Do I keep on doing the same thing?

jojo19812018
jojo19812018 Posts: 66 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Ive been losing weight consistently for the last 5 months and have lost about 44 pounds. SW 198, CW 154. Female, 5’1
My question is.... do I just keep doing the same thing to continue to lose weight? Im noticing it slowing down which I expected. I started at 1200 calories so I know I can’t drop my calorie intake. I exercise a few days a week. Will I continue to lose weight doing these same things or do I need to change something? I want to lose another 35+ pounds. Thank you 😊

Replies

  • Cahgetsfit
    Cahgetsfit Posts: 1,912 Member
    it will slow down.

    have a diet break for a week (eat at maintenance) then start again. There is a link somewhere in some thread i'm sure one of the regular posters on here will link it for you all about diet breaks. They are way underutilized by the general population.

  • jojo19812018
    jojo19812018 Posts: 66 Member
    edited February 2019
    Thank you for taking the time to respond. 😊
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    You have been losing faster than you really should have thus far. It is only healthy to lose about 1 percent of your total weight per week. You have been losing a little over 2lbs per week when you should have been losing 1.5lbs per week.

    A diet break is a good idea. Here is a thread that explains:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1


    When you start again you need to slow your loss to 1lb a week by upping your daily calories by about 500.
  • Running2Fit
    Running2Fit Posts: 702 Member
    I have similar stats to you - SW: 190, CW: 142, Height:5'0" and want to lose another 22 lbs.

    My weight loss has slowed but I'm still losing weight consistently. I started out able to 2 lbs a week, now I'm losing an average of about 1 lb a week. While I have added more exercise, I haven't changed my net calorie in-take. I don't think you need to change anything and you can't eat fewer calories anyway. Just takes time and patience :)
  • jojo19812018
    jojo19812018 Posts: 66 Member
    Thank you 😊
  • jojo19812018
    jojo19812018 Posts: 66 Member

    NovusDies wrote: »
    You have been losing faster than you really should have thus far. It is only healthy to lose about 1 percent of your total weight per week. You have been losing a little over 2lbs per week when you should have been losing 1.5lbs per week.

    A diet break is a good idea. Here is a thread that explains:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1


    When you start again you need to slow your loss to 1lb a week by upping your daily calories by about 500.

    If I up my calories by 500, that will put me at 1700 and my maintenance cals are 1800.. wouldn’t that mean pretty much no loss?
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
    edited February 2019
    jojo19812018 wrote: »
    NovusDies wrote: »
    You have been losing faster than you really should have thus far. It is only healthy to lose about 1 percent of your total weight per week. You have been losing a little over 2lbs per week when you should have been losing 1.5lbs per week.

    A diet break is a good idea. Here is a thread that explains:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1


    When you start again you need to slow your loss to 1lb a week by upping your daily calories by about 500.

    If I up my calories by 500, that will put me at 1700 and my maintenance cals are 1800.. wouldn’t that mean pretty much no loss?

    Change your mfp goal to lose 1 pound per week. You will probably get a few more calories (you might not-my one pound a week would put me under 1200 for a goal and mfp won’t do that-nor should it).

    You’re losing quite fast right now so eating a bit more will be Ok.

    Also make sure you’re eating your exercise calories.

    As you have less to lose, you want to lose more slowly so you don’t end up burning muscle tissue (like your heart) just to try and keep up. A body can only burn so much fat in a day-so the less you have, the less you can burn off which means you will lose more slowly.

    That’s a good thing-it means you’re losing fat and keeping the good stuff (like muscles, organs, etc.).
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    jojo19812018 wrote: »
    NovusDies wrote: »
    You have been losing faster than you really should have thus far. It is only healthy to lose about 1 percent of your total weight per week. You have been losing a little over 2lbs per week when you should have been losing 1.5lbs per week.

    A diet break is a good idea. Here is a thread that explains:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1


    When you start again you need to slow your loss to 1lb a week by upping your daily calories by about 500.

    If I up my calories by 500, that will put me at 1700 and my maintenance cals are 1800.. wouldn’t that mean pretty much no loss?

    If you were losing faster than expected than your maintenance calories are higher than you originally thought or you have not been eating back exercise calories as intended. You said you slowed down, what have you been losing the last couple of weeks?
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    I'm adding my voice to the others who say you've lost too fast and if you don't slow that down you're going to have some metabolic issues, not the least of which will be hair loss, skin and nail problems, irritability, fatigue, depression and/or anxiety, lack of focus, poor immune function, and then it gets worse.

    Set your goal at "Lose 1 pound per week" and eat back the exercise calories. It does slow down, be happy if you can lose one pound per week, that's where you need to be.

    At 20 pounds to go, reset it again at "Lose 1/2 pound per week." Slow and steady and you'll stay healthy.
  • jojo19812018
    jojo19812018 Posts: 66 Member
    Thanks everyone for your responses. I had set my goal to lose 1 pound per week and it’s still only giving me 1290 calories. I’m averaging about 1 pound loss per week atm. When I first joined MFP, I put I wanted to lose 2 pounds a week which I thought was ok because I had about 80 pounds to lose. It gave me 1200 cals a day and that’s what I have done. I do eat back about half of my exercise calories. Should I be upping my calorie intake above the suggested 1290?
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    edited February 2019
    jojo19812018 wrote: »
    Thanks everyone for your responses. I had set my goal to lose 1 pound per week and it’s still only giving me 1290 calories. I’m averaging about 1 pound loss per week atm. When I first joined MFP, I put I wanted to lose 2 pounds a week which I thought was ok because I had about 80 pounds to lose. It gave me 1200 cals a day and that’s what I have done. I do eat back about half of my exercise calories. Should I be upping my calorie intake above the suggested 1290?

    One pound per week is good!

    How do you feel? Your original complaint was that you aren't losing as fast. That is how it works. Eat those exercise calories.

    Also, have you set it at "Sedentary"? If you have a job or go to school or care for small children, you aren't Sedentary. Using a slightly higher Activity level will give you more calories. 1290 is really low.
  • jojo19812018
    jojo19812018 Posts: 66 Member
    Hi, thanks. I’m down as lightly active. I’m fine with losing 1 pound per week.

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