I think im dropping weight to quick

jlewis326
jlewis326 Posts: 53 Member
edited November 16 in Motivation and Support
As the title says, i think im dropping weight to quickly. I swapped out my complete junk food diet for healthy food and fruit. For the past week i've logged my food and come in under my goal this app has given me. I try to be accurrate since i dont weigh my food so i over estimate.( I.e a bowl of cereal i will put down 1.5 servings... )

I weighed roughly 280 at the start but as of this morning i weighed in at 262...

Tips, suggestions, advice? I have started being alot more active by walking loads.. i have 2 huge blisters on my heels reminding me :P

Replies

  • CafeRacer808
    CafeRacer808 Posts: 2,396 Member
    edited February 2017
    How long did it take you to lose that initial 18 lbs, and how far under your daily calorie goal are you on a typical day? Also, how much weight are you trying to lose, and how many lbs/week are you aiming for?

  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    During the first few weeks you are going to be dropping a lot of water weight, especially if you previously ate a diet very high in sodium and carbs. As long as you're fitting in your basic nutritional needs, I would not be concerned. Once you've gotten past the first 3 weeks or so your losses will slow and you can better judge if you need to eat more or not.
  • jlewis326
    jlewis326 Posts: 53 Member
    edited February 2017


    [/quote]
    CafeRacer808 wrote: »
    How long did it take you to lose that initial 18 lbs, and how far under your daily calorie goal are you on a typical day?

    I want to get down to about 200ish pounds like i use to be. Im eating lots of fruits and veggies. The app tell me to eat about 2650 and im coming in at around 1800 to 1900. I lost what i have over the course of 2 weeks. I swapped all my pop out for carbinated water (i like the co2) and i snack between meals with cheese. I use to eat at resturants daily and im cooking my own food. I havnt eaten much bread or pasta either in 2 weeks.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    Since you aren't weighing food you could be eating less than 1800, so it is possible you are seriously under eating. The first couple of weeks it's normal to drop fairly quickly, but you've lost far more than is normal for two weeks.
  • CafeRacer808
    CafeRacer808 Posts: 2,396 Member
    edited February 2017
    jlewis326 wrote: »
    I want to get down to about 200ish pounds like i use to be. Im eating lots of fruits and veggies. The app tell me to eat about 2650 and im coming in at around 1800 to 1900. I lost what i have over the course of 2 weeks. I swapped all my pop out for carbinated water (i like the co2) and i snack between meals with cheese. I use to eat at resturants daily and im cooking my own food. I havnt eaten much bread or pasta either in 2 weeks.

    As @jemhh stated above, it's very likely that you lost a lot of water weight in those first two weeks.

    But going 700-800 calories under your 2650/day goal (which already has your calorie deficit built in to it), means you're probably under eating. Of course, it's hard to say for sure because you're not weighing your food. And if you're not weighing your food, you really have no idea how many calories per day you're actually consuming. This might work for now, but as you get closer to your goal weight the accuracy of your food logging becomes very important, particularly when you only have about 10-15 lbs left to lose.

    My suggestion would be to get into the habit of weighing your food now (you'll have to start doing it eventually), and make sure you're eating as close to your daily calorie goal as possible.
  • Wicklatpr
    Wicklatpr Posts: 10 Member
    I had a wake up call in early December when I went for a medical and was diagnosed with high blood pressure and pre diabetic. Weighing in at 272 lbs I shouldn't have been surprised. I'm looking to get down to 200 eventually. I started to use MFP again in early January and have dropped 18 lbs so far. I cannot recommend highly enough, the use of a small digital weighing scales. It is too easy to under/over estimate your calories otherwise. Cut out white bread and pastries, and get a nutribullet or similar and have a fresh veg + fruit smoothie for lunch. But the biggest thing....Weigh your intake.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    I still don't see how long it's taken you to lose the weight.

    Back to basics.

