Concerned about losing way too fast

beavermatic
beavermatic Posts: 3
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello all..

Weighed 330lbs in may/June of this year, and as of today I weigh 252. First few months I started dieting by eating around 1800 calories a day watching fat and carbs, some walking here and there a few times a week. Back in August I bought a eliptical and started using that 3 or 4 times a week, 45 minutes a day at the machines 800 Cal workout session. Past month I've also added in 75 situps a day (sometimes every other day) and 75 half pushups. Already feeling and noticing alot of stomach and chest muscle of course still under a layer of fat, but it's tightening and hardening quickly.

my concern is I was able to eat 1500 to
1800 calories everyday up until the past few weeks and now I'm struggling to eat even 1300. Some days I'm not even sure I'm hitting 1100. It's like my appetite is gone and it's hectic trying to reach those levels. Past couple nights I've notice I start feeling slightly dizzy and lightheaded after about 20 minutes on the eliptical... but my workout heart rate is what it usually is... around 150 to 160bpm and if I rest, my blood pressure is fine.. 118/68 and pulse relaxes back down to 6 5pm after a few minutes.

I'm fairly positive I shouldn't have lost almost 80 lbs as fast as I did, but other than past couple days have felt perfect with good vitals. Just wondering if perhaps it's catching up to me or maybe I'm just worrying about it when working out and making myself a little anxious since my vitals still seem fine?

Replies

  • SuperSexyDork
    SuperSexyDork Posts: 1,669 Member
    Firstly, I would suggest seeing a doctor about this. The dizziness and lightheadedness could be from something medically serious.

    The dizzy/lightheaded feeling can also certainly be from not eating enough. When your blood sugar drops too low, your brain does not get the sugar it needs to maintain normal function.

    If you have an intense exercise regimen, I would recommend upping your calories. Please don't say that you can't. At one point in time, to get to 330 lbs you were eating much, much more than you are currently. If it's an issue with volume, try adding in more calorie rich food such as peanut butter, fattier cuts of meat (just more meat in general), full fat dairy, nuts, seeds, cheeses, etc.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    i dont think you should be worried abou tthe fast weight loss, but i think you should be worried about the fact that you are only eating 1100 cals...
  • comittobethin
    comittobethin Posts: 42 Member
    First and most important, we are not doctors so don't take our word as gold. You should definitely check with your doctor just to be sure, but I agree with Travistok Toad. Guys tend to lose weight at rapid paces, however, for the amount of working out you are doing, and the small amounts you are eating are most likely throwing your body for a loop. Let's look at it from a number standpoint.

    A 31 year old male, at your weight and height (I guessed 6'2" from your pictures), burns 3131 kcal with a SEDENTARY lifestyle. If you work out 4 times a week for 45 minutes on the elliptical, you will burn an estimated 585.1 calories per session. Every week with a sedentary lifestyle, you are are burning 24,257 calories just by living and exercising. You are consuming at an average of 1100 calories a day, 7,700 calories a week. This brings your weekly deficit to 16,557 calories, an average of 2365 calories a day.

    A healthy estimate for where you deficit should be about 1000 calories a day for a 2 lb a week weight loss. At this rate, your average is 4.73 lost a week, according to the numbers. That is with you being sedentary, I don't know if you are active outside of working out. If you are on your feet all day, the number will be much higher.

    In essence, your body is a machine. You need to fuel it or it will start to shut down. Your tiredness and dizziness is most likely your body telling you that you don't have enough fuel for the work you want it to do. Over time, your body will regulate and get used to operating on low calories and you will lose weight slower because you are putting it in starvation mode and slowing your metabolism. Eat more! You will feel better, I promise.
  • AbsoluteNG
    AbsoluteNG Posts: 1,079 Member
    Eating 1100 calories every other day is fine, even two days in a row but when you get past that third day it can cause some side effects. Have you also been extra cold lately? If so, you are probably Anemic which basically means you're low on blood cells because you're not getting enough iron. Take an iron supplement and increase your calories to at least 1800 every third day and you should be fine.
  • samammay
    samammay Posts: 468
    When I first started I was losing too fast too. ~3.5 lb/week. Know how I fixed it? I ate more. I know you say you struggle with eating now... but its the same thing you did to eat less, in reverse. Plan your day and then eat it all. You'll get there.

