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Fast or Slow Weight Loss?

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  • Wendyanneroberts
    Wendyanneroberts Posts: 270 Member
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    Slow and steady has definitely worked better for me. But some of the comments both on this thread and some others on mfp forums, has made me realise how differently we even view this question. Slow and steady has meant just that at an average of 0.5lb a week. Time, dedication and perseverance has got me to goal, losing a total of 52lb.

    But it makes me smile, when others say 2lb a week is slow and steady, (it may be with a lot to lose, but not as your nearing goal). Some complain that 2lb a week is too slow. Whereas I would consider 2lb a week fast, and often any higher may even be unhealthy (with some exceptions).
  • VUA21
    VUA21 Posts: 2,072 Member
    edited June 2018
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    It depends on your personality. Some people have very all or nothing personalities. For them a two month burstsm of fast weight loss followed by maintenance, then repeating works best. For others, slow and steady works best as massive change can be overwhelming and do best making smaller changes over time.

    Both tend to have the same results in the long run.

    One of the hardest things is just figuring out what works for you best. Some people need a specific diet to keep them on track, others don't. You know yourself best, so do what works for you.
  • rpmkarting
    rpmkarting Posts: 49 Member
    edited June 2018
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    For me, I lost 100 lbs in 6 months. Running every day, restricting calories to 1500 max. I felt hungry all the time. I injured my shoulder and shortly after stopped going to the gym. Over a period of 6 years I put all of it back on. Long story short, I am trying Keto now and working again at losing weight, not as fast. So far down 35 lbs without having been to the gym. 15 more lbs and I hit a goal weight that I wanted to achieve before running. Only time will tell to see which way was more successful for me.
  • jheye
    jheye Posts: 36 Member
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    I think reasonably fast is fine IF you plan ahead to transition from diet to maintenance. There are also issues with decreased metabolic rate associated with significant calorie reduction that can contribute to weight gain after a substantial loss. Whether you lose fast or slow, maintaining your weight loss will require a lifestyle change. For some people it's easier to adjust gradually and lose slowly. For others, the benefits of rapid weight loss justify the more dramatic changes from an obesogenic diet to a rapid weight loss diet to a maintenance diet.
  • Candyspun
    Candyspun Posts: 370 Member
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    I like to aim for the fast end of healthy. So, I aim for 1kg per week, and if it's less than that, I'm still happy.
  • Candyspun
    Candyspun Posts: 370 Member
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    That is true. Another reason I like to aim more for 1kg of loss per week, rather than say, 500g or less, is that I'm still new to weighing and tracking my food. So, sometimes mistakes are made, and I go over on my calories by accident. Aiming so high gives me more wiggle room when I make a mistake with my tracking, and it means I still have a deficit even if I do make a mistake, and I still lose some weight, so far.
  • kristingjertsen
    kristingjertsen Posts: 239 Member
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    I lost 56 pounds 6 years ago with the "slow" approach. It took me just over a year to reach a healthy weight. My eating habits had changed enough that I managed to keep 31 of those pounds off until two years ago when I had a work injury and surgery requiring a long rehabilitation and gained 25 lbs. back. I began working to get the weight off again in January of this year, once again using the "slow" approach. So far, I have lost 10 lbs. and have another 15 to go. Easier on the body, easier to deal with mistakes, fewer binges, and enough calories and good nutrition to stay satisfied and healthy.
  • shaumom
    shaumom Posts: 1,003 Member
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    I think fast can work just fine for most overall healthy people, if it's for a smaller amount, like less than 10 pounds. In part because if a person is only 10 pounds overweight, their typical daily habits and/or mental/physical health are likely pretty healthy overall, so it won't take a lot of lifestyle changes or anything else to stay at a lower weight, there's no major physical changes to cope with, and it's more for some aesthetic appeal than anything health related. Or for a sport where you are trying to fit into a weight class.

    I think that the higher amount of weight to lose, the more that slowly changes.

