Losing weight slow vs fast

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kamazza
kamazza Posts: 98 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've always heard it's bad to lose weight "too fast" but no one seems to be able to tell me why. And what is "too fast"? Any thoughts?

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  • Phrick
    Phrick Posts: 2,765 Member
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    I've always heard it's bad to lose weight "too fast" but no one seems to be able to tell me why. And what is "too fast"? Any thoughts?
    Greater than 2 pounds a week is generally too fast (there are a few exceptions), and it's not so great to lose too fast because you will lose a greater ratio of muscle along with the fat you're losing. When you lose slower, you tend to lose more fat than muscle. That's my understanding at least.
  • kellehbeans
    kellehbeans Posts: 838 Member
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    Too fast is over 2lbs a week - and that varies from person to person as it depends what their starting weight is. Too fast could lead to excess skin or it can mean you are eating too little for your body to cope.
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
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    There are different ways of looking at it. From a scientific standpoint you don't want to creat such a deficit that you are not getting the basic nutrients your body needs to function so losing over 2 lbs a week gets you into that zone. If you do not have much to lose then only 1 lb/week setting can get you into that zone. And Phrick is correct, you want to lose fat and not muscle so its important to give you body what it needs so it doesn't break them down. There is the mental side of things too, basically to diet you have to eat to feed the size you want to be, which means when you are "done" you will still need to for the most part continue eating that way in order to not just gain it all back. If you set up a program to lose the weight really fast then you will most likely not be able to maintain that long term and are more likely to just yoyo.
  • khkjkk
    khkjkk Posts: 55 Member
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    Completely agree with CDFlinn.

    Losing weight too fast is usually said to be 'bad' because if you're consistently losing over 2lbs a week, you might be doing it the 'wrong' way (starving yourself, exercise bulimia, etc). If you're not eating enough calories and getting enough nutrients or if you're working out too much, it damages the body (as we all know!)

    Effects of losing weight too fast can differ from person to person, my personal experience with losing weight too fast: I dropped quite a lot of weight during a 3 month span back in 2009. I was eating 1200 calories a day and working out. I experienced fatigue, mood swings, heart palpitations, loose skin (which still has not quite recovered), as well as muscle and hair loss. My metabolism still is not back to normal, either.

    It's different from person to person, and as CDFlinn mentioned, the mental side of things is important too.
  • kamazza
    kamazza Posts: 98 Member
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    ok, well I've lost 6lbs in about 8 days. I've had to drastically change my diet due to severe stomach issues (think ulcer, have tests this week to determine) and have become gluten free as well as low sodium, lower sugar and zero junk. I've also begun exercising about 30-45 mins a day or so to try and bring my weight down a bit. I'm not horribly over weight, I'm only slightly into my "overweight" BMI but still was thinking a bit of weight off would help the reflux among other issues. So far it's working! My stomach is mostly great, unless I am eating something I shouldn't (aka spicy/greasy/fatty/gluten/etc) and then I pay for it. I hadn't intended to lose weight this fast and if you check my logs I'm NOT starving myself *lol* not hardly. I'm wondering if the quick loss is just a by-product of no gluten? thoughts?
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
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    ok, well I've lost 6lbs in about 8 days. I've had to drastically change my diet due to severe stomach issues (think ulcer, have tests this week to determine) and have become gluten free as well as low sodium, lower sugar and zero junk. I've also begun exercising about 30-45 mins a day or so to try and bring my weight down a bit. I'm not horribly over weight, I'm only slightly into my "overweight" BMI but still was thinking a bit of weight off would help the reflux among other issues. So far it's working! My stomach is mostly great, unless I am eating something I shouldn't (aka spicy/greasy/fatty/gluten/etc) and then I pay for it. I hadn't intended to lose weight this fast and if you check my logs I'm NOT starving myself *lol* not hardly. I'm wondering if the quick loss is just a by-product of no gluten? thoughts?
    If you are losing weight that quickly, it's likely water weight that you've lost, and if you aren't eating carbs, that could cause greater water weight loss. It's pretty typical to lose water weight quickly right at the beginning of weight loss, but that should slow down to losing 1-2 lbs per week. If you lose weight faster than that, you will lose muscle mass as well as fat. Another thing to consider is that when you lose weight slowly it gives your skin time to bounce back as you lose, and if you lose too fast, that skin will begin to look saggy and remain stretched-out in appearance.

    Are you going gluten-free for health reasons? If you aren't intolerant, there's really no reason to give gluten up, unless it's at the advice of your physician.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Well, anyone starting a diet losses water weight, usually combo of less sodium means less retained water, and less food than normal means less glucose stored, which stores with water.

    So some water weight that will come right back when you don't diet, but it's good needed weight.

    The loss you don't want to have is muscle mass - because it's much easier to lose than gain, and if you are losing it you are likely causing a couple of other effects on your body that will effect your metabolism and daily burn from all activity, your TDEE.

    You feeling hungry or not is meaningless, as the mere act of eating less can mess up the hormones that control that.

    Now's the time to use your brain, not your stomach, so good job asking.

    If you have less than 30 lbs to lose, set your goal loss to 1 lb weekly. At 10 lbs left, go to 1/2 lb.

    Be honest with activity level, I'd suggest Lightly Active with that little one.

    And any real exercise you do, log it, and eat those calories back so that your deficit is kept at what will hopefully be a more reasonable 500 cal daily for that 1 lb weekly.

    You didn't gain the fat fast, don't try to lose it fast.

