Too much too fast or normal?

Sthsidirish

Hello everyone. Looking for some input from others with similar experiences and/or knowledge. At the beginning of May I started my lifestyle changes. The wife started a Keto diet. So to support her and because I could certainly stand to lose a substantial amount of weight myself I joined her. The philosophy is Keto but after doing a bunch of reading I don't think, based on my macros at least, that we are truly 100% keto. Maybe more of a carb restricted Paleo...anyway, I digress.

After having just completed 12 weeks I have lost 43 pounds. So those responding have full info here's a little background. I used to eat a LOT of fast food, as in daily. Never exercised other than what was needed for work (and I used the available golf cart whenever possible). My daily fluid intake consisted of a very large coffee with flavored creamer and sugar and, embarrassingly, a six pack or better of Coke...every day. I have no idea what the daily caloric intake was because I never checked..didn't care to. And my weight when we started was 342.

Now I drink water. No more coffee, no more Coke. No longer eat fast food. I cook all of our meals which consist of a lot of fresh green vegetables, lean proteins, and healthy fats. The cost of avacados is going to break me, lol. I measure my portions and track everything I eat. Now I walk every where I go at work and in the last month have started going to the gym 3 times a week. When I go I pick a body part, do some light to moderate resistance training, and then a solid 30-45 minutes of cardio.

My daily caloric intake averages between 1500-1700 calories. My basal metabolic rate when I started was just over 2800, now just over 2500. With all the walking at work and the gym workouts my Dashboard says my 28 day average burn is 4,258. I'm very rarely ever hungry, have better energy than I can remember having, and feel better than I have in many years. Knees, back, etc. have all but stopped hurting.

The ultimate question. I'm losing on average 3.3 pounds a week. Is that too much/fast? Or, based on where I started and the changes I've made, is that amount per week not out of the ordinary here at the beginning?

arrghmatey1

The end of my 12th week I had lost 45.2 pounds ... 317.6 >> 272.4 I don't evercise except for increased daily activities and I follow pretty much the same kind of diet. 40 to 50% carb reduction and no fast food. Don't worry it will slow as you get closer to your goal weight. I have lost 73lbs and I just finished week 32.

AnnPT77

Maximum 1% of body weight loss per week is a common rule of thumb around here to minimize risks of overdoing, and even slower as you get to within 50 pounds or so of final goal.

It's true that if you stay at the same eating/exercise level, your loss will naturally slow somewhat as your smaller body burns fewer calories doing the same things. Enough slower to keep it safe? That varies.

There's some argument in favor of intentionally managing your weight loss rate to keep it on the conservative side: If you wait until you see negative symptoms, it can take a while to recover (some damage has already been done). I unintentionally lost too fast for a short time, and felt fatigued and weakened. Even though I started eating more as soon as I realized, there was delay in feeling better.

fiddletime

I also lost too fast once. I got sick with every cold virus that winter, and usually seldom catch a cold. Sounds like you're doing great! Don't get frustrated when your weight loss slows. As it gets slower and slower and you get closer to goal weight you want to start getting a feel for maintenance anyway. This journey never really ends and the last ten pounds is really just dancing along the edge of maintenance.

kwaasen

As long as you are happy with the result and feel energetic I wouldn't worry!
Good job with the lifestyle changes. But I'd like to weigh in with two options.1 Coffee isn't a bad thing if you drink it black. 2 don't forget to eat coloured veggies too. The contain a lot of nice vitamins. In Norway we are told to be as colourful as possible.

Sthsidirish

Thanks for the responses. Hit a bit of a wall this past week. Just stayed level, no loss no gain. Energy levels took a dip as well. Went back and looked at my daily intakes vs calories burned and macros for the week. Looks like I significantly under ate. Not intentionally. Best guess is that between the garden coming in strong, lots of fresh veggies were really good just not what anyone could call calorie rich. That coupled with not bumping up intake to correspond to the weeks workouts left me at a deficit of 16,798. Another lesson learned on the journey. The fresh vegetables and greens are tasty and they will leave you feeling full (when coupled with some lean protein and an avacado) but they aren't high in calories. Going to spend this week paying closer attention, getting back to feeling right, and performing at the same or better level than I was before I inadvertently starved myself for a week.

nowine4me

If you normally (besides this week) feel good and have plenty of energy, keep doing what you're doing. Soon enough the loss will slow to a crawl. That's when you need to be patient and persistent.

