cals/day *net* - which means she eats that *plus* all her exercise calories. And since we don't know the exact numbers on those exercise calories, we just can't know.
What we can look at is actual weight lost. If OP is actually losing more than 1 pound/week steadily, she's likely undereating (unless she has 50+ pounds to lose). If not, it's harder to say.
Good points, and all the more reason people should look at their deficits and weight loss rates as a percentage of weight rather than a set thing. A 500 calorie deficit to someone still heavier and/or less active might not be that bad to sustain. That same deficit to an already smaller or more active person might be hard to sustain, and/or result in diet shortcomings.
I personally think that both activity levels/intensity and size should be considered when losing weight, and especially so if a person has energy levels that are lower.2 -
Did you guys read the whole thread?1
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robertw486 wrote: »How long to stay in a deficit would be greatly impacted by how big your deficit is. As a general rule of thumb, losing at a rate any greater than 1% of your body weight per week is considered by many to be getting towards the aggressive side of weight loss goals.
Even those general rules of thumb are impacted by your current size. As you lose weight and get leaner, you have less fat reserves to pull from, and might have to adjust your calorie goals beyond that 1%, unless you are OK with being more hungry, possibly tired, etc.
I would say for the OP, even if backing down to 1 pound loss per week for now, those months of more aggressive loss might have caught up to the point where you are feeling it, and the idea of eating at maintenance sounds solid to me.
I've always had my settings set to 1 pound loss a week. But I'm definitely going to take a week break.. hopefully I'll gain my appetite back..
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cmriverside wrote: »You feel awful and you're undereating by a LOT.
No wonder.
Jus' sayin'.
I have Crohns so some days I can't eat a lot without wanting to vomit. It's not intentional.
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What is everyone's opinion on how long to stay in a calorie deficit? I've been doing a lot of reading and everything I have read said to only stay in a calorie deficit for 10 to 12 weeks and then take a 2 to 3 week break eating at maintenance and then repeat until you hit your goal weight? I've currently been in a calorie deficit for little over 5 months.
The past month I've been feeling tired/sluggish/weak. When I workout I notice I don't have the energy like i use to. When I first started I was eating 1390 a day and then I bumped it down to 1330 a couple months ago. I have my settings set at sedentary and losing 1 pound per week. I've been steadily losing 1.5 to sometimes over 2 pounds a week.
I'm thinking of keeping my activity level at sedentary but instead of 1 pound a week changing it to .5 that way it bumps my calories up to 1490 instead of going full blown maintenance for 2 to 3 weeks.
I haven't lost any weight in the past week which i know weight loss isn't linear even though it pretty much has been for me. But I don't really care about that, I'm going by how I feel. Dropping my calories isn't a option as I'm already feeling like crap at 1330 a day.
Just want peoples opinions..
Here's the OP. She's losing at 1.5 to OVER 2 pounds per week.
In subsequent posts:
Her device isn't crediting her with her steps. (Therefore not really eating at Net/not even set at an appropriate Activity Level to start with, then this makes the deficit even steeper.)
She's really close to goal weight.
She feels awful.
She's eating (in the last week) quite a lot below her 1390 (which she changed manually to 1330 to continue to lose.)
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This is the total average for the past week.
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cmriverside wrote: »What is everyone's opinion on how long to stay in a calorie deficit? I've been doing a lot of reading and everything I have read said to only stay in a calorie deficit for 10 to 12 weeks and then take a 2 to 3 week break eating at maintenance and then repeat until you hit your goal weight? I've currently been in a calorie deficit for little over 5 months.
The past month I've been feeling tired/sluggish/weak. When I workout I notice I don't have the energy like i use to. When I first started I was eating 1390 a day and then I bumped it down to 1330 a couple months ago. I have my settings set at sedentary and losing 1 pound per week. I've been steadily losing 1.5 to sometimes over 2 pounds a week.
