your BMI and deficit/rate of weight loss
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oat_bran
Posts: 370 Member
What is your current BMI and what is your average daily caloric deficit (or if you don't track your actual deficit what's your rate of weight loss)? What are your hunger levels on this deficit?
I've been struggling with hunger and I want to see how BMI corresponds with the deficit one can maintain comfortably. I'm at a BMI 24.3 currently and even 250 cals deficit/0.5lb weekly loss seems hard too maintain over a period longer than a few weeks. And that only with exercising daily and having a pretty big TDEE. Even maintenance is hard at times. I can only maintain a 400 deficit or higher for a few days, than I start to feel ravenous. My weight loss is painfully slow as a result. I want to know how common it is.
I've been struggling with hunger and I want to see how BMI corresponds with the deficit one can maintain comfortably. I'm at a BMI 24.3 currently and even 250 cals deficit/0.5lb weekly loss seems hard too maintain over a period longer than a few weeks. And that only with exercising daily and having a pretty big TDEE. Even maintenance is hard at times. I can only maintain a 400 deficit or higher for a few days, than I start to feel ravenous. My weight loss is painfully slow as a result. I want to know how common it is.
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My bmi is about 23 and my current deficit is around 500. I'm fairly active so that still affords me at least 1600 cals, I don't go any lower or my energy level suffers.0
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I forgot to say my hunger is manageable at this level.0
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That's strange. I'm at a BMI of around 21.5, and I lost weight right on schedule, 1.5 pounds, 1 pound, 0.5 pounds without any noticeable/troublesome hunger. Your body's fat stores are supposed to supply what you aren't taking in daily. Are you sure 1200 is right for you? If that is a deficit of 250, it would mean your TDEE is around 1450 and that just can't be possible. Also check your macros - up fat and protein, lower carbs. Then make sure you are eating nothing but real food - if you are dieting and hungry, there is no room for treats and supplements and replacements (but your diet looks delicious and exciting - are you in Estonia?).6
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I find my hunger/satiety levels have much more to do with my macros than total calories eaten.
To answer your question, my current bmi is 29, and I average a 500 cal deficit/day. I'm only hungry if I don't get enough protein and moderate fat through the day. I am for 100g protein, and 40-50g fat. Above that, whatever I'm in the mood for to get me to my calorie goal.2 -
My BMI is 21.3 and I have a deficiency of 500 most days, but do have days at or above maintenance calories usually once or twice a week. Sometimes I have days where I'm hungry (usually hormonal for me), but for the most part it's easy and I feel fine. Getting more protein in definitely helps me!0
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kommodevaran wrote: »That's strange. I'm at a BMI of around 21.5, and I lost weight right on schedule, 1.5 pounds, 1 pound, 0.5 pounds without any noticeable/troublesome hunger. Your body's fat stores are supposed to supply what you aren't taking in daily. Are you sure 1200 is right for you? If that is a deficit of 250, it would mean your TDEE is around 1450 and that just can't be possible. Also check your macros - up fat and protein, lower carbs. Then make sure you are eating nothing but real food - if you are dieting and hungry, there is no room for treats and supplements and replacements (but your diet looks delicious and exciting - are you in Estonia?).
My diary is set to sedentary, so goal is set to 1200 (I'm short), but I use my fitbit to log exercise automatically, so my actual goal is 1700-1900 most days as I'm fairly active.
As far as macros go, I tried everything trust me. Upping protein, fat, fiber. Lowering carbs. I tried more frequant meals, less frequent. I tried drinking even more water than I already do. All the usual tips. I literally tried everything you can think of. I'm at the end of my rope here.
I'm not currently in Estonia, but I live between several countries so my diary is multilingual.0 -
It is going to be different for everyone. BMI is one thing, but level of leanness (bodyfat%), exercise, non-exercise activity, age, hormones, macro breakdown, etc will all affect hunger and what deficit can comfortably be maintained.