DX2JX2

Given that some of your initial weight loss was water and that you have a lot of wiggle room in your calorie targets, I'd say you're probably ok. Keep doing what you're doing. Just listen to your body. If you ever feel unusually fatigued, achy, or like you're getting a cold, up your calories.

I was in a similar situation to you and lost a little too quickly at first. I upped my calories once I started feeling my energy levels drop and was fine within a day. Contrary to some of the beliefs on the board our bodies aren't as fragile as some would believe (especially for us bigger guys). As you've already found, you'll make it through some trial and error with little issue.

Psychgrrl

With keto/low carb, you often lose a lot of water weight at first, due to depletion of your glycogen stores. Given your starting weight and initial loss, I don't think it's cause for alarm. Now that you're past the initial woosh, think about @AnnPT77 's comment about a good rate of loss being 1% of your body rate per week. She also gave good advice that by the time you notice issues, you've done enough that gaining back that health is tougher than just eating more.

Also, keep in mind the body is, well, weird. You won't see a loss every day or week and will also see gains as weight fluctuation of several pounds is normal based on food, hormones, etc. You might want to look at a weight trending app such as Happy Scale (iPhone) or Libra (Android). You weigh daily and with a few weeks of data the algorithm will show you the overall trend of where you're headed in spite of the crazy dailies.

Good luck!

rmgnow

iMO at 300 lbs you should be eating more calories. But you're having fantastic results.

When I started I lost weight quickly and during the week I didn't lose weight, I noticed my body changing.

It'll probably take a little longer but I don't think it would hurt to get on a 2000 Cal diet

park1e

I've lost 42 lbs in the last 3 months so almost the same. Started at 242 lbs and now at 200, probably way too fast but I still feel great.

HarlemNY17

You lost a lot of water weight . You can't lose 3 pounds of fat in a week

Poisonedpawn78

HarlemNY17 wrote: »

You lost a lot of water weight . You can't lose 3 pounds of fat in a week

At his starting weight sure he can.

OP additionally, dont get discouraged when the scale weight stalls. there are going to be periods where you are losing weight but the water weight from the fat cells has not fully flushed out of your system. You can "lose" the fat one week and not see the change on the scale till a week or two later. Just trust in the numbers and what you are doing is correct.

PAV8888

Your 3.3lbs falls near the edge of 1% of body weight which is within the acceptable category especially with a lot of weight available to lose.

there ARE issues with super rapid weight loss: gallbladder issues, excess lean mass lost and such. However being in the upper 200's/low 300's you are NOT exceeding the fairly safe 1% level and you do have sufficient fat available to be mobilised to meet your deficits.

As you start nearing the bottom of the obese range and getting closer to the overweight range I would re-examine my rate of loss and start thinking about where I want to be eating long term.

You ought to be able to lose comfortably while eating much closer to your final maintenance level.

Spending a couple of years practising eating at the ~2500 level where you will be maintaining the rest of your life won't hurt anything.

Thinking of this as a diet we will eventually stop does not sound like a great idea for those of us who started well in the obese range...

A trending weight app or web site is a most excellent idea... losses will not remain rapid enough to be felt on a day to day basis forever...

misnomer1

Well done mate

Sthsidirish

I fully expected the rate of loss to slow after the initial big drops from water loss, etc. The 3.3 was the average at that point. The past month/5 weeks it's been much closer to the 2lb a week rate..which I'm fine with. It took years of bad eating and no exercise to pack it all on, it's surely not all coming off in 6-9 months or even a year.

Upped my intake yesterday and already feeling better. Not yet as good as I was feeling but a definite change back toward the better.

Actually not upset with not losing anything for a week. The reason why was a bad one that's for sure but after 3+ months of losing I don't thing a week where my body just leveled out a bit was necessarily a bad thing and I learned more important things about how my own body reacts and this lifestyle change.

mangofish44

You are my hero