How much did you lose your first month?

Needing some motivation and inspiration! How much did you lose your first week and/or month? I'm starting with an obese BMI.

Replies

  • VeronicaA76
    VeronicaA76 Posts: 1,116 Member
    I have absolutely no idea. My home scale only went to 350lbs. A general rule of thumb is that in the first month you should not exceed 10% of your starting weight. (30lbs if you weigh 300). After that 5-10% is a good rate. 10% is really pushing it, 5% is slow and steady and is best for permanent fat loss as it's easier to adjust to needed changes in nutrition and exercize as you continue to lose fat.

    So if you are starting out at 250lbs, 25lbs the first month should be your max (sometimes it's higher because of natural weight fluctuations such as water retention, or more to the point, not retaining as much water).
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,592 Member
    4.5 kg

    But my net calorie limit was 1250 cal and I stuck to that like glue.
  • bonniebrownhair
    bonniebrownhair Posts: 12 Member
    I lost 7 lbs. my first three weeks. I haven't reached a month yet.

    I've been exercising most days and usually staying under my daily calorie goal (though I've gone over a few days).
  • bonniebrownhair
    bonniebrownhair Posts: 12 Member
    I have absolutely no idea. My home scale only went to 350lbs. A general rule of thumb is that in the first month you should not exceed 10% of your starting weight. (30lbs if you weigh 300). After that 5-10% is a good rate. 10% is really pushing it, 5% is slow and steady and is best for permanent fat loss as it's easier to adjust to needed changes in nutrition and exercize as you continue to lose fat.

    So if you are starting out at 250lbs, 25lbs the first month should be your max (sometimes it's higher because of natural weight fluctuations such as water retention, or more to the point, not retaining as much water).

    This seems REALLY high. I don't think it's realistic to expect to drop 20-30 lbs in a month. Aren't you supposed to stick to 1-2 lbs per week?
  • Andy10725
    Andy10725 Posts: 68 Member
    3kg(6.6lb) on the first week and 7.4kg(15lb) by the end of 1st month. Weight loose slows down to half of the rate after second week which is to be expected when your body is adjusted to the new daily routine and diet. My starting weight was 127kg(280lb) and I am 197cm(6'5).
  • whosshe
    whosshe Posts: 597 Member
    edited August 2017
    This seems REALLY high. I don't think it's realistic to expect to drop 20-30 lbs in a month. Aren't you supposed to stick to 1-2 lbs per week?

    I lost 20 my first month. My starting weight was 230. Honestly, if you lose that much you lose that much. I consistently lose about 3 pounds a week right now. I don't know why. Even if I go way over my cals one day it seems to happen. I MIGHT be overestimating my cals tho (not by much I'm sure) because I'm super scared to underestimate.

    My first month I KNOW was mostly water weight. I used to eat a ridiculous amount of salt and HARDLY drank any water.
    My second month I lost 20.
    I'm like 5 days into my 3rd month and I've already lost 2.5lbs.

    Don't EXPECT it tho. Definitely don't expect it, it may only discourage you if it doesn't happen that fast.
  • VeronicaA76
    VeronicaA76 Posts: 1,116 Member
    I have absolutely no idea. My home scale only went to 350lbs. A general rule of thumb is that in the first month you should not exceed 10% of your starting weight. (30lbs if you weigh 300). After that 5-10% is a good rate. 10% is really pushing it, 5% is slow and steady and is best for permanent fat loss as it's easier to adjust to needed changes in nutrition and exercize as you continue to lose fat.

    So if you are starting out at 250lbs, 25lbs the first month should be your max (sometimes it's higher because of natural weight fluctuations such as water retention, or more to the point, not retaining as much water).

    This seems REALLY high. I don't think it's realistic to expect to drop 20-30 lbs in a month. Aren't you supposed to stick to 1-2 lbs per week?

    1-2lbs per week is a good average, depending on starting weight. After, the initial month.

    The 20-30lbs come in depending on how much initial weight someone has to lose. The first month weight can be dropped very quickly, and the OP said they were obese, but not a specific weight. Usually the first month is where the body starts getting used to a healthier diet and a lot of water retention is lost as well. After that, weight loss tapers off.