I'm thinking of keeping my activity level at sedentary but instead of 1 pound a week changing it to .5 that way it bumps my calories up to 1490 instead of going full blown maintenance for 2 to 3 weeks.
I haven't lost any weight in the past week which i know weight loss isn't linear even though it pretty much has been for me. But I don't really care about that, I'm going by how I feel. Dropping my calories isn't a option as I'm already feeling like crap at 1330 a day.
Just want peoples opinions..
Here's the OP. She's losing at 1.5 to OVER 2 pounds per week.
In subsequent posts:
Her device isn't crediting her with her steps. (Therefore not really eating at Net/not even set at an appropriate Activity Level to start with, then this makes the deficit even steeper.)
She's really close to goal weight.
She feels awful.
She's eating (in the last week) quite a lot below her 1390 (which she changed manually to 1330 to continue to lose.)
One I didn't manually change my calories from 1390 to 1330. As you lose weight MFP suggests you recalculate your calories every so many pounds lost. I clicked yes and it took me down to 1330. Then it asked again yesterday and it initially took me down to 1274. I then at that point put it back at 1330 for the time being.
As for activity level having it set to sedentary isn't necessarily wrong. As mentioned before I may have a week I'm sitting all day long and may only get 3000 steps everyday. Then the following week may get 8000 to 11,000 steps 4 days and the others 3000 to 6000.
As for not eating all my calories some days I have Crohns which does affect my appetite. I'm lucky to get 1000 calories on the days I feel sick to my stomach.
When that happens I try to just make up for it another day by eating more but apparently I was forgetting to lol.
When I really sat down and went through my diary 80% of the time I'm averaging around 1250 calories. So that explains why my settings are at sedentary and losing 1 pound a week and I was losing 1.5 to 2. When I say over 2 pounds I'm meaning like 2.2. Not like 3 or more.
I believe if I was averaging at 1330 calories a day my loss would be closer to just 1 pound a week. It all boils down to me not paying close attention to my total and net calories for the week.
Again I'm going to take this week to eat closer to maintenance level (if I can) to refeed my body and then next week aim for a .5 loss a week since I only have 18 lbs left till I hit my first goal. That puts me at 1450 calories a day. I'll give that a go for a month and reevaluate if I need to up it some more or lower it.
It's mentally hard to give yourself a break knowing you still have weight to lose. But my body obviously needs it.
At maintenance it allows me 1724 calories a day which I think seems low but I'll try it.
What is some good online calculators to estimate how many calories you should be consuming in a day? I've tried some and it tells me 1150 to 1200 calories for sedentary and 1400 for lightly active but 2300 for maintenance.
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Poisonedpawn78 wrote: »
Yeah, seriously. There is nothing in this world that could convince me to take a week long break from my -1000 deficit. There's just no way I'd do it when my current diet and exercise regime finally works and makes me feel awesome mentally and physically.2 -
WendyLeigh1119 wrote: »Poisonedpawn78 wrote: »
Yeah, seriously. There is nothing in this world that could convince me to take a week long break from my -1000 deficit. There's just no way I'd do it when my current diet and exercise regime finally works and makes me feel awesome mentally and physically.
I'm not worried about getting back on track afterwards. I know I will. If I was feeling fine I wouldn't be considering it.
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WendyLeigh1119 wrote: »Poisonedpawn78 wrote: »
Yeah, seriously. There is nothing in this world that could convince me to take a week long break from my -1000 deficit. There's just no way I'd do it when my current diet and exercise regime finally works and makes me feel awesome mentally and physically.
Why are you trying to lose 2 lbs per week? that is a really high deficit. Do you have 50+lbs to lose?
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The first year I stuck right with my deficit for the whole year. The second year I basically went back and forth between binging and restricting.
When I resume being in a calorie deficit in mid august, I will be going for 3-4 months, then eating at mat cals for 1 month.
Yes you will lose more slowly. But to me, its so worth it. Just having those extra calories for that month, makes the rest of the months much nicer. Plus its good practice for when you actually are at maintenance.
