0.5 - 1.0 pounds per week goal

donjtomasco
donjtomasco Posts: 789 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Something interesting is happening this weight loss time. I did this in 2013, 1015, 2016 and now this time starting on Oct 30th, and the first 3 times my goal was 1 - 2 pounds per week loss initially, then tapering off to hit my goal weight. One time I hit my goal weight, the next two were close. All three times I was exhausted at the end. Those were the two key words for me, "THE END". Because I felt so beat up that I felt like I was over and could eat again, and did.

This time (at 55 years old and back up to 203, I set my goal at 0.1 to 1.0 pounds per week, and would be very happy with anything in between. It has been difficult watching the slower progress, and I have graph paper and charts showing each of the weight loss periods to compare each year to. But this time I decided to eat back calories and look at weekly CICO versus daily. I walk 4-6 miles each morning (not fast) and lift weights every other to every third day, and on those days make sure to eat more protein. My diet is not focused on each meal anymore, it is more on how I feel. If I feel depleted I will eat more. If I feel good, I will eat less. I am paying attention to what my body is telling me this time instead of trying to force lower daily scale weight in's.

And I do weight every morning. The data I now have from 3 past weight losses and putting my daily weight on graph paper and a mechanical pencil, then drawing the line to connect the dots with my ruler is just fun to me.

I am in week 6, and each week I have hit a low number that hits my at least 1 pound lost goal per week. I see higher spikes during each low weight to low weight period, but I have more energy and don't feel like I am suffering this time.

So I really like setting a lower goal and I think I will find that at "The End" it won't feel like the end, and maybe I can feel like I reached a normal weight this time versus a low that I could now eat from, if that makes sense.

Replies

  • donjtomasco
    donjtomasco Posts: 789 Member
    Thanks HellYeah. I kind of enjoy the process of 'connecting the dots'. I saw the recent movie that came out called "California Typewriter" with Tom Hanks in it, and I can now appreciate what I heard him and others say about using the old manual typewriters and how it kind of relates to my enjoyment of my graph paper, mechanical pen and ruler and colored pens for each different year.
  • HellYeahItsKriss
    HellYeahItsKriss Posts: 906 Member
    Mindless busy work basically.. i used to do that a lot too, scanning all the food in my house into MFP, creating my own USDA personal entries so everything could look neat and uniform.. constantly working out calories in recipes, planning meals weeks ahead of time.. creating grocery lists a month in advance based on my preplanned meals..
  • ISweat4This
    ISweat4This Posts: 653 Member
    Good for you, that's great!
  • donjtomasco
    donjtomasco Posts: 789 Member
    Good going vanmep! Sounds like we are on a similar path!

    HellYeah, I think you are simply describing a big generational gap, but it sounds like the trend weight app leaves you a lot of quality time to spend on very useful other things to challenge your brain, like mindless fashion design..... :)
  • ladyhusker39
    ladyhusker39 Posts: 1,406 Member
    I get from your subsequent posts that it wasn't tracking the data that made you feel "beat up" but the restrictions you put on yourself. I think that's where a lot of people get in trouble trying to finish an unpleasant task as quickly as possible.

    It sounds like you've finally figured that out and this time you're trying to make it a more enjoyable and hopefully lifelong activity.

    If you enjoy manually tracking the data there's certainly nothing wrong with that. In fact, it's appealing to some (including me) because there's more of a physical attachment to the work. It's highly tactile.

    I find it feeds my artistic cravings in a way that's tough to describe.

    I get what HellYeah is saying because a lot of people become obsessed with the numbers and it makes it more stressful and unpleasant. I think she's mostly cautioning against that potential trap, not that I want to speak for her but that's what I took from her comments.
  • Rickster1967
    Rickster1967 Posts: 485 Member
    Great plan!
  • alteredsteve175
    alteredsteve175 Posts: 2,716 Member
    Lean59man wrote: »
    We usually gain weight slowly over time. 5-10 lbs a year and in ten years we are 25-50 lbs or more overweight.

    It adds up.

    But when we lose weight we want it to happen quickly. As in "yesterday".

    Amen, @lean59man. Great plan, @donjtomasco.

    I'm a 63 year old male - 5'10". I am on a program to lose 75 lbs. - from 250 to 175. Down 46 in 9 months - slow and sustainable. Taking a maintenance break at 50 lbs. or in January - whichever comes first.

    I'm only doing this one time - I'm getting to my goal weight and staying there. I don't care if I have to log every meal forever. That will be easier than doing this again.
  • Rickster1967
    Rickster1967 Posts: 485 Member
    alteredstates175 wrote: »
    Lean59man wrote: »
    We usually gain weight slowly over time. 5-10 lbs a year and in ten years we are 25-50 lbs or more overweight.

    It adds up.

    But when we lose weight we want it to happen quickly. As in "yesterday".

    Amen, @lean59man. Great plan, @donjtomasco.

    I'm a 63 year old male - 5'10". I am on a program to lose 75 lbs. - from 250 to 175. Down 46 in 9 months - slow and sustainable. Taking a maintenance break at 50 lbs. or in January - whichever comes first.

    I'm only doing this one time - I'm getting to my goal weight and staying there. I don't care if I have to log every meal forever. That will be easier than doing this again.

    Amen brother

    140lb I needed to lose, 53 down in 20 weeks but planning to get the next chuck down by this time next year. Never want to do the weight loss again so will be logging forever.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    I'm ~215 (down from 330+) and currently have MFP set a 1 lb per week. But I'm doing a fair bit of exercise (for me) and am eating back about 1/2 so my loss rate is a bit more. But on the rest days, I still eat what MFP tells me for 1 lb and don't try to rush it. I might even go over by a little if I feel like it.

    I'm not quite as old as you, but still over 50 and do use trendweight. In my case, I have a wifi scale so I step on it and I'm done. But I've got enough work spreadsheets going on right now that I've given up on my weight spreadsheets for a while.
  • bjess8411
    bjess8411 Posts: 68 Member
    Lean59man wrote: »
    We usually gain weight slowly over time. 5-10 lbs a year and in ten years we are 25-50 lbs or more overweight.

    It adds up.

    But when we lose weight we want it to happen quickly. As in "yesterday".

    I gained quickly but it had a lot to do with medications.

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