-3 a week needed

strangeone2
strangeone2 Posts: 1 Member
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Any ideas on the best way to drop 3lb a week

I feel when I work out my macros it's giving me too many calories

Replies

  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    edited July 2019
    strangeone2 wrote: »
    Any ideas on the best way to drop 3lb a week

    I feel when I work out my macros it's giving me too many calories

    This is seldom a good idea. I agree with @kimny72 except I think you need to be over 325 to do it and even then it may not be a good idea.

    ETA: If you do have a imminent medical need then I would ask your doctor to refer you to a registered dietitian or the equivalent if you are not in the states.
  • perkymommy
    perkymommy Posts: 1,642 Member
    edited July 2019
    I wouldn't try to lose more than 1/2 - 2 lbs a week depending on your height/weight currently. Even 2 lbs a week is a bit of a stretch to always shoot for. It's going to fluctuate week to week. Your body also has other things going on other than just trying to lose weight for you.
  • kmfeig87
    kmfeig87 Posts: 1,990 Member
    Agree with the above posters. Not a good idea unless you are under the care of a doctor...and then the doctor would give you the plan.
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
    If you have a medical reason to lose at that pace, then your doctor should be supervising your weight loss extremely closely. Otherwise, this would only be a healthy pace of weight loss for people who are somewhere around 300 pounds or more--and even then, medical supervision would be strongly recommended.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
    Needed?

    Reevaluate this desire. You cannot lose at such a high rate safely without a team of medical professionals monitoring you.

    The human body can withstand great changes, but it is the rate of change that determines success and mitigates risk. Move slowly.
  • lg013
    lg013 Posts: 215 Member
    edited July 2019
    -3 is a much more realistic goal for monthly loss...not weekly...you didn’t put the weight on at a rate of 3 pounds per week...it’s not going to come off at that rate either.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    To be clear a doctor is not necessarily required if you are super obese or above. It is highly advisable though.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    NovusDies wrote: »
    To be clear a doctor is not necessarily required if you are super obese or above. It is highly advisable though.

    To be clear, extreme weight loss can affect your liver and other bodily systems. These should be checked before and during a program aimed at losing 3 lbs. a week.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    concordancia wrote: »
    NovusDies wrote: »
    To be clear a doctor is not necessarily required if you are super obese or above. It is highly advisable though.

    To be clear, extreme weight loss can affect your liver and other bodily systems. These should be checked before and during a program aimed at losing 3 lbs. a week.

    It is not extreme for people with lots of fat stores which is why I said super obese and above. It is extreme if it is a vlcd or the equivalent for a person depending on stats.

    2 pounds a week can cause organ damage if done by a person who should not be losing that much.

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 10,092 Member
    edited July 2019
    You've not given any further information other than that you're female.

    To lose 3lbs per week you need to eat 3500x3 = 10500kcal less per week than what you need for maintenance.
    That's 1500kcal less each day.

    Now lets make an assumption. Lets say you're 170cm tall, 180lbs heavy and 35 years.
    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ gives you 1898 kcal to eat each day if you neither want to lose nor gain weight.
    1898 - 1500kcal = 398kcal. To achieve such a loss under these conditions you could only eat 398 calories each day! Nope, that's not possible.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    A doctor is good at monitoring your health. Directing your weight loss may be something he/she has little training to do. Doctors may not even do TDEE calcs before approving you to eat the minimum number of calories for your gender. It happens.

    When I asked my doctor about my own rate of loss he said he couldn't help me because he didn't know. I appreciated his honesty.

    We don't know the OP's stats so there is not much point in debating when it is safe and when it is not to exceed 2 pounds a week. It definitely should not be attempted by a normal obese or overweight person without a doctor and a registered dietitian in the mix.



  • LyndaBSS
    LyndaBSS Posts: 6,964 Member
    strangeone2 wrote: »
    Any ideas on the best way to drop 3lb a week

    I feel when I work out my macros it's giving me too many calories

    I can't think of a single way to do that and be healthy. Why 3 lbs?
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 35,263 Member
    strangeone2 wrote: »
    Any ideas on the best way to drop 3lb a week

    I feel when I work out my macros it's giving me too many calories [/quote]

    Calorie requirements are not a thing we can "feel" in anticipation or in the short term. They're something we estimate (via MFP + exercise estimates, or via a TDEE calculator), then use to guide a test period of 4-6 weeks in an estimated calorie deficit. After that period, we adjust based on our actual average weekly loss rate.

    As others have said, 3 pounds a week is a loss rate for someone who is morbidly obese, and then ideally under close medical supervision, and only for a limited time period.

    Slow weight loss may be frustrating, but too-fast weight loss is a health risk. Don't risk your health. Follow the calorie guidance from a research-based "calculator" (really an estimator). Stick to it for 6 weeks. If you seem to be losing very fast in the early weeks, and begin feeling weak or fatigued for otherwise unexplained reasons, eat more . . . because that's a danger sign. Otherwise, stick to it, until you have a multi-week average loss rate to consider.

    Then adjust to a sensible rate of loss . . . for most, who are not under close medical supervision, a maximum of 1% of body weight weekly, and less than that if within 50 pounds of a healthy goal weight.
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