Try it out, it might be the thing you need, if not, go from there
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Maybe I'm missing it, but why don't you just increase your calories by 100-200 more to allow you get more nutrition into your diet so you'll feel better? Considering your current rate of loss you can do it and still lose, albeit at a slower pace.
Or you could dial back on your exercise and keep your diet the same, since you say you have a hard time eating more due to Crohn's?0 -
WendyLeigh1119 wrote: »Poisonedpawn78 wrote: »
Yeah, seriously. There is nothing in this world that could convince me to take a week long break from my -1000 deficit. There's just no way I'd do it when my current diet and exercise regime finally works and makes me feel awesome mentally and physically.
Why are you trying to lose 2 lbs per week? that is a really high deficit. Do you have 50+lbs to lose?
Well I DID have about 40lbs to lose, but I'm down from 172.5 in March (starting weight) and now at 149. I aimed for 2lbs because I knew I'd be exercising at least 3 hours per day and that the deficit would be easy to maintain. Since I take weekends off the gym, I don't try to stay under 1200 and my weekly summaries shows that i maintain about -825 to -925 when it's all averaged out.
Since I feel great and am energetic, I see no reason to lower my deficit. I average about +1,000 to +1500 exercise calories, so I'm actually eating more than I ever have in my life. I used to really undereat because of my job and single parenting. I just didn't realize it until recently. My goal weight of 134lbs is actually about 15lbs heavier than my average adult weight. But I realize now I was underweight.
Prior to March, I was only eating one large meal per day, but had gained all of that weight in about 1 1/2 years because I was almost totally sedentary from 2 serious injuries after having had a very strenuous and active job and life prior to that. I was also always thin and muscular up until my injuries and resulting sedentary period.
So my appetite was never very large and I never had a real addiction/issue with food. I just didn't pay enough attention/understand that the forced sedentary life would mean I needed to really watch what I ate, drank, and did. So I tanked out.
Now that my injuries are good enough to be active and exercise again...just not eating too much has been easy. I see no reason to drag it out and I want to get back to maintenance because I want my old muscles back and can't wait to build a little mass again. I can't stand the feeling of being fat because I feel like I'm in someone else's body. It's awful and I'd like to feel like myself again as quickly as possible.2 -
WendyLeigh1119 wrote: »WendyLeigh1119 wrote: »Poisonedpawn78 wrote: »
Yeah, seriously. There is nothing in this world that could convince me to take a week long break from my -1000 deficit. There's just no way I'd do it when my current diet and exercise regime finally works and makes me feel awesome mentally and physically.
Why are you trying to lose 2 lbs per week? that is a really high deficit. Do you have 50+lbs to lose?
Well I DID have about 40lbs to lose, but I'm down from 172.5 in March (starting weight) and now at 149. I aimed for 2lbs because I knew I'd be exercising at least 3 hours per day and that the deficit would be easy to maintain. Since I take weekends off the gym, I don't try to stay under 1200 and my weekly summaries shows that i maintain about -825 to -925 when it's all averaged out.
Since I feel great and am energetic, I see no reason to lower my deficit. I average about +1,000 to +1500 exercise calories, so I'm actually eating more than I ever have in my life. I used to really undereat because of my job and single parenting. I just didn't realize it until recently. My goal weight of 134lbs is actually about 15lbs heavier than my average adult weight. But I realize now I was underweight.
Prior to March, I was only eating one large meal per day, but had gained all of that weight in about 1 1/2 years because I was almost totally sedentary from 2 serious injuries after having had a very strenuous and active job and life prior to that. I was also always thin and muscular up until my injuries and resulting sedentary period.
So my appetite was never very large and I never had a real addiction/issue with food. I just didn't pay enough attention/understand that the forced sedentary life would mean I needed to really watch what I ate, drank, and did. So I tanked out.
