Goal each week - lbs to lose ?

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keto1777
keto1777 Posts: 23 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi guys -

I’m just starting out & would like to lose 65 lbs all together. I understand that the more weight you have to lose, the more you can expect to lose each week...does that mean I should set my goal to lose each week as 2 lbs? What do you suggest as a good goal per week to start?

I’m 40, 5’2” sedentary, so MFP says 1200 calories per day if I want to lose 2 lbs per week, but that seems kind of drastic as a start to go from eating like 3,000 calories a day to 1200. Then again, maybe I just need to suck it up & get used to it haha

Thanks for any advice! :-)
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Replies

  • keto1777
    keto1777 Posts: 23 Member
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    SephiraAllen wrote: »
    It really just depends on you and your ability to stick to a drastic cut or not. It's hard either way, but for some people it's easier for them to take baby-steps, rather than just cold turkey everything. I dropped straight to 1200 and it was rough, but my will to lose weight at a slightly faster rate won out. I have a lot to lose, so 1 pound a week would take me forever, and if I'm going to be miserable on a diet, I'd rather be miserable for the least amount of time possible. But, with having such a low calorie goal, it also makes it so that if I go over a little bit, it's not such a big deal. So if I'm having a bad day/week, I shake it off and keep going.

    For the first 6 months or so I was really strict with myself. I only had a cheat day, maybe once a month. The last couple months, it's been almost every week, and I've had some hiccups (Thanksgiving week was really bad), but I also know a lot of it is just this time of the year, so I'm not sweating it too much. When January rolls around I'll buckle back down, but as long as I'm losing still losing weight, it's good.

    You sound a lot like me! I’m thinking if I set it at a 1/2 lb per week it’ll take forever! Have you stalled at all? Thats another thing I worry about..that if I start at 1200, i’ll stall & have to cut back even more to keep losing ?
  • keto1777
    keto1777 Posts: 23 Member
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    MegaMooseEsq wrote: »
    Yeah, you can lose faster when you have more to lose, but that doesn't mean you have to. Like @SephiraAllen said, it's all about finding something you can live with. I started in January with 73 pounds to lose and have settled into about 3-4 pounds a month with a rough two year goal overall - I am also 5'2" but I'm twitchy and walk a lot so I can lose on a bit higher than most women my size. I get wanting to get it over with, but I genuinely am not miserable or feel like I'm "on a diet", which makes keeping it going a lot easier. Play around and figure out what works for you. I found it much easier to start slow and ramp up, but everyone is different. There's no right answer other than healthy and sustainable.

    Awesome, thank you!!! Congrats on your weight loss so far! :-)
  • batorkin
    batorkin Posts: 281 Member
    edited December 2017
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    I would target 2 pounds a week. That's about what I had to lose and that's what I targeted. 65 pounds at .5 pounds/week would take 2 years and that's assuming you never cheat or miscount.

    Maybe after you get down to 30-40 to lose, switch to 1 pound a week, and under 10-20 switch to .5 pounds/week. This will probably happen naturally without you changing the diet. It really depends on you, I've seen people successfully lose 2 pounds/week all the way to goal and look great - while keeping most their muscle mass. It usually requires extreme exercise and lifting while dieting though.

    I went from eating ~5000 a day for years to eating ~1200. No issues here, was better for me to cold turkey it and throw out all the junk food in a single day. Sucks for like 2 weeks, then I got use to it.
    keto1777 wrote: »
    SephiraAllen wrote: »
    It really just depends on you and your ability to stick to a drastic cut or not. It's hard either way, but for some people it's easier for them to take baby-steps, rather than just cold turkey everything. I dropped straight to 1200 and it was rough, but my will to lose weight at a slightly faster rate won out. I have a lot to lose, so 1 pound a week would take me forever, and if I'm going to be miserable on a diet, I'd rather be miserable for the least amount of time possible. But, with having such a low calorie goal, it also makes it so that if I go over a little bit, it's not such a big deal. So if I'm having a bad day/week, I shake it off and keep going.

    For the first 6 months or so I was really strict with myself. I only had a cheat day, maybe once a month. The last couple months, it's been almost every week, and I've had some hiccups (Thanksgiving week was really bad), but I also know a lot of it is just this time of the year, so I'm not sweating it too much. When January rolls around I'll buckle back down, but as long as I'm losing still losing weight, it's good.

    You sound a lot like me! I’m thinking if I set it at a 1/2 lb per week it’ll take forever! Have you stalled at all? Thats another thing I worry about..that if I start at 1200, i’ll stall & have to cut back even more to keep losing ?

    Just so you know starvation mode is a myth, you'll start losing a lot of muscle along with your fat if you don't eat enough (minimum for females is 1200). You may plateau for a month or two, but that can happen on any diet, you just keep doing what you are doing and it'll pass if you are counting calories correctly.

