Newbie gains vs crash dieting

hawkeye45_

Crash dieting is bad. While it leads to quick results, it doesn't build the good habits to turn a change in nutrition into a lasting lifestyle, making the quick results temporary.

Newbie gains are quick results that stem from just starting and having a long way to go. You can lose a lot of weight quickly because it's a relatively low percentage of your weight. It differs from a crash diet because you're building good nutritional habits that can become a lasting lifestyle.

Now my question: How do I tell which one I'm doing? I'm kinda scared of being proud of myself for losing almost 20 pounds in the month of May if what I'm doing is ultimately unhealthy. I still eat over 1900 calories almost every day with the rare 1400 calorie day exception if I'm just not that hungry, and I averaged over 12,000 steps a day. I also quit sodas (probably averaged 36 oz a day) and started a 16/8 intermittent fast. My starting weight was 347.2, so 20 pounds is only about 6% of my body weight. That's not a huge deal for newbie gains, right?

Am I overthinking it?

Shortgirlrunning

Starting at such a high weight, it does not sound like you are crash dieting though I think men are advised not to go under 1500 calories to meet basic nutritional needs.

hawkeye45_

Shortgirlrunning wrote: »

Starting at such a high weight, it does not sound like you are crash dieting though I think men are advised not to go under 1500 calories to meet basic nutritional needs.

Thank you!

quiksylver296

I've only heard newbie gains in relation to weight lifting and muscle gain. I've never heard it in the context you've used.

hawkeye45_

quiksylver296 wrote: »

I've only heard newbie gains in relation to weight lifting and muscle gain. I've never heard it in the context you've used.

That's me, using words incorrectly and still getting my point across. Kinda like forgetting the word "doctor" and saying "people vet."

quiksylver296

hawkeye45_ wrote: »

quiksylver296 wrote: »

I've only heard newbie gains in relation to weight lifting and muscle gain. I've never heard it in the context you've used.

That's me, using words incorrectly and still getting my point across. Kinda like forgetting the word "doctor" and saying "people vet."

That made me :laugh:

AliNouveau

Crash dieting is severely restricting calorie intake and often working out like a crazy person. From your description you're not. So be happy and don't overthink your loss. Enjoy it cause eventually you'll get to those last 10 and they take forever to lose. 😀

AnnPT77

Was this your first month? It's common to lose a little more in the first couple of weeks, before leveling off to a more steady(-ish) loss rate. When we go from eating quite a lot, to a more moderate deficit amount, that's less food waste in transit in the digestive system on average, less carbs in the intake so less water-weight tied up in metabolizing them, less sodium so less water to balance electrolytes, etc.

Most of the time, we'd suggest people lose no more than 1% of body weight per week, just to be conservative, if not under close medical monitoring. But if it's your first month, and you're still feeling fine, I think it's fine for you to settle in for another month or so and see if you level off more in that 1% per week kind of realm.

With a lot of weight to lose, it takes some calendar time. I know you want to stay strong and healthy, and have a routine you can sustain long enough to get to goal. Like any other kind of race, it can feel good to go out of the gate really fast, but it may not give the best overall results for the whole course. (Someone with lots to lose can sustain that quick start better than someone already lighter, of course.)

For now, though, I think you're doing great. Wishing you continuing excellent results!

PAV8888

I think people vets are just the best! (sometimes; not always)

That said: 12,000 steps is equivalent to the top end of MFP active (if not into very active). Assuming that you're not double capturing these steps anywhere else when it comes to calculating your caloric expenditures.

Are you basing your eating calories on a deficit designed to yield 2lbs a week (1000 Cal a day) and sedentary calories? Are you adding exercise calories to your base calories and eating (at least some of) them back?

While some additional water weight loss is common when first starting out, your calories eaten (under 2000), and deficit calories implied by your 20lb loss even if all of the lbs were "real", taken together would account for a TDEE of just over 4,000Kcal.

A 4K Calorie total daily energy expenditure, is NOT far fetched for an active male person of your size.

So there is a good chance that a substantial portion of the 20lbs is actual fat loss. Which would place your loss in the 1.35% of body weight per week bracket.

Now.

I am the first person to suggest a long term loss rate of between 0.5% to 1% of body weight per week for long term SUSTAINABILITY, as well as to help us learn and embed new long term ways of eating, long term ways of moving and exercising, and, in general, long term ways of functioning.

Working on all that and embedding enough of it that we survive months or years of weight loss and years of early maintenance doesn't happen either in a few days, or even in a few months.

You're looking at the better part of a couple of years of losing weight and *at the very least* a couple of years of EXTREME vigilance during the beginning of maintenance, assuming you want to avoid regain!

Once you're two or three years post weight loss, MAYBE you can start believing that you have found your long term groove. It is probably at the 5 years post weight loss mark when the odds to continue to maintain finally turn in our favour, so it's a long game we play!

So, that said, I've not seen much of anything to suggest that losing up to 1.5% of body weight per week is BAD for a morbidly obese person!

So: keep on doing what you're doing IF and ONLY IF you genuinely believe and FEEL that you're doing things to achieve this that you can see yourself doing LONG TERM.

If you don't see yourself doing these things long term, then slowly start modifying things so that you are keeping your eye not only to short term success and scale movement; but, so that you are also setting up for long term on-going weight management.

In any case mindful adjustment is the name of the game both now and in the future! So keep it up but don't be hesitant to adjust and err towards sustainability.

hawkeye45_

Thank you all for your words of either encouragement or knowledge.

I should have added in my original post that I am working with a time frame, specifically an arbitrary time frame that I have set for myself. I want to be under 300 pounds before my 30th birthday, which is this December.

AliNouveau

hawkeye45_ wrote: »

Thank you all for your words of either encouragement or knowledge.

I should have added in my original post that I am working with a time frame, specifically an arbitrary time frame that I have set for myself. I want to be under 300 pounds before my 30th birthday, which is this December.

You're already down 20lb so just under halfway there. I think you've set a easily achievable goal. Just keep trying and plugging away. There will be ups and downs and plateaus but I think you can totally achieve this