Lose weight while minimally affecting metabolism

[youngsteinel]

So I am about 20 lbs over what I would like to be. I have been dieting for the past 4-6 months and am down 20 but have hit a plateau. Just a little background. I have been reading about losing weight and how it can effect your metabolism. If anyone is interested, here is an article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/health/biggest-loser-weight-loss.html?_r=0

So my question is, what's best way to shed some weight and not kill your metabolism? I take Adderall, which significantly effects my apetite, so some days I actually eat more than I would just to try to hit that 1700-2000 calorie range. I am fearful of extremely lowering my metabolism permanently. I would assume the best way is cutting calories a little bit + moderate exercise would be the best way, but wanted to get opinions from people who know a bit more than I do. Thanks.

 

[j123]

Lose at a rate of 1lb a week. Regardless, eating at a deficit for a long period of time will hurt your metabolism (16+ weeks).

Cutting will always slow down your metabolism, its just the body's way of adjusting. Just don't do it for a prolonged period of time at a very low caloric intake. Eating at starvation calories while on an extended period is the sure fire way to kill your metab.

After you get to your desired weight, you can go right to maintenance and stay there for a few weeks before going back on a bulk (if that's what you're aiming to do). I personally reverse back up if I've been on a cut for around 12-16 weeks, anything less than that, I just jump straight to maintenance.

 

[youngsteinel]

Thanks man, appreciate it. I starved myself (not literally, but you get it) last year and lost 40 pounds in about 9 months and immediately gained it back. I was barely working out, had appetite suppression from my Adderall. I'm nervous I did some bad damage, but there's nothing I can do now. Trying to do it right this time.

Doing moderate physical activity (swimming and doing some moderate lifting) and eating better as opposed to just eating less. Hoping I can get down, but most importantly I'm hoping I can maintain the weight. No point in losing it if you can't maintain it.

 

[j123]

Thanks man, appreciate it. I starved myself (not literally, but you get it) last year and lost 40 pounds in about 9 months and immediately gained it back. I was barely working out, had appetite suppression from my Adderall. I'm nervous I did some bad damage, but there's nothing I can do now. Trying to do it right this time.

Doing moderate physical activity (swimming and doing some moderate lifting) and eating better as opposed to just eating less. Hoping I can get down, but most importantly I'm hoping I can maintain the weight. No point in losing it if you can't maintain it.

I've been through that as well. Excessively low calories, low carb, and abstaining from various food sources. It took me about 4 months to get back to normal, and near a year to reach the peak where I am at right now.

If your metab is shot and your maintenance is bad given your size, then you might have to reverse diet back to repair it.

eg. being 6'0 at 200lbs, but your maintenance is 2000 (opposed to normally being 2800-3000). If you do go through with it, the process normally works by adding about 100 calories each day of the week and building back up to your real maintenance. So it would look something like:

week1 Mon-Sun: 2100 calories
week2 Mon-Sun: 2200 calories
week3 Mon-Sun: 2300 calories
week4 Mon-Sun: 2400 calories
week5 Mon-Sun: 2500 calories

etc. etc

Anyways, best of luck with the whole process.

 

[youngsteinel]

I've been through that as well. Excessively low calories, low carb, and abstaining from various food sources. It took me about 4 months to get back to normal, and near a year to reach the peak where I am at right now.

If your metab is shot and your maintenance is bad given your size, then you might have to reverse diet back to repair it.

eg. being 6'0 at 200lbs, but your maintenance is 2000 (opposed to normally being 2800-3000). If you do go through with it, the process normally works by adding about 100 calories each day of the week and building back up to your real maintenance. So it would look something like:

week1 Mon-Sun: 2100 calories
week2 Mon-Sun: 2200 calories
week3 Mon-Sun: 2300 calories
week4 Mon-Sun: 2400 calories
week5 Mon-Sun: 2500 calories

etc. etc

Anyways, best of luck with the whole process.

How does a reverse diet work? You can use bigger terms as I have taken anatomy and physiology.

 

[j123]

How does a reverse diet work? You can use bigger terms as I have taken anatomy and physiology.

This is a good article on the subject: http://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1550-2783-11-7

To avoid rapid fat gain following the cessation of a diet, “reverse dieting” has also become popular among physique athletes. Such a process involves slowly increasing caloric intake in a stepwise fashion. In theory, providing a small caloric surplus might help to restore circulating hormone levels and energy expenditure toward pre-diet values, while closely matching energy intake to the recovering metabolic rate in an effort to reduce fat accretion. Ideally, such a process would eventually restore circulating hormones and metabolic rate to baseline levels while avoiding rapid fat gain. While anecdotal reports of successful reverse dieting have led to an increase in its popularity, research is needed to evaluate its efficacy

 

[youngsteinel]

This is a good article on the subject: http://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1550-2783-11-7

Thanks buddy. Another question (sorry, I could ask all day), do you feel I should be counting macros?

 

[j123]

Thanks buddy. Another question (sorry, I could ask all day), do you feel I should be counting macros?

Yes. At the very least count the protein macros to get your desired amount.
You can be a bit flexible on it, go by total caloric intake, then work in the macros. For me I have carbs and fat in a range rather than a set number, protein is always a set number though.

 

[youngsteinel]

Yes. At the very least count the protein macros to get your desired amount.
You can be a bit flexible on it, go by total caloric intake, then work in the macros. For me I have carbs and fat in a range rather than a set number, protein is always a set number though.

Awesome, thanks answering all these questions man!

 

[BJ@LW&WW]

affecting

 

[youngsteinel]

affecting

That's one I always fuck up, thanks.