Factors to consider - losing X lbs per week
jelleigh
Posts: 743 Member
I've seen a lot of posts here on healthy weight loss and when I started seriously with MFP a year ago I really had to adjust my outlook to be ok with losing only 1 lb per week.
It's been a bit bumpy this year but I'm down 28 lbs now (no exercise) and the past month I've just started weight lifting. (5'8", SW 215, CW 186, GW 145)
I'm curious about what the reason are behind shrinking your deficit as you get closer to your goal. From what I have gathered, "safe" weight loss is about 1% of your body weight per week. 2 lbs if you have lots to lose, decreasing from there. Concerns involve getting adequate nutrition, and not losing muscle mass, and having a sustainable lifestyle.
So - my fitbit is telling me that I'm burning about 2300-2500/day with little to no exercise. If I throw a 30 minute jog in there I will easily sit at 2500. If I'm doing my Stronglifts then I avoid losing muscle mass. And if I eat at 1500 cal, then I still create a 1000 per day deficit or 2 lbs per week. I worked out that even at my goals weight, I could still accomplish this at 1200 calories.
So, assuming I'm not miserable and hungry while doing this, what other concerns are there with a plan like this?
It's been a bit bumpy this year but I'm down 28 lbs now (no exercise) and the past month I've just started weight lifting. (5'8", SW 215, CW 186, GW 145)
I'm curious about what the reason are behind shrinking your deficit as you get closer to your goal. From what I have gathered, "safe" weight loss is about 1% of your body weight per week. 2 lbs if you have lots to lose, decreasing from there. Concerns involve getting adequate nutrition, and not losing muscle mass, and having a sustainable lifestyle.
So - my fitbit is telling me that I'm burning about 2300-2500/day with little to no exercise. If I throw a 30 minute jog in there I will easily sit at 2500. If I'm doing my Stronglifts then I avoid losing muscle mass. And if I eat at 1500 cal, then I still create a 1000 per day deficit or 2 lbs per week. I worked out that even at my goals weight, I could still accomplish this at 1200 calories.
So, assuming I'm not miserable and hungry while doing this, what other concerns are there with a plan like this?
2
Replies
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I think the issue is an individual one and for those who aiming towards a lower BMI who are perhaps a lot shorter than yourself.
Let's say an average height female of say 5'4" is currently 150lbs but aiming for the mid-low end of BMI of around 125lbs because that is the weight they feel comfortable at, their NEAT would put them around only 1730 calories per day for maintenance at sedentary, so a 1000 calorie deficit isn't going to be suitable even with a bit of exercise thrown into the mix on top that's only going to be 950 gross calorie per day.
Once the same female gets down to 130lbs her NEAT is going to be around 1620 net calories for Maintenance, and even a 500 calorie deficit (1lb per week) is going to take her under the recommended intake , whereas a 0.5lb per week loss will put her at 1370 net which is far more healthy/sustainable.
The other thing to consider is how you will progress into maintenance, most of us would find it a very drastic change to go from eating at a 1000 calorie deficit into no deficit at all.
For yourself it's not so bad because you're taller and more active, but you do need to consider how you are going to transition from a large deficit into maintenance. Your TDEE will come down as you lose weight and when you are closer to your goal weight - say around 160lbs you are likely to have TDEE around 2100 (based on a Light-Moderately active female with your stats) at which a 2lb rate of loss will put you under the recommended amount for nutrition.
4 -
Large deficit can cause muscle loss, hair loss, irritability, ECT. This should be a lifelong goal better to reach it slowly than rush to reach it fast and rebound.3
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Your fitbit is inaccurate. That number is an estimate. Based on your stats, I'm guessing your total expenditure is closer to 1900 to 2100 to maintain your current weight. You can play with another online tool to quickly test different numbers: http://www.calorieking.com/interactive-tools/how-many-calories-should-you-eat/
"And if I eat at 1500 cal, then I still create a 1000 per day deficit or 2 lbs per week. I worked out that even at my goals weight, I could still accomplish this at 1200 calories." Hahah okay there's where you go into the realm of theoretical vs realistic. That is a BIG drop from 1500 to 1200. That's a 20% drop. We also eat back our exercise calories to fuel our workouts. If you created an additional deficit with exercise, it would be unsustainable- you would burn out so fast. You also said in the past month you started weight lifting. Is it a progressive program? As you get past newbie gains, your hunger will substantially increase.
The stats I use are not "lose 1% of mass" but rather to only cut your calories by a maximum of 20%. In body building communities, that's considered a moderate/conservative deficit, while 25% is considered aggressive (think of it this way-- that's 1/4 of your food). Going from 2100 (what I think your maintenance is close to without exercise) to 1200 would be a 42.9% cut in calories. Nearly half. It's not sustainable.
