Losing weight too fast?

Katie090307

Is that even a thing? I know they say losing up to 2lbs a week is ok but what about anything over that? I lost close to 5lbs in last 7days. I know in the beginning it's mostly water weight but I been on my journey for almost 3 months and lost a total of 30lbs so far. I'm 5'5" and CW is 164 SW was 194. I eat between 1200-1400 calories a day and run on treadmill 3-6 miles a day (depending on the day) 5-6 days a week. Am I doing this wrong or is it still normal to lose over 2lbs a week

L1zardQueen

You need to eat at least part of your calories back if not all, this will slow down your weight loss some and prevent binging. Going slower with weight loss is better when you reach your goal, a nice soft landing so to speak.

Congrats BTW!

SierraFatToSkinny

I'm concerned about losing my hair. If you drop weight too quickly your hair falls out at a rapid rate.

I haven't weighed myself in a week, but I'm losing about 1.5 pounds a week.

AnnPT77

There can be such a thing as "too fast": There's some evidence that there's a limit on how much fat we can metabolize per day from each pound of fat on our body, and if we exceed that, we'll lose more lean mass (muscles, etc.) than necessary. The closer we get to goal, the less fat remaining on our body, obviously, so the slower we'd want to lose to minimize the risk of losing lean mass. That's why you see rules of thumb like "don't lose more than 1% of your body weight per week", just to be conservative about it.

(There's some evidence that the amount of fat we can metabolize daily per pound of body fat is around 30-some calories worth, but it's kind of theoretical. Certainly, studies of very rapid weight loss typically show a higher percentage of lean mass being lost alongside fat loss, compared to slower weight loss, all other things equal, especially absent strength-maintaining exercise.)

So, to be conservative/safer about retaining muscle and other lean tissue, lose slowly, and slow down further when getting closer to goal.

Katie090307

I haven't noticed any bad hair loss and I don't really mind losing weight fast I just want to do it the healthy way MFP gave me a limit of 1400 to loose 2lbs per week and an Active status

Katie090307

So I have to eat back calories that I burn even if I'm not hungry?

L1zardQueen

You had a thread regarding falling off the wagon. Right? Why did this happen? Were you a little hungry?

Katie090307

@Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink Yes I believe it happened cuz I had a busy day so I didn't eat all day mostly just water and tea and towards the evening I just ate whatever I could get my hands on and that happened to be all very bad choices but like I said in that post that was the first time it ever happened to me normally I eat breakfast lunch and dinner and have a couple snacks throughout the day. I also run in late morning and late evening.

MontyMuttland

The myth that it's "unhealthy" to lose weight faster than 1 or 2lb a week is Diet Industry mumbo-jumbo propagated to justify the fact that it's very difficult to maintain a decent weight loss on their products/programs.
The reality is that your body has to meet its' energy requirements from somewhere, so if you consume less than it needs, it's going to burn some of your fat reserves to make up the difference.
How much weight you lose has a lot to do with how much you restrict your calorie intake.
However, it's not just the actual number of calories that you need to consider, it's also the nutritional value of the food itself. This is the part that governs just how healthy you're going to be as you lose weight.
As an example, I averaged close to a 3lb weekly weight loss for a whole year, going from morbidly obese to normal weight in the process. I was on restricted calories the entire time, but I made sure to eat food that was protein-heavy to maintain the good parts of my body whilst still keeping a good balance of carbs and fat.
Having an accurate MFP food diary was a huge help to keeping all this under control and was specially helpful for me to see what sorts of foods I was eating were giving a good balance of nutrition and which were just waste calories.
Good luck on your weight-loss journey.

AnnPT77

Nemi1989 wrote: »

So I have to eat back calories that I burn even if I'm not hungry?

If you're losing very fast, it would probably be safer/healthier to do so. If this one week was an exception, I'd say don't much worry about it, but if it's the pattern, I'd suggest eating more. Maybe consider eating some calorie-dense foods like some nuts, avocado, peanut butter, or even a small treat (whatever that is to you).

Another possible negative result from very fast loss is down-regulating of your metabolism so that your calorie needs are lower (i.e., you have to eat less to stay a given weight) for the long term. This is not "starvation mode" as people sometimes claim here, where your body holds onto fat despite low calories, but something called "adaptive thermogenesis" where some of your less survival-important body processes slow down slightly in response to consistently too-low consumption. Maybe you read some of those scary articles about Biggest Loser participants who were found to need substantially lower maintenance calories than people of the same weight who'd never been obese - adaptive thermogenesis is one possible explanation.

