lost 10 lbs in a week !?

ZoeLifts

It's very common when someone starts eating healhty. I will throw one caution at you; make sure you hit your calorie goals. With 20 lbs to lose, you should be aiming for 1/2 - 1 lb per week max and since you are a RN your account should be set at lightly to moderately active. If you consistently eat too little, your weight loss will not only be fat, but it will be muscle. Ideally, a person wants to maintain their muscle throughout weight loss as the more muscle you have the tighter and leaner your body will be.

Absolutely this. I don't know if you're not logging all your food, but most of what you have logged is alarmingly low and lacking nutrition.

This right here!

vanguardfitness

Amazing how much water our bodies store huh?

jen81uk

I could do with one of those weeks, I've maintained for a few... not saying I deserved to lose as I had a few iffy days but still 10lb would be amaze balls x

PetulantOne

It's very common when someone starts eating healhty. I will throw one caution at you; make sure you hit your calorie goals. With 20 lbs to lose, you should be aiming for 1/2 - 1 lb per week max and since you are a RN your account should be set at lightly to moderately active. If you consistently eat too little, your weight loss will not only be fat, but it will be muscle. Ideally, a person wants to maintain their muscle throughout weight loss as the more muscle you have the tighter and leaner your body will be.

Quoting because the lemon knows what he's talking about

psuLemon

It just looks low because I've been on the 5:2 diet. Last Monday was my first fast day but I went over my 500 limit and yesterday was my second fast day for last week so that's why I also had soup. I don't seem to have as big an appetite now

You do realize that with the 5:2 only two days a week are you supposed to have calorie restriction. So on the 5 days you do NOT have any restriction, so on those days you should probably be eating 2000+ calories. Eating 500 calories or less two days a week and then restricting more on the other 5 days will only lead you to lose a ton of muscle which will lead to being more flabby. The 5:2 craze going through England right now is more designed for those who don't calorie count IMO. So if a person normally eats 3000 calories a day, two days of calorie restriction will create a deficit over the week and prevent weight gain and will lead to weight loss. It's just another type of Interim fasting.. while you can do fasting, on the days you don't fast, you need to be eating a surplus of calories to ensure proper nutrition. So for example, here is what I mean. I am 30 yrs old, I workout 6 hours a week and work a desk job, and I am 5'11 at 191. My estimates BMR is 2080 and my estimated TDEE (through exercise and daily activity) is 3000 calories.

So over a week I burn 21000 calories.

To lose 1 lb per week I need to eat 17,500 calories. Any more is just way too aggressive and will lead to depletion of lean body mass.

So if I have two days of restricted 500 calories my others days would need to be 3300 calories. So my week would look like

Sunday - 3300
Monday - 500
Tuesday - 3300
Wednesday - 3300
Thursday - 500
Friday - 3300
Saturday - 3300


But even at best, the results of IF vs traditional calorie counting, pending calories are equal over time is anecdotal at best. I have done 16:8 fasting for awhile and I didn't see greater changes in composition. And since it didn't fall into my lifestyle I stop. But I can tell you, you will lose a lot of muscle if you aren't feeding it enough calories.

psuLemon

Thanks, defiantly don't want to lose muscle so I'll aim to get up to my 1400 a day, I just seem to get a lot fuller now, but I'll try adding more snacks and space them out during the day

If you aim for 1400, it shouldn't be while on the 5:2. If you want to provide your stats (height, weight, age) and exercise routine, I can run some numbers and give you plan either on 5:2 or daily deficit.

psuLemon

Thanks. I weigh 154, 5'5", 33 years old. I don't exercise a lot, maybe do 90 mins walking a week and I work full time as a nurse so on my feet a lot

At a minimum I would suggest 1600 calories a day if you do not follow 5:2. And it's quite possible you could need up to 1800 while trying to lose weight. If you want to follow 5:2, then you should do 2040 on 5 days and 2 days at 500. I would suggest setting macros to around 40% carbs, 35% protein and 25% fats. Keep in mind the more active you are, the more calories your body needs to help sustain your current muscle mass. I would suggest instead of adding more walking if you do resistance training instead (bands, weights, or just body weight). The RT will help increase the chances of maintain muscle.

psuLemon

Oh ! I just thought that while on the 5;2 diet the 5 days calorie allowance was what mfp worked out for you ? Wow eating at least 1600 a day ?? my appetite has really gone down since I started 10 days ago so that will be a struggle ! It's hard enough getting to 1400. But when I log my food in people will think i'm over eating as it will say i've gone over my allowance ? can I adjust the settings on here to have my own calorie goal ? At least now I can now see how I've lost 10lbs haha

If you do 5:2, you do not suppress calories. MFP and 5:2 can not coincide generally. You can't calorie suppress and then suppress even more on the 2 days. Unfortunately, too many people come in here after hearing this 5:2 that is going around the UK and then trying to combine the two programs. That program is designed for those who are NOT counting calorie. It uses the premise the average person eats a ton of calories in a week, so restricting calories 2 days a week will help create a deficit over a week's period to give you a 1-2 lb per week weight loss. If you did 5:2 and MFP combined, you would be eating 1142 calories a day.. does that sound healthy for an active woman?

I wouldn't even worry about 5:2, there is no evidence that suggest it's any better for health or fat loss. Work on fueling yoru body to around 1600 calories. If you struggle to get calories, be smarter with your food decisions. Eating higher calorie foods will help. You can add a few handfuls of nuts, add avocado or cheese to foods, cook meat in EVOO, enjoy a protein shake (like muscle milk which is higher in calories) or a protein bar. It's not just about volume, it's just about calories. Heck, eat some ice cream if you want.