    What are your stats?
    Weight
    Height
    Goal weight
    Activity level
    Loss per week goal

    Also, can you open your diary?

    I'm down from 330 to 260 with an interim goal of 220. Am 6 ft so 220 still leaves me as overweight, but it will be 1/3 of my weight gone and I will reevaluate when I get here. I lost 15 lbs for Sept - Nov 2016, and 10 lbs for Dec, Jan and am on track for that for Feb. I'm shooting for 2 lb per week and am not eating back all my exercise calories, so that's why I've exceeded my goal. MFP is giving me 1600 before exercise, so I'm curious how you are getting 2650. Hence the questions above.

  • jlewis326
    jlewis326 Posts: 53 Member
    Tacklewasher wrote: »
    I still don't see how long it's taken you to lose the weight.

    Back to basics.

    What are your stats?
    Weight
    Height
    Goal weight
    Activity level
    Loss per week goal

    Also, can you open your diary?

    Ok Diary is open, i was also being a but dyslexic, i have 2460 calories for a day. I started out at 280, im down to 262.0. Im 5.8 and want to get back down to 200 in weight. So im shooting for 2-3 lbs a week.

    I weighted myself with my work scale with my cloths on ( at work not going to strip down but i did take my work boot off) and i was 266. So i bought a scale and weighed myself 2 days later and came in at 262.0. I checked my work scale today and i was 264.
  • CafeRacer808
    CafeRacer808 Posts: 2,396 Member
    jlewis326 wrote: »
    Ok Diary is open, i was also being a but dyslexic, i have 2460 calories for a day. I started out at 280, im down to 262.0. Im 5.8 and want to get back down to 200 in weight. So im shooting for 2-3 lbs a week.

    I weighted myself with my work scale with my cloths on ( at work not going to strip down but i did take my work boot off) and i was 266. So i bought a scale and weighed myself 2 days later and came in at 262.0. I checked my work scale today and i was 264.

    There's a degree of inaccuracy in virtually all scales. I suggest you stop weighing yourself on different scales and use your new one only. Try to weight yourself at the same time whilst wearing the same clothes (if any) every day, so that you're removing as many variables as possible.

    Many, including myself, weigh ourselves first thing in the morning after using the bathroom and before eating.
  • jlewis326
    jlewis326 Posts: 53 Member
    CafeRacer808 wrote: »
    jlewis326 wrote: »
    Ok Diary is open, i was also being a but dyslexic, i have 2460 calories for a day. I started out at 280, im down to 262.0. Im 5.8 and want to get back down to 200 in weight. So im shooting for 2-3 lbs a week.

    I weighted myself with my work scale with my cloths on ( at work not going to strip down but i did take my work boot off) and i was 266. So i bought a scale and weighed myself 2 days later and came in at 262.0. I checked my work scale today and i was 264.

    There's a degree of inaccuracy in virtually all scales. I suggest you stop weighing yourself on different scales and use your new one only. Try to weight yourself at the same time whilst wearing the same clothes (if any) every day, so that you're removing as many variables as possible.

    Many, including myself, weigh ourselves first thing in the morning after using the bathroom and before eating.

    Yeah i typically weigh myself in the morning without clothes on. I only used my workscale to get a new weight since i didnt own a scale, my old one broke. I plan to use my new one from this point on.
  • CafeRacer808
    CafeRacer808 Posts: 2,396 Member
    jlewis326 wrote: »
    Yeah i typically weigh myself in the morning without clothes on. I only used my workscale to get a new weight since i didnt own a scale, my old one broke. I plan to use my new one from this point on.

    OK, no worries. Just making sure.

    I just checked your profile and your diary still isn't open, FYI.
  • jlewis326
    jlewis326 Posts: 53 Member
    Ah had it set to friends only, its open now
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    At first glance, given your stats, I'm guessing you don't have a weight loss goal in the MFP setup and the 2460 is your maintenance calories.

    I'll go do some calcs.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    Using https://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/basal-metabolic-rate as it gives me a result close to what MFP gives me.