    You should never cut below 1200 calories/day as a female. Your weight loss will naturally slow down as you get closer to your goal.
  • SephiraAllen
    SephiraAllen Posts: 78 Member
    edited December 2017
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    keto1777 wrote: »
    SephiraAllen wrote: »
    It really just depends on you and your ability to stick to a drastic cut or not. It's hard either way, but for some people it's easier for them to take baby-steps, rather than just cold turkey everything. I dropped straight to 1200 and it was rough, but my will to lose weight at a slightly faster rate won out. I have a lot to lose, so 1 pound a week would take me forever, and if I'm going to be miserable on a diet, I'd rather be miserable for the least amount of time possible. But, with having such a low calorie goal, it also makes it so that if I go over a little bit, it's not such a big deal. So if I'm having a bad day/week, I shake it off and keep going.

    For the first 6 months or so I was really strict with myself. I only had a cheat day, maybe once a month. The last couple months, it's been almost every week, and I've had some hiccups (Thanksgiving week was really bad), but I also know a lot of it is just this time of the year, so I'm not sweating it too much. When January rolls around I'll buckle back down, but as long as I'm losing still losing weight, it's good.

    You sound a lot like me! I’m thinking if I set it at a 1/2 lb per week it’ll take forever! Have you stalled at all? Thats another thing I worry about..that if I start at 1200, i’ll stall & have to cut back even more to keep losing ?

    I've been at this since April and, as of this week, I'll be down 100 pounds. Every 2-3 months there seems to be a period of time that I either gain a few pounds or, at the very least, stop losing, but usually (if the gain wasn't due to me having a bad week), I purposefully take a few days off and then things seem to start heading in the right direction again when I get back on track.

    So far, that's what's worked for me. And really, I'm not super miserable because I really do eat what I want to - just sometimes, that means only eating a small bite of whatever it is, or if I really need to eat something crazy, finding a way to fit it in. If all else fails - cheat day, but not too many or it defeats the purpose.

    (also - Halo Top Birthday Cake ice cream - 280 calories for the whole pint and 20g of protein. I eat way more of it than I should, but it keeps me from making bigger mistakes. LOL)

  • keto1777
    keto1777 Posts: 23 Member
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    tyrindor wrote: »
    I would target 2 pounds a week. That's about what I had to lose and that's what I targeted. 65 pounds at .5 pounds/week would take 2 years and that's assuming you never cheat or miscount.

    Maybe after you get down to 30-40 to lose, switch to 1 pound a week, and under 10-20 switch to .5 pounds/week. This will probably happen naturally without you changing the diet. It really depends on you, I've seen people successfully lose 2 pounds/week all the way to goal and look great - while keeping most their muscle mass. It usually requires extreme exercise and lifting while dieting though.

    I went from eating ~5000 a day for years to eating ~1200. No issues here, was better for me to cold turkey it and throw out all the junk food in a single day. Sucks for like 2 weeks, then I got use to it.
    keto1777 wrote: »
    SephiraAllen wrote: »
    It really just depends on you and your ability to stick to a drastic cut or not. It's hard either way, but for some people it's easier for them to take baby-steps, rather than just cold turkey everything. I dropped straight to 1200 and it was rough, but my will to lose weight at a slightly faster rate won out. I have a lot to lose, so 1 pound a week would take me forever, and if I'm going to be miserable on a diet, I'd rather be miserable for the least amount of time possible. But, with having such a low calorie goal, it also makes it so that if I go over a little bit, it's not such a big deal. So if I'm having a bad day/week, I shake it off and keep going.

    For the first 6 months or so I was really strict with myself. I only had a cheat day, maybe once a month. The last couple months, it's been almost every week, and I've had some hiccups (Thanksgiving week was really bad), but I also know a lot of it is just this time of the year, so I'm not sweating it too much. When January rolls around I'll buckle back down, but as long as I'm losing still losing weight, it's good.

    You sound a lot like me! I’m thinking if I set it at a 1/2 lb per week it’ll take forever! Have you stalled at all? Thats another thing I worry about..that if I start at 1200, i’ll stall & have to cut back even more to keep losing ?

    Just so you know starvation mode is a myth, you'll start losing a lot of muscle along with your fat if you don't eat enough (minimum for females is 1200). You may plateau for a month or two, but that can happen on any diet, you just keep doing what you are doing and it'll pass if you are counting calories correctly.

    You should never cut below 1200 calories/day as a female. Your weight loss will naturally slow down as you get closer to your goal.

