first week...10 pounds down!!! Too much?

lvalente1

New to charting, calorie counting, and this forum! Before I started this lifestyle change, cheese was a major food group for me, closely followed by anything sweet or sugary. As a 6foot, 60 year old woman, I was assigned 1300 calories a day and have held to it except for one day for a little over a week. The first DAY, I lost 5 pounds, and the next 6 another 5. IN retrospect, I am near certain that 1300 calories is at least 1000 calories less than I was averaging...maybe more. My smart husband thinks it is because we simultaneously switched to near dairy free, near vegetarian diet at the request of our teenager. Should I be worried? Comments? I am a little hungry, but am having minimal cravings so far and am actually enjoying trying out a slew of new vegetarian recipes. I am thinking this is mostly water drop from the drop in sodium. Thank you for any comments!

lvalente1

I should add that my ideal weight is probably 180, and I started at 215.

PrizePopple

Chances are good that a large portion of that was water weight. I dropped like 6 pounds in 4 days, then gained back a pound, and then dropped .6 pounds this morning. It will slow down after that initial "woosh" by a great deal.

galgenstrick

It's a lot of water weight from dropping carb intake. It will even out. If you are still losing over 1.5-2lbs /week over the month then you need to eat more.

CattOfTheGarage

Yeah, I wouldn't worry about it. Big initial losses are common, it's usually just an adjustment in water weight because you've changed your diet.

Digesting food uses water, so if you reduce the quantity you're eating, you will shed water. Even more so if you reduce the amount of carbohydrate, as you use more water to process and store that than other nutrients. Then there's the fact that when people start trying to lose weight, they incidentally start to eat less salty food, so there's less water retention due to salt - and last but not least, the actual amount of food working its way through your gut is smaller, so that's another reduction in weight.

It's not guaranteed - some people start a new workout regime at the same time, which causes them to retain water for muscle repair, so they actually appear to gain weight in the first couple of weeks, which can be discouraging - but in general, the first week or two is not an indication of things to come, and should be taken with a pinch of salt. If you're still losing fast by week 4, consider adjusting your calories.

Anna_137

The same thing happened to me. I was eating crap for months (especially over Christmas) then changed my diet on New Year's Day, the next day I'd lost 6lbs. Then another 4lbs over the next 6 days.

I put it down to the initial 'whoosh' and lots of water weight. And I expect it will slow down over the next week or so.

Curlychip

This would explain it for me too, thank you :-)

tiptoethruthetulips

1300cals for a 6ft female is not enough even for weight loss. That's what I would get for weight loss at 5ft2. Did you choose an aggressive weight loss goal perhaps? 2lb per week or more?

Yes, its too much for someone your start weight, it isn't just due to water loss, calories are way too low for you.

I would think you will find yourself quite hungry soon, along with feeling fatigued.

Slbyrd45

I've started many diets before and usually lose several lbs the first week because of fluid . sounds normal to me . congratulations. Me ,on the other hand need help. I have charted for 10 days not going over , and still only lost 2 lbs .I was down 3 , but over the last few days gained a lb. I'm just watching caleries . I do have trouble getting all the water in. Any suggestions

marm1962

tiptoethruthetulips wrote: »

1300cals for a 6ft female is not enough even for weight loss. That's what I would get for weight loss at 5ft2. Did you choose an aggressive weight loss goal perhaps? 2lb per week or more?

Yes, its too much for someone your start weight, it isn't just due to water loss, calories are way too low for you.

I would think you will find yourself quite hungry soon, along with feeling fatigued.

My guess is it would depend on her activity level

At sedentary to lose 1.5 lbs a week she would consume about 1239 a day (http://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/)

MamaRiss

I'd say it's pretty common for a large loss to happen in the first couple days. This time around I lost 6 pounds of water and "stuff" in the first two days. I maintained that 6 pound loss all week, and then this morning I am down about half a pound. This is the first bit I'm actually counting as true weight loss

CathReese33

I carry around 10lb of water weight, which I see rapidly as a loss at the start of a diet or rapidly as a gain when I return to eating junk. Only once that 10lb is gone do I now I am losing fat (that's when it slows right down and gets frustrating). Enjoy the woosh, as clothes will be loser and you will feel lighter and stick it out once all slows down xx

PoisonDartFrog

I lost 10 lbs my first week too...quite a bit of water weight. The second week it was 6, then 3, then 1-2 since. Just don't give up when you stop seeing big losses. 1-2 lbs a week, every week leads to big results!

lvalente1

Thanks guys!!! What great responses! I did put sedentary, and used 1.5 as a goal. This morning I am back up 3, so I feel like I am not going to change anything unless I get more hungry. And you are right... it's getting past the "proclamation" phase where the losses are big and the focus is high into to steady tortoise part that gets me!

CattOfTheGarage

CathReese33 wrote: »

I carry around 10lb of water weight

Actually this is not right - it's a common misunderstanding that there is a certain weight of water and the rest is "you", but that's not how it works. Your body is mostly water - about 60%. So if you weigh 150lb, you are carrying about 90lb of water. This is why water weight can cause such massive and random fluctuations - your body is not solid and static, it's like a big wet sponge.

Shawn_in_OKC

I'm down 12.4lbs this week but I'm also the size of a refrigerator.

CattOfTheGarage

Shawn_in_OKC wrote: »

I'm down 12.4lbs this week but I'm also the size of a refrigerator.

lvalente1

Shawn

Shawn_in_OKC wrote: »

I'm down 12.4lbs this week but I'm also the size of a refrigerator.

So, is your last name Perry?