~14 lb loss in less than 2 weeks
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melissa3324
Posts: 33 Member
I'm female, 5'6'', started my diet on Monday August 21 weighed 364 lbs. Got up this morning and was down to 350 lbs.
I don't use myfitness pal to track my food because it doesn't seem to help me and it just makes eating a chore. But all I did was go to the produce section and get a bunch of vegetables and some fruit. Then I got some turkey lunch meat, some salad dressing, fish, cheese, and eggs. And I just been limiting myself to that and no more than 2 slices of wheat bread a day. The goal is to eliminate processed food and have most of my food vegetables. I do have some left over crackers I been eating as a snack every so often. My goal has been to try and eat 3 meals a day with 2 snacks. Some days I skip a meal or a snack because I have no appetite.
The no appetite phenomenon is pretty new to me, but its been going on for months before I started my diet. I don't know if its because I'm just getting older (29 now) or what. But never in my life before that would I ever turn down food or go out somewhere. For the last few months before my diet, I just haven't been into eating as much.
But anyway! 14lb is a lot of weight to lose and I know of that is genuine weight loss. My scale could be off, it could be water weight, etc. I know I have lost more than 4 lbs, though. I can already feel some difference in my body. Just wondering how normal this is looking at my weight and if there is anything I can do to stop losing weight so quickly. Or is it just going to balance out later on?
I'm not interested in using myfitnesspal to record my eating habits. I'm afraid that will just make me give up on this since I would have to go in and record my meals. Meals already take me like an hour or more to prepare and eat and I don't want to increase that burden, even if its something I can do in like 10 mins. Its not really the time anyway its more psychological.
I don't use myfitness pal to track my food because it doesn't seem to help me and it just makes eating a chore. But all I did was go to the produce section and get a bunch of vegetables and some fruit. Then I got some turkey lunch meat, some salad dressing, fish, cheese, and eggs. And I just been limiting myself to that and no more than 2 slices of wheat bread a day. The goal is to eliminate processed food and have most of my food vegetables. I do have some left over crackers I been eating as a snack every so often. My goal has been to try and eat 3 meals a day with 2 snacks. Some days I skip a meal or a snack because I have no appetite.
The no appetite phenomenon is pretty new to me, but its been going on for months before I started my diet. I don't know if its because I'm just getting older (29 now) or what. But never in my life before that would I ever turn down food or go out somewhere. For the last few months before my diet, I just haven't been into eating as much.
But anyway! 14lb is a lot of weight to lose and I know of that is genuine weight loss. My scale could be off, it could be water weight, etc. I know I have lost more than 4 lbs, though. I can already feel some difference in my body. Just wondering how normal this is looking at my weight and if there is anything I can do to stop losing weight so quickly. Or is it just going to balance out later on?
I'm not interested in using myfitnesspal to record my eating habits. I'm afraid that will just make me give up on this since I would have to go in and record my meals. Meals already take me like an hour or more to prepare and eat and I don't want to increase that burden, even if its something I can do in like 10 mins. Its not really the time anyway its more psychological.
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Replies
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It's really common to lose at lot of weight at the beginning of a plan, especially if you have more to lose. Some of that will be water weight. If it continues to be this fast, I would consider logging a few days to make sure you're eating enough. If you don't want to do that, consider finding a calorie-dense food to add to your diet or having bigger portions of the calorie-dense foods you are already eating.8
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A big weight loss like that is concerning, though you're right in that it could be a lot of things happening at the start of your diet. You might watch it another week and see. But the diet you've described is also a bit concerning. You seem to have very little protein and almost no fat in your diet. You need a minimum amount of both of those in order to stay healthy. It might be worth looking into whether or not you're getting enough of those and then add some calorie dense fat and protein sources to up your calories a bit.10
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You will always lose a lot in the first few weeks especially if you have a lot to lose. It will be mainly water weight but it's a great achievement and will give you encouragement.
Just don't get disheartened when you are losing less a week further down the line.3 -
diannethegeek wrote: »A big weight loss like that is concerning, though you're right in that it could be a lot of things happening at the start of your diet. You might watch it another week and see. But the diet you've described is also a bit concerning. You seem to have very little protein and almost no fat in your diet. You need a minimum amount of both of those in order to stay healthy. It might be worth looking into whether or not you're getting enough of those and then add some calorie dense fat and protein sources to up your calories a bit.
Did you read the full post. Cheese and eggs cover the fat side although these can be upped if needed. If the turkey is actual turkey (not sure what lunch meat is) and fish cover the protein to be fair it's actually a pretty balanced diet.
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aneary1980 wrote: »diannethegeek wrote: »A big weight loss like that is concerning, though you're right in that it could be a lot of things happening at the start of your diet. You might watch it another week and see. But the diet you've described is also a bit concerning. You seem to have very little protein and almost no fat in your diet. You need a minimum amount of both of those in order to stay healthy. It might be worth looking into whether or not you're getting enough of those and then add some calorie dense fat and protein sources to up your calories a bit.
