When is a good time to switch to .5 lbs per week?
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gallicinvasion
Posts: 1,015 Member
Hello! I’ve been losing weight for about 6 months now, and I’m wondering what’s the recommended timeframe for slowing down the rate of loss. I started at 2 lbs a week, then switched to 1 when I hit 195 lbs.
SW: 229
CW: 172
GW: 135
Height: 5’4”
Activity: Sedentary
MFP: set to 1 lb loss per week, 1380 calories per day
I would like to continue losing at the rate I’ve been at, which has been awesome, but if there’s a recommended point at which I should slow down the rate, I think it makes sense for me to stick to that. Does anyone know?
SW: 229
CW: 172
GW: 135
Height: 5’4”
Activity: Sedentary
MFP: set to 1 lb loss per week, 1380 calories per day
I would like to continue losing at the rate I’ve been at, which has been awesome, but if there’s a recommended point at which I should slow down the rate, I think it makes sense for me to stick to that. Does anyone know?
1
Replies
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last 10lbs usually2
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I did the last 20 on 0.5 because hungry. I even had trouble sticking to that. It's okay - the last 10 is more about vanity.7
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Gotcha, so it’s okay to stay on 1lb per week til I get to 145-155, unless I start getting too hungry or the allotted calories starts going under 1200.4
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I switched on the last 5 lbs based on personal comfort level. My overall goal puts me at the top end of the BMI chart, but I have a high amount of non-fat body mass. I could have kept at 1 lb/week, but it was getting pretty hard.
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Yeah I’m finding that on days where there are events, drinking, restaurants, etc, it’s pretty hard to stay under 1380 calories. I limit those days the best I can, and I pretty much always stay under the 1380 by barely eating before the event, but it’s hard when events pop up.3
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gallicinvasion wrote: »Yeah I’m finding that on days where there are events, drinking, restaurants, etc, it’s pretty hard to stay under 1380 calories. I limit those days the best I can, and I pretty much always stay under the 1380 by barely eating before the event, but it’s hard when events pop up.
The closer you get the more you can tweak all this, too.
If you have been keeping good records you know all your numbers by now. I have always allowed one day on the weekend where I ate to maintenance. I looked at it as a mental health day, and I knew by experience it wouldn't affect my overall loss.
1380 is pretty low/tough to stick to. When I got to within 20 pounds of my goal I was eating 1500 plus exercise calories, so really about 1800-1900 most days. That isn't even hard.
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You obviously know your stuff. Whatever you're doing is working for you (excellent logging by the way ) Your body is gonna tell you when it's almost time to make any changes but for now.. keep up your fabulous work! 3
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Consider whether or not you are TRULY sedentary. I thought I was - desk job, kind of a lazy bum who watches too much netflix in the evenings - but the math I did on my own numbers (extrapolating 4 months worth of daily calorie logging and weight loss) said otherwise. I'm actually lightly active.
What rate are you losing at? If you're doing intentional exercise, are you adding back calories for that?
To answer your original question, I officially switched to 0.5 per week at 15 pounds to my original goal (I've dropped it another 10 pounds now). But my rate of loss was already slowing down because I was finding it hard to stick to the higher deficit calorie goal.0 -
If you're still comfortable and losing steadily, then there's really not a big need to change IMO. For myself, I have the opposite problem, and while I'm far enough from goal I could be losing 1 lb/week, I just find the hungries to be unsustainable, so I'm better off at a slower loss rate.
Slowing down your loss can have some advantages as you near maintenance, however, as you have a much better idea of what is "okay" and keeping you on track and the differences between what you have been and will be doing will be small. More time to adjust to what maintenance will actually mean for you.1 -
Have you taken any maintenance breaks?0
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I'm about to switch mine to 0.5lb/wk. My goal is at/around 1200-ish right now and it's too low for me. I have to be VERY particular about my meals/snacks/food/whatever to be able to stay even close to 1200. I started at 173lb and am currently 154lb. UGW somewhere around 135 I think, but first major goal is 150lb.2
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Consider whether or not you are TRULY sedentary. I thought I was - desk job, kind of a lazy bum who watches too much netflix in the evenings - but the math I did on my own numbers (extrapolating 4 months worth of daily calorie logging and weight loss) said otherwise. I'm actually lightly active.