    Such awesome advice, thank you so much! It all makes total sense! Good to know you also went from eating lots of calories a day to just 1200 & that if I just stick it out, it gets easier as I go :-)
  • keto1777
    keto1777 Posts: 23 Member
    Options
    SephiraAllen wrote: »
    keto1777 wrote: »
    SephiraAllen wrote: »
    It really just depends on you and your ability to stick to a drastic cut or not. It's hard either way, but for some people it's easier for them to take baby-steps, rather than just cold turkey everything. I dropped straight to 1200 and it was rough, but my will to lose weight at a slightly faster rate won out. I have a lot to lose, so 1 pound a week would take me forever, and if I'm going to be miserable on a diet, I'd rather be miserable for the least amount of time possible. But, with having such a low calorie goal, it also makes it so that if I go over a little bit, it's not such a big deal. So if I'm having a bad day/week, I shake it off and keep going.

    For the first 6 months or so I was really strict with myself. I only had a cheat day, maybe once a month. The last couple months, it's been almost every week, and I've had some hiccups (Thanksgiving week was really bad), but I also know a lot of it is just this time of the year, so I'm not sweating it too much. When January rolls around I'll buckle back down, but as long as I'm losing still losing weight, it's good.

    You sound a lot like me! I’m thinking if I set it at a 1/2 lb per week it’ll take forever! Have you stalled at all? Thats another thing I worry about..that if I start at 1200, i’ll stall & have to cut back even more to keep losing ?

    I've been at this since April and, as of this week, I'll be down 100 pounds. Every 2-3 months there seems to be a period of time that I either gain a few pounds or, at the very least, stop losing, but usually (if the gain wasn't due to me having a bad week), I purposefully take a few days off and then things seem to start heading in the right direction again when I get back on track.

    So far, that's what's worked for me. And really, I'm not super miserable because I really do eat what I want to - just sometimes, that means only eating a small bite of whatever it is, or if I really need to eat something crazy, finding a way to fit it in. If all else fails - cheat day, but not too many or it defeats the purpose.

    (also - Halo Top Birthday Cake ice cream - 280 calories for the whole pint and 20g of protein. I eat way more of it than I should, but it keeps me from making bigger mistakes. LOL)

    Wow, 100 lbs already?!! Congrats!!!! That is so motivating to me! Thanks for the Halo Top tip, I will def be trying that out! Do you drink diet coke? I love it & I’ve found in the past that it helps fill me up...guess its the carbonation lol
  • SephiraAllen
    SephiraAllen Posts: 78 Member
    edited December 2017
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    keto1777 wrote: »
    SephiraAllen wrote: »
    keto1777 wrote: »
    SephiraAllen wrote: »
    It really just depends on you and your ability to stick to a drastic cut or not. It's hard either way, but for some people it's easier for them to take baby-steps, rather than just cold turkey everything. I dropped straight to 1200 and it was rough, but my will to lose weight at a slightly faster rate won out. I have a lot to lose, so 1 pound a week would take me forever, and if I'm going to be miserable on a diet, I'd rather be miserable for the least amount of time possible. But, with having such a low calorie goal, it also makes it so that if I go over a little bit, it's not such a big deal. So if I'm having a bad day/week, I shake it off and keep going.

    For the first 6 months or so I was really strict with myself. I only had a cheat day, maybe once a month. The last couple months, it's been almost every week, and I've had some hiccups (Thanksgiving week was really bad), but I also know a lot of it is just this time of the year, so I'm not sweating it too much. When January rolls around I'll buckle back down, but as long as I'm losing still losing weight, it's good.

    You sound a lot like me! I’m thinking if I set it at a 1/2 lb per week it’ll take forever! Have you stalled at all? Thats another thing I worry about..that if I start at 1200, i’ll stall & have to cut back even more to keep losing ?

    I've been at this since April and, as of this week, I'll be down 100 pounds. Every 2-3 months there seems to be a period of time that I either gain a few pounds or, at the very least, stop losing, but usually (if the gain wasn't due to me having a bad week), I purposefully take a few days off and then things seem to start heading in the right direction again when I get back on track.

    So far, that's what's worked for me. And really, I'm not super miserable because I really do eat what I want to - just sometimes, that means only eating a small bite of whatever it is, or if I really need to eat something crazy, finding a way to fit it in. If all else fails - cheat day, but not too many or it defeats the purpose.

