myth or fact?

queenofgrey

i've heard it said that when someone has over 100 pounds to lose, they tend to lose weight rather quickly in the beginning.

is this true in all cases?

because, well, i have 120-130 to lose & i've only lost 3 pounds in two weeks. i'm eating way less than i used to, am always under my calorie goal of 1400 (even though i eat back some of my exercise calories), & do 30-40 minutes of cardio & strength training 5-6 times per week.

am i doing something wrong here? or is this a myth? or am i just an anomaly?

downinaggieland98

I definitely could be wrong, but I think when people lose weight quickly in the beginning, it's mainly water weight. Are you watching your sodium intake?

Don't get discouraged! You are exercising and watching calories, if you keep it up, the pounds will come off.

queenofgrey

i haven't been paying too much attention to my sodium, no. maybe that's all it is. thank you.

NeverEverEasy

I always here that it's true that people with higher weight loss goals loose more faster in the beggining. The reason I say that is because I always hear "The last 10 lbs is the hardest to loose!" with that said, people who are a bit heavier tend to consume more calories then a thin person, when they start eating lower amounts of calories they loose the weight, a thin person who already eats a low amount has a harder time because then they have to burn calories to make a deficet. So I guess it gets harder the closer you get to your goal.

~ Happy Logging ~

sniperzzzz

You have had a good loss imho, and probably have lost more than the scales are showing, due to water retention within the muscles, from cardio and strength training. worry about it when you haven't lost anything for a few weeks. For now it sounds to me like your on track keep it up

nakabi

True

sculley

I would check out your BMR and your TDEE numbers (you can do a google search for each of them example TDEE calculator.) This can give you a better number that you should be eating (I eat between my BMR and TDEE number.

Hellbent_Heidi

Generally true...but for the record, NOTHING is true "in all cases".

Everyone's body is different and responds differently to changes in diet and exercise.

Good luck!!

Elizabeth_C34

You have had a good loss imho, and probably have lost more than the scales are showing, due to water retention within the muscles, from cardio and strength training. worry about it when you haven't lost anything for a few weeks. For now it sounds to me like your on track keep it up

Agree with this.

Just be patient and start watching your salt intake. Balance it with a high potassium intake and cut back on processed foods, and it should help with water retention.

jkleman79

You have had a good loss imho, and probably have lost more than the scales are showing, due to water retention within the muscles, from cardio and strength training. worry about it when you haven't lost anything for a few weeks. For now it sounds to me like your on track keep it up

What he said... I suggest getting some good before pics of yourself with as much skin showing as you feel comfortable showing in a picture (for your eyes only of course) then use this to reference back to each week or at the end of a month. The scale is a lying sack of sheeeot so dont always believe it. If you have that much to lose there is A LOT of things changing inside your body as well as outside and weight may not always be part of that. I have the picture on my profile from day one til recently. It makes it seem as if you are seeing a friend you havent seen in a year and you notice how much better or worse they look. I went 3 months with no scale change but the pictures were there to prove it. Keep on keeping on. no worries! =0)

surromom2010

I definitely could be wrong, but I think when people lose weight quickly in the beginning, it's mainly water weight. Are you watching your sodium intake?

Don't get discouraged! You are exercising and watching calories, if you keep it up, the pounds will come off.

I would agree with this! Always watch your sodium intake because sodium makes you retain water! Most people opt to taking a water pill to lose weight but reducing sodium and drinking lots and lots of water is the best way for your body to cleanse. If your body is constantly getting water then it no longer needs to hold onto what you do get if its in small amounts, it will retain less and less over time. Your loss looks healthy though, dropping a whole lot more than that right away seems a little unhealthy to me, no matter how much you have to lose. You gotta give your body time to adjust, just keep at what your doing and steer clear of frozen/prepared meals unless you check the Na content!!

butterflymarks

It's not a myth or a fact, it depends on the person!
You should start doing measures of yourself. One girl I knew who had 150 lbs only lost like 7lbs in a month, but lost a heck of a lot of inches around her arms, thighs, and tummy! You should try that, it's for sure more accurate than constantly checking the darn scale!

Good luck on your weight loss journey

LorinaLynn

An average of 1.5 pounds a week IS rather quickly. That's about75 pounds a year.... nothing to sneeze at!

emnk5308

I do know for a fact that the more you weigh, the more calories you burn. So you can watch your calories that you're eating, and burn a *kitten* load off with exercise.

Curvy_princess

bump

BigDaddyBRC

Myth until we have more information. Your diary is private, you dont state what your BMR or TDEE calorie are. Until you provide more information, we can only speculate

starcatcher1975

I have over 100lbs to lose too and taken me a full 3 months to lose 15lbs. my clothes pretty much feel the same I did measure and I know I'm loosing inches, as long as I'm measuring the same spots...hard to tell really since I'm measuring myself. But I'm going to keep on keeping on. I'm doing better than I was when I wasn't doing anything at all and at least I'm working out and my kids are making healthier choices too so I'm having positive outcomes on more than just the scale

I do watch my sodium and I'm really shocked at how much of that stuff is in some items! Sorry I couldn't offer better words of encouragement

LaurenAOK

Most of the weight at the beginning is water weight. Monitor your sodium (cut down on processed foods) and try to drink 10 cups or so of water a day. When I did that I dropped 3 pounds in just a few days! But if you don't lose more, don't sweat it; your progress is already awesome

queenofgrey

y'all are amazingly helpful. thank you for all of the advice & encouragement.

