Am I dropping weight too fast?

i lost 19 lbs in the first two weeks. i wouldn't be alarmed by your quick initial drop. and so long as you are not trying to starve yourself, stopping eating when you are full is a good habit to develop. best of luck going forward:-)

The first couple of weeks are when you'll drop weight the fastest if you stay on or close to the plan. It's not too fast.

Don't worry, it will slow down. It's nice to have that initial 'whoosh' so enjoy it. Good job.

You are both losing water weight, and heavier so you will notice weight drop rapidly now. Once fat makes up a smaller percentage of your total mass, you will notice this slow. As long as you are feeling full, and not having any weak spells, hunger pangs, etc, you are probably eating enough.

The "cleanliness" of your food (whatever that means) has nothing to do with how quickly you lose, only the relative energy content of your intake vs your output.

When you're large, eating at a big deficit, and new to weight loss, it's common to see big, rapid drops, some of which are water weight. These will gradually slow. It's also likely that as you continue, and novelty/enthusiasm wanes while loss slows, it will become less easy to remain satisfied at a huge deficit.

Remember when that happens (and that will very, very likely happen, and possibly starting soon) that a. it's okay to eat the actual amount MFP suggests and b. that a loss of 0.5 lbs-2 lbs a week is, despite your early rapid rate of loss, a perfectly respectable to great rate of loss- that in fact there will likely be weeks when you lose nothing on the scale, and it's still okay, and that sticking to the plan is still the best way to get to your goals.

If you're still dropping at this rate at 4 or 6 weeks in, I'd be concerned and suggest recalculating what you're eating and burning, because as a long-term thing, this would suggest over-restriction. But early on for a large person, it's pretty normal.

And forget about "clean", it's a meaningless adjective re: food, unless you mean scrubbing your produce before eating. Worry about macros, about calorie content, about micronutrients, but "clean" isn't a useful concept, and it's so easy for that vague goal/restriction to become the stumbling block that forces someone in to all-or-nothing thinking that makes them give up on a plan when it gets tough. It's okay to eat foods that you're currently categorizing as "unclean" as long as you eat them in quantities that fit within your calorie goals. You will still lose weight. And you can put every pound you've lost back on eating the "clean" foods you're eating now, if you start eating them in large enough quantities.

Forget about the animosity shown from some here, define your foods as clean or unclean as you wish. We all know what you mean you say "unclean", believe me you eat a cheap and nasty ready made meal there will be lots of nasty additives in there, I would certainly define that as unclean and something I don't want to eat. First time poster what appears to be being mocked by experienced users. Shame on you lot, he's seeking advice, if it were me I'd be put off posting again never mind replying to your own thread.

That all being said welcome and congrats on starting your journey. As a couple of the more friendlier members have pointed out its not abnormal for the initial drop to be slightly higher than you anticipated, it would continue that way but don't let it discourage you. As long as you continue to eat at a deficit and are meeting your daily macros you will steadily loose weight. Keep up the "clean" eating.

Ah okay that was your point, that didn't come across. I thought you were trying and failing to be funny at the expense of someone who obviously needs advice, not mocking.

ClosetBayesian wrote: »

It's probably water weight.

What are you washing your food with that makes it so clean? The last time I talked about something being so clean was when I detailed the car last weekend.

I guess I am a minority that believes eating "clean" does help with weightloss. 500 calories may be 500 calories, but 500 calories in junk/crap food will definitely hinder you more than 500 calories in fruit/veg. All calories are not equal, IMHO

sschramm566 wrote: »

Good morning! Just wanted to say thanks for all the responses. Most of you confirmed what I had already figured but wanted to double check with people with more knowledge on the subject or people it had happened too. From what I can gather eventually (sooner than later) it is going to plateau. When that happens is when I am going to start to incorporate more exercise. As I said all of it now comes from walking the dog but I'm interested to see how much water weight comes off and how quick on its own from just dieting.

Also in regards to my original post I'm not sure why so many people singled out two words that really had nothing to do with the grand scheme of the question I was asking. I used the phrase "super clean" as another way of saying very healthy. Just another way to say that i started a good diet and have stuck to it. I'm well aware that it actually doesn't have anything to do with how "clean" food is. Just another phrase for me eating very nutritious. That includes calories and macros and all the rest. And of course that has everything to do with my weight loss now that I'm not filling my body full of crap.

Thanks again!

It doesn't. You could lose weight on a diet of candy bars alone if you ate fewer calories than you need to maintain your current weight (nutritionally not fantastic, but you lose weight based on calories, not vitamin content). That's why people are harping on those words. If you eat more calories than you burn, even if those foods that put you over your calorie limit are super nutritious, you will gain weight.

Congrats on making these choices! Eating 1000 cals of healthy food will keep you fuller & contribute to your health & nutrition more than consuming 1000 of beer and fries. 10 lbs the first 2 weeks is ok, but if it keeps up at that pace you should up your cals a little. Good luck!