29M trying to lose 100+ LBS

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Hey all,

I am 29 years old living in Canada 🇨🇦

My weight when I started 1 month ago was 330# and I can confidently say that with logging my foods and staying in the mfp deficit that I am now 15# lighter at 315#. I understand this is water weight and the loss will slow soon.

For the last idk probably 15+ years I’ve always been a heavier guy. I’ve always tried to diet and shake it but I end up plateauing , get mad and say screw it and then 2 years later here I am again trying again.

Currently I’m 1 month in and lost 15 pounds so I’m motivated. I’ve been not worrying about all the macros or following a certain diet I am basically just following the calorie deficit. So far it’s working well.

29 years old , 5’ 9” tall 315lbs. I am a flat bed truck driver that gets in and out of his truck multiple times a day to pickup boxes , or strap down pallets and pipe. I get around 8-12000 steps during the week per day according to my apple watch series 9. Do you agree with myfitnesspal’s 2300 calorie reccomendation to lose 2lbs per week? I have it set at lightly active. Should I change it to not active at all?

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  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,792 Member
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    Without hitting too many details.... you've already lost faster than the 2lbs a week you targeted so why would you mess around trying to lose faster? :wink:

    It is a great start.

    Objectively 8 - 12000 is the exact range MFP defines as ACTIVE, not lightly active, if the steps are part of your daily activity.

    The only data point you have (not that I think a single data point is great but it is the only one you have) is showing that you're losing faster than targeted based on your current settings. So if anything you would be changing them to active and losing slower to match your target not trying to find ways to lose faster which is what it sounds to me like you're doing.

    It is just the first month and it is all going good.
    So, frankly, I wouldn't do anything yet.
    BUT, if I were to do anything down the road, it would be to not hesitate to push towards long term sustainability of effort--not speed.

    Weight management is not a do once and stop thing.

    Sustainability of effort tends to involve going (relatively) slower to get there "safely" (and stay there). You can't stick the landing if you're spinning too fast!!!! :wink:
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,982 Member
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    Great start! I agree with Pav that you are Active rather than Lightly Active, and definitely not Sedentary.

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    Plateaus can sure mess with our heads. However, sometimes we're doing better than we think, and a weight loss trend app can help with that.

    Use a weight trending app such as Happy Scale (iphone) or Libra (Android) and focus on the trend, not the individual weigh-ins. I have Happy Scale and use the “Moving Average” as my official weight.
  • giantangryrobot
    giantangryrobot Posts: 3 Member
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    How many calories per day does your apple watch say you are burning? I find that the apple watch's calorie estimate for me is pretty accurate (make sure you enter your body measurements into the apple health app). But that's allowed me to adjust the daily intake goals on my fitness pal to something that gives me a small, but, for me, easy to maintain deficit.
  • Kiwi2mfp
    Kiwi2mfp Posts: 166 Member
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    I would suggest you just stick to the plan and see what happens. The only way to know if it's accurate for you is to stick to the plan strictly and measure the results weekly for a few weeks. If the weight loss slows, then adjust your calorie deficit down. If it speeds up then adjust your calories up. If you're happy with your progress then leave it alone. This site is very helpful in narrowing down the range of calories you should be eating but to target in precisely you may need to do the final adjustments. I have found mfp to be pretty accurate. I'm currently 32 weeks pregnant and already gained the recommended 35 pound max by 28 weeks (I slacked and didn't watch what I ate). So I got on here and calculated my maintenence and started eating 250 calories less then that to Hopefully maintain. My baby is gaining about a 1/2 pound a week so if I lose 1/2 pound a week the scale won't budge. In 4 weeks the scale has been surprisingly consistent. If it goes up, then I'll adjust down a TINY bit. If it goes down...well I might let it for a pound or two ( my baby and I get seen weekly so I'm under docs supervision). Mfp doesn't have any way for me to track accurately with pregnancy but I know how to do that myself having previously lost 70 pounds on here. Accurate data and gentle adjusting...that's all it takes.