BlueDahlia77

i've heard it said that when someone has over 100 pounds to lose, they tend to lose weight rather quickly in the beginning.

is this true in all cases?

because, well, i have 120-130 to lose & i've only lost 3 pounds in two weeks. i'm eating way less than i used to, am always under my calorie goal of 1400 (even though i eat back some of my exercise calories), & do 30-40 minutes of cardio & strength training 5-6 times per week.

am i doing something wrong here? or is this a myth? or am i just an anomaly?

You'll want to be careful and not be too under your calorie goal. Plus if you're active during the day, you'll need to make sure and log those calories spent because that mean you're calorie limit for the day will increase.

queenofgrey

Myth until we have more information. Your diary is private, you dont state what your BMR or TDEE calorie are. Until you provide more information, we can only speculate

my diary is friends only, but that can easily be changed. in fact, i'll do that right now. thanks for the reminder.

GauchoMark

3 pounds in 2 weeks is not bad. I'd say you are doing fine and just need to give it more time. What is the recommended loss rate your goals are based on in MFP?

KyleB65

3 lbs in two weeks sounds about right to me?

Depending how you set yourself up on MFP the weight loss should be between 1 - 2 lbs per week.

I am down over 70 lbs from my heaviest and the weight did come off at a pretty regular rate ( 1- 2 lbs per week). In fact early on I had a couple of 5 lbs weeks.

Once I passed 50 lbs lost it started to slow down. But, it still came off.

I am at 70 lbs down since I started MFP and this seems to be a good weight for me. I am now focusing on fitness goals rather than weight loss.

One last thought, if you are not already doing so? Take body measurements. There may be weeks where the scale does not move but your body changes. I regret not adding the tracking of body measurements to my weekly check in.

Best of luck on your journey.

IronPlayground

3 lbs. in two weeks is good. You should be proud. Keep at it. It appears you're doing things right.

Elizabeth_C34

I would also suggest making sure you are measuring out everything not eyeballing your portions if you aren't doing that already. It's surprising how small the portion sizes are at the beginning so make sure you measure everything.

bigdogc23

Well the weight loss in the beginning for people that need to lose that much weight are most likeley lose it a lot quicker for different reasons especially in the beginning. One, yes they tend to hold a lot more water weight not totally because they hold that much weight but a lot of it is attributed to their diet. Once they go on a diet to lose the weight they obviously go on a much stricter intake of calories so even if they are eating the same kind of food, they are usually eating much less than they normally do so therefore they are intaking much less sodium and that equals a lot of water weight loss.

2nd, someone holding that much more weight is going to lose it rapidly because everything they do requires so much more effort and their body is not effecient what so ever at that point. They are burning a significant higher amount of calories from breathing, much higher constant heart rate, moving the body takes much more effort etc..... Also if they are working out, in the beginning stages they body will be absorbing a lot of nutrients to build muscle that is not there and to sustain that persons body working out at that weight so actual weight may not be lost initially but you should be getting a higher body fat loss rate until the body starts leveling off on building your new structure.

3rd, someone with that kinda weight most definatly didn't have a healthy diet and probably ate a substantial amount of food most days so their intestines will be very full. They shoudl lose quit a bit of weight from cleaning out the intestines when going on a low calorie diet. I'm not sure the exact figure but when John Wayne died, it's said he something like 42 pounds built up just in his large intestines....

Hope that helps a little, i'm sure there are other factore involved....

chenrytc2

Myth. Your body will react differently than mine if we ate the same thing, did the same exercise, etc. I wanted to see your food journal but it was locked.

If you have not exercised for awhile, then it may take up to 4 - 6 weeks to get your metabolism going. Remember, your body is used to storing fat for energy and not burning. You have to work hard to reverse this current state.

Lets look at this logically. The most you should lose in a month is 8 pounds if you are trying to lose two pounds a week. If you lose 50% of that through diet alone, that is noteworthy. You have lost 3 pounds so far and have not completed a full month.

After 4-6 weeks of diet and exercise the results aren't there. Then reconsider what you are eating.

Also, if you are doing all of the exercise mentioned and you aren't changing (body measurement), then you need to eat more. It sounds like your body may be in a state of starvation because you aren't getting enough calories. Sounds crazy right? Eat more to lose weight. Well it isn't. I didn't say eat an extra Big Mac. Eat more chicken and vegetables. You will see how few calories you get compared to how much food when you eat clean.

Lastly - DON'T QUIT! You didn't gain that weight in a short period and you won't lose it in a short period. You can do it. Just remind yourself Rome was not built in a day.

Best wishes...

omegamaster4040

Just keep rolling! You are doing awesome. The only myth is if you eat less calories than you consume you will lose wieght.

You are already doing the two biggest things right most people dont!
- Net smart calories not just net calories (if you eat 50 pixie sticks in a day you may still be under your calorie limit, but wont lose weight)
- Getting your calories at target by working out more rather than cutting calorie intake

You are doing everything right and you are losing at a pretty good HEALTHLY rate.

Every week you do things right, the habit gets formed deeper, every pound you lose makes you lighter and closer to your goal!

Proud of you friend, keep it up!

queenofgrey

thanks, man. really. i needed to read that today.