3 -
Your fitbit is inaccurate. That number is an estimate. Based on your stats, I'm guessing your total expenditure is closer to 1900 to 2100 to maintain your current weight. You can play with another online tool to quickly test different numbers: http://www.calorieking.com/interactive-tools/how-many-calories-should-you-eat/
"And if I eat at 1500 cal, then I still create a 1000 per day deficit or 2 lbs per week. I worked out that even at my goals weight, I could still accomplish this at 1200 calories." Hahah okay there's where you go into the realm of theoretical vs realistic. That is a BIG drop from 1500 to 1200. That's a 20% drop. We also eat back our exercise calories to fuel our workouts. If you created an additional deficit with exercise, it would be unsustainable- you would burn out so fast. You also said in the past month you started weight lifting. Is it a progressive program? As you get past newbie gains, your hunger will substantially increase.
The stats I use are not "lose 1% of mass" but rather to only cut your calories by a maximum of 20%. In body building communities, that's considered a moderate/conservative deficit, while 25% is considered aggressive (think of it this way-- that's 1/4 of your food). Going from 2100 (what I think your maintenance is close to without exercise) to 1200 would be a 42.9% cut in calories. Nearly half. It's not sustainable.
HOw do you know their fitbit in inaccurate? @185 I could see maintaining at 2100...
based on stats how would you know what they burn esp considering you know nothing about their muscle mass or neat etc.
and how is another algorithm online any more relevant than the fitbit?
as for what is and isn't appropriate for individuals it's unknown and can't be said with absolutes so please don't.
OP the reason a lot of people start to lower their weekly weight loss from let's say 1lb to 1/2lb to 1/4lb is to reverse diet.
Basically you are looking for a comfortable level of deficit to allow you to still lose weight but prepare you to eat in maintenance without a big influx of glycogen/water stores to make it appear that you are gaining weight.
As for your plan try it...if you can do it great...if not adjust as necessary.
From personal experience when I hit goal of 145 what I did was add 50 calories a day for 1 week then kept going at that rate (+50 calories a day) until I stopped losing...that put me at 142...which was fine but I did gain up a bit figuring out my maintenance etc.
I do allow for 5lbs either way tho...2 -
Your fitbit is inaccurate. That number is an estimate. Based on your stats, I'm guessing your total expenditure is closer to 1900 to 2100 to maintain your current weight. You can play with another online tool to quickly test different numbers: http://www.calorieking.com/interactive-tools/how-many-calories-should-you-eat/
"And if I eat at 1500 cal, then I still create a 1000 per day deficit or 2 lbs per week. I worked out that even at my goals weight, I could still accomplish this at 1200 calories." Hahah okay there's where you go into the realm of theoretical vs realistic. That is a BIG drop from 1500 to 1200. That's a 20% drop. We also eat back our exercise calories to fuel our workouts. If you created an additional deficit with exercise, it would be unsustainable- you would burn out so fast. You also said in the past month you started weight lifting. Is it a progressive program? As you get past newbie gains, your hunger will substantially increase.
The stats I use are not "lose 1% of mass" but rather to only cut your calories by a maximum of 20%. In body building communities, that's considered a moderate/conservative deficit, while 25% is considered aggressive (think of it this way-- that's 1/4 of your food). Going from 2100 (what I think your maintenance is close to without exercise) to 1200 would be a 42.9% cut in calories. Nearly half. It's not sustainable.
HOw do you know their fitbit in inaccurate? @185 I could see maintaining at 2100...
based on stats how would you know what they burn esp considering you know nothing about their muscle mass or neat etc.
and how is another algorithm online any more relevant than the fitbit?
as for what is and isn't appropriate for individuals it's unknown and can't be said with absolutes so please don't.
OP the reason a lot of people start to lower their weekly weight loss from let's say 1lb to 1/2lb to 1/4lb is to reverse diet.
Basically you are looking for a comfortable level of deficit to allow you to still lose weight but prepare you to eat in maintenance without a big influx of glycogen/water stores to make it appear that you are gaining weight.
As for your plan try it...if you can do it great...if not adjust as necessary.
From personal experience when I hit goal of 145 what I did was add 50 calories a day for 1 week then kept going at that rate (+50 calories a day) until I stopped losing...that put me at 142...which was fine but I did gain up a bit figuring out my maintenance etc.
I do allow for 5lbs either way tho...
Fitbit is inaccurate as a step counter, much more so as a calorie measurement tool. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5214549/ Just in general, wasn't saying this person's specifically is flawed. The other site (other algorithm) is the same as MFP. I just use it so that I don't have to change my goals/numbers to someone else's and potentially forget to change them back. OP also said that the fitbit was including a little exercise. Adding an unknown amount to a quantity that is already an estimate means that the number is not going to be accurate.
I said "I'm guessing" and "the stats I use" and did not speak in absolutes and talked about what certain percentages are considered in various communities.
