Starting out again..losing weight pretty quick. Questions

UdderJuice

So a little back story. Im 6'2. 32 y.o. and right now around 227. Growing up i was always fairly skinny. 160 in high school and i was very active....which led to bad eating habits being developed because i always burned it off. After High School i wasn't as active and was around 200 which wasn't a big deal to me. Over the past few years it caught up to me and i was 244. I have dieted two or three weeks here and there half heartedly with ok results.

3 weeks ago...i decided my weight actually started impacting my energy etc and it was time to get back into it. I ran before this..but more of 1/2 mile runs walk for 1/10 and repeat. I exercised ok...i was just eating way to much junk food. I love Pizza and beer which is a bad combination.

I have lost about 17 lbs in 3 weeks...give or take a few i guess for water...im worried this might be too much too quick for my body. Any thoughts?

My diet is pretty steady....

light english muffin with lean turkey for breakfast (sometimes ill use PB2 powdered peanut butter with it a little) around 6 AM

Bag of carrots or a carb master yogurt for snack at 830 or 9

Whole wheat sugar free bread 100 cal slice 20g carbs with turkey for lunch around 12

either the carrots or yogurt i didn't eat during AM snack around 230 pm

Dinner is 4-5 ozs chicken breast with only mustard to dip in (i love mustard so it helps)--- and then a ton of veggies either asparagus, salad with light fat free Italian dressing, a bag of mixed veggies...etc.. usually about 2.5-3 cups of veggies steamed etc with it. around 5-530 pm.

Nothing after 7pm period..i may eat some jello right before 7 occasionally but not often.

water water water all day...about a gallon i would say

So far..the only thing i have substituted was lean pork chop 4-5 ozs for the chicken... or last night 2 portabello mushroom caps grilled with salt and pepper which i really liked and may do more of. I did use a tablespoon of steak sauce with that.

i feel great. I don't really feel hungry at all. Cravings are manageable considering an IPA beer and a pizza or my only weakness and it is pretty easy to stay away from that. I haven't had any cheat meals at all..not even a chocolate chip. I do have a cheat day in mind. in a few weeks for my initial...with maybe a cheat meal every 2 weeks or so.

I run about 3.5 miles every 2-3 days...usually about 45 minutes...

SO....should i be worried?? Is that too fast? I just don't want to damage anything badly..or is this just a natural quick dip before i plateau and slow down to the 2 lbs a week? Im planning on trying to get down to 180-185 before i slow down the diet and maintain.

Thanks.

wilsoje74

How many calories are you eating a day? I'm guessing you didn't stick with diets before because they were too restrictive and not sustainable. I would try to eat your allotted calories so you don't start to feel deprived and give up.

_KitKat_

How many calories total for a day is that? It is a lot of weight quickly but it happens at the beginning sometimes, there are so many factors involved. Try working out your calories doing the TDEE method (search forum, many great threads) then make sure to never eat below your bmr. If the weight loss continues at this pace then call your Dr. but I don't think you have anything to worry about at this time.

seltzermint555

a chocolate chip does not constitute a cheat meal. It must be said.

It doesn't sound like you have anything to be concerned about, honestly. If you continue losing at the current pace after another couple of weeks, increase your calories.

amusedmonkey

When you go from eating high calorie to lowering your calories, you are definitely going to lose a lot in the first couple of weeks. It will slow down eventually I lost about 25 pounds in a little over a month! Now keep tracking everything accurately and if you see yourself still losing too quickly, increase your daily calories.

UdderJuice

Thanks for the replies...

I haven't really counted...and honestly the only thing im going by is what someone i had known a few years back had said..lean white meat, lots of veggies and lots of water,,,whole foods.. Etc.

The only counting i have really done is to cut out junk food and things i like..and..when getting veggies..i like to get these green giant frozen microwavable packs that are like 70 calories a serving. That and the edamame which was 100 calories. Other than that i haven't really checked. I will add it up tomorrow and add to this. I did choose my bread actually based on the carbs. The same guy had said stay away from white bread. Only whole wheat and do not go heavy on the carbs.

I need to add i do throw in another snack often during the day. Either more carrots or i grabbed a box of mixed nut snack packs from emerald with almonds and walnuts.

I think some of the full factor may be due to the water i drink. I will tryt o hold off on the cheat day, but if it does get bad i will take it early so i do not just break the diet totally. There is a place called mellow mushroom around here that has my favorite pizza..that and jets pizza. Any pizza really.

I was just worried it would end up harming something internally without me knowing it. Or..like you said..i would end up just gaining weight back if i stopped dieting..i want to make it a lifestyle change. I do enjoy veggies and chicken so that does help i know...i just liked pizza more. I shouldn't have said i feel totally fine..i do have to urinate every hour it seems and i have been a little gassy/bloated that caused some cramps. I figured it was just the veggies. It hasn't been too horrible.

I never really stuck with any diet before because i wasnt really concerned with my weight. Being skinny growing up gave me a skinny guy self conscious issue at 150. I actually kind of liked being the bigger guy in the room at 6'2 230 for a while. It has just started to affect my health i think. I started having some issues that kind of motivated me. Bad blood work and development of anxiety out of nowhere along with some palpitations my doc said was a combination of caffeine, overweight, and only sleeping like 6 hrs a night. Caffeine...i do drink about 24 ozs of strong black coffee daily and have for years...no sugar or cream..like john wayne would have..lol..should have added that.

UdderJuice

Thanks amusedmonkey..that alleviates my fear a lot. I dont know where i am at now..but i know i had to be intaking alot there for a while.. It was nothing to eat almost a whole medium pizza while i was sitting around at night...after going most of the day eating just a light breakfast which wasnt good for me. I had a bad habit of eating just two meals if not just dinner due to being busy...which is why i have tried to eat smaller meals throughout the day..

UdderJuice

The chocolate chip was an exaggeration on my part..lol. It being a meal anyways. My 2 y.o daughter tried to give me her hershey kiss from her easter basket and i almost took it..but i didn't want to stumble even a little early in my diet.

ItsJustBeka

Sounds like you're on the right track to me! I've been watching carbs especially as well and cutting carbs can cause significant weight loss! I'm down over ten lbs in less than two weeks and I had a cheat day on easter! Like others have already said stick with what you're doing and just watch yourself. I'd suggest a visit to your doctor at this point too! I'm going for my first "diet checkup" monday. Getting some blood work done and making sure there aren't any concerns about your overall nutrition is important. The doc's the best place to get it all straight! Good luck!

UdderJuice

Ok...i added it up and i would say i, around 1400 calories a day... Im guessing that is too low? I could bump it up im sure by just adding a few condiments...right now i pretty much stick to mustard and light sald dressing....