How long did it take to lose the first 10 lbs?

lilcharmer214
lilcharmer214 Posts: 75 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I know this will vary from person to person.

I am on day 43 with MFP and its going well but I've only lost 5 lbs and it seems a bit slow to me. At this rate hitting my goal of 15 lbs lost will take months. I am on the program to lose 1.5 lbs pounds weekly eating 1200 calories a day and working out 3 x weekly for at least 30 mins. Many weeks I workout 4 times and its a mix of cardio and strength training (arms, core, legs). Also I am 5'1 and my starting weight was 140.

Replies

  • ryry_
    ryry_ Posts: 4,966 Member
    You are close to your goal so the weight can and should come off slower than someone starting higher. 5 lbs in 6 weeks is a good rate. 3-5 months is a healthy and sustainable way to reach your goal.

  • emmaprocopiou
    emmaprocopiou Posts: 246 Member
    I think my first month I lost 8lbs total. I started at a lot heavier than you 168lbs and I'm 5ft.
    Don't rush, it may well take months. I've been on here for over 6months and kept off 40lbs. Now I'm on the last 15lb stretch too and sometimes my weight won't move for a couple of weeks, or in losing 1/4-1/2lb a week tops.
    Don't think of the long term goal taking too long break it down into smaller mini goals .
    Those with 15lbs or less to eat need to look at losing up to .5lb a week.
    You may find yourself burn out too quickly with such a large deficit.
    If you can still lose by eating more( having a smaller deficit) I would definately take that option.
    You also need to fuel all those workouts.
    I eat 1200 and there is no way I would be able to keep up that activity level long term.
    It's not a sprint. ;)
  • theswan76
    theswan76 Posts: 23 Member
    It's been 68 days for me. I just now went below ten pounds. You are correct in saying this will vary from person to person. I struggled with actually starting. With it being summer, I would start and then have trouble on short vacations and trips we've taken. I couldn't seem to lose that first ten. Then a couple weeks ago, after talking with my doctor about it, we came up with a plan that would work. Finally, I hit the ten pounds mark.
  • gertmeister
    gertmeister Posts: 13 Member
    edited July 2016
    You might want to check your calorie needs again. Being active and working out a lot requires more calories. If you deny your body enough, it will go into "starvation mode" and hang on to every calorie. http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    With only 15 lbs to lose, 5 lbs in 6 weeks is an amazing rate of loss. Most would tell you to aim for .5 lb/week. Don't worry about how long it takes... maintenance takes a lot longer. ;)
  • MelaniaTrump
    MelaniaTrump Posts: 2,694 Member
    Weight lost slowly is weight you can keep off for life.
    Opinion: 1,200 is too low if you are also working out.
  • Maxematics
    Maxematics Posts: 2,287 Member
    gertmeister wrote: »
    You might want to check your calorie needs again. Being active and working out a lot requires more calories. If you deny your body enough, it will go into "starvation mode" and hang on to every calorie. http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html

    No it won't.
  • lilcharmer214
    lilcharmer214 Posts: 75 Member
    JanetYellen wrote: »
    Weight lost slowly is weight you can keep off for life.
    Opinion: 1,200 is too low if you are also working out.

    I am just going by the suggested goal set by MFP. Even when I adjusted the workout schedule higher or lower, the calorie goal did not change. At all.

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    lilcharmer214 wrote: »
    JanetYellen wrote: »
    Weight lost slowly is weight you can keep off for life.
    Opinion: 1,200 is too low if you are also working out.

    I am just going by the suggested goal set by MFP. Even when I adjusted the workout schedule higher or lower, the calorie goal did not change. At all.

    Your calorie goal won't change based on your workout schedule. It will change based on your activity level.

    MFP is designed for you to log your exercise, which will "earn" calories back for you. If you log your exercise, you will get more calories to eat. This is designed to keep you at a *net* calorie consumption that hits your goal. So if your goal is 1,200 and you burn 150 calories in exercise, you eat 1,350 and net 1,200 for the day.