1 -
Your fitbit is inaccurate. That number is an estimate. Based on your stats, I'm guessing your total expenditure is closer to 1900 to 2100 to maintain your current weight. You can play with another online tool to quickly test different numbers: http://www.calorieking.com/interactive-tools/how-many-calories-should-you-eat/
"And if I eat at 1500 cal, then I still create a 1000 per day deficit or 2 lbs per week. I worked out that even at my goals weight, I could still accomplish this at 1200 calories." Hahah okay there's where you go into the realm of theoretical vs realistic. That is a BIG drop from 1500 to 1200. That's a 20% drop. We also eat back our exercise calories to fuel our workouts. If you created an additional deficit with exercise, it would be unsustainable- you would burn out so fast. You also said in the past month you started weight lifting. Is it a progressive program? As you get past newbie gains, your hunger will substantially increase.
The stats I use are not "lose 1% of mass" but rather to only cut your calories by a maximum of 20%. In body building communities, that's considered a moderate/conservative deficit, while 25% is considered aggressive (think of it this way-- that's 1/4 of your food). Going from 2100 (what I think your maintenance is close to without exercise) to 1200 would be a 42.9% cut in calories. Nearly half. It's not sustainable.
HOw do you know their fitbit in inaccurate? @185 I could see maintaining at 2100...
based on stats how would you know what they burn esp considering you know nothing about their muscle mass or neat etc.
and how is another algorithm online any more relevant than the fitbit?
as for what is and isn't appropriate for individuals it's unknown and can't be said with absolutes so please don't.
OP the reason a lot of people start to lower their weekly weight loss from let's say 1lb to 1/2lb to 1/4lb is to reverse diet.
Basically you are looking for a comfortable level of deficit to allow you to still lose weight but prepare you to eat in maintenance without a big influx of glycogen/water stores to make it appear that you are gaining weight.
As for your plan try it...if you can do it great...if not adjust as necessary.
From personal experience when I hit goal of 145 what I did was add 50 calories a day for 1 week then kept going at that rate (+50 calories a day) until I stopped losing...that put me at 142...which was fine but I did gain up a bit figuring out my maintenance etc.
I do allow for 5lbs either way tho...
Fitbit is inaccurate as a step counter, much more so as a calorie measurement tool. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5214549/ Just in general, wasn't saying this person's specifically is flawed. The other site (other algorithm) is the same as MFP. I just use it so that I don't have to change my goals/numbers to someone else's and potentially forget to change them back. OP also said that the fitbit was including a little exercise. Adding an unknown amount to a quantity that is already an estimate means that the number is not going to be accurate.
I said "I'm guessing" and "the stats I use" and did not speak in absolutes and talked about what certain percentages are considered in various communities.
That study is for pedometers on a treadmill but even the abstract says
"three brands significantly under-estimated steps" with fitbit under estimating the steps the most...but it says nothing about "calories".
So the study you gave does not go with you saying that the calories are inaccurate at all...if anything it's saying it underestimates steps ergo calories...
As well if you want to specify the equipment is "flawed" perhaps saying Fitbits are inaccurate is better than YOUR fitbit is...
and saying things like "it's not sustainable" is an absolute I don't care what other communities say.
and saying "your hunger will increase ..." is another absolute.
anyway I stand by what I said...absolutes are not correct, the study is not relevant and the OP has a plan...and who are we to say they can't do it...maybe they can.
Just because some can't sustain that doesn't mean everyone can't.
I can easily maintain on 2500 (per my fitbit btw) and cut on 1500 net calories...easy peasy...and yes I lift heavy.2 -
Your fitbit is inaccurate. That number is an estimate. Based on your stats, I'm guessing your total expenditure is closer to 1900 to 2100 to maintain your current weight. You can play with another online tool to quickly test different numbers: http://www.calorieking.com/interactive-tools/how-many-calories-should-you-eat/
"And if I eat at 1500 cal, then I still create a 1000 per day deficit or 2 lbs per week. I worked out that even at my goals weight, I could still accomplish this at 1200 calories." Hahah okay there's where you go into the realm of theoretical vs realistic. That is a BIG drop from 1500 to 1200. That's a 20% drop. We also eat back our exercise calories to fuel our workouts. If you created an additional deficit with exercise, it would be unsustainable- you would burn out so fast. You also said in the past month you started weight lifting. Is it a progressive program? As you get past newbie gains, your hunger will substantially increase.
The stats I use are not "lose 1% of mass" but rather to only cut your calories by a maximum of 20%. In body building communities, that's considered a moderate/conservative deficit, while 25% is considered aggressive (think of it this way-- that's 1/4 of your food). Going from 2100 (what I think your maintenance is close to without exercise) to 1200 would be a 42.9% cut in calories. Nearly half. It's not sustainable.
