? about recommended rate of loss and, uh, motivation

jjpptt2 · December 2017

I'm going to try to word this in the most objective, non-snarky way I can... because I really don't mean it to be snarky. I mean it as a legit question.

A little background, fwiw...
I'm 41, male.
I've been as high as 190lbs, as low as 160lbs. Currently at 181.
I've been at this MFP thing for, I dunno... 8ish years.
I typically cut/lose during the spring and summer, then bulk/gain during the winter (intentionally).

I understand why people suggest/recommend slower rates of loss for people with less to lose. Cognitively, it makes sense. But how do you balance that realistically with the ability to stay focused and motivated? If someone told me that I should plan on a year to lose my 15 vanity lbs, I'd probably quit right then and there. Grinding this out, day in and day out, for a year... just for 15 vanity lbs??? The mental effort it requires for me to stay on track is not worth it (to me) for ~.3-.5lbs week loss.

Am I the only one that struggles with that?

Again, logically I get it. But emotionally... how do people come to terms with that?

brittneyalley · December 2017

It's either worth it or not to someone. I've lost a little over 35 pounds in the past 4-5 months. I still have about 20 to lose but it'll probably take me a year to lose it. I'm okay with that because the time will go by anyway, and I might as well work toward my goal in the meantime!

Biker_SuzCO · December 2017

Some of us have no real “choice” on how quickly we can lose. As a short 40 year old, I had to work my butt off for 1 year to lose 20 pounds! I could not have eaten less without developing an eating disorder. But—20 pounds at my height is like losing 50-60 to taller people IMO.

toxikon · December 2017

I think as long as you're reaching a nutritionally balanced and safe calorie goal for your height, weight and sex (generally speaking, a minimum of 1200 for women and 1500 for men), the pace of your weight loss is up to you. If you can handle the hunger that comes with a lower calorie goal (and the higher chance of muscle loss), go for it.

I only have around 10-15lbs left to lose and I'd like to do so in the next few months so I can buy my wedding dress at a smaller size. So my goal is a bit aggressive and I'm trying to stick to around 1200-1300 cals a day. My TDEE is 1800, so if I wasn't in any rush, I'd probably be averaging around 1400-1500 calories a day instead.

In short... do what works for you, as long as you're keeping yourself healthy and sane in the process.

SCoil123 · December 2017

At this point though balanced nutrition and working out have become my lifestyle. I choose to live this way and happier doing so regardless of weight

MegaMooseEsq · December 2017

I guess I went into this treating the changes to my diet and exercise habits as something I'd be doing for the rest of my life, not just during the time I was losing weight. The number of calories I'll have to live on at 135 lbs is going to be significantly less than when I was actively gaining at 208, so learning to control my portions and stay satiated on less is key. Also I hate suffering and enjoy eating, and losing slow means I get to eat more and suffer less. And even if I got to 150 and decided I didn't want to keep up the deficit anymore, I'd still be way, way healthier than I was when I started.

Biker_SuzCO wrote: »

Some of us have no real “choice” on how quickly we can lose. As a short 40 year old, I had to work my butt off for 1 year to lose 20 pounds! I could not have eaten less without developing an eating disorder. But—20 pounds at my height is like losing 50-60 to taller people IMO.

Yeah, and there's also the fact that when people don't have a lot to lose, it really is difficult to keep that deficit going while staying healthy, so advising people to be patient is as much about expectation management as anything else.

NextRightThing714 · December 2017

For me, the slower rate of weight loss is actually more sustainable because the caloric deficit doesn't have to be so severe. If I had to cut too severely, I wouldn't last two days even if I were losing rapidly. I'd feel too deprived.

It's less mentally and emotionally taxing, for me personally, to eat at a moderate deficit. I can continue to enjoy the foods I like albeit in smaller portions.

