shedding weight like crazy

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nic041mccoy
nic041mccoy Posts: 74 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I'm new to this whole diet thing. I've started counting calories about 3 weeks ago and have been exercising about 3 times a week for about 4 weeks. I've lost 20 pounds in that short amount of time. I know they say the more you have to lose the easier it is to lose it at the beginning. Is this normal and or safe to be losing this quick in only about 4 weeks?

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  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    What is your starting weight? How many calories are you eating per day? We need a lot more information to know if this is normal and safe.
  • nic041mccoy
    nic041mccoy Posts: 74 Member
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    I started at 240. Down to 220. I'm eating 1270 calories a day and eat back my calories burned during exercise.
  • emmycantbemeeko
    emmycantbemeeko Posts: 303 Member
    edited March 2016
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    Was most of that weight in the first week or two? It's not uncommon to see a big drop at first as your body drops water and glycogen, and then the loss to slow.
    If five weeks in you're still losing 5 pounds a week, you'd probably benefit from eating more. You don't want to lose too much lean muscle- that can sabotage your later efforts to lose and maintain and leave you weak and with a lower metabolism in the end.
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
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    Is it safe? Yes. But, if you follow MFP, they're going to give you a lot more calories than that that you can eat. When I started I was about your size (not sure how tall you are, but I'm only 5'4") and MFP gave me 1670 calories a day to lose 2 lbs. So, you're definitely at a pretty high deficit.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,902 Member
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    nic041mccoy wrote: »
    I started at 240. Down to 220. I'm eating 1270 calories a day and eat back my calories burned during exercise.

    How tall are you?
  • heatherlewisis
    heatherlewisis Posts: 118 Member
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    That's pretty fast but not too concerning with how high your weight is and the fact that it's right in the beginning... If you want to slow it down, try eating 500 calories more per day and see if you lose at a slower pace :)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
    edited March 2016
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    In my experience, bigger losses are pretty common the first couple of weeks or so...and then it usually levels off. People will initially see a decrease in glycogen and other fluid and bloating at first combined with less inherent waste in the system and yes...some fat loss...but this generally levels out after the first 2-3 weeks or so.

    I'd just keep an eye on it over the next week or two...with your size you can sustain bigger deficits and lose more quickly initially, but you really don't want to be losing anymore than about 1% of your body weight on average once you get into things...if you continue on losing more than that, you can be assured that you are losing lean mass as well as fat.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,122 Member
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    When I first started I lost 20 pounds in a week or less, most of that would have been water weight coming off both from the deficit and from the blood pressure medication I was put on. As stated, big drops at the beginning at not that unusual.
  • nic041mccoy
    nic041mccoy Posts: 74 Member
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    I'm 5'6... So I should lose maybe about a pound a week here soon? Mfp had me eating 1200 a day but I thought that was a bit low. I adjusted it to 1270 and I'm pretty comfortable with that.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,122 Member
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    nic041mccoy wrote: »
    I'm 5'6... So I should lose maybe about a pound a week here soon? Mfp had me eating 1200 a day but I thought that was a bit low. I adjusted it to 1270 and I'm pretty comfortable with that.

    If you have set your goal to 1 pound per week, and have entered your daily activity level properly, then yes, it will slow down in a couple of week, maybe even in a week. If the fast weight loss continues for more than 3-4 week from now, then you definitely have to eat more. By then you will have a better idea of how much based on your weight loss.
  • nic041mccoy
    nic041mccoy Posts: 74 Member
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    Awesome.. Thanks!
  • Colorscheme
    Colorscheme Posts: 1,179 Member
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    nic041mccoy wrote: »
    I'm 5'6... So I should lose maybe about a pound a week here soon? Mfp had me eating 1200 a day but I thought that was a bit low. I adjusted it to 1270 and I'm pretty comfortable with that.

    When I was at my all time high at almost 200, I lost 10 lbs my first month and I am inch taller than you. It's certainly possible to lose as much as you did in three weeks, especially if you're moving more, eating less and also consuming a lot less sodium than usual.

    The first month is water weight, so see what happens as you go on, you'll start losing at a slower weight.
  • miz_crawfish
    miz_crawfish Posts: 6 Member
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    I feel like you entered your info wrong? Did you accidentally enter 140 instead of 240 lbs as yr. starting weight? 1260 calories is around what I'm eating at 129 lbs. to lose my last few lbs.! I feel like your daily goal would be more like 1650 or more -- see what Omma said above!
  • nic041mccoy
    nic041mccoy Posts: 74 Member
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    Yeah I accidentally did enter 140 but changed it to 240. They had me at 1290. Then when I lost 20 I changes it to 220 and it put me at 1200 cals. I ups the cals a bit though.
  • clark614
    clark614 Posts: 92 Member
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    Even that doesn't sound right. I am 5'6" at 200 and set myself as sedentary and I get 1340 a day. It seems like you should be allowed more calories .
  • nic041mccoy
    nic041mccoy Posts: 74 Member
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    Right... I do okay at 1270. I don't feel restricted or hungry. Just want to make sure I'm not slowing the metabolism down if I'm not eating enough calories in a day.
  • Colorscheme
    Colorscheme Posts: 1,179 Member
    edited March 2016
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    There's no such thing as slowing down your metabolism in the way most people think. If you have no metabolism, you're dead. If starvation mode were real, there would be no one dying from anorexia or starvation in third world countries. This is especially true if you are overweight or obese. You have plenty of fat storage to feed off of even if you only ate 600 cals a day. [Not that you should...just making a point. Everyone needs a minimum of 1200 cals a day]
  • lizzocat
    lizzocat Posts: 356 Member
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    it's all dependent on what your starting weight is- I lost 50 pounds in three months when I first started because I started at 265 pounds and cut my calories down to 1200 (which I now acknowledge was too low, but i was also going through some personal stuff and barely able to eat so..) Now that I am in the 170s, and eating between 1500 and 2000 depending on if I'm exercising that day, I rarely lose more than 4-6 pounds a month, it's much slower.

    If you're working out, I would add those calories back in.
  • Colorscheme
    Colorscheme Posts: 1,179 Member
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    lizzocat wrote: »
    it's all dependent on what your starting weight is- I lost 50 pounds in three months when I first started because I started at 265 pounds and cut my calories down to 1200 (which I now acknowledge was too low, but i was also going through some personal stuff and barely able to eat so..) Now that I am in the 170s, and eating between 1500 and 2000 depending on if I'm exercising that day, I rarely lose more than 4-6 pounds a month, it's much slower.

    If you're working out, I would add those calories back in.

    Lmao, that's why I exercise. I like to eat :P

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