    (also - Halo Top Birthday Cake ice cream - 280 calories for the whole pint and 20g of protein. I eat way more of it than I should, but it keeps me from making bigger mistakes. LOL)

    Wow, 100 lbs already?!! Congrats!!!! That is so motivating to me! Thanks for the Halo Top tip, I will def be trying that out! Do you drink diet coke? I love it & I’ve found in the past that it helps fill me up...guess its the carbonation lol
    Thanks!! :)

    Soda was the first thing I quit, even before I started cutting the calories full-time. I'm not a fan of "diet" sodas, so I've been doing the water thing for over a year and most of the time it doesn't really bother me that much. If I'm really craving something else, I might take a small sip, but most of the time it's not worth drinking a whole regular one and losing calories I could be eating.
  • slimbyjune18
    slimbyjune18 Posts: 101 Member
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    1200 is doable, you may find your body feels hungry at first, make sure you drink plenty of water, it helps hydrate and also often hunger is thirst. At 1200 you’ll see quite a quick difference to start with, but then it will slow. Combine with exercise to encourage weight loss & also to give you more calories to eat. It will feel tough to start with, 1200 for me is now a good base on non-exercise days. Good luck!!
  • liftingbro
    liftingbro Posts: 2,029 Member
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    If the number goes down I met my goal. Weight loss is a long term thing, feel like I'm succeeding as long as my weight is trending down.
  • keto1777
    keto1777 Posts: 23 Member
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    You guys are so thoughtful, thank you so much for taking the time to reply! I love hearing others experience & your advice is very encouraging & helpful to me! :-)

    MegaMooseEsq, you are so right about maintaining this for the rest of my life & not going back to my old eating habits!! That is exactly what I need to hear & to remember! I have always been on some kind of diet just to lose it, then always go back to eating bad, then go back to dieting to lose again. It helps knowing if I want to be healthy & feel good, I WILL have to watch for the rest of my life & that there actually isn’t anything wrong with that! :-)

    I am so excited now that I actually know what the heck to do & to just stick to it! That its ok to not feel overly stuffed...I’m not going to “starve” or lower my metabolism! I will have to drink my water & I will get used to it! I will learn what an actual portion is & that my poor little body doesn’t need 5,000 calories a day!! I can’t wait to start feeling amazing! :-)
  • mlinci
    mlinci Posts: 403 Member
    edited December 2017
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    You say that if you set it at 1/2 lbs a week, it would take you forever. Maybe, but it would also be excellent practice for maintenance. If you have 65 lbs to lose, once you've lost them, your calorie expenditure will go down by a couple of hundreds of calories (given same activity level) because you'd be smaller and a smaller body would use fewer calories. So if you were set to lose 1/2 lbs per week now, your allowed daily number of calories would be quite similar to your maintenance calories once you've lost the weight. Which means it's a really good idea to get acquainted with eating that amount of calories, and letting it become your new normal.

    I'm also saying that because it's what helped me - I lost 50 lbs slowly, over a year and a half, starting with 1 lb per week for first half a year or so, and then switching to 1/2 lbs per week, and then easing into maintenance. I've now maintained 137-138 lbs for the last seven months or so.

    Edited to add - just noticed that MegaMoose wrote something quite similar a few posts above - yay for slow and steady weight loss!
  • lucerorojo
    lucerorojo Posts: 790 Member
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    OP, how much do you currently weigh? You might be better to heed the 1% of body weight.
    I am 5'4'', a couple of inches taller than you. I have 68 pounds left to lose, I have lost 32. I started at the end of June, at 237, and I'm now 204. For the first 28 lbs. I was at 2 lbs. per week and it was doable--I did eat at maintenance for 3 weeks in September since I was on vacation for two weeks then. Otherwise the loss has been steady. HOWEVER, you need to realize that as you lose, you have less fat for the body to burn, so your calorie needs decrease. For me that meant to lose 2 lbs. I started at around 1400 calories I think, and by the time I hit 25 lbs. loss I was at 1200 calories. 1200 is the lowest MFP will go for women. I could not eat at 1200 calories. I walk at least 1.5 hours, 4 days a week, and also do zumba or swim 2-4 times per week. I could not sustain this exercise on 1200 calories even eating back all my exercise calories. For the 4 days I was at 1200 calories I felt fatigued and hungry. I have a demanding job (teacher) so I have to feel good during the day dealing with people. If you have a desk job and just sit there and don't really need to interact maybe 1200 can work if you feel hungry and low energy.

    I went on a mini refeed to 1 lb. per week, which upped my calories to 1660. I stayed there for 2 weeks and felt good--I also cut back on exercise those two weeks. I then moved back down to 1.5 lb. and didn't like it--about 1320-50 calories per day. I manually changed it 1500 calories and I think this is where I"ll stay for a while. It will have me lose a tiny bit more than 1 lb. per week.

    The reason why I couldn't deal with 1660 calories for more than 2 weeks is I felt like I was dipping back into old habits of eating sweets to reach my calorie goal. I decided that it was too big of a jump from 1200-1660 at this point and that I would rather go up in smaller increments while I'm still losing.

    So, based on my experience, and you may be different, my recommendation would be to do 1.0 per week or 1.5 lb. per week at most. 65 lbs. might seem like a lot to you and it will make you look different, but if you currently weight between 160-180 (just guessing) then 2 lbs. per week is more than 1% of your body weight and could be a struggle.

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