For example, I was at a BMI of 21.5 at the end of my last bulk... I was losing about 0.5lb per week or less when I started in a deficit. But I was also fairly lean, very active, breastfeeding (a toddler), and no matter what my macros were I was pretty hungry and it sucked most of the time. The leaner I get the more uncomfortable it becomes.. the harder my workouts feel, the more I need refeeds or breaks.3 -
It is going to be different for everyone. BMI is one thing, but level of leanness (bodyfat%), exercise, non-exercise activity, age, hormones, macro breakdown, etc will all affect hunger and what deficit can comfortably be maintained.
For example, I was at a BMI of 21.5 at the end of my last bulk... I was losing about 0.5lb per week or less when I started in a deficit. But I was also fairly lean, very active, breastfeeding (a toddler), and no matter what my macros were I was pretty hungry and it sucked most of the time. The leaner I get the more uncomfortable it becomes.. the harder my workouts feel, the more I need refeeds or breaks.
Yeah, I know that BMI is not a very accurate way to measure things and that there are a lot of factors that can affect hunger levels. I just want to see if there's some correlation between one's BMI and a comfortable weight loss rate.
If that helps, I'm not that lean, according to my scale I'm currently slightly over 26% body fat.0 -
It is going to be different for everyone. BMI is one thing, but level of leanness (bodyfat%), exercise, non-exercise activity, age, hormones, macro breakdown, etc will all affect hunger and what deficit can comfortably be maintained.
For example, I was at a BMI of 21.5 at the end of my last bulk... I was losing about 0.5lb per week or less when I started in a deficit. But I was also fairly lean, very active, breastfeeding (a toddler), and no matter what my macros were I was pretty hungry and it sucked most of the time. The leaner I get the more uncomfortable it becomes.. the harder my workouts feel, the more I need refeeds or breaks.
Yeah, I know that BMI is not a very accurate way to measure things and that there are a lot of factors that can affect hunger levels. I just want to see if there's some correlation between one's BMI and a comfortable weight loss rate.
If that helps, I'm not that lean, according to my scale I'm currently slightly over 26% body fat.
How long have you been in a deficit? Could it maybe be time for a diet break?3 -
I will confirm to you that after a long period of restriction it is not uncommon for hormones to have fallen and for restriction to be more difficult. I would encourage you to look at the first page of the refeeds and diet break post by nony_mouse. http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1
Slow is better than nothing. By the sounds of it you will need to spend a considerable amount of time paying attention to your caloric balance even when trying to maintain. This is not uncommon is all I can say ;-)0 -
It is going to be different for everyone. BMI is one thing, but level of leanness (bodyfat%), exercise, non-exercise activity, age, hormones, macro breakdown, etc will all affect hunger and what deficit can comfortably be maintained.
For example, I was at a BMI of 21.5 at the end of my last bulk... I was losing about 0.5lb per week or less when I started in a deficit. But I was also fairly lean, very active, breastfeeding (a toddler), and no matter what my macros were I was pretty hungry and it sucked most of the time. The leaner I get the more uncomfortable it becomes.. the harder my workouts feel, the more I need refeeds or breaks.
Yeah, I know that BMI is not a very accurate way to measure things and that there are a lot of factors that can affect hunger levels. I just want to see if there's some correlation between one's BMI and a comfortable weight loss rate.
If that helps, I'm not that lean, according to my scale I'm currently slightly over 26% body fat.
How long have you been in a deficit? Could it maybe be time for a diet break?I will confirm to you that after a long period of restriction it is not uncommon for hormones to have fallen and for restriction to be more difficult. I would encourage you to look at the first page of the refeeds and diet break post by nony_mouse. http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1
Slow is better than nothing. By the sounds of it you will need to spend a considerable amount of time paying attention to your caloric balance even when trying to maintain. This is not uncommon is all I can say ;-)
Well, I guess one could say that I've been in a deficit for a long time though not consistently. Over the last few years I've been eating in a deficit 90% of the time. The other 10% were several days every few weeks where I overeat (read: binge) because I got too hungry. When my deficit was higher I used to overeat more frequently. When my deficit is low I can sustain a deficit longer. But I do end up overeating sooner or later, because eventually I get too ravenous even with a very small deficit. But the downside of a small deficit is that going over my calories even for several days can erase several weeks of progress. Which is why I've been stuck on the same weight forever, loosing and gaining the same few pounds. I feel like all I do all day is fight hunger, waiting for my next meal, trying to district myself. It's very frustrating.
