losing more than 2lbs/wk, any successful stories?

sfr1991
sfr1991 Posts: 23 Member
edited May 2016 in Getting Started
Hey
I tried previously to lose weight using the calorie count and the 1-2lbs/wk rule, and it did not work for me !
I just got bored, tired, did not see any results, and stopped and returned to my eating habits. I even now weight more now than what I started with ! :(

Anyhow, I was wondering, has anyone lost weight really fast ? let's say 3-4 lbs/wk. ? How accurate is the 1-2 lbs/wk rule ?

Next week I am starting a new job, and it involves walking a lot, about 4 -5 hrs/day. So I guess this will help me losing weight faster ! and thats why I am thinking to go for the 3 lbs/wk as a target. What do you think ?

I am 26 year old male, weight is 255 lbs ,Height 5'10.. my traget is 155 lbs.. so I wanna lose 100 lbs.
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Replies

  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    How much weight do you have to lose?
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    karl317 wrote: »
    By any means necessary. Lose it fast. Lose it slow. But just lose it.

    When MFP complains that you're eating too few calories, ignore it. Whatever guidelines that say you can only lose X amount of pounds safely per week are likely BS. That said, whatever guidelines that say losing it quickly are probably equally BS (like this one: http://sciencenordic.com/researchers-rapid-weight-loss-best).

    So just do it any way you like.

    You will find no shortage of people on here that will tell you I'm WRONG WRONG WRONG, as that is the internet of things. But everyone's different, with different tolerances, cravings, physical anomalies and what not.

    Exercise, calorie restrictions or both. With beer or without. With carbs or without. Just lose it. Fast or slow, doesn't matter. Worry about maintaining when you get there.

    There are real downsides to losing it fast. Other than impatience are there downsides to losing it slowly?
  • karl317
    karl317 Posts: 87 Member
    There are real downsides to losing it fast. Other than impatience are there downsides to losing it slowly?

    If there are, I haven't found *any*, aside from feeling hungry sometimes.

    And you know what, it's perfectly ok to feel hungry sometimes.

    But sorry - Science both agrees and disagrees with you completely, which makes it impossible for any reasonable person to believe either side as "correct".
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    karl317 wrote: »
    There are real downsides to losing it fast. Other than impatience are there downsides to losing it slowly?

    If there are, I haven't found *any*, aside from feeling hungry sometimes.

    And you know what, it's perfectly ok to feel hungry sometimes.

    But sorry - Science both agrees and disagrees with you completely, which makes it impossible for any reasonable person to believe either side as "correct".

    As I stated before, muscle loss. There's also fatigue, hair loss, brittle nails, dry skin, hormone imbalances that can mess with women's menstrual cycles, organ malfunctions/shutdown...the list goes on. That is why MFP recommends 1200 calories for women and 1500 calories for men, as under these amounts it is difficult to get adequate nutrition to fuel the body.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    3- 4 lbs a week would require a 1500-2000 calorie deficit per day. Unless you are extremely obese there isn't going to be a way to do that in a healthy way.

    Also keep in mind your body can only use so many calories a day from fat stores. If I remember correctly it's like 30 calories per pound of fat. Once your deficit exceeds that your body will turn to it's lean body mass to get the remainder of the fuel it needs. This will result in a lower weight but BF% not changing or increasing.
  • snowflake930
    snowflake930 Posts: 2,188 Member
    I lost 40 pounds in 8 weeks. 100 pounds by 6-1/2 months, 140 pounds by 1 year, and got to goal @ -160 pounds at 20 months. I have been maintaining around 130-133 for over 2-1/2 years now.
    I have been on MFP for over 4 years now, and I have had quarterly check ups with my doctor during the first 2 years and yearly since then. I highly recommend consulting with a health care specialist who specializes in this field.
    I think you may want to take a professionals advice before listening to all the nay sayers on a public forum. General guidelines are just that, general. Everyone is different.
    Best of luck to you!
  • karl317
    karl317 Posts: 87 Member
    malibu927 wrote: »

    As I stated before, muscle loss. There's also fatigue, hair loss, brittle nails, dry skin, hormone imbalances that can mess with women's menstrual cycles, organ malfunctions/shutdown...the list goes on. That is why MFP recommends 1200 calories for women and 1500 calories for men, as under these amounts it is difficult to get adequate nutrition to fuel the body.