HOw do you know their fitbit in inaccurate? @185 I could see maintaining at 2100...
based on stats how would you know what they burn esp considering you know nothing about their muscle mass or neat etc.
and how is another algorithm online any more relevant than the fitbit?
as for what is and isn't appropriate for individuals it's unknown and can't be said with absolutes so please don't.
OP the reason a lot of people start to lower their weekly weight loss from let's say 1lb to 1/2lb to 1/4lb is to reverse diet.
Basically you are looking for a comfortable level of deficit to allow you to still lose weight but prepare you to eat in maintenance without a big influx of glycogen/water stores to make it appear that you are gaining weight.
As for your plan try it...if you can do it great...if not adjust as necessary.
From personal experience when I hit goal of 145 what I did was add 50 calories a day for 1 week then kept going at that rate (+50 calories a day) until I stopped losing...that put me at 142...which was fine but I did gain up a bit figuring out my maintenance etc.
I do allow for 5lbs either way tho...
Fitbit is inaccurate as a step counter, much more so as a calorie measurement tool. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5214549/ Just in general, wasn't saying this person's specifically is flawed. The other site (other algorithm) is the same as MFP. I just use it so that I don't have to change my goals/numbers to someone else's and potentially forget to change them back. OP also said that the fitbit was including a little exercise. Adding an unknown amount to a quantity that is already an estimate means that the number is not going to be accurate.
I said "I'm guessing" and "the stats I use" and did not speak in absolutes and talked about what certain percentages are considered in various communities.
That study is for pedometers on a treadmill but even the abstract says
"three brands significantly under-estimated steps" with fitbit under estimating the steps the most...but it says nothing about "calories".
So the study you gave does not go with you saying that the calories are inaccurate at all...if anything it's saying it underestimates steps ergo calories...
As well if you want to specify the equipment is "flawed" perhaps saying Fitbits are inaccurate is better than YOUR fitbit is...
and saying things like "it's not sustainable" is an absolute I don't care what other communities say.
and saying "your hunger will increase ..." is another absolute.
anyway I stand by what I said...absolutes are not correct, the study is not relevant and the OP has a plan...and who are we to say they can't do it...maybe they can.
Just because some can't sustain that doesn't mean everyone can't.
I can easily maintain on 2500 (per my fitbit btw) and cut on 1500 net calories...easy peasy...and yes I lift heavy.
Can you net 1,200 sustainably? Because that's what we're talking about.2 -
Ok cool. So all in all, we're talking how hungry I will be feeling and what the transition back to maintenance is like.
Good point on the lifting issues @leggup . I thought newbie gains were only associated with strength or muscle gain - I didn't realize it would affect your appetite? Also I figure I will stall pretty quickly on my progress since I am eating in a deficit, but I need to get closer to my goal before trying to build more muscle. My main interest in lifting is just to maintain what muscle I already have while losing. Plus it seems to be helping my loss (although others say it doesn't really help?)
I've also used this calculator before
http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced
I don't exercise a lot per second, but I walk more on average than a sedentary person and am often on my feet during the day for awhile. But since it's really inconsistent, I set myself to sedentary and then just let my Fitbit adjust accordingly. And then I only eat back maybe 50-70% of what my Fitbit gives me and only if I'm hungry or wanting a small treat or something.
I guess I'm partially basing this off the last time I lost weight. I was easily dropping 2-3 lbs per week and it took me right to, and then past, my goal. And the whole while I was increasing strength and fitness so I figured it was fine. I'm trying to be more balanced now in my approach though but man does 1 lb a week seem like FOREVER!!1 -
I've seen a lot of posts here on healthy weight loss and when I started seriously with MFP a year ago I really had to adjust my outlook to be ok with losing only 1 lb per week.
It's been a bit bumpy this year but I'm down 28 lbs now (no exercise) and the past month I've just started weight lifting. (5'8", SW 215, CW 186, GW 145)
I'm curious about what the reason are behind shrinking your deficit as you get closer to your goal. From what I have gathered, "safe" weight loss is about 1% of your body weight per week. 2 lbs if you have lots to lose, decreasing from there. Concerns involve getting adequate nutrition, and not losing muscle mass, and having a sustainable lifestyle.
So - my fitbit is telling me that I'm burning about 2300-2500/day with little to no exercise. If I throw a 30 minute jog in there I will easily sit at 2500. If I'm doing my Stronglifts then I avoid losing muscle mass. And if I eat at 1500 cal, then I still create a 1000 per day deficit or 2 lbs per week. I worked out that even at my goals weight, I could still accomplish this at 1200 calories.
So, assuming I'm not miserable and hungry while doing this, what other concerns are there with a plan like this?