    You can also get more calories by setting a more reasonable weekly goal. 1.5 pounds a week is an aggressive goal if you only have a few pounds to lose. If you choose .5 a week or even 1, you will have more calories each day.
  • st476
    st476 Posts: 357 Member
    I'm on day 56 and I just hit 10 pounds (started at 140, I'm at 130 now). I average 1200 a day too and just started walking 2-3 miles everyday this week. I lost all of the weight without exercise though :smile: do you weigh your food? You might be eating a little more than you think
  • LisaKay91
    LisaKay91 Posts: 211 Member
    I have a LOT to lose so it fell off within a week. 5lbs in a little over a month is great for the weight you started at and your goal!
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
    lilcharmer214 wrote: »
    JanetYellen wrote: »
    Weight lost slowly is weight you can keep off for life.
    Opinion: 1,200 is too low if you are also working out.

    I am just going by the suggested goal set by MFP. Even when I adjusted the workout schedule higher or lower, the calorie goal did not change. At all.

    I don't think it calculates based off of the workout schedule, that is just to help you set goals. It will adjust if you log workouts, but be cautious if you are basing it off MFP estimates alone because they can be really over inflated for some things.

    your original question: took me a long time to lose my first 10, but I also had alot of learning to do, but I stuck with it and got there, plus more. Good luck!
  • Ricksh1000
    Ricksh1000 Posts: 88 Member
    4 weeks for me but i had a lot to lose when i started!
  • girl_inflames
    girl_inflames Posts: 374 Member
    edited July 2016
    About a month? 1200 calories a day. However, I'm 5 ft 6 and my goal is to lose about 55 pounds. Currently 13 pounds away from goal and weight loss has slowed by a lot.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,611 Member
    I lost at a rate of just slightly under 1 kg/week for the first 16 weeks
  • Isabelle_1929
    Isabelle_1929 Posts: 233 Member
    gertmeister wrote: »
    You might want to check your calorie needs again. Being active and working out a lot requires more calories. If you deny your body enough, it will go into "starvation mode" and hang on to every calorie. http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html

    No... And besides, OP is 5'1". In any event, she has a very good weight loss rate: 0.81 lb per week.
  • hollygirl101
    hollygirl101 Posts: 93 Member
    I'm 5'4" and started at 275. The first 10 took me about two weeks. But like others have said, when you've got a lot to lose the weight falls off pretty quickly at first.
  • pebble4321
    pebble4321 Posts: 1,132 Member
    I'm averaging a bit under 2kg/month (roughly a pound a week) over the last four months.
    I started at a much higher weight than you though, so you really can't compare.
  • DEBOO7
    DEBOO7 Posts: 245 Member
    Took me 2 weeks.... but then I had 70+ pounds to loose. Started at 95.5kg two years ago and now 61kg.
    Really depends where you are in the weight-loss journey.
    I'm now 2-3kg from my ultimate goal and every gram lost is a celebration.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    edited July 2016
    I had 30lbs to lose, i lost 6lbs a month for the first 4mths. After that it slowed down to a snails pace.
  • akweich89
    akweich89 Posts: 18 Member
    I lost my first 10 lbs within the span of 2-3 months. I opted for the slower loss so that I could transition seamlessly into the better lifestyle with small changes. I lost 15 lbs in a month last summer and felt so deprived that I gave up and fell off the food wagon.
  • aquablue_1111
    aquablue_1111 Posts: 40 Member
    Took me 3 months - 4 months to lose 10 lbs. I was/am happy with that progress because I had a alot of cheat days (some very huge..like over 1000 calories) and it was my very first time weighing and logging my food.
  • scoii
    scoii Posts: 160 Member
    Change your rate of loss in mfp to see the calories, you're likely to find that you're at 1200 for all of them.

    This is because that's the minimum the app will show as it's dangerous to go lower than that. Unfortunately 1.5lbs a week is probably more like 700 calories a day for you. If you ate that you'd be losing muscle, hair, screwed up cycle etc
  • JeffreyOC
    JeffreyOC Posts: 810 Member
    It took me 9 days. I've been dieting for 23 days now and I've lost a total of 16Ibs.

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