7lbs down on my first week?!

kns6374

I stepped on the scale today and I've lost 7 pounds! I'm excited, of course, but at the same time - worried. I've been eating my daily recommended calories (even over a little bit some days) and I'm not eating 'clean'. I exercise daily, with the exception of Sundays. What could have caused such a sudden decrease in my first week? What should I expect from this?
Also, how do I update my ticker?

hananah89

If you have a lot to lose, its not unusual to lose a lot in the first couple weeks. Your weekly loss will definitely slow down to a more regular pace soon. But great job, keep up the great work!

grimendale

Your body burns through its glycogen stores in the first week or two, resulting in a water weight loss that is typically fairly high. It's normal to lose a lot the first week, but don't expect every week to be that substantial. From here on, your losses should be a lot more reasonable. Your ticker updates automatically based on what you entered into MFP. It already shows the 7 lbs on this thread.

RM10003

Has MFP set you at a very low calorie level? I found I dropped 4 pounds the first week at the recommended 1200 cals per day, but was absolutely starving and miserable. I decided to change my activity level from sedentary to lightly active (I live in New York City and walk everywhere, so that is more accurate even though I have a desk job), started eating more, and am losing at slower rate now but don't want to eat everything in sight and/or kill everyone.

swhiteism

I lost 6 lbs the first week. I was so excited. Just don't get bummed out when you step on the scale next week and only see a 1 lbs difference or worse, no difference at all. My only other big loss was 4 lbs in a week here recently. Congrats and keep it up!

dkewatson

kns6374 good job on the decision to lead a healthier lifestyle and your first week weight loss gain. As others have mentioned depending on your current weight losing that much in 1 week is not necessarily out of the realm of possibilities. My first three weeks I was averaging around a 3lb loss per week even though I set my caloric intake to lose 1lb a week. Now, I am extremely overweight (6'1" 325lbs starting, male) so I expected some higher numbers to start as I radically changed my lifestyle (eating healthier non-processed foods and exercise), plus the whole water weight loss in the first week or so. After that my numbers lost did go down to more reasonable numbers. I am averaging about 1.5lbs lost a week, which is about right since I usually come under my caloric intake for the week.

Just stick with it and to make your body more effective I would suggest sticking with the exercise (muscle burns more calories than fat) and also eating healthier if possible. I (personally) found just switching out some processed foods for healthier alternatives (a bag of chips for baby carrots/apples/bananas) makes my metabolism more effective. But ultimately, do whatever makes sense for you and allows you to continue your journey to a healthier life, everyone is different and what works for one person may not be the best option for someone else.