    Again, science both agrees and disagrees with you - so there is simply no right answer. MFP might recommend something, which might be based on sound science. But for every article that proves something, there are many that also DISPROVE that very thing.

    Which is why I will always say lose it any way you want, just lose it and worry about maintaining once you've reached a point you're happy with.

    It's about what works for you - and ONLY you.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    How much weight do you have to lose?

    This is the question. What might make sense for someone with a huge amount of weight to lose will not make sense for someone with less to lose.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    karl317 wrote: »
    There are real downsides to losing it fast. Other than impatience are there downsides to losing it slowly?

    If there are, I haven't found *any*, aside from feeling hungry sometimes.

    And you know what, it's perfectly ok to feel hungry sometimes.

    But sorry - Science both agrees and disagrees with you completely, which makes it impossible for any reasonable person to believe either side as "correct".

    If you are losing more than 1% of your body weight per week, you are most definitely losing muscle mass in the process, more so than if you were losing more slowly...that's a negative in my book.

    Also, rapid weight loss would require substantial a substantial calorie deficit and VLCDs ...just go search the threads here of people losing their periods, losing hair, brittle nails, etc that come with VLCDs and malnutrition.

    You sound like a pro-ana.
  • sfr1991
    sfr1991 Posts: 23 Member
    edited May 2016
    I am sorry I did not add my weight on the 1st post

    26 year old male. My weight is 255 lbs ,Height 5'10... my traget is 155 lbs.. so I wanna lose 100 lbs.
  • sfr1991
    sfr1991 Posts: 23 Member
    How much weight do you have to lose?

    100 lbs

  • sfr1991
    sfr1991 Posts: 23 Member
    karl317 wrote: »
    By any means necessary. Lose it fast. Lose it slow. But just lose it.

    When MFP complains that you're eating too few calories, ignore it. Whatever guidelines that say you can only lose X amount of pounds safely per week are likely BS. That said, whatever guidelines that say losing it quickly are probably equally BS (like this one: http://sciencenordic.com/researchers-rapid-weight-loss-best).

    So just do it any way you like.

    You will find no shortage of people on here that will tell you I'm WRONG WRONG WRONG, as that is the internet of things. But everyone's different, with different tolerances, cravings, physical anomalies and what not.

    Exercise, calorie restrictions or both. With beer or without. With carbs or without. Just lose it. Fast or slow, doesn't matter. Worry about maintaining when you get there.

    Cool study. Thats what happened to me, after 2 months , I got bored , lost only 4 pounds , and was unmotivated .

    Do you know any experience of people losing 3lbs/wk and are still did not destroy their metabolism or their muscles?

  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    sfr1991 wrote: »
    I am sorry I did not add my weight on the 1st post

    My weight is 255 lbs , my traget is 155 lbs.. so I wanna lose 100 lbs.

    Max I would recommend aiming for would be 2.5 lbs per week then (1% bodyweight).Though you would probably find 1.5-2 lbs easier to stick to. And decrease the rate of loss as you lose weight. Don't forget some form of strength training and getting enough protein. Combined this should help to make most of your weight loss come from fat.
    Maybe focus on a fitness related goal while your losing to shift your focus away from the scale.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    edited May 2016
    ...double post...
  • sfr1991
    sfr1991 Posts: 23 Member
    I lost 40 pounds in 8 weeks. 100 pounds by 6-1/2 months, 140 pounds by 1 year, and got to goal @ -160 pounds at 20 months. I have been maintaining around 130-133 for over 2-1/2 years now.
    I have been on MFP for over 4 years now, and I have had quarterly check ups with my doctor during the first 2 years and yearly since then. I highly recommend consulting with a health care specialist who specializes in this field.
    I think you may want to take a professionals advice before listening to all the nay sayers on a public forum. General guidelines are just that, general. Everyone is different.
    Best of luck to you!

    Wohooo . 40 lbs in 8 weeks ? that would be a dream lol. so you lost 140 lbs in 1 year? thats about 2.7lbs/wk on average. Did you lose your hair or got your metabolism destroyed?
  • karl317
    karl317 Posts: 87 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »

    If you are losing more than 1% of your body weight per week, you are most definitely losing muscle mass in the process, more so than if you were losing more slowly...that's a negative in my book.