Now that my injuries are good enough to be active and exercise again...just not eating too much has been easy. I see no reason to drag it out and I want to get back to maintenance because I want my old muscles back and can't wait to build a little mass again. I can't stand the feeling of being fat because I feel like I'm in someone else's body. It's awful and I'd like to feel like myself again as quickly as possible.
but the bigger the deficit is with so little weight left to lose, then you are risking lean mass and muscle.thats why you need to lower the amount of weight you are losing because your body doesnt have the stores it did before to fuel a higher loss. once you lose muscle/lean mass its very hard to get it back. also you have a weight range and not just a number. weight fluctuates.4 -
CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »WendyLeigh1119 wrote: »WendyLeigh1119 wrote: »Poisonedpawn78 wrote: »
Yeah, seriously. There is nothing in this world that could convince me to take a week long break from my -1000 deficit. There's just no way I'd do it when my current diet and exercise regime finally works and makes me feel awesome mentally and physically.
Why are you trying to lose 2 lbs per week? that is a really high deficit. Do you have 50+lbs to lose?
Well I DID have about 40lbs to lose, but I'm down from 172.5 in March (starting weight) and now at 149. I aimed for 2lbs because I knew I'd be exercising at least 3 hours per day and that the deficit would be easy to maintain. Since I take weekends off the gym, I don't try to stay under 1200 and my weekly summaries shows that i maintain about -825 to -925 when it's all averaged out.
Since I feel great and am energetic, I see no reason to lower my deficit. I average about +1,000 to +1500 exercise calories, so I'm actually eating more than I ever have in my life. I used to really undereat because of my job and single parenting. I just didn't realize it until recently. My goal weight of 134lbs is actually about 15lbs heavier than my average adult weight. But I realize now I was underweight.
Prior to March, I was only eating one large meal per day, but had gained all of that weight in about 1 1/2 years because I was almost totally sedentary from 2 serious injuries after having had a very strenuous and active job and life prior to that. I was also always thin and muscular up until my injuries and resulting sedentary period.
So my appetite was never very large and I never had a real addiction/issue with food. I just didn't pay enough attention/understand that the forced sedentary life would mean I needed to really watch what I ate, drank, and did. So I tanked out.
Now that my injuries are good enough to be active and exercise again...just not eating too much has been easy. I see no reason to drag it out and I want to get back to maintenance because I want my old muscles back and can't wait to build a little mass again. I can't stand the feeling of being fat because I feel like I'm in someone else's body. It's awful and I'd like to feel like myself again as quickly as possible.
but the bigger the deficit is with so little weight left to lose, then you are risking lean mass and muscle.thats why you need to lower the amount of weight you are losing because your body doesnt have the stores it did before to fuel a higher loss. once you lose muscle/lean mass its very hard to get it back. also you have a weight range and not just a number. weight fluctuates.
Yes I know all of this and we've discussed it here before. That's why I do tons of strength training and a small amount of cardio, supplement with BCAAS, and gag down an occasional protein shake if necessary. Since I tend to be naturally a more athletic build, I don't think building mass will be that hard with how much strength training I'm doing in the meantime to maintain existing muscle, since previously my muscle was accidental having never worked out prior to March.
And I'm definitely not set on 134lbs. I may need it to be higher or lower and won't know until I get there. I don't care what I actually "weigh" as a goal. I never owned a scale until recently. Basically, once I can fit into my old Size 3/5 clothes and look lean/fit....thats my goal. Whether it's 120 or 140 doesn't matter much to me. Since I'm fitting Size 8 and 7 at 149lbs now...134 may prove unnecessary. I just cannot tolerate the feeling of "jiggle" on my body because I'm just not used to it.
And having much larger breasts was horrible, too. Because they felt alien, too. I recently had them suddenly drop a full cup to my normal "B" and I'm thrilled. I feel like my body will be mine again soon. If I start losing muscle, I'll adjust my deficit. But I haven't seen signs so far.0 -
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Oops...you can't delete posts in mobile app? How do you post photos? Copying link frtom Google photos and adding code clearly doesn't work. Grrr.0
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