Pounds to lose per week Breakdown

HoneyBadger302
HoneyBadger302 Posts: 1,967 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Okay, I KNOW this information is all over MFP, but I can't seem to find a concise (albeit generalized) breakdown of "at x pounds from goal, you can aim to (healthfully) lose up to x pounds per week." Ideally, looking for a chart of some variety

For example of what I mean:
Women:
@5 lbs from goal, 0.25 - 0.5/lb/week
@5-15 lbs from goal xxx

so on and so forth

Feeling dumb not finding this breakdown out there, but I know there are some solid recommendations on this...

Replies

  • HoneyBadger302
    HoneyBadger302 Posts: 1,967 Member
    @Lietchi thanks, that covers what I was looking for - I've seen it a ton, but couldn't seem to find it!
  • HoneyBadger302
    HoneyBadger302 Posts: 1,967 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I don't think there really is one, they're just generalities. I put on about 10 Lbs every winter and lose it in the spring and I usually just do 1 Lb per week. I did the 1/2 Lb per week thing one year and it just didn't leave much margin for error and was excruciatingly slow when it didn't need to be and it took me a couple of months just to see a trend.

    I've never fully bought into the theory that if you only have 5Lbs or 10Lbs or whatever to lose that you should be under 1 Lb per week. Basically my feelings are that 1 Lb per week is generally safe for the vast majority of people regardless of how much they have to lose but that over 1 Lb per week is really where the analysis of safety has to come into play. A 500 calorie deficit just doesn't seem that substantial to me...it's basically a couple of snacks.

    Obviously there will be very individual differences, just was looking for the general recommendation breakdowns like provided above.

    That said, for me, as a woman, a difference of 250 calories can be HUGE in terms of managing my hunger. That said, ya, unless I'm very close to goal I'd hope to be losing closer to 1 pound than .5 pound/week, but experience has taught me that is very difficult to achieve that higher average once I've got less than 15 pounds to go.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,935 Member
    edited May 2022
    HoneyBadger302 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I don't think there really is one, they're just generalities. I put on about 10 Lbs every winter and lose it in the spring and I usually just do 1 Lb per week. I did the 1/2 Lb per week thing one year and it just didn't leave much margin for error and was excruciatingly slow when it didn't need to be and it took me a couple of months just to see a trend.

    I've never fully bought into the theory that if you only have 5Lbs or 10Lbs or whatever to lose that you should be under 1 Lb per week. Basically my feelings are that 1 Lb per week is generally safe for the vast majority of people regardless of how much they have to lose but that over 1 Lb per week is really where the analysis of safety has to come into play. A 500 calorie deficit just doesn't seem that substantial to me...it's basically a couple of snacks.

    Obviously there will be very individual differences, just was looking for the general recommendation breakdowns like provided above.

    That said, for me, as a woman, a difference of 250 calories can be HUGE in terms of managing my hunger. That said, ya, unless I'm very close to goal I'd hope to be losing closer to 1 pound than .5 pound/week, but experience has taught me that is very difficult to achieve that higher average once I've got less than 15 pounds to go.

    No chart that I know of, but other rules of thumb one sees around here are:

    * Maximum of 0.5-1% of current weight per week (with a bias toward the lower end of that unless very obese to the point weight itself is a health risk, or one is under close medical supervision for complications or deficiencies).
    * Maximum deficit of 20% of TDEE (probably with the same exceptions as above).

    Slower is always fine, especially if it's more sustainable, of course. (I decided to creep down a few vanity pounds in maintenance, at what I knew was less than 250 calories average daily deficit . . . in retrospect, it turned out to be around 100-150 calories. That worked fine - might not, for someone inexperienced with calorie counting, and you're not inexperienced, I know. It was also virtually painless, pretty much zero effort except for counting, which I do in maintenance anyway.)