    Also, rapid weight loss would require substantial a substantial calorie deficit and VLCDs ...just go search the threads here of people losing their periods, losing hair, brittle nails, etc that come with VLCDs and malnutrition.

    You sound like a pro-ana.

    See, it's statements like "IF YOU ARE LOSING MORE THAN 1% OF YOUR BODY WEIGHT PER WEEK, YOU ARE MOST DEFINITELY LOSING MUSCLE MASS" (emphasis mine) that people are going to zero in on here. It's statements like these that people consider credible - even when there's no *infallible* science behind it.

    Sorry, too many people have lost a ton of weight quickly (and with acceptable muscle mass losses) *and kept it off* to be statistically insignificant - much to the chagrin of many.

    The truth is - no amount of thread-reading can ever definitively say with any degree of certainty whether it's better to lose weight quickly versus slowly. Try as you might to stand behind your statements, there are too many other equally credible statements that work against any "proof" you will find.

    As for "pro-ana", I don't know if I deserve that label. I don't know enough about what "pro-ana" means - which is kind of funny when the wikipedia article itself states "Pro-ana organizations differ widely in their stances". So I guess that must mean we're all pro-ana, as long as we can all find a pro-ana organization we can identify with.

    Disagree with me all you want, that's what the internet is for. But the answer to the OP's question? Yeah. There are METRIC F***TONS of success stories with losing weight quickly and keeping it off. But there are also plenty of failure stories too. The same can be said of *ANY* method of weight loss/lifestyle changes.

    Ask any smoker who started smoking again. Relapses happen, and they aren't ANY less likely if you quit smoking cold turkey versus tapering off.

    The only reason people have a harder time with food is the bare fact that we need it to *survive*, as opposed to most other forms of addiction where you don't.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    sfr1991 wrote: »
    I am sorry I did not add my weight on the 1st post

    My weight is 255 lbs , my traget is 155 lbs.. so I wanna lose 100 lbs.

    You can safely set your goal to 2 pounds a week......for awhile

    Pound per week goals
    75+ lbs set to lose 2 lb range
    Between 40 - 75 lbs set to lose 1.5 lb range
    Between 25-40 lbs set to lose 1 lb range
    Between 15-25 lbs set to lose 1 -.50 lb range
    Less than 15 lbs set to lose 0.5 lbs range

    Here's a practical example of why 3 pounds a week isn't a good idea.

    Let's say a 26 year old 5'10" man weighs 255 pounds. Let's say he's sedentary. His maintenance calories are about 2,839.

    A 3 pound a week loss = a daily 1,500 calorie deficit. That's 2,839 - 1500 = 1,339 calories. That leaves 1,339 calories to meet all nutritional guidelines. I don't have a background in nutrition, I wouldn't trust myself to make "perfect" nutritional choices day in and day out. Plus making "perfect" choices day after day is going to get really old. I want a piece of chocolate now and again. Let's face it 100 pounds is going to take awhile.

    Why torture yourself? As you become smaller your maintenance calories decrease. This is why you need to keep lowering weekly goals.
  • sfr1991
    sfr1991 Posts: 23 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    karl317 wrote: »
    There are real downsides to losing it fast. Other than impatience are there downsides to losing it slowly?

    If there are, I haven't found *any*, aside from feeling hungry sometimes.

    And you know what, it's perfectly ok to feel hungry sometimes.

    But sorry - Science both agrees and disagrees with you completely, which makes it impossible for any reasonable person to believe either side as "correct".

    If you are losing more than 1% of your body weight per week, you are most definitely losing muscle mass in the process, more so than if you were losing more slowly...that's a negative in my book.

    Also, rapid weight loss would require substantial a substantial calorie deficit and VLCDs ...just go search the threads here of people losing their periods, losing hair, brittle nails, etc that come with VLCDs and malnutrition.

    You sound like a pro-ana.

    I understand your point, thank you .

  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    sfr1991 wrote: »
    karl317 wrote: »
    By any means necessary. Lose it fast. Lose it slow. But just lose it.