    Using 5'8", 262 lbs male, age 40 and sedentary, it gives a NEAT of ~2730. It does vary a bit with age, but I had to guess at that.

    So 2460 still confuses me as it isn't your NEAT but it also doesn't line up with a 2 lb loss.

    Go through your stats again Settings>Update Diet/Fitness profile and check that everything on the screen is correct. The exercise info doesn't matter as it doesn't come into the calculations.

    Back to your original question, your BMI is right under 40, or just under morbidly obese. When I was 330 I was firmly in the MO class and found I could lose weight pretty fast, first 3 months was 15 lbs per month. Then it slowed down to 10 for a couple of months and now I'm knocking on Obese class I and I won't do more than 2 lbs per week. Out of all the things I've read about losing too fast, gallstones is the one that has me the most freaked out. I do not want those and am being a bit more careful of eating to just lose 2 per week than I was before. So, for me, that means eating back all my exercise calories (based on my tracker) and not being far under any given day.

    I don't really want to go through your deficit until I understand where the 2460 is coming from.

    Read this http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10490435/what-rate-can-someone-lose-at/p1 where I basically asked the same question you did and got some good feedback.
  • jlewis326
    jlewis326 Posts: 53 Member
    Ill look into that now, im currently 35 too so not sure if that matters
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    jlewis326 wrote: »
    Ill look into that now, im currently 35 too so not sure if that matters

    I was close enough for this purpose :)
  • jlewis326
    jlewis326 Posts: 53 Member
    I went into my settings and there wasnt a spot to update my diet...
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    edited February 2017
    Setting>Update diet/fitness profile. Should look like this.

    Removed screen shot as not helpful :)
  • jlewis326
    jlewis326 Posts: 53 Member
    Must be a pc thing... from my phone i only have under settings Profile, Diary Settings, Sharing & Privacy, My Exercises, Push Notifications, Weekly Nut Settings, Steps and Logoff
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    Yeah. I'm old so doing the phone thing is harder for me :).

    It's under goals on the Android app. What is you weekly goal set at?
  • Fallfrenzy
    Fallfrenzy Posts: 118 Member
    I tend to overestimate my food as well and was noticing that I was losing a bit quicker than I thought I would. I have since started to measure my food more carefully. You may want to start doing that so that you are as accurate as possible when logging. If not logging accurately, you will not truly know how much you are eating and if it is enough.
  • jlewis326
    jlewis326 Posts: 53 Member
    Tacklewasher wrote: »

    It's under goals on the Android app. What is you weekly goal set at?

    I found it, its set to 2lbs per week and active, i had ot set to the most active when i was demoing a building. It's now set to 1940 for my intake
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    Okay. That makes sense and that number looks better.

    Eat at that level for a few weeks and see what your weight loss does. As I said, I'm a bit scared to go too fast having read that it can lead to gallstones. I did not know that and lost ~ 4 lb per week for a while. I'm trying to eat all I do, but it is a bit toguh some days. I'm full right now but should still eat another 500 cal or so. Mind you, I think I have to double check the recipe for my enchiladas as I think I'm underestimating them.

  • jlewis326
    jlewis326 Posts: 53 Member
    Thanks for the help
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,331 Member
    My early weight loss was very quick, similar to your at about 20 pound in about a week and a half. This was most water, and part was because of being put on blood pressure meds that got rid of extra water. After that things slowed down a lot, to a much more realistic pace. Two weeks is a small time window, four weeks is much better to get a picture of what is going on.

    The 1900 or so calories doesn't sound inappropriate for you from what you have posted. If the fast loss continues for a couple more weeks, you would probably be well served to eat some more to slow things down simply to avoid too big of a deficit and aid in long term compliance in your calorie goal.

    I also recommend a digital food scale for all solids. They are inexpensive, and can help reduce inaccuracies which will become far more important as you progress in your weight loss.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories