Is this a typical trend?

[JimC_99]

I have been tracking Caloric intake for 22 weeks and have noted a trend that my calorie deficit to lose a pound has been going up.  Standard calculation uses 3500 cals to lose 1lb but as I track my data, my individual burn for the first 7 weeks was 3673 to lose a pound, at 14 weeks it was 3791 and at 21 weeks it was 4087.  Now after 22 weeks it is 4136.  this seems really depressing....

[Dominique · Accepted solution]

Sounds like the metabolic adaptation (the neutral term for what some call "metabolic damage" or "starvation mode") to be expected when staying in a caloric deficit for a prolonged period of time. The longer you spend in a deficit, and the higher that deficit is, the more marked this adaptation will be.

How much weight did you lose in those 22 weeks, and from what starting weight? Recommendations I’ve seen (and I personally adhere to when losing weight) is 12 weeks of uninterrupted deficit before pausing, and 1% of body weight as maximum loss per week.

[Baltoscott]

Hi @JimC_99.  I'm interested in your responses to @Dominique questions regarding how much weight loss you've had.  Where did you start?  Where are you now?  What is your goal?

Twenty-two weeks of eating less than you burn is a lot of stress on your body and it probably makes sense to up the calories 20% or so for a month or two, let your body adapt to that, and then start at it again.

[JimC_99]

My starting weight was 369lbs and have lost 66lbs.  I will try to attach my TrendWeight output to this response.  I am a big guy, 6ft 4in and always have been "big boned,  "  I don't exercise excessively, but am fairly active.  am still losing at a good pace, but am noticing the difference in calories burned tracked by the fitbit are becoming more and more inaccurate to real weight loss.

https://trendweight.com/u/9f55e40bc0fa46/

[Baltoscott]

@JimC_99 -- Nice.  The 300 lb barrier is going to be toast in a couple of weeks! 

You've been very successful over the past 22 weeks, and are pretty close to the 1%/week loss limit that @Dominique recommended. I agree with his recommendation for a diet break, but since you are in the groove and still have a lot of work to do, my suggestion would be to try to slow the weight loss for a couple of months to something closer to 1 or 1.5 lb/week instead of 3 lbs, instead of a complete stop.  That would be a daily calorie increase of about 1000 calories or so and will be good practice for how you will eat when the weight loss is all over.  After a couple of months, you can get aggressive again for 2-3 months and then you can take your foot off the pedal again.  Each time you increase your calories closer to your ultimate maintenance level your train yourself to eat at a level to support your lowered weight for a lifetime.  Losing all this weight is hard work and you don't want to do it over and over again.

[Dominique]

First of all, congrats for your impressive weight loss so far! That’s 18% of your starting weight, which is a lot. I suggest you watch my go-to resource for this situation, the Losing All Your Weight At Once video. It explains pretty well what is happening IMO.

[JimC_99]

I do feel it is time for a break but I was planning to break the 300 barrier, then taper for about 2 months.  Maybe a 1-1.5 loss per week is a better idea and will give me a good route to what it takes to maintain.

Thanks for your comments and help.

[JimC_99]

interesting video,  in my youth I did a bit of weight training, but never looked like that!  Thanks for the comments and the input. 

Next thing is to try to get my TrendWeight into my sig like you guys have done.....

[GershonSurge]

@JimC_99,

First of all, congratulations on your weight loss. You've done something I've never seen before in anyone. That is losing fat without losing lean mass.

Are you taking any medications? (You may decline to answer.) If so, I suggest looking in www.pdr.net to see if the medications have any steroid component or steroid effect. Also, search for any research done on these medications and pay special attention to side effects regardless of the condition being treated.

I concur with @Dominique's and @Baltoscott's recommendations. They are both masters at controlling their weight. I can lose weight easily but have to work hard to maintain it. That's only because my diet is different.

I don't have good scientific proof for what I'm about to say. It's possible that as quickly as you are losing weight that you are experiencing a form of malnutrition that comes from not getting enough essential nutrients. Slowing your weight loss should take care of this as long as you eat healthy foods. 