Thanks for the link, PAV8888! I've read a big portion of the refeed/diet thread a while back when it appeared. I tried doing refeeds. I wasn't very successful at keeping it controlled. Probably because eating so many carbs makes me even more hungry. But it does seem to work in a sense that after overeating for a couple of days, my hunger goes down and I can eat in a deficit for a while. HOWEVER, as soon as I burn off the surplus from the overeating I'm back to being hungry.
For how long does one have to do a diet break to balance the hormones? Psychologically, I can't seem to aim to maintain at the moment. I feel pretty much just as hungry when I eat at maintenance as when I eat with a small deficit, but I don't even get the emotional validation of knowing that I'm losing weight...
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U MIGHT want to ask questions there hay bales, Anubis, azdak might have answers on reversing adaptive thermogenesis
My personal answer (as far as I've been able to ascertain) is possibly a long time of vigilance and or tiny trending weight increase... like even a year or longer depending on situation. Though a few weeks I think (6-8 weeks if I recall) provide the bulk of hormonal stabilization.
Options do exist with varying types of exercise etc to make things better.
Maintaining loss IS a win worth fighting for. Just as big a win as losing in the first place.
Gottaburnthemall in that thread may be in similar sounding situation. Try and chat with her
Sorry on phone and dictating and can't really research answer right now.2 -
OP 24.3 bmi is healthy so no more than 250 cal deficit is a good aim for you.
My bmi is 22.5, I maintain on almost 2000 cals. Would lose therefore 0.5lb a week on 1750 cals.2 -
My BMI is 22.1. I have lost 66lbs eating 1200 calories net after my exercise. I usually get 2-6 miles per day walking or running so I will eat 1200 to1800 a day depending on my exercise level or lack thereof. I am 5'10.5" and in my forties. If it weren't for adding exercise calories, it would be difficult. I have found some foods that fill me up well such as beans and rice, etc. So on my lower calories days I try to eat those more filling foods. It's a balance.0
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U MIGHT want to ask questions there hay bales, Anubis, azdak might have answers on reversing adaptive thermogenesis
My personal answer (as far as I've been able to ascertain) is possibly a long time of vigilance and or tiny trending weight increase... like even a year or longer depending on situation. Though a few weeks I think (6-8 weeks if I recall) provide the bulk of hormonal stabilization.
Options do exist with varying types of exercise etc to make things better.
Maintaining loss IS a win worth fighting for. Just as big a win as losing in the first place.
Gottaburnthemall in that thread may be in similar sounding situation. Try and chat with her
Sorry on phone and dictating and can't really research answer right now.
Thank you for the advice and references! I appreciate it! You are right, I think I need to convince myself to think differently. Maintaining a loss, even a small one IS indeed a win, especially if maintaining isn't easy. I guess I should think of it as "solidifying" the results I achieved and learning maintenance for the future when I reach my goal weight.2 -
my BMI is 22 ish i think, and i aim for a deficit of between 1000-1700 cals per week (so roughly 200 per day) for 3 weeks and then have a week at maintenance. in theory i am losing around a pound a month.
i cant hold a deficit for much longer these days especially when i am running a lot as i get too rungry!5 -
You're no alone! Heck even with my BMI of 25 right now I can't keep a 250 calorie deficit without starving.
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Quoting @Branstin :
As a rule of thumb, the following weekly targets would give a balance between minimizing negative side effects and seeing a reasonable weekly weight loss:
[Depending on how much you have to lose]
More than 75 lbs. 2 lbs./week
40-75 lbs. 1.5 lbs./week
10-40 lbs. 1 lb./week
Less than 10 lbs. 0.5 lb./week
ETA: My BMI is 34.5 or so. Currently at 1.5 lbs/week.1
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