How to lose 5 pounds a week.

Congratulations on your success. I too have lost weight of more than 5 lbs a week when I began losing weight. I started at 270 lbs and was forced to change my diet because I was diagnosed with gastritis (inflammation of the stomach lining). This is very painful and feels like acid reflux. I change my diet completely to whole foods and good fats (olive oils, avocado and real butter). At that time I didn't count calories. I just ate a lot of fruits, veggies, real cheeses, fish, chicken and minimal red meats. I joined a gym, hired a trainer and went to as many classes that I could fit into my schedule. I also drank tons of water. Drink half your weight in ounces of wNater. In just over one year I weighed 142 lbs and wore a size 8. I've never been a size 8. I became more active and started to play softball again. Well last July I sustained a knee injury and stopped working out. The result was a 40 lb gain.

Now I am here because I found my motivation again, joined my local gym and now counting calories and optimal nutrition. I started this past Monday and my body is responding well to the whole foods and exercise. As of this morning I have lost 8 lbs even though I began my period yesterday, and we know we always gain a couple of pounds. I believe if The Biggest Loser contestants can lose more than 2 lbs a week so can I.

I just wanted to share my story too. I wish everyone good luck and good health during their loss.

Veronica

I recently had surgery for my apnea (I couldn't wear the mask...made sleep worse), and post-op I lost 15 lbs in 2 weeks. It was that kickstart that led me to want to keep going. I have lost a total of 26 lbs now in 6 weeks, but my pace is more steady at 2 lbs/wk. Glad to hear you are making healthy changes, and your doctor isn't chastising you, but rather encouraging you. As the weight comes off, you will sleep better and have more energy, and you might pace at 4-5 lbs/wk for a few more weeks as you crank up the engine while keeping to a healthy dietary lifestyle. Good luck on you endeavor.

Great topic man!

It's good to see more people that are losing at this rate. I feel you too though as I have also slowed from that high a number down to 2-3/week, and the smaller I get the harder it will be.

Keep it up!

Congrats to you OP! You are awesome!

First of all... congratulations on your weight loss and reclaiming your life! So excited for you!

I think the concern that people express is not necessarily based on "your" situation... but for anyone else who might stumble across your posts. Someone who has 30 lbs to lose will not be able to lose 5 lbs a week, shouldn't expect it and should not try it.

Ditto! Congrats and great job. Being a male at your starting weight, 5 lbs a week seems very do-able. Once you get to a healthier BMI, you should expect (& adjust for) your losses to slow down. A woman with 25 lbs to lose should probably be losing at closer to a rate of .5-2 lbs a week.

Sounds like you are doing everything right...keep up the great work!

Hmmmm.....I started out at 315 pounds on Nov.26th and I'm doing almost everything you have been doing and I'm not losing 5 pounds a week?! However, I have lost 47 pounds in just under 3 1/2 months which I think is very good! Maybe if I were to be extremely strict and NOT allow myself a cheat meal once or twice a week, I might lose more than 2-3 pounds a week as well! I am very happy with my progress so far because I believe that if I were to be very strict, I wouldn't have been able to come this far by not allowing myself the foods that I love such as Mexican, Pizza, Chinnese or Dark Chocolate bars every so often. I know that I can and will lose the remaining 108 pounds by this time next year.I even plateaued at 30 pounds lost for 3 long weeks straight but I kept going. I am doing it the healthy and realistic way too and I feel so much better now. I know I still have a long journy ahead but I have not lost one ounce of motivation and I plan to continue moving forward. Of course I would love to lose 5 pounds a week no matter how unhealthy some might think it is, but I know that it's just not realistic for me as some days I eat more calories than others and allow for those cheat meals and thats Ok with me, I get to enjoy anything I want to eat pretty much within reason, exercise and STILL lose a good sum of weight each week and that to me is exciting! I do have to stay away from ice cream though, especially Ben & Jerry's....LOL, I would probally lose control and B & J and it has soooooo many calories, just not worth wasting my whole day for. Before I started this healthier way of eating, I had a severe Ben & Jerry's addiction, eating 2-3 pints a day most days of the week, I'm embarrassed to admit that but that was my drug of choice to ease my pain but not anymore, those days are over. I wouldn't trade this feeling of having lost weight for that feeling ever again! Another thing that I would like to add is that as you lose weight, I believe that when you hit plateaus it's becasue your body is adjusting to the wieght loss, then after sometime, it starts moving along again....thank goodness for that, and I know there will be more to come. Ok, enough rambling from me, I just wanted to share my excitement and how great I feel. I honestly can't believe that I have come this far, all I can say for that is, it's about time I finally made the decision to become healthy and exercise, it was long, long over due! Keep up the great work everyone and as always, stay focused and stay motivated! AND thanks for the continued support and inspiration I get here from all the MFP'ers. Hugs to you all!

Congratulations on your weight lose.

35lb in 8 weeks and I'm averaging 4 lb a week now. I work out and I don't eat back my exercise calories, ever. Shock horror! It may be bad for me but not as bad as being over 300 lb with diabetes and a fatty liver. My doctor's attitude is get it iff as quickly as you can as you are morbidly obese and will die if you keep it up. That's the reality and I don't care about starvation mode cos from where I'm sitting, I don't see people who are really starving staying fat. If I felt Ill then I'd eat more, but I don't. If I looked Ill then I'd eat more, but I don't. Thanks to the OP and hope you get to your goal in whatever way works for you

The body responds to whatever is being used to stimulate a response. If you eat tons of unhealthy calories, it responds by putting on a lot of weight. If you clean your intake up, it responds by getting rid of that weight. The one thing thats hard to control is how much, or how fast it rids itself of that weight. As long as the intake is enough, there is very little to worry about.

One of the main reasons loosing too much weight too fast has been called taboo, is the fear of muscle loss. I've been around the powerlifting and bodybuilding game for a long time. However, I've seen bodybuilding coaches take clients and put them on 1500 calorie diets that include only cardio. They don't even worry about building muscle until the fat is gone. So if the body drops 5,10,15, even 20 lbs in a week, and you are doing everything right, it's not a big deal at all. If we could regulate our weight loss, who would have weeks where we lose nothing, or just 1 lb?