Another point: people close to GW will have to learn to eat at maintenance. Maintenance lasts forever unless we all plan to return to the weight loss forums in the future. What better time to learn to eat near maintenance, by eating for a loss of .5lb/week, than just before you reach GW?

I'll also add that I have felt exactly as you feel in the past but now I really believe the slower, less restrictive route is the way to go.

NextRightThing714 · December 2017

P.S.: Thanks for asking the question. I find this angle on weightloss really interesting and I feel like it's not discussed often enough. So much of this is mental and emotional.

Icandoit233 · December 2017

I was just told it may take a year for me to lose 20 LBS. I was kind of shocked that it would take that long. I am hoping I will stay motivated that long

HellYeahItsKriss · December 2017

If you can't put in a year for 15 pounds how are you gonna maintain for the rest of your life? It's still the same Amount of hard work. You don't just get to stop after 15

kommodevaran · December 2017

You're exaggerating, you can lose 15 pounds in less than a year... but I actually have to do what I'm doing (not inclined to call it grinding, more awareness) every day, every year, just to not regain. After I came to terms with that, I don't struggle anymore. You don't stop brushing your teeth just because you had no cavities, do you? It just is what it is.

WhereIsPJSoles · December 2017

I don’t think of my “goal weight” as a real thing, honestly. It’s where I think I want to be? But I’m just enjoying watching my body change with the work I put in for it. If the scale stopped moving today but I saw more definition, I would still keep going.

Nony_Mouse · December 2017

I did a lot of looking into where the idea of 0.5 lb per week losses if you have less than 20 lbs to lose came from a couple of months back. First, I think it's morphed out of 15-20% deficit from TDEE (it's just easier to tell people to aim for 0.5 lb per week). Second, the less body fat you have, the harder your body fights to maintain it, cos, y'know, there might be a food shortage (thanks, evolution). So with less weight to lose, you're going to feel the effects of leptin dropping a lot sooner than someone with more body fat, and that means hunger, and more difficulty in adhering to a deficit. This is where diet breaks and refeeds come in. Planning those in helps to reset hormone levels, allowing for an easier time when you're in a deficit.

My N=1: I set about shedding some creep weight (NZ winter combined with injury, less active, kept eating like I wasn't less active) in mid August. For six weeks I felt like I was going in circles and it was just a slog (NB, I was doing a 500 cal/1 lb per week deficit). Did a diet break, shed some most likely cortisol-induced water weight as a result of that, followed diet break with weekend high carb refeeds. Never felt like I was struggling during the week at a deficit (deficit was variable, only pulled a full 3500 cal deficit for the week once, and that was enough, not easy to do in 5 days, I just happened to be super active that week), energy levels were fab thanks to glycogen levels being replenished every weekend. Got to goal with ease and grace (okay, was helped along at the end by the mother of all eczema flares, so actually hit goal a couple of weeks early), and I'm sure quicker than I would have if I'd tried to continue slogging it out at a daily deficit. YMMV.

watts6151 · December 2017

I aim for 1% of body weight per week
When I’m not lean (over 10-12% bf )
At 220lb I aim for 2.2lb per week,

When I’m lean I aim for 0.5% of body weight per week.
Currently at 209lb and aiming for just over
1lb per week

lemurcat12 · December 2017

I don't really think of 1 lb per week as too fast unless one is quite small or really working on body composition and trying to get quite lean. If the latter, the focus should be less on weight loss as the strength training program and so on, I'd think, and that -- as well as following physical changes and strength improvements -- would supply the motivation, and the loss would be secondary.

Beyond that, I think losing 15 lbs super slowly would not require a way of tracking and eating all that differently than maintenance. Just eat a bit less and adjust if you aren't losing. Since maintenance IS (for me, anyway) harder than losing, not a bad thing to start working on, and I'd do that more like a recomp.