Safe and sustainable are two different things. My concern with your plan is that burning 2500 and eating 1500 means maintaining a 40% deficit, which is huge, especially while active (jogging + lifting.) By all means, go ahead and try it if you would like to see how it goes. But it would not be surprising if, after an initial couple of weeks of feeling okay, you ended up feeling like garbage.1 -
Your fitbit is inaccurate. That number is an estimate. Based on your stats, I'm guessing your total expenditure is closer to 1900 to 2100 to maintain your current weight. You can play with another online tool to quickly test different numbers: http://www.calorieking.com/interactive-tools/how-many-calories-should-you-eat/
"And if I eat at 1500 cal, then I still create a 1000 per day deficit or 2 lbs per week. I worked out that even at my goals weight, I could still accomplish this at 1200 calories." Hahah okay there's where you go into the realm of theoretical vs realistic. That is a BIG drop from 1500 to 1200. That's a 20% drop. We also eat back our exercise calories to fuel our workouts. If you created an additional deficit with exercise, it would be unsustainable- you would burn out so fast. You also said in the past month you started weight lifting. Is it a progressive program? As you get past newbie gains, your hunger will substantially increase.
The stats I use are not "lose 1% of mass" but rather to only cut your calories by a maximum of 20%. In body building communities, that's considered a moderate/conservative deficit, while 25% is considered aggressive (think of it this way-- that's 1/4 of your food). Going from 2100 (what I think your maintenance is close to without exercise) to 1200 would be a 42.9% cut in calories. Nearly half. It's not sustainable.
HOw do you know their fitbit in inaccurate? @185 I could see maintaining at 2100...
based on stats how would you know what they burn esp considering you know nothing about their muscle mass or neat etc.
and how is another algorithm online any more relevant than the fitbit?
as for what is and isn't appropriate for individuals it's unknown and can't be said with absolutes so please don't.
OP the reason a lot of people start to lower their weekly weight loss from let's say 1lb to 1/2lb to 1/4lb is to reverse diet.
Basically you are looking for a comfortable level of deficit to allow you to still lose weight but prepare you to eat in maintenance without a big influx of glycogen/water stores to make it appear that you are gaining weight.
As for your plan try it...if you can do it great...if not adjust as necessary.
From personal experience when I hit goal of 145 what I did was add 50 calories a day for 1 week then kept going at that rate (+50 calories a day) until I stopped losing...that put me at 142...which was fine but I did gain up a bit figuring out my maintenance etc.
I do allow for 5lbs either way tho...
Fitbit is inaccurate as a step counter, much more so as a calorie measurement tool. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5214549/ Just in general, wasn't saying this person's specifically is flawed. The other site (other algorithm) is the same as MFP. I just use it so that I don't have to change my goals/numbers to someone else's and potentially forget to change them back. OP also said that the fitbit was including a little exercise. Adding an unknown amount to a quantity that is already an estimate means that the number is not going to be accurate.
I said "I'm guessing" and "the stats I use" and did not speak in absolutes and talked about what certain percentages are considered in various communities.
That study is for pedometers on a treadmill but even the abstract says
"three brands significantly under-estimated steps" with fitbit under estimating the steps the most...but it says nothing about "calories".
So the study you gave does not go with you saying that the calories are inaccurate at all...if anything it's saying it underestimates steps ergo calories...
As well if you want to specify the equipment is "flawed" perhaps saying Fitbits are inaccurate is better than YOUR fitbit is...
and saying things like "it's not sustainable" is an absolute I don't care what other communities say.
and saying "your hunger will increase ..." is another absolute.
anyway I stand by what I said...absolutes are not correct, the study is not relevant and the OP has a plan...and who are we to say they can't do it...maybe they can.
Just because some can't sustain that doesn't mean everyone can't.
I can easily maintain on 2500 (per my fitbit btw) and cut on 1500 net calories...easy peasy...and yes I lift heavy.
Can you net 1,200 sustainably? Because that's what we're talking about.
Ya so I just checked my online calculator and with a small amount of walking , at my goal weight of 145, my TDEE would be 2100. So I guess I wouldn't net at 1200 but it would be pretty darn close. Ok so I will probably have to drop the loss down later but I'm hoping I can lose *a little* faster for the next few months? Just until I get into a normal weight range.0 -
I've seen a lot of posts here on healthy weight loss and when I started seriously with MFP a year ago I really had to adjust my outlook to be ok with losing only 1 lb per week.
It's been a bit bumpy this year but I'm down 28 lbs now (no exercise) and the past month I've just started weight lifting. (5'8", SW 215, CW 186, GW 145)
I'm curious about what the reason are behind shrinking your deficit as you get closer to your goal. From what I have gathered, "safe" weight loss is about 1% of your body weight per week. 2 lbs if you have lots to lose, decreasing from there. Concerns involve getting adequate nutrition, and not losing muscle mass, and having a sustainable lifestyle.
