Weight Loss Decay

herrow
herrow Posts: 3 Member
edited September 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Started MFP about 4 days ago, and have been losing an avg of 2lbs a day thru healthier eating and exercise. I started big (of course!), being a 6' 1" guy @ 268lbs.

So my question is: as I lose more weight, what's the rate of decay of weight I can lose each week?

For example, if I continue this average for a week and lose 14lbs, I doubt I can lose 14lbs each and every week after that. Maybe 10 the next week, and 8 the week after that, and so on.

I have about 10 weeks till my birthday, so it'd be nice to lose a large portion of my overall 88lb goal.

(Notes: Been sticking to about 1000-1200 cal every day, with 45-60min of elliptical and maybe another 20-30min in strength exercises - this will (hopefully!) be the norm till I get around my goal weight)

Thanks for any help!

Replies

  • debruhf
    debruhf Posts: 196 Member
    I can't tell you an exact "rate".....BUT generally the first week or so post higher weight loss amount....due to a lot of it being water weight. So it generally will slow by the third week and you should expect 1-2 lbs/week since you are not terribly overweight.

    Also on a side note you don't really want to eat below 1200 calories at risk of your body going into starvation mode.....just search the archives and read up on this.

    HTH

    Deb
  • Spitfirex007
    Spitfirex007 Posts: 749 Member
    I know you are suppose to lose no more then around 2-3lbs a week. The first week is always easy to drop a little extra. Not sure of the exact amount over time.

    And I just started P90X on Weds. According to their guide I need to eat around 3000 calories a day with working out. I am 271 right now. (Started at 280) So you might wanna up your calories if you are burning a good bit each day. I'd look into that a bit.

    I can post my monday meal plan if you want an idea.
  • havingitall
    havingitall Posts: 3,728 Member
    With the amount of exercise you are doing and the size of person you are, you are doing yourself no favors eating only 1000 - 1200 a day. This will catch up with you in the end and you will either stall out on losing weight as your body goes into "starvation mode" where it hoards the calories you are eating believing that you are starving or alternately, keeping up at this pace, you binge.

    You should be eating a minimum of 1200 calories but you should also be eating back some of your exercise calories. You are probably burning around 800 - 1200 calories a day with your exercise.

    That being said, the first week you always lose a lot. It does not reduce exponentially. Next week you may only see 2 lbs in the week. Some weeks you won't see any. It's all good and normal and part of the process.

    Remember, this isn't Biggest Loser. The results you see on that show are unrealistic and not an example to go by. Healthy weight loss should be about 2 lbs a week at your size. If you lose it quickly, there is the danger that it goes back on just as quickly once you start eating "normally" . This is not a diet. It is a way of changing your eating habits and your exercise habits in such a way as you can sustain it for the rest of your life. There will be ups and downs along the way. There will be times when you go out for beers with the boys or eat birthday cake but those need to be tempered with eating lower calories and exercise.

    I hope you can find your balance with this. It doesn't need to be done at a frantic rate. It took you a while to gain that weight...it will take you a while to lose it.
  • herrow
    herrow Posts: 3 Member
    Thanks for all the responses!

    I've never really made a serious effort at losing weight before, partially due to the steep learning curve for effective weight loss. There are so many rules - and just as many caveats - that it seems the wall of information is nearly vertical. I learn something one day, then read something else that contradicts or undermines that "fact" the next. :smile:

    So thanks for your help so far - I appreciate all I can get. Will definitely start upping my calories a bit, and lower my expectations from maintaining a 2lb/day loss. :wink:

    Still...what sort of goals would be within reach for 10 weeks? Not really sure what would be realistic, as I plan on keeping up this pace of exercise and I guess upping to ~1600 cals. Would 30lbs be attainable? Or closer to 20-ish? I'm just shy of 20 years old, so I can really push myself if necessary to meet these goals (and have time to spare if more exercise is required).

    Excited all the same!
  • karenjoy
    karenjoy Posts: 1,840 Member
    The less I weighed, that harder it was to lose weight, and the closer to goal I got the harder it was, took me longer and longer each lb, BUT I am almost at my goal (1.4lbs) and it's been a lot easier than I thought it would be, in fact I wish I found this site BEFORE my Wedding!
  • havingitall
    havingitall Posts: 3,728 Member
    Thanks for all the responses!

    I've never really made a serious effort at losing weight before, partially due to the steep learning curve for effective weight loss. There are so many rules - and just as many caveats - that it seems the wall of information is nearly vertical. I learn something one day, then read something else that contradicts or undermines that "fact" the next. :smile:

    So thanks for your help so far - I appreciate all I can get. Will definitely start upping my calories a bit, and lower my expectations from maintaining a 2lb/day loss. :wink:

    Still...what sort of goals would be within reach for 10 weeks? Not really sure what would be realistic, as I plan on keeping up this pace of exercise and I guess upping to ~1600 cals. Would 30lbs be attainable? Or closer to 20-ish? I'm just shy of 20 years old, so I can really push myself if necessary to meet these goals (and have time to spare if more exercise is required).

    Excited all the same!

    Being young, male and having the time and willingness to work out hard, you could easily lose between 20 - 30 lbs. Eat healthy foods like lots of fruits and vegetables, lean meats and whole grains ( brown rice, oatmeal, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat bread) and you have set a good foundation for yourself to lose the weight.
  • herrow
    herrow Posts: 3 Member
    Awesome - sounds great...on paper at least...now to actually do it and keep with it for days/weeks/months! :happy:

    BTW, whats the deal with nuts? That seems to be the consensus snack food, so I picked up some raw almonds, pecan halves, mixed nuts, etc. What I don't get is that 1/4 cup of these nuts have around 20g of fat and substantial carbs. Granted, the 1/4cup is indeed filling, but its over a third of my allotted fat for the day according to MFP (52g). I'm pretty sure most of the fat is mono/polyunsat'd fat, but still.....isn't 20g of any fat pretty excessive for this sort of portion of supposed 'snack food'?

    (Apologies in advance for these beginners questions. Been reading the forums for ~30 min everyday in addition to general online reading to get a handle on a lot of these concepts, but there is a lot out there.)
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