Strategies Please - 11 kg down....another 15kgs to go!!!

Aira_Ruwenzor wrote: »

Hi All,

I keep popping up every now and then to give status updates and find new ideas or motivation to keep this journey going!!

Start date: 01/03/2023
Start Weight: 89 kgs / 196 lbs

Weight after 6 months: 81 kgs / 178 lbs

Initial Diet Intake: Daily Calories between 1400-1600 for the first 6 months.
Initial Exercise: Min 10,000 steps every day (usually achieved by 90 mins of walking every day) for the first 6 months.

Current weight: 77.5 kgs / 170lbs
Current Diet Intake: Daily calorie intake of 1200, low carb focused, 16-hour Intermittent fasting.
Current Exercise: Continued target of 10,000 steps daily - however I have started jogging for 30 minutes every day (this has been going on for the last 9 weeks)

Given the above progress, I am a bit skeptical about reducing my calorie count any further. But I still have a long way to go - I understand that it becomes even more difficult to lose weight once you have lost some initially and I am interested in knowing what other strategies there may be to reach my target of 63 kgs. (Bear in mind that this is the max weight I need to be at for my age, height and lifestyle).

I have been told that one strategy may be strength training - but don't know where to start or what workout to follow. Any other ideas or personal experiences that have helped you would be much appreciated!

Thanks All.

The bolded isn't necessarily so. Yes, if a person eats too little, they will get fatigued (possibly in subtle ways) so move less and require fewer calories than if they had been more moderate. Yes, as a person gets lighter in weight, they require fewer calories at rest.

But some people find that if they lose weight at a sensibly moderate pace, they actually have more energy as they get lighter, burn more calories through daily life movement (not even necessarily exercise), so can lose at a sensible pace on more calories than they would've expected.

Your best bet IMO would be to pay attention to your own weight trends, looking at 4-6 week average loss. If you lose at more than 0.5-1% of current weight per week, eat more. (I'd suggest going with the 0.5% unless severely obese, or under close medical supervision for nutrient deficiencies or health complications, because those are very real risks from fast loss). If you're losing more slowly than that, sure, you can reduce calorie intake, or increase daily life movement (or exercise), but it's also fine to lose more slowly if it makes loss more achievable as a practical thing.

IMO, the real goal is finding new habits that not only get you to goal weight, but let you stay there almost on autopilot when other parts of life get demanding . . . because they will.

If weight loss stalls suddenly at some point, maybe go to estimated maintenance calories for a couple of weeks, then go back to the deficit. Sometimes there's subtle fatigue or stress-related water retention that means we need a break.

I lost at a good pace all the way through a year of loss from class 1 obese (183 pounds/83kg) to a healthy weight in the 120s pounds (around 56-57kg), and actually increased calories in order to slow down my weight loss to a sensibly moderate pace as I got lighter. That won't happen for everyone either.

Use your own weight loss rate to guide you.

Losing slowly will help with muscle maintenance and muscle mass gain, too. Others have given good advice about strength training.