You really want to be using your weight loss rate to fine-tune the calorie allowance MFP gives you. Its calorie estimates, like those of other calculators, are based on studies of large groups of people. The number it gives you is essentially the average (mean) calories from such studies. Most people's needs are quite close to the mean (small standard deviation, in statistical terminology), but a few people can be further from it in either direction - need more calories than average, or fewer.

I'm one of the weirdos: For a while when I was first on MFP, I was on 1200 net calories, which would be theoretically correct for a sedentary 59-year-old who's getting closer to goal. But at 1200 I lost too fast - almost 2 pounds a week from 154 to 147 - got fatigued, started feeling weak, so (of course) upped my calories as soon as I realized. I lost most of my weight at 1400-1600, at pretty much what I considered the maximum safe rate.

I'm statistically weird, so I'm definitely not saying others will see similar results, but just to give you an idea how big the discrepancy can be: I'm 5'5", 61 years old now, sedentary outside of intentional exercise (which I eat back), weight in the mid-120s (pounds). MFP thinks I'd maintain on around 1500 net calories. I actually maintain around 2000. Why? Don't know. Just lucky.

Katie090307

@MontyMuttland thank you yea I feel like I'm doing what I'm supposed to but I was worried about losing more then 2lbs as I heard that's the max healthy way so that's why I asked. I eat what's recommended by MFP sometimes under but never below 1200.

Duchy82

If it is a one off 5lb loss I wouldn't worry, it can happen. If this is consistent then eat more, if you are normally not that hungry then just add some calorie dense foods. Swap low fat for normal, a tablespoon of peanut butter adds up quick, 4 squares of chocolate is around 100 cals, ect

But in general the advice is to eat 50-75% of exercise calories.

Katie090307

@AnnPT77 thank you for the advice. This is the first week I lost this much in one week normally it ranges 1.5-3lbs per week. I haven't done anything different this week then I did in previous weeks so it was kinda weird to me that I lost so much. Maybe it will even out the average in this coming week.

Katie090307

@Duchy82 thank you I will see how this next week goes cuz usually I lose 1.5-3lbs per week but this week it was more. I will definitely use ur advice on higher calorie foods if I need to bump up my calories.

jelleigh

I think it's valuable to listen to your body. Are you hungry ? Eat. Are you bruising or does your skin look dull or bad, are you having weirdness with your cycle, is your hair looking bad? These are signs your body isn't getting what it needs. I lost quickly before but was bruising like crazy - looking bad I realize I was nutritionally deficient. Personally, i think that if you are eating the MFP goal and feel good with no weird symptoms, I say no biggie if you lose quickly for a bit. Your loss rate will probably go up and down anyhow. I find sometimes I just go through a spot where I lose more effieciently than other times.

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

What was your weight loss each week for the previous 6 weeks?

Weight loss isn't linear and you can get stalls and whooshes

Seffell

If you are 164lbs now you should be losing more like 3lbs a month. Not 3lbs a week.

3lbs a week means 1500cal deficit per day.
You say you eat 1200-1400. This means your TDEE is around 2800. I don't see how this is possible with your weight and height with only running the treadmill.

So I think you either are eating less than that (so you should eat more) or need to see a doctor.

All this unless you don't lose 3lbs every week, but just this one and haven't seen a scale drop the previous 1-2 weeks.

Tacklewasher

I don't want gallstones. Just posted this in another thread, but I've read rapid weight loss can lead to gallstones.
https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-topics/weight-control/dieting_gallstones/Pages/dieting-and-gallstones.aspx#f

You are not morbidly obese at 165. You should not be losing that fast. Try for 1 lb per week, eat back at least 1/2 of what you exercise, but realize your 5 lb loss is most likely a one time fluctuation and you may be stable for a bit.

jgnatca

By the way hair loss shows up six weeks AFTER the damage is done. You'll know soon enough if you overdid it.

ShareeEmma

I like to share this information...
I lost 10lbs in a month, I didn't actually realise I had lost weight this quickly although others would always say it to me. I had my calories at 1200 and I wasn't eating back my workout calories and was working out 4/5 times a week. Ive now upped my calories only to 1250 per day now to slow down to weightloss process AND I will eat back workout calories AND ive cut back working out to 2/3 days a week and LESS cardio. I have seen it myself, quick weightloss caused me to loose mainly muscle not fat and my aim was to build muscle NOT let my body eat it