Question on rate of weight loss as you approach "ideal" weight

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GoalWeight168by2021
GoalWeight168by2021 Posts: 12 Member
edited June 2020 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm 42 (F), 5 foot 9 inches.
SW: 245
CW: 202
According to the online calculators my ideal weight range is somewhere between 130-169.
So, I am currently ~30 pounds away from even ENTERING my ideal weight range.
Is losing 1 lb a week at this stage realistic?
My weight loss seems to have slowed to about 1/2 pound a week, and I am wondering if I need to change my actions or my expectations at this point.


Thanks!

Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    Can you clarify what your current weight is? The post says 102, but I'm thinking that is a typo.
  • Justin_7272
    Justin_7272 Posts: 341 Member
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    Since you need to lose ~30lbs to enter "ideal" Im assuming you meant SW 245 CW 202.

    If so, 1lb/week is ~.5℅ body weight. Given you need to lose at least 15%, 1lb/week is certainly achievable.

    I'd tighten up your counting (both food and exercise calories) to drill down where those extra 1750 calories are coming from each week.
  • GoalWeight168by2021
    GoalWeight168by2021 Posts: 12 Member
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    @janejellyroll - Oh dear! Yes, I meant SW at 245 and CW at 202.
    I don't know how to edit my post or else I would go back and do that!
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    GoalWeight168by2021 wrote: »
    @janejellyroll - Oh dear! Yes, I meant SW at 245 and CW at 202.
    I don't know how to edit my post or else I would go back and do that!

    No worries - thanks for clarifying!

    When you say "seems to have slowed"? How are you tracking that? I'm thinking there was a period where you were consistently losing one pound a week and now you're not. How long has it been half a pound a week? Is this based on weighing once a week, a weight trending app, some other method? Have you adjusted your calorie goal since you began losing weight?
  • GoalWeight168by2021
    GoalWeight168by2021 Posts: 12 Member
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    @Justin_7272 - Yes, sorry, typo. SW is 254 and CW is 202.
    Thank you for the clarification. I have read things about what to expect for weight loss, but what I read was in terms of how far you are from "goal weight" but I wasn't sure if goal weight was supposed to be the top of the ideal weight range or mid or low so I was confused.
    Yes, I recently got a fitbit and was using the kcal from that. I was excited to see I could eat more calories a day! But I think the estimate is off (I know fitbit is all algorithm based) so I think I need to just ignore what fitbit says I can eat and go back to 1,400 kcal / day.
    Thanks for the advice Justin!
  • GoalWeight168by2021
    GoalWeight168by2021 Posts: 12 Member
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    @janejellyroll - Hey, I figured out how to edit my post! YEAH!
    I was losing at 2 lbs a week from 245 lbs to 230 lbs. And then about 1 lb a week from 230 - 207. From 207 lbs to 202 it has been about half a pound a week (ugh!), so I have been losing at 1/2 lb a week for about 10 weeks now.
    About six weeks ago, I thought maybe I had been eating too FEW calories, keeping my kcal at 1,400 and got a fitbit. Well, lo and behold, fitbit says I was burning 3,300 kcal a day! I was shocked! So I thought upping my calorie intake to 2k a day would be the right approach, but now I'm thinking that wasn't the right approach.
    I'm going to drop back down to 1,400 kcal and see if that helps.





  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    GoalWeight168by2021 wrote: »
    @janejellyroll - Hey, I figured out how to edit my post! YEAH!
    I was losing at 2 lbs a week from 245 lbs to 230 lbs. And then about 1 lb a week from 230 - 207. From 207 lbs to 202 it has been about half a pound a week (ugh!), so I have been losing at 1/2 lb a week for about 10 weeks now.
    About six weeks ago, I thought maybe I had been eating too FEW calories, keeping my kcal at 1,400 and got a fitbit. Well, lo and behold, fitbit says I was burning 3,300 kcal a day! I was shocked! So I thought upping my calorie intake to 2k a day would be the right approach, but now I'm thinking that wasn't the right approach.
    I'm going to drop back down to 1,400 kcal and see if that helps.





    If you are consistently losing .5 a week, that means your deficit is about 250 calories a day. If 2,000 is a 250 calorie deficit, then you don't need to cut to 1,400 to lose a pound a week. Given the information you've provided, 1,750 is the calorie amount that will give you a deficit of 500 calories a day, which should result in losing about a pound per week.

  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    I lost 150 lbs and each 50 lbs took 50-75% longer than the previous 50 lbs. The last 50 took over a year so yes, it’s normal for the rate to slow down a lot. If you haven’t done so, update your stats and goals in MFP and see what it gives you for calories. Keep it going!

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