So - my fitbit is telling me that I'm burning about 2300-2500/day with little to no exercise. If I throw a 30 minute jog in there I will easily sit at 2500. If I'm doing my Stronglifts then I avoid losing muscle mass. And if I eat at 1500 cal, then I still create a 1000 per day deficit or 2 lbs per week. I worked out that even at my goals weight, I could still accomplish this at 1200 calories.
So, assuming I'm not miserable and hungry while doing this, what other concerns are there with a plan like this?
Safe and sustainable are two different things. My concern with your plan is that burning 2500 and eating 1500 means maintaining a 40% deficit, which is huge, especially while active (jogging + lifting.) By all means, go ahead and try it if you would like to see how it goes. But it would not be surprising if, after an initial couple of weeks of feeling okay, you ended up feeling like garbage.
Fair enough. I'm not actually decided on this "plan" - more just looking for what dangers there are so I can weigh it out and be careful. I don't want to be unhealthy but I also don't want to spend years being overweight . Even if I could spend a bit at 1.5 lbs per week it would help my mindset. I'm just trying to figure out where and why the threshold is to lower or slow loss.0 -
I've seen a lot of posts here on healthy weight loss and when I started seriously with MFP a year ago I really had to adjust my outlook to be ok with losing only 1 lb per week.
It's been a bit bumpy this year but I'm down 28 lbs now (no exercise) and the past month I've just started weight lifting. (5'8", SW 215, CW 186, GW 145)
I'm curious about what the reason are behind shrinking your deficit as you get closer to your goal. From what I have gathered, "safe" weight loss is about 1% of your body weight per week. 2 lbs if you have lots to lose, decreasing from there. Concerns involve getting adequate nutrition, and not losing muscle mass, and having a sustainable lifestyle.
So - my fitbit is telling me that I'm burning about 2300-2500/day with little to no exercise. If I throw a 30 minute jog in there I will easily sit at 2500. If I'm doing my Stronglifts then I avoid losing muscle mass. And if I eat at 1500 cal, then I still create a 1000 per day deficit or 2 lbs per week. I worked out that even at my goals weight, I could still accomplish this at 1200 calories.
So, assuming I'm not miserable and hungry while doing this, what other concerns are there with a plan like this?
Safe and sustainable are two different things. My concern with your plan is that burning 2500 and eating 1500 means maintaining a 40% deficit, which is huge, especially while active (jogging + lifting.) By all means, go ahead and try it if you would like to see how it goes. But it would not be surprising if, after an initial couple of weeks of feeling okay, you ended up feeling like garbage.
Fair enough. I'm not actually decided on this "plan" - more just looking for what dangers there are so I can weigh it out and be careful. I don't want to be unhealthy but I also don't want to spend years being overweight . Even if I could spend a bit at 1.5 lbs per week it would help my mindset. I'm just trying to figure out where and why the threshold is to lower or slow loss.
Nobody wants to spend years being overweight but you need to be realistic. Eating too little means risking breaking the diet (often with a blowout meal/day/weekend/month) which will just set you back and make the whole process take that much longer.2 -
Ok cool. So all in all, we're talking how hungry I will be feeling and what the transition back to maintenance is like.
Good point on the lifting issues @leggup . I thought newbie gains were only associated with strength or muscle gain - I didn't realize it would affect your appetite? Also I figure I will stall pretty quickly on my progress since I am eating in a deficit, but I need to get closer to my goal before trying to build more muscle. My main interest in lifting is just to maintain what muscle I already have while losing. Plus it seems to be helping my loss (although others say it doesn't really help?)
I've also used this calculator before
http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced
I don't exercise a lot per second, but I walk more on average than a sedentary person and am often on my feet during the day for awhile. But since it's really inconsistent, I set myself to sedentary and then just let my Fitbit adjust accordingly. And then I only eat back maybe 50-70% of what my Fitbit gives me and only if I'm hungry or wanting a small treat or something.
I guess I'm partially basing this off the last time I lost weight. I was easily dropping 2-3 lbs per week and it took me right to, and then past, my goal. And the whole while I was increasing strength and fitness so I figured it was fine. I'm trying to be more balanced now in my approach though but man does 1 lb a week seem like FOREVER!!
exercise in general regardless of the kind can increase your hunger but if you eat foods that keep you feeling fuller longer such as protein it won't be an issue at a reasonable deficit.
as well I wouldn't expect to stall out quickly if you are new to lifting...it took me a long long time before I did...about 9 months I think and even then I didn't really stall it was just long rest periods and I didn't have the time for that so I moved to a 3x5 program instead of 5x5.
If you have a fitbit use it as it is intended and then adjust as necessary.
