Is 3lb a week too much?

stacejane
stacejane Posts: 15 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey guys :)

Kind of struggling here, I'm losing 3lb a week on average, but I'm really worried this will leave me with loose/saggy skin? Anyone have any advice, is this too much, or should I do certain excersises to stop it?

I've just been doing cardio at the gym, with a bit of strength on my arms...

Any advice would be much appreciated :D

Replies

  • kellehbeans
    kellehbeans Posts: 838 Member
    Some more details would be appreciated - how much did you start at, what is your current weight and how much do you burn and eat on average?

    :flowerforyou:
  • mperrott2205
    mperrott2205 Posts: 737 Member
    Not really, I've lost 24 pounds in just under 2 months with a combo of weight/cardio at the gym. Nothing saggy yet. If you're working on building muscle as well you should be fine.
  • dreamweavers4
    dreamweavers4 Posts: 42
    I want to watch this because I have the same concerns! I have only been at it a week, but I lost 5lbs last week! I have been monitoring calories, usually I am under but mostly have between 1k and 1400 (they have my goal as 1480 before working out) I have a good bit to loose, and I have been doing 30ds! I am 5'3" and 164lbs now (started at 169)
  • dianamatienzo
    dianamatienzo Posts: 127
    It depends. As I always do to everyone, I recommend strength training for your entire body so you can maintain muscle and not be what I refer to as "fat skinny," meaning you're thin but saggy and flabby. 3lbs/week might not be too much if you're just starting and you're extremely overweight, but only temporarily. Most likely I'd say that's too fast and would recommend upping your caloric intake slowly
  • witchy_wife
    witchy_wife Posts: 792 Member
    It totally depends on the individual. I've still got a lot (around 70lbs) to lose and would be fine losing 3lbs a week for a while. However, if you are eating very very few calories and doing lots of cardio then chances are you *may* end up with loose skin. It's no guarantee, I think a lot is down to age and genetics.

    My personal opinion based on things I have read, if you eat at a small defecit (10-15% or maybe 20% if you had a lot to lose, from your TDEE), add some whole body strength workouts alongside your cardio, keep yourself nicely hydrated and use a nice rich body moisturiser after a shower..... well this is pretty much all you can do to prevent loose skin yourself.

    When anyone diets to lose weight it can be easy to lose a lot of muscle along with fat. What you want to try and do is retain as much muscle as possible. Doing strength exercises will help with this. If you are pushed for time in the gym, maybe try a smaller cardio session but at a higher intensity (things like mixing sprinting and walking on the treadmill). Eating at a small calorie defecit will also help and give you enough fuel for your workouts, but the defecit will lose you the weight.

    If I was doing all this stuff and still losing 3lbs a week I wouldn't worry, I've be extremely happy in fact lol. Good luck with it!
  • dearfitdiary
    dearfitdiary Posts: 23
    This really depends on how overweight a person is. If you are obese or close to it, it is actually quite normal. If you are eating the amount of calories you are suppose to and work out, you should be fine. It will be the last pounds that will come off slower.
    I suggest (like I see others have as well) do strength training. This will help a lot for saggy skin (if you get any, to prevent it). I know a lot of people don't do strength until towards the end of their weight loss journey and are now struggling with their saggy skin. Start light and increase as you go. You should also try pilates. I love it and really helps make you nice and tone.
    Wishing lots of luck lovely.
  • stacejane
    stacejane Posts: 15 Member
    December 2012 I was 263lbs... I didn't really do anything about it until the 8th April, since the 8th April I've lost 26lb.

    The last few weeks I've been losing 3lbs a weeks, MFP put me on 1290 cals a day, so I've been sticking to that, and have been going to the gym around 3 times a week and burning around 300cals a time...

    I don't always bank my day to day cardio in terms of walking to town on my lunch break etc...

