Is 3 lbs a week weight loss still healthy?

niumee1982
niumee1982 Posts: 9 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
It's my second week on Mfp and I Lost 6 lbs. Although i feel great and don't feel hungry all the time, i am worried that I may be losing weight too fast that it is unhealthy. I eat almost 1200 calories a day (my bmr) and when I do cardio exercises (turbo jam or Zumba) I don't eat back the exercise calories. This leaves me a net of around 600 calories a day. I would like to continue doing this but I fear that I may be hurting myself in the long run by muscle catabolism. Pls advise..
Some more stats Current weight:167.6 lbs. target weight: 120 lbs height: 62 inches female

Replies

  • vegaspfmf
    vegaspfmf Posts: 40 Member
    Some could be water weight since you just started but you should figure your tdee and subtract 20% from that
  • seena511
    seena511 Posts: 685 Member
    at that rate, yes, you're setting yourself up for issues later down the road. eventually you are going to plateau and then gain weight back once you start eating at a normal level again. start NETTING your BMR every day at a minimum. this isn't a race. you'll be better off in the long term if you do things slowly, and correctly.
  • Freebird63
    Freebird63 Posts: 3
    I started about 5 weeks ago and lost quite a bit in my first week, a bit less in the second week but my progress has slowed and been more gradual in the last 3 weeks. I agree that your body may just be doing a bit of adjusting but if you keep losing at a higher rate you could be looking for a rapid weight gain later (if you are like me and sometimes fall off the wagon lol). Although I wish I could be losing a bit more weight each week, can anyone advise what is the safest amount to lose per week?
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    This leaves me a net of around 600 calories a day.

    That is seriously too low. You'll be crashing fast at that rate. Your body needs fuel to work properly.
  • rosiereally2
    rosiereally2 Posts: 539 Member
    You should be netting at least 1200 calories a day, which is why MFP tells you to eat back your exercise calories. You will still lose weight eating more, and it will be more likely to be fat loss versus muscle loss. At the rate you're going, you may see continued loss before finally stalling, and you will have damaged your metabolisim in the process.

    It's like taking one step forward and two steps back. No bueno.
  • niumee1982
    niumee1982 Posts: 9 Member
    Thank you all for your response. Ever since I switched my diet from with rice and chicken to beans, fish and salad, my hunger has been much much less and I find it difficult to meet the 1200. Whenever I eat anything more than 200 calories I feel dizzy probably because of a sugar spike. Furthermore I've switched all my caffeine intake from coffee with sugar to coffee with stevia or tea with stevia. Stevia seems to be a natural appetite suppressant if coupled with low GI foods. This is just my observation from my week's dieting. The question is whether this low calorie diet is sustainable for a long time. Thanks for all your advice and suggestions.
  • IIISpartacusIII
    IIISpartacusIII Posts: 252 Member
    Most people typically lose more at first so enjoy it. It will not last. The closer you get to your goal weight the slower you will lose weight. Toward the end you'll hit plateaus and pull your hair out. Count your lucky stars and strap yourself in for the tough times.
  • thisismeraw
    thisismeraw Posts: 1,264 Member
    You will normally lose more than normal in your first few weeks. It's mainly water weight combined with a bit of fat.

    I would suggest working on ways to up your calories. Add back in the rice and the chicken along with some healthy fats and other foods. Consistantly netting too low will increase muscle loss along the way and make it much harder to not only keep losing but also to keep it off.
  • GracefulDancer4Christ
    GracefulDancer4Christ Posts: 419 Member
    on average losing 1-2 pounds a week is healthy. I would go to scoobysworkshop type in your current weight , activity level on the fast calorie calculator it should help you out.
  • Huffdogg
    Huffdogg Posts: 1,934 Member
    You are fine at 3 lbs/week, but 600 net cals per day is NOT healthy.

    Eat some more calorie and nutrient-dense foods. Nuts, avocado, and oils on your salad will help get you some good healthy fats and make for quick easy calorie increases. In a monster deficit like you're doing, there's no reason not to have a huge percentage of fats. Also, keep your protein very high coupled with your resistance training to help preserve LBM.
  • Catlady87
    Catlady87 Posts: 302 Member
    Personally, you need to stop thinking about this as a diet and consider it a lifestyle. Diets don't work - once you stop dieting you gain the weight back.
    If you consider this a lifestyle you are making a commitment to doing this at an appropriate rate to keep the weight off when you start eating at maintenance.
    You need to work out your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) and then consume 20% less calories than that number. So if it is 1800 you would have a calorie allowance of 1440. This is the figure you would need to net each day. So if you then did 300 calories worth of exercise you would only be netting 1100 calories which is too low.
    Your body is a machine and it needs fuel to function properly.
    Hope this helps.
  • MrsBozz1
    MrsBozz1 Posts: 248 Member
    I started about 5 weeks ago and lost quite a bit in my first week, a bit less in the second week but my progress has slowed and been more gradual in the last 3 weeks. I agree that your body may just be doing a bit of adjusting but if you keep losing at a higher rate you could be looking for a rapid weight gain later (if you are like me and sometimes fall off the wagon lol). Although I wish I could be losing a bit more weight each week, can anyone advise what is the safest amount to lose per week?


    This :smile: The first week or two you're gonna lose faster (water weight, Body adjusting etc.) It should even out. I also agree, eat more! I hear 1 to 2 lbs per week is the best. Good luck! :flowerforyou:
  • t_welch11
    t_welch11 Posts: 52 Member
    1-2 lbs per week is healthy. Its normal to lose a little more than that at the begining since most of us haven't been exercising much and our bodies adjust differently.
  • XXXMinnieXXX
    XXXMinnieXXX Posts: 3,459 Member
    If your only eating 1200 at your weight I'd probably look at eating halfyour exercise ccalories putting you around 1500. I'm no dietitian but that seems more reasonable to me.

