How do people lose weight SO FAST?

motown13

I have seen people say they have lost 68 pounds in 6 weeks.... even 100+ pounds in 3 months, and I wonder how that is even possible. I actually don't want that for myself, but I would LOVE to get to a solid 3 - 3.5 pounds a week after this quick weight loss beginning is over.

I would think that someone who can lose weigh THAT fast has a pretty good metabolism...... maybe too good, if that is possible?

Granted it is easier to lose faster if you are super heavy, but even at that, some people's weight loss is STAGGERING.

I wonder how they do it, or how / why it can happen that way. I'm not doubting them, as the proof is in the pictures.

Textmessage

You start by not eating sugary foods, fast food, sodas, etc. anymore. Then you become elite.

josiereside

I don't think it is a smart move to try and lose more than a pound or so per week... it is a journey not a race... I think you would need too much of a calorie deficit to do that...

MidwestAngel

You start by not eating sugary foods, fast food, sodas, etc. anymore. Then you become elite.

^Lame troll is lame.

Sometimes people lose a lot at first because of water weight or they might even be doing it unhealthy. When weight loss happens that fast it can be difficult to keep off. Sure there are some that can keep it off, but it is usually not sustainable. Just eat at a moderate calorie deficit and exercise smart. You will lose by doing this. You don't have to take any drastic measures, unless you have a medical condition that deems it necessary. Good luck!

jmc0806

^ what she said. I lost like 25lbs the first month but I made a huge change in what I was eating and had a lot to lose, but then I settled into 2lbs a week for the rest and luckily only hit 2 small plateaus in the meantime

amyvacek

Most likely those people are taking weight loss supplements or "diet pills" that are NOT good for you. In the beginning it will come off quickly but you shouldn't shoot for any more than 1-2 lbs a week. It's all about creating healthy habits - not trying to beat the clock. It's tough and can be tedious but well worth the wait! Good luck!

SGocka

I lost 171 pounds in a little over 8 months.

It took a big deficit and a lot of exercise.

motown13

You start by not eating sugary foods, fast food, sodas, etc. anymore. Then you become elite.

^Lame troll is lame.

Sometimes people lose a lot at first because of water weight or they might even be doing it unhealthy. When weight loss happens that fast it can be difficult to keep off. Sure there are some that can keep it off, but it is usually not sustainable. Just eat at a moderate calorie deficit and exercise smart. You will lose by doing this. You don't have to take any drastic measures, unless you have a medical condition that deems it necessary. Good luck!

Oh, I DON'T want to lose like that, trust me. I'm doing fine.... I'm down 13 pounds in 10 days already ( and not water weight because I was already down 40 pounds before MFP )..... but I FULLY expect that I will start leveling off to maybe 2 pounds a week in the next week or so. My weight loss always stalls at the 270 pound mark, and I am at 272 today.

But 10 pounds a week, every week, must be way more than water loss, I would think.

1223345

I think that once those people 1) change their diets the weight starts to just fall off. and 2) When they exercise the weight comes off abecause of the fact that it takes more energy to exercise a 300 LB body than a 150 LB body, the weight is easily lost.

777Gemma888

To start you cannot control where and how the weight comes off. It just does. I started on MFP eating only about 400 calories because I literally found it difficult to eat more. That is why I have it written on my profile that I aim to eat 500 calories per day. Added to that I exercised 240 mins per day. Initially, the morning workouts were for exercise and the PM, to clear my head before I slept.

Reading the likes of SideSteel, Sarauk and Acg67 alerted me to the fact that I was not eating enough. You have to understand motown, that I was completely unaware that my intake was low. When I felt hungry - I ate. If I was not hungry - I did not. Simple!! With their posts in mind and directly posting them for assistance, I made a concerted effort to eat more. I can average around 2500 +/- now, which has slowed my losses a great deal. Lost only 4 lbs last week vs 7 the week before.

My exercising time slot has not altered much either@240 mins per day, but for when I have the time to run 3hr slots now. My only change is that I now run for the duration, covering distances which had taken me 30 mins to walk, I run in 6 mins or less, depending on my mood - angry /happy- really fast and if I'm just chatty - normal fast paced jog. I also do other forms of strength training (resistance bands and weighted machines) workouts which I do not log here. It just adds up to too many calories for me to eat back. Additionally, I personally feel that it's a personal deduction to ascertain what you believe is exercise or burn worthy. Sculpting and working on my muscles to me is preventative, so that I do not deplete my muscles from so much cardio. Cardio that I will need to increase to help me with my training (24 Peaks in the UK and the Great Wall of China) plus I want to be fit enough to do Everest with my brother.

My sense of motivation is also different. Some days my workouts are fueled by laughter. Others by anger. And most of the time it's peaceful and liberating. I like feeling like me. Running makes me feel like me.

The difference may also be that I was never FAT, but for 3 years ago. A lot changes a person when your father is murdered and your long distance boyfriend whose deployed, impregnates someone and he had asked you to wait. Who really knows why my weight chooses to come off at the rate that it does?


@aestading. I do not take diet supplements or weight loss aids of any type. Assumptions can be damaging and misleading.

EDIT: Upper case corrections.
ETA: I also log one set of exercises as a walk because there was some debate over the efficacy of the doled burns on MFP. I certainly did not want to eat back too many calories.

verdancyhime

I've lost 11lbs in about 3 weeks. This did not seem right to me when I saw my ticker.

I'm not taking weird pills or eating like 500 cals a day or anything. Some of it is probably water, but I eat a decent amount of carbs and am not watching sodium.