The key to this weight loss thing is to lose the weight in a way that you can live the rest of your life...that means less of an adjustment at the end of it...aka maintenance. I think if you look at long term maintainers that is one thing they probably have in common0 -
I'm curious about what the reason are behind shrinking your deficit as you get closer to your goal.
Often it happens naturally, because TDEE reduces, but also as you have less body fat there is more of a concern that high deficit will result in losing more muscle than is necessary (that's not really a concern when one is obese).
Also, if the reason one's TDEE is higher is lots of exercise, a high deficit combined with that will be detrimental to any fitness goals and may put too much stress on the body.
It all does depend on overall size, though -- a guy who is 6'5 and 225 (with significant body fat left to lose, not because he's got a lot of muscle mass) can obviously sustain a higher deficit than a woman who is 5'3 and 150, even though their BMIs are similar. That the guy starts with a higher sedentary TDEE and burns more just moving around makes a difference.
For me, got increasingly active when losing so that I started at over 200 (I'm 5'3) eating around 1250 calories, and then started eating back exercise calories and eating around 1600 eventually (took a bit of time to be consistently that active). Was losing 2+ lb initially, then 2, then 1.5-2, until about 150 and then I let it gradually decline by not dropping calories below 1500-1600 until I was at 125 (and then I took a diet break due to a biking vacation that turned into maintenance -- I was wearing clothes I'd worn before at a lower weight, so that was significant to me).
Could I have kept my rate of loss higher? Maybe, but I don't think that would be a good idea.
You are taller than me, so you might be able to keep up (reasonably) a faster weight loss longer, but I don't think eating 1200 and exercising when you aren't small is a good idea, and I don't think you can assume that so long as you do weights you won't lose muscle no matter what. I lost some muscle in the 155-125 stage of my loss, according to DEXA, and I was doing lots of strength building exercise and keeping protein up and NOT eating 1200, although I had an aggressive deficit.
There also might be some benefit to not just doing 1200 or maintenance, of gradually learning to eat at maintenance and not thinking of it as "whew, finally not at a deficit." But it's your call, and not really something you need to figure out now.0 -
Ok cool. So all in all, we're talking how hungry I will be feeling and what the transition back to maintenance is like.
Good point on the lifting issues @leggup . I thought newbie gains were only associated with strength or muscle gain - I didn't realize it would affect your appetite? Also I figure I will stall pretty quickly on my progress since I am eating in a deficit, but I need to get closer to my goal before trying to build more muscle. My main interest in lifting is just to maintain what muscle I already have while losing. Plus it seems to be helping my loss (although others say it doesn't really help?)
I've also used this calculator before
http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced
I don't exercise a lot per second, but I walk more on average than a sedentary person and am often on my feet during the day for awhile. But since it's really inconsistent, I set myself to sedentary and then just let my Fitbit adjust accordingly. And then I only eat back maybe 50-70% of what my Fitbit gives me and only if I'm hungry or wanting a small treat or something.
I guess I'm partially basing this off the last time I lost weight. I was easily dropping 2-3 lbs per week and it took me right to, and then past, my goal. And the whole while I was increasing strength and fitness so I figured it was fine. I'm trying to be more balanced now in my approach though but man does 1 lb a week seem like FOREVER!!
exercise in general regardless of the kind can increase your hunger but if you eat foods that keep you feeling fuller longer such as protein it won't be an issue at a reasonable deficit.
as well I wouldn't expect to stall out quickly if you are new to lifting...it took me a long long time before I did...about 9 months I think and even then I didn't really stall it was just long rest periods and I didn't have the time for that so I moved to a 3x5 program instead of 5x5.
If you have a fitbit use it as it is intended and then adjust as necessary.
The key to this weight loss thing is to lose the weight in a way that you can live the rest of your life...that means less of an adjustment at the end of it...aka maintenance. I think if you look at long term maintainers that is one thing they probably have in common
9mos really? Can you tell me a bit about your experience with it? As in , what program were you using, what changes did you see etc? Also were you eating in a deficit that whole time?0 -
Ok cool. So all in all, we're talking how hungry I will be feeling and what the transition back to maintenance is like.
Good point on the lifting issues @leggup . I thought newbie gains were only associated with strength or muscle gain - I didn't realize it would affect your appetite? Also I figure I will stall pretty quickly on my progress since I am eating in a deficit, but I need to get closer to my goal before trying to build more muscle. My main interest in lifting is just to maintain what muscle I already have while losing. Plus it seems to be helping my loss (although others say it doesn't really help?)
I've also used this calculator before
http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced
I don't exercise a lot per second, but I walk more on average than a sedentary person and am often on my feet during the day for awhile. But since it's really inconsistent, I set myself to sedentary and then just let my Fitbit adjust accordingly. And then I only eat back maybe 50-70% of what my Fitbit gives me and only if I'm hungry or wanting a small treat or something.
