Should I be concerned?

k8tmama
k8tmama Posts: 58
edited September 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I started a low-carb approach at the beginning of the year. I lost about seven pounds right away (first week), and at one point got down to 9.5 pounds lost, but now have been bouncing up and down a pound or so above that for a week (my weight this morning was about 8 pounds lost). Should I be concerned about this, or chalk it up to my body adjusting to a new way of eating? I'd usually be happy with nearly 10 pounds in three weeks, but because it's plateaued this last week I'm concerned that I'm doing something wrong. I'm keeping under my calorie goal (usually 1600-1700 calories, sometimes 1500) and have gotten exercise maybe three times/week. I wasn't exercising more or eating less when I lost more weight at the beginning. Was it just water?

BTW, my original plan was to lose about 1-2 pounds a week, so maybe this is fine. I'm just concerned with it going from a lot of weight loss to little.

Very open to your thoughts!

Thanks,

Replies

  • steampunkgirl
    steampunkgirl Posts: 71
    I think its normal. We all hit plateaus once in awhile. If it lasts more then 2 week then reevaluate. Did you take your measurements. Sometimes you will loose inches and not always pounds. Also if you are doing any strength training you could be building muscle which will have an effect on the scale. Keep it up and see if it moves after two weeks maybe?
  • Lithuria
    Lithuria Posts: 132
    Not only is it perfectly normal to "plateau" but it's also normal to experience rapid weight loss the first few weeks of a diet and then settle into a steady 1 - 2 pounds a week loss. The rapid initial weight loss is 'water weight' - your body stores carbs as well as fats and they are the bodies preferred energy source and so uses them up first, and much more readily than fat too. I believe that for every gram of carbs your body stores it stores 2 grams of water ( I may be wrong on the exact figures...the general idea is correct though) to keep them in a nice easily accesible solution, and this of course means it weighs quite a bit. It's probably this that you've lost so rapidly, especially on a low carb diet since youa aren't replacing the stored ones so readily.

    Be happy, it means that you're now onto burning off the real fat!
  • k8tmama
    k8tmama Posts: 58
    Thanks! That is encouraging!
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