    Zara
  • XXXMinnieXXX
    XXXMinnieXXX Posts: 3,459 Member
    Thank you all for your response. Ever since I switched my diet from with rice and chicken to beans, fish and salad, my hunger has been much much less and I find it difficult to meet the 1200. Whenever I eat anything more than 200 calories I feel dizzy probably because of a sugar spike. Furthermore I've switched all my caffeine intake from coffee with sugar to coffee with stevia or tea with stevia. Stevia seems to be a natural appetite suppressant if coupled with low GI foods. This is just my observation from my week's dieting. The question is whether this low calorie diet is sustainable for a long time. Thanks for all your advice and suggestions.

    That doesn't sound normal with the dizziness. I'd advise you consult a doctors. Get your blood pressure and blood sugars checked out...

    Calorie dense foods can quickly help you reach your calorie goals...

    Avocado.
    Olive oil
    Cheese (with a few crackers... Yum)
    Nuts (my favourite)
    A small portion of carby veg with your meal

    Google calorie dense foods. A 2-300 calorie portion of nuts is not going to make. You feel extremely full, neither is a dressing on your salad.

    Zara
  • tracyschreier
    tracyschreier Posts: 81 Member
    I really restricted my calories the first week, which I thought was a good thing, but after one week of doing what I thought was right, I GAINED two pounds. Then someone told me I wasn't eating enough and I started eating my calories (I even tried eating my exercise calories, which is easier said than done) and the next week I LOST 4.6 pounds! There is definitely something to eating more to lose more.
  • iulia_maddie
    iulia_maddie Posts: 2,780 Member
    You should be eating more. This is an excellent read, and should help you set your calorie goals:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/952996-level-obstacles-lose-weight-target-fat-easy
  • treenuh_x
    treenuh_x Posts: 94 Member
    A lot of it in the beginning is probably water weight coming off, but I agree with others in the thread that you should be eating more if you are only netting around 600 calories per day.
  • arturo_marti
    arturo_marti Posts: 13 Member
    You are starving yourself, 1200 calories is just too low, you will mess up your metabolism.
    I´ll save you a lot of work, please, look for the e-book "burn the fat, feed the muscle" by Tom Venuto, is a life changer, it will teach you how your body really works. The body is a super smart machine, you cannot fool it by trying to eat too few calories it will cling even harder to anything you eat.

    Greetings
    Arthur
  • slkehl
    slkehl Posts: 3,801 Member
    Are you netting an average of 600 calories over the whole week? Sometimes on gym days I'll net 600 calories, but I'll make up for it on the weekends or on days I don't work out by eating more. You don't have to worry about force feeding yourself each day. Just try to make your calorie goal on average.
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
    Being this early in your weight loss, that is not an unreasonable amount to eat. That said, the way that MFP is set up, you are supposed to eat back your exercise calories because your deficit to lose weight at a safe rate is already factored into your calorie goal. Not eating back the exercise calories is tempting because people assume that they will lose more this way. While this might be true for some, you can not only stall your weight loss this way, but you can also do damage to your body if you do it long term.
  • Maridinger
    Maridinger Posts: 74 Member
    ts normal when you first cut your calories to lose a lot of weight. I just lowered my calories after upping them to restart my metabolism and am losing around 1/2 a pound a day. But in 3-4 weeks its gonna slow down when my metabolism catches up. Its ok, Not unhealthy. But dont get discouraged in 3-4 weeks when your not losing as fast.
  • Maridinger
    Maridinger Posts: 74 Member
    Oh almost forgot...if you are working off 600 calories then you need to eat some of those back. Its not good to go under 1200. If you eat 1200, work off 600, eat another 400-600.I always make sure my end calorie intake of the day is between 1000-12000 with my workouts
  • sexymuffintop
    sexymuffintop Posts: 636
    You can do it like this yes. Plenty do, then they come back after several months of it and say they don't like their new body because they look the same as they did before, just smaller. Most people think by losing scale weight they will achieve a tight sexy new body. By losing too much scale weight weekly you are likely losing muscle along with your fat, this won't help you achieve a tight toned look after losing body fat. You need to work on preserving as much lean muscle as possible when losing weight. You do this by eating just below your TDEE and following a good lifting routine. Eating at 1200 a day and exercising will result in you losing muscle.
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
    You should be eating more. This is an excellent read, and should help you set your calorie goals:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/952996-level-obstacles-lose-weight-target-fat-easy

    This :flowerforyou:
  • niumee1982
    niumee1982 Posts: 9 Member
    Thank you all for the replies. The link is so helpful !
  • eagertoloseweight1
    eagertoloseweight1 Posts: 31
    I want to lose weight, be toned and have a flat stomach and abs, how do I do this?
  • Mistyfied_MD
    Mistyfied_MD Posts: 62 Member
    The first week or two, the weight came off pretty fast for me too. I'm guessing some of that was water weight. Mine has slowed down to a more normal 1.5 or so pounds a week, so I'd give it another week or two to see if things even out. Congrats on your weight loss, btw!
  • Joehenny
    Joehenny Posts: 1,222 Member
    BMR is your metabs rate if you were in a coma in bed all day. You have to multiply it by your activity level and that will be your maintenance then subtract it by 500 for 1lb a week.
  • kimosabe1
    kimosabe1 Posts: 2,467 Member
    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/#projectedweightloss http://nutrition.about.com/library/bl_nutrition_guide.htm Use these calculators to figure your TDEE and BMR

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