How much did you lose the first! week?

I've been dieting for a little over a week now and I've lost 6 pounds!

I lost 6 my first week, but started at 242. I think starting weight makes a big difference on early loss. It's been a month now and I'm down 16 lbs, which is still a lot, but I had a lot of extra pounds to start with. I expect my weight loss to slow down.

I lost 6 lbs this first week. I drank a lot, lot, lot of water! So I suspect that 3-4 lbs of that was water loss, and only 2-3lbs was regular weight loss. Are you drinking enough water to keep hydrated and keep your body from retaining fluids?

Have you read these threads? They will help point out things you may be missing or doing wrong..even if you're 10000% positive you "did it right" - I found out that I had my settings wrong (I needed to be at sedentary rather than lightly active. I also learned previously that I need to weigh my food rather than rely on eyeballing it like I did for Weight Watchers. Weight Watchers I think had more "room for error" than MFP does.)

I know it's a lot to read but it is worth the time -I had quite a few A-HAS! after reading these.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1399829/step-by-step-guide-to-losing-weight-with-myfitnesspal#latest

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants#latest

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1235566/so-youre-new-here#latest

ArkMom35 wrote: »

I lost 6 my first week, but started at 242. I think starting weight makes a big difference on early loss. It's been a month now and I'm down 16 lbs, which is still a lot, but I had a lot of extra pounds to start with. I expect my weight loss to slow down.

I do think starting weight can make a huge difference, no doubt.

I also think for some people it's less/more dramatic based on what they were eating before and how much habits have changed. I started at 262 lb on this website and I think I lost 2 lb the first week and rarely more than 2 lb in a week even at the beginning. But I was eating exactly the same (fairly "healthy") foods in the year before I started, I just started eating smaller portions. I know one woman who started around 270 and lost 22 lb in the first month, but she went from fast food binging, no fruits or veggies, and Dr. Pepper - to low carb and tons of veggies and drinking water.

For me, I was set to lose 1.5 lb/week for the first year or so and I truly did. In fact when doing the math it averaged out to EXACTLY 1.5 lb/week even though I would lose nothing some weeks and then 2-3 lb another week.

But once I got down to 180 and below - everything slowed very dramatically. For me that was fine, but for some I know it would probably be alarming or disappointing. Right now I only have about 10-15 lb I care to lose but I'm set to lose 1 lb per week, log pretty accurately and I only lose about 1/3 lb each week, sometimes not even that.

Maybe a pound?

Losing weight and getting healthier are a marathon, not a race. There's also a lot of factors that affect each person differently like your BMR, current muscle mass, calories you were eating before to maintain your weight, any illnesses or restrictions you have, etc.

Don't fret, you still have the rest of your life to live healthily.

I lost 5 lbs. my first week and 3 my second so down 8 lbs. 25 more to go. I expected the first week to be a lot because you eliminate a lot of fluid that first week. My goal is to lose 1.5 a week so I am doing much better than expected. Drinking about 64-88 oz of water a day. 3 meals and 3 snacks and I walk 10,000 steps a day. I'm eating between 1200 and 1500 cal a day and following the Paleo plan as closely as possible while monitoring my calories. I'm so excited because this time I plan to make it a way of life. At 41 I have done the gambit of diets and always gain it back. I'm done this time! Gotta be around to watch the kids grow up. Good luck everybody. I tell myself it took years to get this big so don't expect to get small over night.

cwolfman13 wrote: »

The sooner you figure out that this is all about trends and averages and not about the actual weigh in to weigh in numbers, the happier you'll be. If you can't wrap your brain around non-linear progression, you're going to have a rough go of it.

This.

I lost 9 pounds, but I was pretty heavy (232) and I quit drinking soda, so I literally cut my intake by more than half in a single day.

Weight loss is really all about averages. I'll go a month with no loss, then lose 4-5 pounds all at once. If I viewed my progress on a weekly basis, I would probably have quit months ago. But I look at my monthly averages and it helps me keep my eye on the prize.

I lost absolutely nothing, and I'm starting at a pretty high weight. I've been at it for a month now, and maybe lost 3 pounds total. It's very discouraging, but I'm trying to keep at it.

sarahpetherick wrote: »

I've only lost 1lb in almost a week and expected a bit more. Thank you xx

That's great, a 0.5-2 lb loss a week is the rate you should be aiming for. It's very sustainable so you're less likely to give up on your diet. Plus it means it's more likely going to be fat you're shedding. Keep going, so far, so good.