Is it usual to lose more to begin with?

Grumbers
Grumbers Posts: 111 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi All

I've been at this now seriously for almost 4 weeks. Obviously in that time I expected to lose around 8lbs. I accept it's not a perfect calculation.

It transpires I've lost between 11-12lbs allowing for slight variations on the scales.

Now I admit I will finished most days maybe 200 calories under target, but that doesn't feel bad as my daily goal is 2140. Add in some exercise and I can eat 2500 +. That's a good amount of food. At no point have I felt myself starving/hungry/discouraged.

So do people often lose more at the beginning? I'm not massively overweight, I've got good base fitness and have always eaten well (just too much!), so it's not like this is a 100% change for me.

Also, I know it'll get asked, I'm logging absolutely everything food wise! The only thing I don't log is any weights/core exercise at the gym. I only log the cardio.

Cheers

Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    yes its normal to lose more at the start.

    if you are not hungry then i would just go with it, if you are hungry you can eat up to your goal and still lose.
  • IronPhyllida
    IronPhyllida Posts: 533 Member
    yes its normal to lose more at the start.

    if you are not hungry then i would just go with it, if you are hungry you can eat up to your goal and still lose.
    True - I'm finding my last 6kgs a mare to lose though.... Grr
  • lynnbatson
    lynnbatson Posts: 5
    And it could be that you have a high metabolism as well. Yes, it's normal to lose more in the beginning. Metabolism level, thyroid level, these things can have an effect on the whole weight loss thing. So if your used to being active and you have a higher metabolism than your gonna have those benefits on your side helping you lose the weight.
  • JustineV88
    JustineV88 Posts: 15
    Yes, for a couple of reasons.

    1) At the beginning your body is losing water from stored carbohydrates as you are using more of your glycogen stores and probably not completely replacing them. Every 1g of carbohydrate stored in the form or glycogen is stored with 3g of water.

    2) Your metabolism is still going as if you were eating normally at your original weight. As the time goes on and you continue to induce a calorie deficit your metabolism will reduce according to your level of calorie deficit- a good reason to lose weight slowly rather than doing VLCD diets where your body will start to go into 'starvation' mode. Also, the less you weigh, the less energy you use in weight bearing exercise so you will also be burning less in activity.

    Hope this helps!
  • mike_ny
    mike_ny Posts: 351 Member
    The first few weeks are definitely the easiest and the last few pounds towards the end are definitely the hardest. Water loss is a big part of early weight loss and the changes in diet and activity are a big shock to your system at first. It then slows down to be more predictable and based on what calorie deficit you're running and how active you are.

    Don't let the slowing down of the progress or the plateau phases discourage you when they come. That's when a lot of people quit instead of sticking with it. Bodies go through adjustments to diet and exercise changes and too much consistency in both can get you into a rut. When things slow down, vary your diet and workouts to keep your body guessing and keep adjusting your plan based on what you find works best for you and less on what works for others.

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