    I also think faster than the rules of thumb can be OK for some subsets of people: Those who aren't going to need to continue long haul because they only have a few pounds to lose, those without other large physical or psychological stressors in their lives (because deficit is a physical stress, and a big deficit a bigger one), possible quite young adults (potentially more resilient to stress physically, if in good health), doesn't experience hunger/appetite consequences of a big restriction, does moderate things to maintain muscle mass alongside loss (extreme things would add stress), doesn't experience much adaptive thermogenesis (this seems to be somewhat individual, anecdotally), and that sort of thing.

    I pretty much don't say that last paragraph in posts replying to new MFP-ers, because so many are looking for a justification to cut to extra-low calories, lose weight fast, don't actually know how their bodies will respond, don't know whether the "calculator" estimate of calories will be too low for them as a starting point (as it was for me, extremely), are adding intense new exercise beside the new deficit, and almost certainly are going to be in a honeymoon phase where motivation is high, and consequences of restriction (physical and psychological) haven't kicked in yet.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
    HoneyBadger302 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I don't think there really is one, they're just generalities. I put on about 10 Lbs every winter and lose it in the spring and I usually just do 1 Lb per week. I did the 1/2 Lb per week thing one year and it just didn't leave much margin for error and was excruciatingly slow when it didn't need to be and it took me a couple of months just to see a trend.

    I've never fully bought into the theory that if you only have 5Lbs or 10Lbs or whatever to lose that you should be under 1 Lb per week. Basically my feelings are that 1 Lb per week is generally safe for the vast majority of people regardless of how much they have to lose but that over 1 Lb per week is really where the analysis of safety has to come into play. A 500 calorie deficit just doesn't seem that substantial to me...it's basically a couple of snacks.

    Obviously there will be very individual differences, just was looking for the general recommendation breakdowns like provided above.

    That said, for me, as a woman, a difference of 250 calories can be HUGE in terms of managing my hunger. That said, ya, unless I'm very close to goal I'd hope to be losing closer to 1 pound than .5 pound/week, but experience has taught me that is very difficult to achieve that higher average once I've got less than 15 pounds to go.
    HoneyBadger302 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I don't think there really is one, they're just generalities. I put on about 10 Lbs every winter and lose it in the spring and I usually just do 1 Lb per week. I did the 1/2 Lb per week thing one year and it just didn't leave much margin for error and was excruciatingly slow when it didn't need to be and it took me a couple of months just to see a trend.

    I've never fully bought into the theory that if you only have 5Lbs or 10Lbs or whatever to lose that you should be under 1 Lb per week. Basically my feelings are that 1 Lb per week is generally safe for the vast majority of people regardless of how much they have to lose but that over 1 Lb per week is really where the analysis of safety has to come into play. A 500 calorie deficit just doesn't seem that substantial to me...it's basically a couple of snacks.

    Obviously there will be very individual differences, just was looking for the general recommendation breakdowns like provided above.

    That said, for me, as a woman, a difference of 250 calories can be HUGE in terms of managing my hunger. That said, ya, unless I'm very close to goal I'd hope to be losing closer to 1 pound than .5 pound/week, but experience has taught me that is very difficult to achieve that higher average once I've got less than 15 pounds to go.

    It probably also depends on level of leanness more so than how many pounds to a particular goal. At maintenance of around 180 Lbs I'm still at 15% BF which is where I'm comfortable...not fat by any means, but not super lean either. I've lost down to 12% BF and it's a little harder and the 1 Lb per week thing doesn't work and I was hungrier trying to go sub 15%...dropping below 12%, I just gave up. For me also, dropping 1 Lb per week going from 190 to 180 is also well below the 1% of bodyweight rule...more like .5% of my bodyweight.

    It also probably depends on how long someone has been dieting. When I need to lose my winter weight I'm more willing to be a tad bit uncomfortable hunger wise and forgoing a snack or two for a couple months vs having months and months in front of me that I have to sustain. I think the 1/2 Lb per week generality can also be good for someone who's been dieting for a long time to help them ease into maintenance, particularly if they've been very aggressive from the start.
  • GigiAgape1981
    GigiAgape1981 Posts: 64 Member
    HoneyBadger302 wrote: »

    Obviously there will be very individual differences, just was looking for the general recommendation breakdowns like provided above.