    Those that try usually end up going slow anyway - but not because of smart purposeful choices, but rather they forced their body to adapt and that's all they are going to get now.

    Guess which way makes maintenance more successful?
  • kamazza
    kamazza Posts: 98 Member
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    McCindy, The gluten free is because of dietary issues. I do suffer from IBS and my doc is fairly certain I have an ulcer. Since going gluten free I've noticed I'm less bloated (awesome!) but also less IBS symptoms and most awesome is the less stomach issues. Less burning, less pain, less reflux. I'm going to have to guess I'm gluten intolerant and that could be a big part of my IBS symptoms. I feel better for it, truly do.

    I always thought water weight was a myth. It's scary to think I was carrying around 6lbs of just water! Knowing that it is probably water weight makes me feel better knowing I'm not doing harm to my body. I feel strong, energetic and healthy. In no way do I feel starving (unless I'm late for lunch!! *lol*) or weak from the changes I've made.

    My ultimate goal in loss is about 40 lbs or there abouts. I'll see when I get closer to that how I feel and look. so should I be aiming for 4 lbs a week then, based on your rough calculations? Heybales, I have three kids, a dog, cat and horse. While most days I'm lightly active just generally I AM upping the exercise due to wanting to lose. I'm in no huge rush but I am the type of person who has to see some sort of result fairly quick or I become discouraged. Pretty normal I think. I'll keep doing what I'm doing and see what happens.

    Thank you so much for all the insight!
  • Will_Thrust_For_Candy
    Will_Thrust_For_Candy Posts: 6,109 Member
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    As others have mentioned, losing weight quickly can also mean that you are losing muscle mass which you don't want to do. Besides that though, it really comes down to adherence. For most people that lose super quick, they are on a highly restrictive, aggressive deficit that makes it very difficult to adhere to long term. By slowing down and accepting a slower, more sustainable loss you increase your chances of making long term lifestyle changes rather than just the dreaded yo-yo.


    Also wanted to quickly address the 2lbs/week. It's not inherently "bad" for an individual to loss 2+lbs/week. It all depends on how much the person has to lose. An obese person can healthily sustain a larger deficit where a person that has 10lbs to lose cannot. The important thing to remember to is reassess your intake as you progress to ensure that your intake is on point, not just for losses but for overall healthy.
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
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    McCindy, The gluten free is because of dietary issues. I do suffer from IBS and my doc is fairly certain I have an ulcer. Since going gluten free I've noticed I'm less bloated (awesome!) but also less IBS symptoms and most awesome is the less stomach issues. Less burning, less pain, less reflux. I'm going to have to guess I'm gluten intolerant and that could be a big part of my IBS symptoms. I feel better for it, truly do.

    I always thought water weight was a myth. It's scary to think I was carrying around 6lbs of just water! Knowing that it is probably water weight makes me feel better knowing I'm not doing harm to my body. I feel strong, energetic and healthy. In no way do I feel starving (unless I'm late for lunch!! *lol*) or weak from the changes I've made.

    My ultimate goal in loss is about 40 lbs or there abouts. I'll see when I get closer to that how I feel and look. so should I be aiming for 4 lbs a week then, based on your rough calculations? Heybales, I have three kids, a dog, cat and horse. While most days I'm lightly active just generally I AM upping the exercise due to wanting to lose. I'm in no huge rush but I am the type of person who has to see some sort of result fairly quick or I become discouraged. Pretty normal I think. I'll keep doing what I'm doing and see what happens.

    Thank you so much for all the insight!

    that is a challenge. I have IBD and am gluten-intolerant as well, it can be challenging to say the least. I do miss gluten products but I will say that even though I don't eat a alot of carbs, I still have a lot of fluctuations in my weight from water retention and loss!

    Just as a side note... I have to follow a low-FOD diet, have you checked that out? It can also be extremely helpful in IBS as well. There are a lot of foods that can trigger GI symptoms, such as dairy, fructose, and fiber. I can't eat dairy, gluten, corn, legumes, or many veggies and fruit, or beef.
  • NicBright
    NicBright Posts: 3
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    There are actually some studies that show that losing weight more quickly leads to better long-term maintenance. The science is mixed, and the old adage of "No more than 2 lbs per week" is relatively outdated and not scientifically based.

    The other posters are 100% correct though on the nutrition aspect! That is more about nutrients and gross calories you eat though than it is about net calories. If you eat 2000 calories with proper nutrition, burning 1000 calories that day isn't going to negate that nutrition.

    Another thing to consider is sustainability. It's hard to sustain behaviors that lead to large weekly weight losses. Large does mean different things for different people, if makes a big difference if you're 400 lbs or 140 lbs, height, age, etc.

    I personally also find that the faster and more recently the weight was gained, the faster it comes off. That's nothing scientific though, that is just my personal experience after far too many years of working on my weight.

    The best guideline I've found is that, after the initial large losses, no more than 1% of body weight per week is a good guideline, with a realistic goal being 0.5% per week average and no more than 1.5% per week if you're being really hardcore. I think a percentage is much more realistic because it allows your body weight to be taken into consideration.
  • kamazza
    kamazza Posts: 98 Member
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    McCindy, I've not heard of that diet but after a quick google and some brief reading sounds like something I'm already following a bit *lol* I've cut much of the "bad" side and have added many of the "good" side of the lists. We don't eat beef or pork in our house anyhow so that's not a problem. Beef/pork always leave me feeling gross, bloated and greasy. Going to do some more reading on this FODMAP stuff. I've been eating to try and ease the pain in the stomach and they seem to coincide :)

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