    I now eat 2775 calories a day, am never hungry, always have plenty of calories for the things I enjoy (tootsie pops are the devil) and tons of energy. I work out 5 days a week and have never felt better. I lose just shy of 2 pounds a week.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,431 MFP Moderator
    Dizziness and tiredness is from starving your body. It's not very difficult to add calories without eat more quantity. You can add olive oil to meats, nuts, cheese, eggs, ice cream, protein bars or drinks or just go to town on a peanut butter jar. Start eating high calorie foods or even start drinking some calories. And if you are active and 250 lbs you should probably be in the 2000+ calories category. Especially since MFP is designed to eat back your exercise calories.
  • beachlover317
    beachlover317 Posts: 2,848 Member
    Dizziness and tiredness is from starving your body. It's not very difficult to add calories without eat more quantity. You can add olive oil to meats, nuts, cheese, eggs, ice cream, protein bars or drinks or just go to town on a peanut butter jar. Start eating high calorie foods or even start drinking some calories. And if you are active and 250 lbs you should probably be in the 2000+ calories category. Especially since MFP is designed to eat back your exercise calories.

    Exactly.
  • mumblemagic
    mumblemagic Posts: 1,090 Member
    Dizziness and tiredness is from starving your body. It's not very difficult to add calories without eat more quantity. You can add olive oil to meats, nuts, cheese, eggs, ice cream, protein bars or drinks or just go to town on a peanut butter jar. Start eating high calorie foods or even start drinking some calories. And if you are active and 250 lbs you should probably be in the 2000+ calories category. Especially since MFP is designed to eat back your exercise calories.

    Exactly.

    I had a similar feeling last week, actually. I had gone under my calorie goal by about 300 cal a few days in a row, possibly underestimated my activity levels as I had busier days at work, so I probably had a 500 cal deficit on top of my planned 500 cal deficit. I ate a big meal, cut down on the excercise for a couple of days, and now I feel right as rain.

    I would take it easy on the excercise and eat at maintenance for a week to recover, then if it continues see your doctor. You never know, you might be getting a cold!
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,431 MFP Moderator
    Dizziness and tiredness is from starving your body. It's not very difficult to add calories without eat more quantity. You can add olive oil to meats, nuts, cheese, eggs, ice cream, protein bars or drinks or just go to town on a peanut butter jar. Start eating high calorie foods or even start drinking some calories. And if you are active and 250 lbs you should probably be in the 2000+ calories category. Especially since MFP is designed to eat back your exercise calories.

    Exactly.

    Heck, when I eat less than 2200 calories, I struggle with my workouts. Your body just needs fuel to sustain itself. At 1100 calories for a man is way too low. At that point, you really should just get dirty and eat any type of calories. My preference is Klondikes!!
  • beavermatic
    beavermatic Posts: 3
    Dunno why but I tried eating like 2200 calories worth of food a couple days ago... and can barely finish meals to even come close. I think months ago before I started working out I had to be taking in at least 4000 a day and could eat like a horse.

    But like just over the past couple months, no joke, been struggling to get to the bare minimum. Of course my minimum is lower now that I'm down to 250 so it makes it easier to reach, but just can't seem to finish meals and it feels like I'm eating more out of obligation than actually being hungry.

    I'll defintley find a doctor to have a heart check done. Biggest fear is overdoing it and doing damage to that. But so far all vitals Check out fine. Nothing seems out of order or not functioning properly. Just that two times on the eliptical where I kinda felt shakey and clammy like kinda feeling about to pass out.

    I'm kinda amazed at how quickly the body burns this stuff off once you start putting in honest effort. Honestly feel 100x better. Can breathe, run, feel more weightless. And even more interesting is how quickly the body starts putting on muscle.. Especially in legs, arms, stomach, chest... literally night and day difference in only a month of strength and Toning.

    But yeah to answer earlier question... I have a slightly lower body temperature but I've always had that. 97 degrees. So I've always felt cold.. Especially if I have any sort of stimulants like coffee or pop or nicotine. But I do take 1 a day vitamin every day so it should help with iron .

    Oh and if anyone might be able to answer.. liquid calories. To they burn any faster as opposed to food?
  • AbsoluteNG
    AbsoluteNG Posts: 1,079 Member
    I have the brand One A Day Men's Multivitimin and i does not contain any iron. Your symptoms coincide very well with Anemia caused by diet. Tell your doctor your diet and symptoms(dizziness during workouts and feeling cold) and he'll tell you take Iron supplements also. I'm 99.999% sure that he'll say that. Being cold all the time is not normal.
  • beavermatic
    beavermatic Posts: 3
    Yep. Defintley likely anemic. Family members are and I have some all of the symptoms of what I'm reading anemia would cause. I'll check with the doc to see what they suggest. In meantime I'll take one of those daily iron supplements I see St the stores.

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