    Healthy weight loss is a percentage of weight to lose, a 400lb person can lose twice as much in a month than a 200lb person and still be at a healthy rate, because they are losing the same percentage of weight. Also, the average human body weighs about 100lbs in just bone, blood, and organs. A morbidly obese person will have a significantly higher amount of total fat to lose, than an overweight person. The opposite is true if one has a small amount of excess fat to lose. If someone has 20lbs of above healthy fat to lose, 1-2lbs is going to be very difficult to achieve and be a bit aggressive for that person.


  • lillypatton
    lillypatton Posts: 4 Member
    I started a keto/primal lifestyle a week ago. I also greatly improved my water intake. I've lost 11lbs this week which I think is mostly water weight. More water in, more water out. The only carbs I get is from veggies and a Protein shake I drink in the morning. My appetite is low except for nighttime when I want to snack. I've started going to bed earlier because of this. Remember that this is a lifestyle change and not a diet so if you're weight loss is slow and steady that sets you up for continuing success. Focus on inches lost instead of weight if you struggle. Just a couple things that have helped me. Feel free to add me as a friend if you'd like.
  • rednote49
    rednote49 Posts: 124 Member
    I lost nothing for my first 5 weeks according to the scale. Even with 3 days a week in the gym doing cardio & weights. But I did lose 3 inches off my waist and 2 off my hips. The scale lies sometimes lol. But I do have PCOS so weight comes off very slowly for me.
  • okohjacinda
    okohjacinda Posts: 329 Member
    edited August 2017
    I lost 16lbs. I started at 274.4lbs on May 24th and was 257.8 on June 24th. Most of that weight was water weight. I think they say the first 10-15lbs is water weight (when you're really overweight or obese) so its not much fat you're going to lose in your first month, but it does give you a lot of motivation to keep going.

    Currently at 30lbs lost.

    I workout at least 5x-6x days a week doing 30-50min of cardio a day sometimes longer. And my calories vary from day to day especially in the beginning. I started out eating mostly at 1600-1900 cals. Now on most days I stick around 1200 because I workout a lot less but I try to get 10K steps a day.
  • cenafan
    cenafan Posts: 398 Member
    I started august 1st, I've lost 23lbs as of yesterday. I have a lot to lose though and have not had any "off" days. I know this rate won't continue. I'll steady out around 2lbs per week shortly.
  • JJS1979
    JJS1979 Posts: 177 Member
    Based on your question your mindset appears to want to lose weight as fast as possible. In my opinion this is not the right mindset. Whatever you do in terms of exercise and nutrition, you need to make sure you can do that forever. So if you are going to the gym 3 hours a day, 7 days a week and eating 1200 calories a day, you will lose a lot of weight but you will never be able to maintain that and will ultimately gain all your weight back and probably more.

    Start out slow, and work your way up to more exercise and controlling calories, I would use one of the many TDEE calculators and subtract 10-15% from that number and adjust from there but never to the point you are starving yourself. As for exercise, start by walking 2-3 times a week and then add in the gym 1-2 times a week and increase from there.

    To answer your question, I lost 3 lbs my first week (1.5% of starting bodyfat) and over the next 18 months I lost another 33lbs and live a healthy lifestyle, one that i can maintain forever.

    One thing I said to myself was that if I am going to do this for the rest of my life, why does it matter how fast the results come, as long as they are achieved. Goodluck!