    I'm not sure what other info you need?
  • lilimini
    lilimini Posts: 56
    I think that 3lbs a week is good! Some people say that the faster you lose it the faster it comes back on - but I don't agree. I get more motivated to stick with the diet and exercise routine if I can see results. If the results are too slow - then I will most likely give up, because it feels like it will take too long to reach my goal! Every one is different! If you are losing weight in a healthy manner, not starving yourself and not doing extreme exercise, then I would say you are ok :)
  • astronomicals
    astronomicals Posts: 1,537 Member
    ditto on strength train...... 1# fat is 3500... 1# muscle is 600... If your in a deficit, and feeding your body with muscle, you may lose faster and get flabby. If you're not doing strength training your ratio of fatloss to muscle loss will be a lot worse.... it takes ~5.8 pounds of muscle to give your body the same amount of energy that 1 pound of fat can provide. You see where I'm going with this? You can drop a lot of weight (muscle weight) and get the impression of good progress. Slow and steady is good when it means that 95% (random figure) of what you're losing is fat. That being said, many can lose 3 pounds a week while training properly and ensuring its mostly fat they are losing.
  • kdeaux1959
    kdeaux1959 Posts: 2,675 Member
    If you are near your ideal body weight range, I would have to say anything over a pound a week is a bit much --However, if you have 50-100 lbs to lose then, 3 pounds a week is ok. When I first started losing, I was losing on the order of 15-17 pounds per month. As I approached my goal weight, I slowed the progress down so that I am really sort of easing into my goal.. therefore when I get there I'll not have to make a major dietary change all of a sudden. As for baggy skin, if you have a lot to lose and have any age on you, it is likely that you will have SOME baggy skin.. However, even after losing on the order of 125 lbs and being 53 years old, baggy skin really is not a major problem for me... Be sensible with your loss and you should be fine.
  • kdeaux1959
    kdeaux1959 Posts: 2,675 Member
    OK, just saw the response that gave data and checked your profile. I think for a female at 263 lbs (likely in the 5'4-5'8" range, judging from your goals, then certainly 3 pounds per week should be just fine for you. As you near your goal, I would start slowing the pace down a bit. It was encouraging for me early on when I was losing 3#+ per week... When you have a lot to lose, it would be hard to hold it down to 1# per week... At 22 y-o, I really doublt loose skin will be a major problem for you as long as you continue doing what you are doing... Even if it does become an issue, some strength training can help with that...
  • stacejane
    stacejane Posts: 15 Member
    Thanks guys! For the strength training what do you recommend? As I'm only doing chest press and lat pull down at the moment in terms of weight/strength... Will have to have a look at Pilates, I did yoga ages ago... One session and I was pooped haha! :)
  • FarAway02
    FarAway02 Posts: 211
    It depends how much you've got to lose... the reality is that the more overweight you are the quicker you will lose weight initially - if you're being super strict about what you're eating, your portion sizes and about getting regular exercise in.

    As you slowly get done to a more healthy weight your weightloss will begin to slow and you'll have to really fight to get the last 20 or 30 pounds off.

    If you're 120 pounds and losing 3 pounds a week then you probably are losing weight too quickly, yes (admittedly this depends on how tall you are, also).
  • dianamatienzo
    dianamatienzo Posts: 127
    Thanks guys! For the strength training what do you recommend? As I'm only doing chest press and lat pull down at the moment in terms of weight/strength... Will have to have a look at Pilates, I did yoga ages ago... One session and I was pooped haha! :)

    You should look more into it! There are lots of great YouTubers like "OmarIsuf, Brandon Campbell, and Bryce Lewis" (just to name a few!) who offer great advice on what to do, how to do it, why to do it, EVERYTHING! You should definitely add lower body exercises such as squats and deadlifts, some shoulder exercises such as overhead press and shrugs, biceps (maybe bicep curls and/or hammer curls), and tricep exercises like tricep pushdowns or dips (assisted to begin with) :) And I really think you should eat a bit more!

    There are so many options that you should really research and figure out what will work for you. Hope this helps!
  • michelle7673
    michelle7673 Posts: 370 Member
    That is great progress so far -- 10% of your body weight :)
    I do think that 3# a week is OK for the time being so long as you are not starving and you are getting in good nutrients. My guess is that by the time you lose another 20 or so, it will slow down to something more like 2 pounds a week.
    I very strongly advocate getting on an organized, progressive strength training program NOW. If you haven't done that before, you will likely be able to actually gain a bit of muscle mass (they call this "newbie gains", an exception to the rule that you can't add muscle at a calorie deficit), or at least maintain what you have. This will give you a better body shape at any given weight and improve your metabolism too. It won't make you look like a bodybuilder, I promise :)
    Starting strength and stronglifts are two that a lot of people like. Lot of info on both on this site, and on the internet generally.
    You should be really proud of what you've done so far!!!
  • Sul3i
    Sul3i Posts: 553 Member
    I doubt u have anything to worry about since u are about 30 lbs away.... Ur doing great keep it up! :)
  • Sul3i
    Sul3i Posts: 553 Member
    Def continue strength training!

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