    When MFP complains that you're eating too few calories, ignore it. Whatever guidelines that say you can only lose X amount of pounds safely per week are likely BS. That said, whatever guidelines that say losing it quickly are probably equally BS (like this one: http://sciencenordic.com/researchers-rapid-weight-loss-best).

    So just do it any way you like.

    You will find no shortage of people on here that will tell you I'm WRONG WRONG WRONG, as that is the internet of things. But everyone's different, with different tolerances, cravings, physical anomalies and what not.

    Exercise, calorie restrictions or both. With beer or without. With carbs or without. Just lose it. Fast or slow, doesn't matter. Worry about maintaining when you get there.

    Cool study. Thats what happened to me, after 2 months , I got bored , lost only 4 pounds , and was unmotivated .

    Do you know any experience of people losing 3lbs/wk and are still did not destroy their metabolism or their muscles?

    I did lose 2.5 -3 lbs at first...once I was closer to 200 lbs my rate of loss slowed to 2 lbs per week and slowly decreased after that. I was typically losing an average of 1% bodyweight per week once I was out of the 200's. At first my fast loss was due to water weight loss, but I'm not sure how long that lasted or how much ended up coming from muscle. I didn't start trying to get rough estimates of my BF% until I was out of the 200's.

    I'm curious though, why did you get bored? Were you being really redtrictive with your food choices?
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    You describe yourself as getting bored, tired, or saw no results with a 1 lb per week weight loss target.
    It's not the target you had a problem with, it's the math. The math of CICO is founded upon 3500 calories = 1 lb fat. If and only if you accurately record everything you eat, and accuracy is a digital kitchen scale, and you select accurate listings from the food database, and you accurately account for your activity level and exercise, the math very accurately tells you what your weight change will be. With that, there is the proviso that weight loss is not linear and your body can for many reasons hold on to excess water for an extended time. Once you get squared away with meeting your 500 calorie daily deficit and keep doing that consistently for a month, you will very likely see a 4 lb weight loss. Is that boring? Perhaps so. You've gained weight without being squared away with a 500 calorie daily deficit. Was that exciting? Thrilling?

    As for me, the average daily weight loss I have experienced is today about 0.39 lb. That works out to an average weekly weight loss of 2.73 lb. This has actually slowed a bit in the past month. For 8 weeks I was losing 3 lb per week. Is that boring? Kitten with double hockey sticks, yes. I want to lose 20 lb per week, but that's not the way the math will ever work. I'm capable of being patient with the math and sticking with the program. That's actually a talent many people have not developed.
  • sfr1991
    sfr1991 Posts: 23 Member
    TeaBea wrote: »
    sfr1991 wrote: »
    I am sorry I did not add my weight on the 1st post

    My weight is 255 lbs , my traget is 155 lbs.. so I wanna lose 100 lbs.

    You can safely set your goal to 2 pounds a week......for awhile

    Pound per week goals
    75+ lbs set to lose 2 lb range
    Between 40 - 75 lbs set to lose 1.5 lb range
    Between 25-40 lbs set to lose 1 lb range
    Between 15-25 lbs set to lose 1 -.50 lb range
    Less than 15 lbs set to lose 0.5 lbs range

    Here's a practical example of why 3 pounds a week isn't a good idea.

    Let's say a 26 year old 5'10" man weighs 255 pounds. Let's say he's sedentary. His maintenance calories are about 2,839.

    A 3 pound a week loss = a daily 1,500 calorie deficit. That's 2,839 - 1500 = 1,339 calories. That leaves 1,339 calories to meet all nutritional guidelines. I don't have a background in nutrition, I wouldn't trust myself to make "perfect" nutritional choices day in and day out. Plus making "perfect" choices day after day is going to get really old. I want a piece of chocolate now and again. Let's face it 100 pounds is going to take awhile.

    Why torture yourself? As you become smaller your maintenance calories decrease. This is why you need to keep lowering weekly goals.

    but that assumes that I do not do any form of exercise ? right ? what if I eat 2000 calories and burn 700 calories during exercising ?(walking for 4 hours can burn this amount of calories.)
  • sfr1991
    sfr1991 Posts: 23 Member
    TeaBea wrote: »
    sfr1991 wrote: »
    I am sorry I did not add my weight on the 1st post

    My weight is 255 lbs , my traget is 155 lbs.. so I wanna lose 100 lbs.

