Losing weight too fast?

geenra

Hello, all!

I'm a little concerned because - according to my scale - I lost a pound about two or three days ago, and now my scale's saying I've lost another two or three pounds since then. If that's correct, that makes it at least four pounds lost in one week.

I eat healthy, lots of meat and vegetables and cutting back on pasta and bread. I do fast walks/jogging for about one hour, 5-6 days a week (I do that much because I'm an art student and bank teller, which involves a lot of sitting), and I've gotten better at staying under my calories, but I still eat whenever I'm hungry, so I'm definitely not starving myself. My starting weight was 240 and I'm close to 230 now, and the scale is a bit older, a manual model instead of a digital one, so it's a little hard to tell precise numbers. But it still shows like I'm losing weight at a rapid pace, even though my clothes don't feel looser yet.

Am I losing weight too fast? Should I even be relying on the scale this much? I know they say not to weigh yourself more than once a week, but I like to check it every couple of days to keep track of fluctuations - but to be showing those lower numbers, I would have to be weighing less, wouldn't I? Just a little worried.

KarenJanine

Weight loss is often fast in the first week or two - this will mostly be water weight loss.

If you are eating the MFP recommended number of calories, your weight loss will probably slow down to a steadier rate, but if it continues at a fast rate then you may need to increase your calorie intake.

Traveler120

Any time you cut back on carbs, you'll rapidly drop water weight because you've depleted glycogen stores. It's normal but not anything to celebrate because it's just water and low-carb is unnecessary. And at such a high body weight, losing 4 lbs in 1 week is very normal. Just continue eating healthy and exercising and maintain a calorie deficit.

If body fat (inches) is dropping off fast, good for you, it would be silly to eat more simply for that reason. There's no sense in that.

geenra

KarenJanine wrote: »

Weight loss is often fast in the first week or two - this will mostly be water weight loss.

If you are eating the MFP recommended number of calories, your weight loss will probably slow down to a steadier rate, but if it continues at a fast rate then you may need to increase your calorie intake.

I've been at it for a month and a half, so it's actually my seventh week, I think? I'm definitely eating the recommended amount, but I'll keep an eye on the rate of weight loss for a while and see how it goes.

Traveler120 wrote: »

Any time you cut back on carbs, you'll rapidly drop water weight because you've depleted glycogen stores. It's normal but not anything to celebrate because it's just water and low-carb is unnecessary. And at such a high body weight, losing 4 lbs in 1 week is very normal. Just continue eating healthy and exercising and maintain a calorie deficit.

If body fat (inches) is dropping off fast, good for you, it would be silly to eat more simply for that reason. There's no sense in that.

That's good to know - part of me thought losing this much at my current weight was to be expected, but I've always heard that 1.5 to 2 pounds per week was the healthiest route, so I wanted to be sure.

Thank you both!

juggernaut1974

geenra wrote: »

That's good to know - part of me thought losing this much at my current weight was to be expected, but I've always heard that 1.5 to 2 pounds per week was the healthiest route.

Thank you both!

That's true ... over the LONG TERM.

Remember that weight loss is not linear - you will never achieve a perfect "2 lbs per week weight loss".

Some weeks you'll stay the same, some weeks you'll lose 1 lb, some weeks you'll lose 2 lbs, some weeks you'll lose 4 lbs, some weeks you'll gain 2 lbs. That's not unusual and is to be expected.

Look at the long term trend to determine if you're losing weight too quickly or too slowly, not day to day fluctuations.