What rate are you losing at? If you're doing intentional exercise, are you adding back calories for that?
To answer your original question, I officially switched to 0.5 per week at 15 pounds to my original goal (I've dropped it another 10 pounds now). But my rate of loss was already slowing down because I was finding it hard to stick to the higher deficit calorie goal.
My rate is usually a pound per week or more (I try to weigh myself every week, but if I have a lot of sodium one weekend, I will wait another week lol). I’m doing a little bit of intentional exercise (seven minutes of circuit training three mornings a week). I usually leave those calories or eat a small portion of them, because they’re only about 60-70 on those days.
I started wearing a step tracker and it tracks me around 7000-11000 steps on busy days and like 2000-3000 on less busy days. I’m not sure if that would count as sedentary, but I guess it feels safer to me to underestimate 😂 can I ask how you did the math on your activity level? Your “desk job, lazy bum” characterization sounds really similar to me, actually!
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emmamcgarity wrote: »Have you taken any maintenance breaks?
I have set myself on maintenance for 1 day in August and 2 days in September (a toga party and a wedding 😂). Would a maintenance break usually be a week?
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DaisyHamilton wrote: »I'm about to switch mine to 0.5lb/wk. My goal is at/around 1200-ish right now and it's too low for me. I have to be VERY particular about my meals/snacks/food/whatever to be able to stay even close to 1200. I started at 173lb and am currently 154lb. UGW somewhere around 135 I think, but first major goal is 150lb.
Yes this is how I feel sometimes. I feel like I have to be veryyyyyy particular.
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HoneyBadger155 wrote: »If you're still comfortable and losing steadily, then there's really not a big need to change IMO. For myself, I have the opposite problem, and while I'm far enough from goal I could be losing 1 lb/week, I just find the hungries to be unsustainable, so I'm better off at a slower loss rate.
Slowing down your loss can have some advantages as you near maintenance, however, as you have a much better idea of what is "okay" and keeping you on track and the differences between what you have been and will be doing will be small. More time to adjust to what maintenance will actually mean for you.
This is a great point!
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You obviously know your stuff. Whatever you're doing is working for you (excellent logging by the way ) Your body is gonna tell you when it's almost time to make any changes but for now.. keep up your fabulous work!
Thank you!! Logging is fun for me now 😂 especially when lunch prepping.2 -
gallicinvasion wrote: »Consider whether or not you are TRULY sedentary. I thought I was - desk job, kind of a lazy bum who watches too much netflix in the evenings - but the math I did on my own numbers (extrapolating 4 months worth of daily calorie logging and weight loss) said otherwise. I'm actually lightly active.
What rate are you losing at? If you're doing intentional exercise, are you adding back calories for that?
To answer your original question, I officially switched to 0.5 per week at 15 pounds to my original goal (I've dropped it another 10 pounds now). But my rate of loss was already slowing down because I was finding it hard to stick to the higher deficit calorie goal.
My rate is usually a pound per week or more (I try to weigh myself every week, but if I have a lot of sodium one weekend, I will wait another week lol). I’m doing a little bit of intentional exercise (seven minutes of circuit training three mornings a week). I usually leave those calories or eat a small portion of them, because they’re only about 60-70 on those days.
I started wearing a step tracker and it tracks me around 7000-11000 steps on busy days and like 2000-3000 on less busy days. I’m not sure if that would count as sedentary, but I guess it feels safer to me to underestimate 😂 can I ask how you did the math on your activity level? Your “desk job, lazy bum” characterization sounds really similar to me, actually!