    That said, for me, as a woman, a difference of 250 calories can be HUGE in terms of managing my hunger. That said, ya, unless I'm very close to goal I'd hope to be losing closer to 1 pound than .5 pound/week, but experience has taught me that is very difficult to achieve that higher average once I've got less than 15 pounds to go.

    I am like you. My body is very calorie astute and 250 calorie deficit can make a HUGE impact on for my hunger management.
  • Xellercin
    Xellercin Posts: 924 Member
    HoneyBadger302 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I don't think there really is one, they're just generalities. I put on about 10 Lbs every winter and lose it in the spring and I usually just do 1 Lb per week. I did the 1/2 Lb per week thing one year and it just didn't leave much margin for error and was excruciatingly slow when it didn't need to be and it took me a couple of months just to see a trend.

    I've never fully bought into the theory that if you only have 5Lbs or 10Lbs or whatever to lose that you should be under 1 Lb per week. Basically my feelings are that 1 Lb per week is generally safe for the vast majority of people regardless of how much they have to lose but that over 1 Lb per week is really where the analysis of safety has to come into play. A 500 calorie deficit just doesn't seem that substantial to me...it's basically a couple of snacks.

    Obviously there will be very individual differences, just was looking for the general recommendation breakdowns like provided above.

    That said, for me, as a woman, a difference of 250 calories can be HUGE in terms of managing my hunger. That said, ya, unless I'm very close to goal I'd hope to be losing closer to 1 pound than .5 pound/week, but experience has taught me that is very difficult to achieve that higher average once I've got less than 15 pounds to go.

    You've kind of answered your own question.

    Experience has taught you that as you get closer to your goal, larger calorie deficits become unsustainable, and your weight loss rate slows down.

    That's pretty much the only rule of thumb there is. Some people lose weight more quickly, some more slowly, but EVERYONE has a harder time losing the leaner they get.

    What that means for the individual and their rate of loss is just that: individual.

    For me, in the "overweight" range, I can't lose faster than 2lbs/mo without kick-back from my body. Once my BMI is below 23, this slows down further.

    Granted, these are averages over long periods of time. So that might mean a month where I lose 5+lbs and then a month where I lose nothing, and then a month where I lose 1lb. But the average, over a longer view is always around 2lbs/mo until I hit a BMI of 23 where it slows down and can appear like I'm not losing anything for as long as 6-8 weeks, but again, the data shows a steady loss of 1-1.5lb/mo average.

    That's assuming I'm *consistent* with my eating.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,482 Member
    1% per week.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,052 Member
    I agree that the hunger discomfort in a deficit has more to do with leanness than pounds from goal. The chart is a helpful general guideline, nonetheless, and it probably assumes the goal is middle of the “normal” BMI range or something similar. Of course one person’s goal may be top of normal range while another’s is the low end, and those two hypothetical people could experience a 250 calorie deficit differently.

    FWIW, DH is comfortable losing 1lb/wk when he’s losing from barely overweight to almost middle of normal BMI range. At his lightest, he’s just north of the normal midpoint. I’m 60lb smaller and leaner, maintaining at the low end of normal BMI range. I can’t tolerate a 500cal deficit for more than a couple days. Plus, I get deficit weary after 10 weeks losing 0.5lb/wk. I’ve learned it’s easier for me to just stop the creep at a 5lb gain. Otherwise I’m gonna need a maintenance break before losing the last few. Both of us lose slower than 1% per week. More like 0.5% per week (him slightly more, me slightly less).
  • eaper64
    eaper64 Posts: 118 Member
    every once in a while i visit the website "calculator.net". it shows what a healthy weight is, how many calories to maintain, how many calories to lose. it also has many other useful calculators there. i really enjoy using it in conjunction with MFP.

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