Did you read the full post. Cheese and eggs cover the fat side although these can be upped if needed. If the turkey is actual turkey (not sure what lunch meat is) and fish cover the protein to be fair it's actually a pretty balanced diet.
Also from the post -- the goal is to have most of the food be vegetables. Given how much weight has been lost and the goal of eating mostly vegetables, it's a reasonable assumption that the portions of cheese, eggs, turkey, and fish are pretty small and may not be meeting OP's needs for protein and fat.4 -
1) faster weight loss is fairly typical with size...but it will ultimately smooth out
2) faster weight loss is fairly normal at the start of a diet...less water and you are depleting glycogen and since you're eating less, you have less inherent waste in your system.
3) If you're low carb or significantly dropped carbs, the change in water weight will be more dramatic.
Just keep an eye on it...make sure you're eating an appropriate amount of calories..at your size, you can still eat quite a bit and lose weight.3 -
aneary1980 wrote: »diannethegeek wrote: »A big weight loss like that is concerning, though you're right in that it could be a lot of things happening at the start of your diet. You might watch it another week and see. But the diet you've described is also a bit concerning. You seem to have very little protein and almost no fat in your diet. You need a minimum amount of both of those in order to stay healthy. It might be worth looking into whether or not you're getting enough of those and then add some calorie dense fat and protein sources to up your calories a bit.
Did you read the full post. Cheese and eggs cover the fat side although these can be upped if needed. If the turkey is actual turkey (not sure what lunch meat is) and fish cover the protein to be fair it's actually a pretty balanced diet.
Yes, @aneary1980 I read the full post. Yes, I saw that she's eating cheese and eggs. Lunch meat in the US is a processed, sliced meat meant for sandwiches. We don't know how much of anything she's eating and she states that her diet is based mostly on fruit and vegetables, which gives me the sense that she's keeping the meat and dairy to a minimum. She's losing 7 pounds a week. Evaluating how much of anything she's getting isn't a bad idea just to be sure. If she continues to lose at this rate, fat sources are the most calorie dense choice to be sure she's getting enough to eat.6 -
OP, I think you're fine. Assuming you were eating a lot of highly processed food, you were probably retaining water - I've gained and lost 5 lbs over a couple of days after a night out with lots of drinks and fast food. I'd guess you're probably right that maybe four pounds was actual fat loss, which is still a big drop, but probably not an unhealthy one at this point. Some experts say to limit to 2 pounds a week, other say 1% of your body-weight, which sounds not too far off from where you are. But if you're really concerned and you can afford it, talk to a doctor or registered dietitian.
And hey, good on you for recognizing that logging isn't going to work for you. The best diet is the one you will stick to. Good luck!
ETA: Edited because the first part of my comment was addressed better above, but I would just add that it probably is early days to be overly worried.1 -
Sudden loss of appetite is concerning, and 29 is not old enough for that to be the reason. Since you say the change in appetite happened before your change in diet, I think it might be a good idea to visit the doctor for a checkup. It never hurts to make sure everything is okay.
At your size, losing 7 lbs / week at the start of a diet is possible, even though much of it may be water weight. If it keeps up, you may want to start eating more, since losing more than 1% of your weight per week isn't recommended.2 -
MegaMooseEsq wrote: »diannethegeek wrote: »A big weight loss like that is concerning, though you're right in that it could be a lot of things happening at the start of your diet. You might watch it another week and see. But the diet you've described is also a bit concerning. You seem to have very little protein and almost no fat in your diet. You need a minimum amount of both of those in order to stay healthy. It might be worth looking into whether or not you're getting enough of those and then add some calorie dense fat and protein sources to up your calories a bit.
Yeah, I think turkey, salad dressing, fish, cheese and eggs are probably covering the fats and proteins okay.
OP, I think you're fine. Assuming you were eating a lot of highly processed food, you were probably retaining water - I've gained and lost 5 lbs over a couple of days after a night out with lots of drinks and fast food. I'd guess you're probably right that maybe four pounds was actual fat loss, which is still a big drop, but probably not an unhealthy one at this point. Some experts say to limit to 2 pounds a week, other say 1% of your body-weight, which sounds not too far off from where you are. But if you're really concerned and you can afford it, talk to a doctor or registered dietitian.
And hey, good on you for recognizing that logging isn't going to work for you. The best diet is the one you will stick to. Good luck!
You know what? I'm out. Enjoy everyone else tearing apart my post. I said it was a bit concerning. As in possibly a tiny bit but also possibly not a problem. If everyone else wants to give her a pass on her diet, fine. Have fun. I've said what I need to say. I'm done.6 -
diannethegeek wrote: »MegaMooseEsq wrote: »diannethegeek wrote: »A big weight loss like that is concerning, though you're right in that it could be a lot of things happening at the start of your diet. You might watch it another week and see. But the diet you've described is also a bit concerning. You seem to have very little protein and almost no fat in your diet. You need a minimum amount of both of those in order to stay healthy. It might be worth looking into whether or not you're getting enough of those and then add some calorie dense fat and protein sources to up your calories a bit.