I guess I'm partially basing this off the last time I lost weight. I was easily dropping 2-3 lbs per week and it took me right to, and then past, my goal. And the whole while I was increasing strength and fitness so I figured it was fine. I'm trying to be more balanced now in my approach though but man does 1 lb a week seem like FOREVER!!
exercise in general regardless of the kind can increase your hunger but if you eat foods that keep you feeling fuller longer such as protein it won't be an issue at a reasonable deficit.
as well I wouldn't expect to stall out quickly if you are new to lifting...it took me a long long time before I did...about 9 months I think and even then I didn't really stall it was just long rest periods and I didn't have the time for that so I moved to a 3x5 program instead of 5x5.
If you have a fitbit use it as it is intended and then adjust as necessary.
The key to this weight loss thing is to lose the weight in a way that you can live the rest of your life...that means less of an adjustment at the end of it...aka maintenance. I think if you look at long term maintainers that is one thing they probably have in common
9mos really? Can you tell me a bit about your experience with it? As in , what program were you using, what changes did you see etc? Also were you eating in a deficit that whole time?
it was longer than 9 months but yah.
I start in Sept 2013 eating 1600 calories a day. That was my TDEE -20% at that point. I found that by using this formula and being consistent and accurate with my food logging using a food scale etc.
Total calories consumed +(total lbs lost x 3500)/#days (I used 21 days of data)
I followed Stronglifts 5x5 as it has a great group here and a great app for smart phones and it's easy to learn
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/560459-stronglifts-5x5-summary
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/4601-stronglifts-5x5-for-women
Now keep in mind I was about 180lbs when I started on MFP in June and did a lot of body weight exercises and lost about 10lbs from June to Sept...anyway....the changes I saw from lifting were subtle at first..I won't lie.
at first I didn't see the scale move due to water and glycogen stores but I was consistent with my intake and exercise (no cardio at all) and got in my protein (appx 120 grams a day) and I would lose 1lb one week then nothing then 2lbs then 1.25 but over all I was losing.
Then people noticed more than I did...then I added in cardio and kept losing. I hit goal weight of 165 and was like damn I can go further so I did...all the way down to 145 in about 18months and keep in mind that was 20lbs less than goal..it wasn't a lifetime
Even now I lift 4x a week, run etc at 148 and wear a size 4...I've maintained for almost 3 years...and I credit the lifting.
Nice thing is my TDEE is now about 2300-2500 a day...I am smaller at a heavier weight than I was in 2014 so it's all good.
anymore questions please feel free to ask.
PS the great part of lifting and getting strong is you don't have to do heavy weights you can do any form of resistance training and get the benefit from it...remember that...and it's awesome being strong...really really awesome.
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Thanks @SezxyStef ! Im just finishing up my first month of SL and it seems like I'm finally losing again (my weight just bounced around for awhile but I've tightened up my logging this month as well which is probably the big difference ). Im starting to feel like I could comfortably add in some cardio - maybe like C2K - but reading on the SL site he really discourages it because you need rest days. So now I'm not sure? Also I'm impressed you were hitting your protein goal. Im finding it hard to top 100 grams a day. (Allergy to eggs and no real access to protein powder). I've just started experimenting with TVP and hoping I can incorporate that.
Im totally sold on how awesome lifting is. I've been lurking on the success boards and regularly search up before/after weightlifting pics. Just seems to make so much more sense to lift heavy , get small and tight, and still be able to eat lots of Cals to maintain!0 -
Thanks @SezxyStef ! Im just finishing up my first month of SL and it seems like I'm finally losing again (my weight just bounced around for awhile but I've tightened up my logging this month as well which is probably the big difference ). Im starting to feel like I could comfortably add in some cardio - maybe like C2K - but reading on the SL site he really discourages it because you need rest days. So now I'm not sure? Also I'm impressed you were hitting your protein goal. Im finding it hard to top 100 grams a day. (Allergy to eggs and no real access to protein powder). I've just started experimenting with TVP and hoping I can incorporate that.
Im totally sold on how awesome lifting is. I've been lurking on the success boards and regularly search up before/after weightlifting pics. Just seems to make so much more sense to lift heavy , get small and tight, and still be able to eat lots of Cals to maintain!
If you want to do C25K I recommend it...but do it after you lift or on days you don't lift. The key is to figure out priorities and do those first. For me I do a split now and do legs on Tuesday and Thursday so no running on those days and if I walk it's after I lift...
The weight loss can be both...tightening up the logging and losing the water/glycogen stores from new exercise.
As for protein I rely on lean meats like chicken or fish (lots of salmon) and greek yogurt and things like cottage cheese...
I do eat eggs and use powder in the summer but I can hit it without the powder if I want...just easier with smoothies...
Good luck with the program and remember to look up 3x5 if rest periods get to long and check out 5/3/1 when you are bored with SL.0
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