  • JJS1979
    JJS1979 Posts: 177 Member
    Correction, 3lbs my first month!
  • kristen8000
    kristen8000 Posts: 747 Member
    Sunday will be 3 weeks and I'm down 5lbs. It's quick, I've been sticking to under 1300. I'm currently 5'11, 157lbs. I'd like to be 148 by Nov. 1st. Next week I'm going to increase to 1400, try and slow it down a bit. But I've been doing well on the 1200-1300 calorie range...Once I'm 154 I'll increase to 1500. Once I'm 150 I'll increase to 1600. November 11th I leave for an all inclusive Mexico vacation so I won't watch that week. The I'll come back to start to log eating maintainance.
  • BobbieSparks2
    BobbieSparks2 Posts: 12 Member
    The first two weeks, I didn't lose anything. The second half of the month was crazy, I lost 21 lbs. My body just needed to catch up. I apparently was losing but, I was retaining lots of water.
  • gamerbabe14
    gamerbabe14 Posts: 876 Member
    9lbs and the weight loss was noticeable. Went from 221 to 212.
  • Rhayemun
    Rhayemun Posts: 31 Member
    I am 3 days past my month today and I weighed in at 218.0 started at 231.0! So -13lbs in one month. Burning 3,000 cals/day (according to fitbit) and eating 1500 cals/day.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    My starting weight for using MFP was 260-270 something and I only lost 6 lb my first month but I was totally happy with that and it continued at roughly the same rate for months before becoming a bit more slow, which I was also happy with...I never wanted to lose weight super-quickly. In fact I lost about 40 lb prior to joining the site and it took me several years. I think slow and steady is great.
  • rachel780mpg
    rachel780mpg Posts: 83 Member
    41 days in and I have lost 13 lbs.
  • bikecheryl
    bikecheryl Posts: 1,432 Member
    I started April 10th at 288lbs, May 10th I was at 275 lbs. I'm currently at 237.5 lbs. I have extremely bad arthritis in both knees and am scheduled for total knee replacement. I needed to take as much strain off my knees as I could - the more weight that came off, the more I could exercise and take more off. Lol. Funny how that works. I average about 1400-1500 cal per day and dont touch my exercise calories. I have another 75 or so to go.
  • ZhivagosGirl
    ZhivagosGirl Posts: 161 Member
    Keep in mind I was 300 lbs when I started... I lost 22.5 lbs in the first month. I've been at it about 32 weeks now and I've averaged out over time to about 2 lbs a week.
  • bnblackwell
    bnblackwell Posts: 3 Member
    JJS1979 wrote: »
    Based on your question your mindset appears to want to lose weight as fast as possible. In my opinion this is not the right mindset. Whatever you do in terms of exercise and nutrition, you need to make sure you can do that forever. So if you are going to the gym 3 hours a day, 7 days a week and eating 1200 calories a day, you will lose a lot of weight but you will never be able to maintain that and will ultimately gain all your weight back and probably more.

    Start out slow, and work your way up to more exercise and controlling calories, I would use one of the many TDEE calculators and subtract 10-15% from that number and adjust from there but never to the point you are starving yourself. As for exercise, start by walking 2-3 times a week and then add in the gym 1-2 times a week and increase from there.

    To answer your question, I lost 3 lbs my first week (1.5% of starting bodyfat) and over the next 18 months I lost another 33lbs and live a healthy lifestyle, one that i can maintain forever.

    One thing I said to myself was that if I am going to do this for the rest of my life, why does it matter how fast the results come, as long as they are achieved. Goodluck!

    JJS1979 wrote: »
    Based on your question your mindset appears to want to lose weight as fast as possible. In my opinion this is not the right mindset. Whatever you do in terms of exercise and nutrition, you need to make sure you can do that forever. So if you are going to the gym 3 hours a day, 7 days a week and eating 1200 calories a day, you will lose a lot of weight but you will never be able to maintain that and will ultimately gain all your weight back and probably more.

    Start out slow, and work your way up to more exercise and controlling calories, I would use one of the many TDEE calculators and subtract 10-15% from that number and adjust from there but never to the point you are starving yourself. As for exercise, start by walking 2-3 times a week and then add in the gym 1-2 times a week and increase from there.

    To answer your question, I lost 3 lbs my first week (1.5% of starting bodyfat) and over the next 18 months I lost another 33lbs and live a healthy lifestyle, one that i can maintain forever.

    One thing I said to myself was that if I am going to do this for the rest of my life, why does it matter how fast the results come, as long as they are achieved. Goodluck!


  • GemstoneofHeart
    GemstoneofHeart Posts: 865 Member
    ~15 pounds
  • bnblackwell
    bnblackwell Posts: 3 Member
    Thank you all for your responses! Of course I'd love for the weight to come off fast, but I also understand that slow and steady is better and I'm more likely to maintain that way. I have lost about 30 pounds on my own and the past few weeks I've just been in a slump and decided to join MFP. I thought if I read some of your experiences, it would pump me back up to get back on the wagon! My highest weight was 252 and I'm currently about 219. MFP says I should eat around 1200 calories per day.
  • RedSierra
    RedSierra Posts: 253 Member
    I lost 10 lbs my first month. I started at an obese 177 lbs. It took between 4-5 months to lose 42 pounds, which averages out to a little more than 2 lbs a week. I didn't starve myself, though, so it is what it is. I'm at 135 now, which is a normal weight for me.
  • almazrou3ia
    almazrou3ia Posts: 1 Member
    I started last month only and lost 5kg
  • 92joann
    92joann Posts: 67 Member
    I lost 18lbs my first month
  • Wolfger
    Wolfger Posts: 350 Member
    17.2 pounds between 2/15 and 3/15.