2lbs a week - fat or water?

natcoco
natcoco Posts: 2 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey there..

I'm on day two of my 1200 calorie diet. The goal tool says that by eating that much I should lose 2lbs a week. Clearly, I'm very excited at the prospect of being 2lbs lighter this day next week.

However, I'm wondering whether those 2lbs will be fat or water weight like when you go on a low carb diet?

Does anyone have any idea?

Thanks in advance!

Replies

  • davidmg1982
    davidmg1982 Posts: 11 Member
    In my opinion the best solution to that problem its a fitness coach scale, helps you to mesure fat, water, bones percentage, so you can track the real changes in your body, its a good investment of around $30.
  • tonytoo
    tonytoo Posts: 307
    The big water weight loss from low carbs is only in the first few days. Then it's just like any other diet.

    and when you say "fat" loss I should point out that it's likely to be 50% fat / 50% muscle unless you weight train and eat plenty of protein.

    I lost an average of 2.5 pounds a week for 8 weeks on low carb. I calculated that at the end that was 60/40 fat and muscle.

    It's a fine line between fast weight loss and losing muscle and slower weight loss keeping that muscle.
  • thisismeraw
    thisismeraw Posts: 1,264 Member
    By your ticker on your profile you only have 25lbs to lose. With that your weekly weight loss goal should be 1lb per week, not 2. You don't have enough to lose to safely lose 2lbs of fat each week.

    If you lose 2lbs most will be water, some muscle, some fat. The higher your deficit, especially when you don't have a lot to lose will increase your muscle loss... especially if you aren't consuming enough protein and aren't lifting heavy weights.

    I would suggest switching your goal to 1lb per week for now until you get down to about 15lbs or so than switch to 0.5lbs per week. The smaller deficit will help ensure more of your losses are coming from fat instead of muscle. I know no one wants to lose slowly, we all want to lose quickly however it's not always the best option.

    Keep in mind, just because you selected a 2lb/1lb etc loss goal per week doesn't mean you will lose that much each and every week.

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