Blythmag · December 2017

Biker_SuzCO wrote: »

Some of us have no real “choice” on how quickly we can lose. As a short 40 year old, I had to work my butt off for 1 year to lose 20 pounds! I could not have eaten less without developing an eating disorder. But—20 pounds at my height is like losing 50-60 to taller people IMO.

Totally get this.im at a 17lbs loss with 8 to go before i will be happy finally and im a shorty too, weight looks rubbish on me and finally im beginning to look healthy, its harder for us wee guys.

I do this for me and my mind, im unhappy being fat.im happier being like i am now, its whats in my head, but im sure overall im healthier for it.keep focused and yes i know this is a pain but theres no quick fix if you want a healthy body and mind.

kimny72 · December 2017

A couple of things that popped into my head as I was reading your post OP:

This is one reason why I often suggest people find a away that they can naturally eat for the rest of their life at the correct calorie level. Then you don't have to stay "motivated", it's just the way you eat. If you want to lose a few lbs, you eat a little less for awhile. If you want to gain a few lbs, you eat a little more.
Even at a pace of 0.5 lb per week, 15 lbs would take you 6 months, not a year. Drama queen
If you are reasonably active, and an average height or taller guy, you might be able to lose the first few at a 1 lb per week rate, and cut that time down even further. I do know some guys who do bulk/cut cycles do cut a little more aggressively than the typical advice, because they have plenty of calories to work with and can do a 500 cal deficit for several months without being hangry or their workouts suffering even though they aren't overweight.

Honestly, I find eating at a 250 cal deficit isn't a struggle, and since my maintenance cals are on the low side, I decided I'd rather it take forever and still eat what I wanted. Even so, every year I basically take December and January off, because cold weather makes me want to eat! But if paying any sort of attention to the numbers is what you need motivation for, maybe trying for a slightly shorter time frame by increasing your deficit a bit would be a better decision for you. Hope you get some ideas from the thread, good luck!

JaydedMiss · December 2017

i mean...if you didnt want to gain more weight youd eat to maintain...the entire point of losing slow is to make it sustainable. the calorie difference to lose 15 pounds in a year would be basically no different thn maintenance. Why wouldthat make it so difficult and quit worthy o_O Beats being fatter next year or starving

DebLaBounty · December 2017

It's your body. If you'd like to see faster progress, set your calories for 1500 to 1800 for a couple weeks and see how you feel. Then slow it down after you lose five pounds or something . Sounds like you might be more motivated with some immediate gratification.

jjpptt2 · December 2017

some interesting responses... thank you. Keep em coming!

cwolfman13 · December 2017

During my initial weight loss, I never purposefully slowed my rate of loss...it just happened...my guess is adaptive thermogenesis from being in a deficit for 9 months. I initially lost 40 Lbs at an average rate of about 1-1.5 Lbs per week which slowed as I neared the end.

I've more or less maintained my weight now for going on 5 years this spring...I did drop another 5 Lbs a few years ago to get down to 175 but then went back up to 180 because it was just more comfortable and easier to maintain given what I was willing and not willing to do. I had no problem dropping that 5 Lbs over the course of about 1 month.

I usually put on a bit of weight during the winter...usually 8-10 Lbs, and I take that off in about 8-10 weeks give or take when I cut.

I don't really subscribe to the lose much slower philosophy when cutting those Lbs...I look more at a general rule of thumb of 1% of body weight...that said, anymore than about 1 Lb per week isn't happening for me because I'm not willing to cut my calories like that...a 500 calorie deficit for a quick cut in the spring is pretty easily doable. I also make sure I keep my protein a bit higher in a cut as well.

I think the slow just happens when you've been in a deficit for a long time...once hormones are all re-calibrated, etc it's pretty easy to cut again.

ETA: I think it becomes more of an issue when you're already very lean...when I'm 180 I'm about 15%, so not super lean...still plenty of body fat there to lose about 1 Lb per week. If I was cutting from 12% or 10% or trying for single digits, my answer might be different.

? about recommended rate of loss and, uh, motivation

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