Daily calorie goal

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LisaY76
LisaY76 Posts: 76 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I’ve been losing about a pound a day and I know that losing weight too fast is not necessarily a good thing since it can put a lot of stress on your body.

— Is 1lb/day too fast?

— Should I increase my daily calorie goal?

I don’t want to stop losing weight by eating too much either. Please help. 😕

Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    How long have you been losing a pound a day and what is your starting weight? How much have you lost overall? What is your calorie goal and are you exercising?

    Some people drop weight really fast at the beginning of a new plan and that's normal and okay. But doing it for too long can put your health at risk.
  • MileHigh4Wheeler
    MileHigh4Wheeler Posts: 67 Member
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    I think @callsitlikeiseeit and @janejellyroll make excellent points - 1lb a day is way too fast and how long has it been going on? Now if just a few days then 1lb could just be water weight and adjusting your salt intake a bit might help regulate that. A fairly large person can see huge results in a week but you want to do this in a healthy way rather than rapid, no? I mean, at the very least if you loose weight too fast then you'll end up with loose skin, if you do it gradually then you are less likely to have that happen. Your body, your rules, but 1-2lbs a week would be pretty good and healthy weight loss not only from my own experience but also what has been repeatedly expressed to me by trainers and dietitians.
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,073 Member
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    When did you start reducing your intake? If it was only recently you're probably just seeing a big drop in water weight even more likely if you over-indulged on food and alcohol over the festive season. To lose a pound of fat a day you'd need to be in a 3500 calorie deficit which would basically mean eating nothing and running a marathon every day. Try downloading a trendweight app like HappyScale or Libra
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
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    tinkerbellang83 wrote: »
    When did you start reducing your intake? If it was only recently you're probably just seeing a big drop in water weight even more likely if you over-indulged on food and alcohol over the festive season. To lose a pound of fat a day you'd need to be in a 3500 calorie deficit which would basically mean eating nothing and running a marathon every day. Try downloading a trendweight app like HappyScale or Libra

    I'm down (by the scale) 5 lbs in the last 5 days. 5 days ago I started tracking and upping my protein while lowering my carbs. All expected, perfectly normal and little to do with fat loss (maybe 1-1.5 lbs of it). Trendweight shows me down 0.7 by trend (which is a bit low).

    Give it at least 3 weeks, if not longer before changing your diet.
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
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    All the above, but it never hurts to evaluate if your weekly weight loss goal is appropriate for your currents stats (2 lbs/week is only appropriate for those with 75+ lbs to lose).
  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
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    try2again wrote: »
    OP, hope you don't mind... took a peek at your profile & diary. With under 50 lbs to lose, it would be best to set your weekly weight loss goal at 1 lb/week. Also, while calories are all that matter for weight loss, sustainability is key. Most would struggle over time with so many calories coming from beverages. Just something to consider.

    This. Lots of calories being spent of coffee drinks/creamer. Those things usually have very little satiety for the calorie punch that comes with them.

    OP, it also looks like you're hardly eating any food as well-cereal with milk is fine, but again not a lot of food for the calories. Maybe incorporate more veggies, whole grains and protein sources like chicken, fish etc. Low calorie options that will make you feel full, longer.

    I know that wasn't your original question, but this is what stood out to me looking at a few days of your food log.

  • LisaY76
    LisaY76 Posts: 76 Member
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    I started my on 1/1/19 (typical New Years resolution). My starting weight is at 195. I’m only 5’4” so I am definitely considered obese. I’ve lost almost 5 lbs. in 1 week. I’m also weighing myself each morning which I was told is a big no no. I should also mention that I have ME/CFS so I don’t have the energy or strength to workout right now without suffering the consequences of sleeping for several days after.
  • Running2Fit
    Running2Fit Posts: 702 Member
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    Weighing yourself every morning is not “a big no no” in fact there’s plenty of research supporting it as a way to help keep on track and manage your weight. It’s only a problem if it’s negatively impacting your mental health.

    I wouldn’t be concerned about 5 lbs in your first week. A lot of people see a pretty big drop right at the start. It will slow. See how next week goes before making any changes to your plan.
  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
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    LisaY76 wrote: »
    I started my on 1/1/19 (typical New Years resolution). My starting weight is at 195. I’m only 5’4” so I am definitely considered obese. I’ve lost almost 5 lbs. in 1 week. I’m also weighing myself each morning which I was told is a big no no. I should also mention that I have ME/CFS so I don’t have the energy or strength to workout right now without suffering the consequences of sleeping for several days after.

    Who told you that? There's nothing wrong with daily weigh-ins, they can be a valuable tool as it gives you data that you can use to see long term trends. Do you track your weigh-ins in an app? There's a couple out there that are great for tracking- Libra is the one for Android and I know there's one for iphones that people like (can't remember the name though).
  • Danp
    Danp Posts: 1,561 Member
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    Rethink your timelines. Stop thinking daily and start thinking weekly and monthly.

    Daily weight mean very little in isolation. I can easily go up or down by 3-4lbs in 24hrs on occasions when factors W, X, Y & Z conspire in one direction or the other. The benefit of daily weighing is provide aggregated data to reveal trends in weight, not for day to day comparison.

    Weight loss requires a long view. Your timeline for making decisions and adjustments should be made based on several weeks, even up to a month of progress.

    Patience.

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