    A person is more likely to have habits of eating/activity that contribute to the heavier weight if they ARE a much heavier weight. Or they might have mental or physical challenges that impact their weight. All of these can be difficult to cope with long term, and will likely need some changes or some coping mechanisms put into place (like with certain disorders, need to have a game plan for days when pain is too much to exercise, or there's too much fatigue to cook). While I know some folks find the quick loss to be mentally helpful, if it doesn't give a person long enough to implement the needed changes, the weight will start coming right back and personally, I think it likely that the second weight gain would wipe out the mental high from the weight loss, you know?

    It's also not physically healthy to lose weight very rapidly, at least not for the amount of time needed to be losing more than 10 ish pounds. Fatigue and headaches are common side effects, which are mentally very hard to cope with for the longer periods that would be required for larger amounts of weight loss. Losing muscle mass can be a distinct problem.

    The skin can really have sagging issues if the weight loss is too high, too fast. Even the chances of gallstones increase (When losing rapid weight, the liver excretes extra cholesterol, which leads to too much cholesterol in bile, which can lead to gallstones).

    If a person loses weight primarily through huge amounts of exercise, that may increase the chances of over use injuries, especially for those who aren't used to it. Doing it primarily through diet, there is going to be the difficulty of getting enough nutrients. Somewhere in the middle...I'm honestly not sure, because for really rapid weight loss, you'd still have to do a lot of exercise and a lot of calorie cutting, so the middle may still be pretty physically stressful, from what I've seen.

    Maybe someone who is super healthy (but for some reason has gained a lot of weight???) and has no other stress in life and has super resilient skin and never gets injuries of gallstones...yeah? Fast weight loss would be fine and healthy? But...doesn't seem likely in the majority of us.


  • wind_chimes
    wind_chimes Posts: 6 Member
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    I want to lose the weight fast why would anyone want to lose the weight slowly ?
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
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    wind_chimes wrote: »
    sunfastrose wrote: »
    wind_chimes wrote: »
    I want to lose the weight fast why would anyone want to lose the weight slowly ?

    To learn how to not only lose it but to keep it off? To not feel I am suffering in the process ? For extreme levels - to not endanger my health?

    That is not always true maybe in some cases but for others you can lose the weight fast and keep it off if you don't go back to you're old habits .

    People are more then likely to quit if they see no weight loss or just one or two pounds a week.
    The key to a successful weightless journey is to stay consistent .

    What other process of developing habits works through such harsh demands and conditioning? The end goal is modifying behavior, which is challenging enough without professional help. To attempt this without support is like attempting boot camp without a drill instructor, barracks, and the thousands of other support mechanisms...resulting in likely failure.
  • VUA21
    VUA21 Posts: 2,072 Member
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    wind_chimes wrote: »
    I want to lose the weight fast why would anyone want to lose the weight slowly ?

    Saggy skin.. the faster you lose, the worse it is. Going slower reducing the excess skin as ones skin has more time to shrink. Also, muscle mass. Being too far into a defiy can cause your body to lose muscle mass and even bone density.
  • felixg1109
    felixg1109 Posts: 172 MFP Moderator
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    In my oppinion it's a personal thing - i dropped my 320+ pounds in about 1,75 years. If you come from such a high weight there always will be saggy skin - no matter how slow you loose it. If i did only 1 pound per week i would be dead by now.

    But for "normal" weight losses i think it's better to head for a slow and steady weight loss.
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
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    The skin only has so much elasticity and resiliency. After several or many dieting excursions over the course of a lifetime, it does not bounce back. Gentle change for the permanent WIN.
  • Vailara
    Vailara Posts: 2,454 Member
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    Hasn't there been a couple of studies recently that are moving thinking more from slow and steady to a fast initial loss being more effective? I don't know. My own weight loss was slow (very slow - funnily enough, I thought the quote about a pound a week loss was meant to be fast loss!) and steady, but I have kept the weight off for a few years. I don't know if that's because it was slow or not.

    I accept that fast loss seems to have some benefits in terms of motivation and results. I don't know if anyone watched "The Big Crash Diet" programme in the UK, which had participants follow something similiar to the Newcastle study (800 calories a day of meal replacement products, aiming to reverse diabetes)? But if I wanted to lose fast now - I'm shorter and older, with a relatively low BMR, and I don't see how someone of a TDEE of, say, 1500, can create a deficit enough to lose 2lb or more a week? "Water weight"?

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