You're probably not sedentary, unless you have a lot more not busy days than busy ones.
I just took 16 weeks worth of calorie and weight loss tracking and did the math. I posted about it here https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10702775/why-consistency-matters-more-than-accuracy-to-me/p1 1 -
gallicinvasion wrote: »Consider whether or not you are TRULY sedentary. I thought I was - desk job, kind of a lazy bum who watches too much netflix in the evenings - but the math I did on my own numbers (extrapolating 4 months worth of daily calorie logging and weight loss) said otherwise. I'm actually lightly active.
What rate are you losing at? If you're doing intentional exercise, are you adding back calories for that?
To answer your original question, I officially switched to 0.5 per week at 15 pounds to my original goal (I've dropped it another 10 pounds now). But my rate of loss was already slowing down because I was finding it hard to stick to the higher deficit calorie goal.
My rate is usually a pound per week or more (I try to weigh myself every week, but if I have a lot of sodium one weekend, I will wait another week lol). I’m doing a little bit of intentional exercise (seven minutes of circuit training three mornings a week). I usually leave those calories or eat a small portion of them, because they’re only about 60-70 on those days.
I started wearing a step tracker and it tracks me around 7000-11000 steps on busy days and like 2000-3000 on less busy days. I’m not sure if that would count as sedentary, but I guess it feels safer to me to underestimate 😂 can I ask how you did the math on your activity level? Your “desk job, lazy bum” characterization sounds really similar to me, actually!
You're probably not sedentary, unless you have a lot more not busy days than busy ones.
I just took 16 weeks worth of calorie and weight loss tracking and did the math. I posted about it here https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10702775/why-consistency-matters-more-than-accuracy-to-me/p1
Nice, I remember this post!!! Well done!
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gallicinvasion wrote: »gallicinvasion wrote: »Consider whether or not you are TRULY sedentary. I thought I was - desk job, kind of a lazy bum who watches too much netflix in the evenings - but the math I did on my own numbers (extrapolating 4 months worth of daily calorie logging and weight loss) said otherwise. I'm actually lightly active.
What rate are you losing at? If you're doing intentional exercise, are you adding back calories for that?
To answer your original question, I officially switched to 0.5 per week at 15 pounds to my original goal (I've dropped it another 10 pounds now). But my rate of loss was already slowing down because I was finding it hard to stick to the higher deficit calorie goal.
My rate is usually a pound per week or more (I try to weigh myself every week, but if I have a lot of sodium one weekend, I will wait another week lol). I’m doing a little bit of intentional exercise (seven minutes of circuit training three mornings a week). I usually leave those calories or eat a small portion of them, because they’re only about 60-70 on those days.
I started wearing a step tracker and it tracks me around 7000-11000 steps on busy days and like 2000-3000 on less busy days. I’m not sure if that would count as sedentary, but I guess it feels safer to me to underestimate 😂 can I ask how you did the math on your activity level? Your “desk job, lazy bum” characterization sounds really similar to me, actually!
You're probably not sedentary, unless you have a lot more not busy days than busy ones.
I just took 16 weeks worth of calorie and weight loss tracking and did the math. I posted about it here https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10702775/why-consistency-matters-more-than-accuracy-to-me/p1
Nice, I remember this post!!! Well done!
Thanks
Now I feel like a shameless self-promoter 
But the easiest way to figure out what works for you really is to be consistent.
If you're happy losing 1 pound a week still and not getting too hungry, I see no need to change. I knew it was time to change when I started having issues sticking to my chosen deficit.2 -
Once I got closer to my goal weight I started focusing on a weekly deficit more than a daily deficit. It helps balance out the high days, especially around the holiday's. If I eat to much on Monday, I try to make up for it later in the week so my weekly average still good. Or if I know there is a party and I'm going to go over, I will eat light for a couple of days ahead and/or after to give me extra calories for the event.1
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