Am I losing weight too quickly?

ajward1975

I know my discussion title sounds completely stupid, but I started my weight loss journey on April 2nd of this year at a starting weight of 342.6 lbs. It's now July 23rd and I'm down to 270 lbs. Over the 16 weeks, I'm averaging 4.5 lbs. lost per week. I walk/run 3 miles, 3-4 days a week and keep my caloric intake between 1700-2000 per week. At times, I feel hungry, so I go eat a snack, but I don't feel like I'm starving. I feel great about my progress, but everything I read says you should only be losing 1.5-2 lbs per week.

Should I change anything? Is it safe to keep up this pace of weight loss? Should I increase my caloric intake per day?

Any suggestions or personal experience stories would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

erjones11

1700-2000 calories per week or per day?

malibu927

At your size it's fine to lose faster than recommended. But your calories are pretty low. I would say aim for at least 2000 a day.

ajward1975

1700-2000 per day....sorry! I messed that up.

NovusDies

ajward1975 wrote: »

I know my discussion title sounds completely stupid, but I started my weight loss journey on April 2nd of this year at a starting weight of 342.6 lbs. It's now July 23rd and I'm down to 270 lbs. Over the 16 weeks, I'm averaging 4.5 lbs. lost per week. I walk/run 3 miles, 3-4 days a week and keep my caloric intake between 1700-2000 per week. At times, I feel hungry, so I go eat a snack, but I don't feel like I'm starving. I feel great about my progress, but everything I read says you should only be losing 1.5-2 lbs per week.

Should I change anything? Is it safe to keep up this pace of weight loss? Should I increase my caloric intake per day?

Any suggestions or personal experience stories would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Edited because I made an assumption...

The general safe rule of thumb is no more than 1% of your total body weight per week.

What has your average rate of loss been the last 12 weeks?

ajward1975

I was 318.6 on 4/30 and 270.5 as of today. 48.1 lbs lost over 12 weeks - avg of 4 lbs per week

kroe4

You're right on track!! I started at 327 in March and I'm down to 255ish now. My doctor said it was perfectly normal to be dropping over 10lbs a month starting off at such a high weight. Don't get discouraged though when it starts to slow down. I'm going to miss seeing those big number changes every week before too long.

kimny72

There is a lot more leeway re what a safe rate of loss is when you are bigger, but now that you are solidly in the 200's I personally would slow it down a little bit. Kind of a nice slow glide to get you to a pace of 2 lbs a week as you get closer to 200. You are already eating at a pretty low calorie level for a guy, you don't want to box yourself into a corner!

Congrats on your success so far! And it's not a stupid question - lots of people go by the biggest loser or workout DVD infomercials and think it's normal to lose 10 lbs per week, but it's not. There is definitely such a thing as too fast. The lighter you get, the harder it is too eat low enough to carry a big deficit and still fuel your body, plus muscle loss becomes more likely. In general, 1% of your body weight is the most recommended, and as a male you should be eating at least 1500 calories net to make sure you are getting enough fuel and nutrition. Good luck!

Millicent3015

If you're concerned it might be an idea to talk to your doctor or make an appointment with a dietitian, just to make sure everything's ok. You may start to see a dropping off or stabilisation of your weight loss as you get smaller.

jasondjulian

Probably fine for now, as a lot of that may have been (and likely was) water weight as well. The rate of loss will slow down though in the future... so please don't get upset if you don't sustain 4lbs/week loss all the way down to 200lbs.

ajward1975

If it makes any difference in your advice, I'm 42 years old and 6'3".

To all who have replied so far, thank you very much for your responses. I've been prepared for the weight loss slow down, but it hasn't happened yet. I think I'm going to increase my caloric intake to at least 2000 a day.

middlehaitch

As well as upping your calories, wise move, start eating back your exercise calories.
Your burn from your walks won't be much, but it is a good habit to get into as you get closer to your goal/maintenance and need to monitor your energy levels more closely.

If you get an injury or illness and have to cut back on any exercise you will have a better idea on the number of calories you have to adjust to.

The more data points you have, the better.

It is always useful to look at what your calorie goal will be when you hit maintenance. It will give you a good idea of what your deficit can range between.

Cheers, h.