    You can safely set your goal to 2 pounds a week......for awhile

    Pound per week goals
    75+ lbs set to lose 2 lb range
    Between 40 - 75 lbs set to lose 1.5 lb range
    Between 25-40 lbs set to lose 1 lb range
    Between 15-25 lbs set to lose 1 -.50 lb range
    Less than 15 lbs set to lose 0.5 lbs range

    Here's a practical example of why 3 pounds a week isn't a good idea.

    Let's say a 26 year old 5'10" man weighs 255 pounds. Let's say he's sedentary. His maintenance calories are about 2,839.

    A 3 pound a week loss = a daily 1,500 calorie deficit. That's 2,839 - 1500 = 1,339 calories. That leaves 1,339 calories to meet all nutritional guidelines. I don't have a background in nutrition, I wouldn't trust myself to make "perfect" nutritional choices day in and day out. Plus making "perfect" choices day after day is going to get really old. I want a piece of chocolate now and again. Let's face it 100 pounds is going to take awhile.

    Why torture yourself? As you become smaller your maintenance calories decrease. This is why you need to keep lowering weekly goals.

    but that assumes that I do not do any form of exercise ? right ? what if I eat 2000 calories and burn 700 calories during exercising ?(walking for 4 hours can burn this amount of calories.)
  • djspacecaptain
    djspacecaptain Posts: 366 Member
    7 or so years ago i lost 100 lbs in about 6 months. It was unhealthy and i do not recommend doing it, losing weight shouldn't be a race it should be a life style. This second time i got to lose 100 lbs and am going to be taking about a year to do so. With that being said i will say what i did the first time in a nutshell.

    I weighed 300 lbs my entire high school years and the day i graduated i was finally fed up with it. This wasn't the ok i guess i will lose weight; i was seeing blood and got my mind locked in a haze. Every day i would only eat boneless skinless chicken breast with rice and a salad. Would only drink coffee in the morning and the rest would be water. I would run atleast 5-6 miles a day and often did 9+ miles. I would lift weights for 1.5 hours and ended up doing 150 - 200 pushups a workout as well as 1000 - 2000 crunches. At night me and my friends were party animals and ended up partying anywhere from 5-7 nights a week. No extra food was eaten after the chicken rice and salad.

    I was in such a haze that when the 6 months was over i woke up one morning buff as crap with a 6 pack. It literally felt like i did not put much effort in at all due to my body being numb from partying.

    I still can't believe i put my body through all that stress and extreme workouts. Losing 4-5 pounds a week is crazy now thinking in hindsight. Take your time.
  • sfr1991
    sfr1991 Posts: 23 Member
    sfr1991 wrote: »
    karl317 wrote: »
    By any means necessary. Lose it fast. Lose it slow. But just lose it.

    When MFP complains that you're eating too few calories, ignore it. Whatever guidelines that say you can only lose X amount of pounds safely per week are likely BS. That said, whatever guidelines that say losing it quickly are probably equally BS (like this one: http://sciencenordic.com/researchers-rapid-weight-loss-best).

    So just do it any way you like.

    You will find no shortage of people on here that will tell you I'm WRONG WRONG WRONG, as that is the internet of things. But everyone's different, with different tolerances, cravings, physical anomalies and what not.

    Exercise, calorie restrictions or both. With beer or without. With carbs or without. Just lose it. Fast or slow, doesn't matter. Worry about maintaining when you get there.

    Cool study. Thats what happened to me, after 2 months , I got bored , lost only 4 pounds , and was unmotivated .

    Do you know any experience of people losing 3lbs/wk and are still did not destroy their metabolism or their muscles?

    I did lose 2.5 -3 lbs at first...once I was closer to 200 lbs my rate of loss slowed to 2 lbs per week and slowly decreased after that. I was typically losing an average of 1% bodyweight per week once I was out of the 200's. At first my fast loss was due to water weight loss, but I'm not sure how long that lasted or how much ended up coming from muscle. I didn't start trying to get rough estimates of my BF% until I was out of the 200's.