Don't get too worried. There is a way of eating that can give the pattern of weight loss you describe without harm. Can you describe your way of eating?

[JimC_99]

Well I hate to say it, but when I started I had plenty of fat to lose..  I stay pretty active with light weight work and 30 minutes of cardio about 2 times a week and play golf 1-2 times a week.  I retired last year, and decided it was time to get healthier while I still can.  My basic diet is low in carbs, higher in protein and fresh veggies - I don't really limit types of food, I just measure and weigh every thing and eat less.  My current calorie limit is 1800 - 2000 which is a little low for my size.  Based on the NIH calculator my BMR is 2300 and my TDEE is 3400 so I am thinking of bumping the limit up 750 to see how that works.

[Dominique]

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@JimC_99 wrote:

Next thing is to try to get my TrendWeight into my sig like you guys have done.....

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Just include something like this in your personal information:

[Baltoscott]

@JimC_99 -- Copying @Dominique's post is probably the easiest (make sure you use your own TrendWeight link!), but more info on how to add links/info to your signature can be found in the Fitbit Community Basics forum here.

[JimC_99]

Thanks for the help.


Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

[JimC_99]

Thanks for the info.


Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

[lavabelle]

Congrats on the sustained weight loss...impressive! I have also noticed that my weight loss seems to have slowed down as the weeks wear on. It seems I have to eat less and less, or work out harder 🙂 But I feel strong and healthy which is a great bonus! 🙂

Cheers!

[JimC_99]

Thanks for the help!

[Daves_Not_Here]

@JimC_99 - congrats!!  I looked at your Trendweight and you're doing great!

[Dominique]

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@GershonSurge wrote:

I can lose weight easily but have to work hard to maintain it. That's only because my diet is different.

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@GershonSurge: can you expand on the above? Why would your diet make it easy to lose weight, but difficult to maintain it? Generally speaking, I would think for most people it’s easier to eat at maintenance than in a deficit, just because eating more food is usually considered a more attractive proposition.

What I find myself doing these days is keeping some variables constant (namely, protein, carbs and resistance training) and using others (namely, fat, cardio training and overall activity) as adjusting variables: when I’m in fat loss mode, I cut on dietary fat and increase my activity; when in weight gain mode, I do the opposite (increase dietary fat, reduce activity level). The challenge for me so far has been not gaining too fast. My aim next time around (starting last week of October) is to gain no more than 0.2-0.3 kg per week:

The idea is to spend as much time as possible (up to 20 weeks) in a surplus without exceeding 64 kg (self-imposed upper limit).

PS: congrats @JimC_99 for breaking through 300! 

[GershonSurge]

@Dominique wrote:

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@GershonSurge wrote:

I can lose weight easily but have to work hard to maintain it. That's only because my diet is different.

@GershonSurge: can you expand on the above? Why would your diet make it easy to lose weight, but difficult to maintain it? Generally speaking, I would think for most people it’s easier to eat at maintenance than in a deficit, just because eating more food is usually considered a more attractive proposition.

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@Dominique

I'm not sure I can give a scientific answer. Part of it is my exercise cycle. I wake up and eat oatmeal with a banana. I think that's about 300 calories. Then I go for my morning run/walk at 3:30 am. This morning, I burned 1,000 calories by 5:30 am and only consumed 300. This mean I have to catch up by 700 calories. My normal meals are about 400 calories. I had a 400 calorie meal after my run which still leaves me 300 calories behind. At about 7:00, I'll go for my second run/walk that will put me farther behind.

Think of it this way. To go from a 500 calorie deficit to a 500 calorie surplus, I need to eat the equivalent of about eleven medium size potatoes extra each day. I don't increase my percentage fat by much when I'm trying to gain weight.

My fluctuating body fat percentage is easy to explain. I weigh whenever I get around to taking a shower in the morning. 

[JimC_99]

Thanks!  I increased my calories up by 300 - 400 per day and changed the slope of my line but am still losing weight.  My calories burned per pound loss is a bit lower but still around 4400.  Thanks for the help and support!