I've made "lighter" versions of stuff I make for my bf and me to split a lot. I appear to have been eating around 1k of calories in an average dinner and about 500 in the average morning, maybe with a 3-5 hundred calorie snack. So... my body is used to getting WAY more food than even what my total daily energy expenditure calculates out to based on the calculations I was able to make. Plus, I walk to work, and recently went from working 1-3 shifts in the average week and walking the 2 miles there that often to working nearly every day.

I suppose if you suddenly change something a lot, things like this can happen. I doubt it will continue at this rate, and I'm okay with it. Even if I'd lost 3 lbs in 3 weeks I'd still be proud. I am very much about not comparing myself to others.

sandobr1

Could it be they are counting all weight loss, they may have been working on it before joining MFP?

missashleybeth

Most people who have dramatic weight loss make dramatic changes. I.e. going from 0 mins cardio/week to 150 minutes high intensity cardio/week...swapping high calorie bad quality foods for lower calorie higher quality foods. it's about finding what works for your body. Also, those who have more to lose, will lose it more quickly.

Chibea

Where are you finding these people?? I'm happy to get 2 lbs per week. If I eat everything I am suppose to, I lose even less...

pudadough

I think maybe the more you have to lose, the faster it comes off. At first.

People who need to lose 100+ pounds might lose very quickly in the beginning. People like me who are battling vanity pounds will probably not see that kind of dramatic drop. Possibly because we are very close to our body's "happy weight" in the first place. That's what I'm hoping the problem is. :grumble:

motown13

Where are you finding these people?? I'm happy to get 2 lbs per week. If I eat everything I am suppose to, I lose even less...

I spend lots of time reading success stories....... They are so inspiring, quite often.

JosieJo2000

Took me 6-7 months to lose 20lbs

No speed loss here!

missashleybeth

Most likely those people are taking weight loss supplements or "diet pills" that are NOT good for you. In the beginning it will come off quickly but you shouldn't shoot for any more than 1-2 lbs a week. It's all about creating healthy habits - not trying to beat the clock. It's tough and can be tedious but well worth the wait! Good luck!

This is an extremely ignorant assumption. A couple years ago, I dropped 45lbs in 3 1/2 months, WITHOUT diet pills. Most "diet pills" don't even contribute towards major weight loss anyways. Losing weight is hard work. If someone loses weight faster, good for them, just means they are putting in the work required.

RepsnSets

I loss my weight far too quickly and guess what? I piled it all back on after I hit a plateau. Didnt think about stepping outside my comfort zone, oh noooooo so the old habits crept back in not exercising or eating right.

Im back at doing it slowly this year. One year of hard work and beyond.

sassytoadegree

all i can say is EXERCISE EXERCISE AND MORE EXERCISE!!!! Im actually going for about 3bls a week myself this time, i have lost 120 lbs in a 4 month period so it can be done, wouldnt say what i did was real healthy tho. Im trying to do it right this time and maybe the results will last longer.

sassytoadegree

Ive so been there girl, Your right it comes back if your not careful, what i need to remember is that im going to have off days where im gonna eat what i shouldnt. I cant let that be it tho. just cause i mess up i need to keep going. everyone is going to mess up from time to time were only human, just remember not to let that define your whole diet. you binge one day its ok , go back to the right way the next day and youll be fine.

acogg

The rapid ones tend to be muscular males. Think of offensive linemen in football. They are way heavy, but underneath is pure muscle. When they stop over feeding, they get normal very fast. Females tend toward softer, smaller muscles. Don't worry about competing in weight loss, time is on your side and you will win!

TheFitHooker

Depends on how much weight a person has to lose, I lost 60 lbs in 6 months because I had a lot to lose.

onyxgirl17

lose weight fast = gain weight fast

tndejong

i have been following a 1500 calorie limit and exercise on my elliptical 1 hour to an 1 hour and a half EVERYDAY. i have lost 14 pounds in 14 days. it is possible. but it takes work.

chevy88grl

I think the first thing it depends on is.. how much do they need to lose? Those who are very overweight will lose a lot, very easily at the beginning.

Also, it just depends on how strict they are being with their food, how much exercise, etc.

It took me from April 2010 to Sept 2010 to drop about 40lbs. BUT. I wasn't morbidly obese either.

geekyjock76

I think maybe the more you have to lose, the faster it comes off. At first.

People who need to lose 100+ pounds might lose very quickly in the beginning. People like me who are battling vanity pounds will probably not see that kind of dramatic drop. Possibly because we are very close to our body's "happy weight" in the first place. That's what I'm hoping the problem is. :grumble:

Yep. The rate and magnitude of weight loss depends on how much fat mass a person has combined with the health of their metabolism and size of deficit. The more fat mass a person holds, the more weight they can lose in any given time frame. However, some individuals, regardless of amount of fat mass, may assume unreasonably restrictive deficits which cause them to lose weight (fat mass and fat-free mass) too rapidly. This shouldn't be a race, and those who strive for the most loss in the shortest amount of time tend to have a very high rate of gaining it all back due to various reasons involving the decline in Resting Metabolic Rate and initial body fat percentage.

MoreBean13

Easy go, easy come.

lindsyrox

I've been only losing 1 lb a week but this week i lost FIVE the only thing i changed was my sugar intake, i tried to cut out anything that had sugar in it, thats all i can figure. I doubt I'll lose much more but 5 lbs in one week is insane! worth a try

Keto_T

One of my gym friends is male, young (27), and about 200 lbs overweight.....he thinks about working out and loses 10-12 lbs a week. Blah. I'd like to have that too but it's just not to be.

Meamo

Great tips! wanted to just bump.but.
do what u know to do first! good luck on your journey!