    I'm curious though, why did you get bored? Were you being really redtrictive with your food choices?

    thank you for your input. So do you think it is fine if I set a target of 3lbs/wk ,and when I reach 200lbs , set a new target which is 2lbs/wk ?

    mm yes,I was bit restrictive, I had some difficulties in calorie counting. So in order to be accurate, my meals usually consisted of boiled eggs. Occasionally I used to eat burgers from McDonald because they indicate how much each burger contains calories.

    but the main reason why I got bored, was because I only lost 4 lbs in 2 months. MFP indicated that I should eat 1500 calories to lose 2lbs/wk. I did so , but did not got results. I attributed that to not doing any form of exercise.

    Now with the new job that requires 4 hr/day walking, I decided to give losing weight a shot again, and maybe this 4hrs/day walking can be considered as a form of exercise.
  • sfr1991
    sfr1991 Posts: 23 Member
    Thank you all for providing me with these information and experiences. I've never seen any site or forum where there is such fast and helpful interaction. Wish me luck :D

    any more information or experiences are welcomed. :D
  • MarkusDarwath
    MarkusDarwath Posts: 393 Member
    Also keep in mind your body can only use so many calories a day from fat stores. If I remember correctly it's like 30 calories per pound of fat. Once your deficit exceeds that your body will turn to it's lean body mass to get the remainder of the fuel it needs. This will result in a lower weight but BF% not changing or increasing.

    By that calculation, I could run a 3000 calorie per day deficit and still be burning all fat, provided I was getting enough micronutrients, protein and strength exercise to maintain muscle mass. That would total 6 pounds per week. Not that I think I could to that without feeling overly hungry all the time.

    Personally, I set my daily calorie goal by calculating my rmr as if I were already at my goal weight, applied the adjustment for the next activity level below what I think my actual level is, then subtracted 500 calories. This should allow me to still be losing at least a pound per week when I reach my goal, at which point I'll need to up my daily calories.
    Generally speaking, if one has 20 pounds or less to lose, more than 2 pounds per week is probably too much, but if you've got 50 or 100 pounds or more to lose, dropping at a faster rate can be done safely. The key is to eat foods that are both nutrient dense and filling, and to engage in strength building exercise. Naturally, 1200 to 1500 calories is still pretty much the bottom of safe calorie intake, and most people who are 100 pounds overweight can't handle 1500 calories of exercise per day. In other words, it all comes down to individual conditions. Setting down hard and fast rules like "no more than 2 pounds weight loss per week" is just not realistic.
  • karl317
    karl317 Posts: 87 Member
    sfr1991 wrote: »
    but that assumes that I do not do any form of exercise ? right ? what if I eat 2000 calories and burn 700 calories during exercising ?(walking for 4 hours can burn this amount of calories.)

    First of all, 4 hours of walking is a LOT of walking. Even at a normal pace, you'd probably be burning closer to 2000 calories if you managed to walk for 4 hours straight. I base this on fitbit data in my own experience. Now, I'm sure you'll find plenty of people who will jump in to say those calorie amounts are overinflated and don't reflect reality, but I've been basing my own progress on Fitbit and MFP's numbers - and the data seems pretty sound *in general*.

    If you stick to the CICO model, that 700 calories burned during walking would probably put you at a calorie deficit. The big problem with CICO is that your "earned through exercise" calories are treated as a solid number that gets added to whatever number is your "daily target".

    So if MFP tells you that you can chomp down 1750 calories WITHOUT exercise the minute you wake up, and then you do 2 hours of walking like I do, suddenly you can now eat nearly 3,000 calories and still be in a deficit.

    This is the part where the numbers don't always add up, and is why you get some people who say "this works perfectly" in one thread, followed by people who say "I never eat more than 25% into my exercise calories" in another thread.

    You can't even say that the truth is "somewhere in between" because there's such a huge margin of error.

    All that said, CICO is a great start, and if you treat it like a baseline, you'll likely succeed if you follow it with accurate diary entries. Just know that your mileage will vary (sometimes very wildly) based on your level of activity.

    As a human being who loves taking in all sources of information, there's just too much information both for and against any particular kind of weight loss to be "believable as fact". That's why I will always say "just lose it any way you can and worry about maintaining it as a completely separate goal".