Yeah, I think turkey, salad dressing, fish, cheese and eggs are probably covering the fats and proteins okay.
OP, I think you're fine. Assuming you were eating a lot of highly processed food, you were probably retaining water - I've gained and lost 5 lbs over a couple of days after a night out with lots of drinks and fast food. I'd guess you're probably right that maybe four pounds was actual fat loss, which is still a big drop, but probably not an unhealthy one at this point. Some experts say to limit to 2 pounds a week, other say 1% of your body-weight, which sounds not too far off from where you are. But if you're really concerned and you can afford it, talk to a doctor or registered dietitian.
And hey, good on you for recognizing that logging isn't going to work for you. The best diet is the one you will stick to. Good luck!
You know what? I'm out. Enjoy everyone else tearing apart my post. I said it was a bit concerning. As in possibly a tiny bit but also possibly not a problem. If everyone else wants to give her a pass on her diet, fine. Have fun. I've said what I need to say. I'm done.
Hey, I actually just edited my post because I thought you had good points. I certainly didn't mean to tear your post apart.4 -
I'm going to chime in and say that that's actually pretty all right for your weight. Even though 1% of your body weight a week is the typical suggestion, when you have a significant amount of weight to lose, you can shoot for a bit over that. You started at 364 and lost 7 lbs/week on average. That's 1.92% of your starting weight a week. That's not unreasonable, when you consider that a good amount of that was probably water weight. I suggest that you don't look at absolute numbers (eg: pounds, kilos, etc.) but at the % lost. Move you baseline every 10-20 pounds, so that you're not always losing x/364.
14/364 is like 5.77 pounds for a 150 pound person, which comes out to 2.88 lbs a week. And while that's higher than is normally suggested, it's definitely not unheard of.
Don't expect these results to continue if you don't start logging, though. Your TDEE and BMR are going to decrease, and unless you decrease your calories consumed, you won't see the scale continue moving.
ETA: I started at about 100 pounds less than you but still saw some 6 lbs/week drops, especially if I was traveling/eating out/drinking the week before. I came back from vacation August 8 @ 243lbs. Aug 14th I was 237.2. That's 5.8 lbs drop, but I knew that it would NOT continue. I was just bloated from sitting on the plane, eating airport food, and hanging out in Mexico.
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Ohh you guys all make good points. It never occurred to me that I can just track my food for a day or a week or so and later on every once in a while. That will make tracking it more bearable.
As for the protein and fat. The peanut butter crackers I eat sometimes have fat and protein in them. The first week I had some leftover gatorade protein bars so I ate 1 of those some nights along with a glass of milk for a snack. This week, I been eating 2-4 eggs in the morning for protein. I don't use a ton of salad dressing but I put several tbsps so I am guessing that will help with the fat grams I need. The turkey is processed, 4 slices is 100 calories and it has some protein but no fat. I slice up 4 pieces of turkey and put it in my salad sometimes.
So from here I will follow ya'lls advise and give it another week. If I still seem to be dropping a lot of weight I will track my food for a few days and then adjust as necessary. May just do it just to see how far off or close I am to the goals on here.
Thanks.0 -
melissa3324 wrote: »Ohh you guys all make good points. It never occurred to me that I can just track my food for a day or a week or so and later on every once in a while. That will make tracking it more bearable.
As for the protein and fat. The peanut butter crackers I eat sometimes have fat and protein in them. The first week I had some leftover gatorade protein bars so I ate 1 of those some nights along with a glass of milk for a snack. This week, I been eating 2-4 eggs in the morning for protein. I don't use a ton of salad dressing but I put several tbsps so I am guessing that will help with the fat grams I need. The turkey is processed, 4 slices is 100 calories and it has some protein but no fat. I slice up 4 pieces of turkey and put it in my salad sometimes.
So from here I will follow ya'lls advise and give it another week. If I still seem to be dropping a lot of weight I will track my food for a few days and then adjust as necessary. May just do it just to see how far off or close I am to the goals on here.
Thanks.
If you're in the mood for a fairly quick read I found quite helpful, you could look for "Smart People Don't Diet" by Charlotte Markey. She recommends only logging for a week or so every so often and has a lot of really good tips on how to make gradual, sustainable changes to your diet. I reread it periodically even though I kind of love playing with the numbers, personally.3 -
Am motivated to reply to OP as i am also a little concerned about the loss of appetite that preceded this diet. I'm not a family physician, but am a doctor and suggest you at least have a conversation with yours. May be something maybe nothing, but worth a chat.
And well done getting started.2 -
There is a lot going on in this thread that I don't love and I am not so sure about the OP's approach and conflicted view about "dieting" either.
But forward movement is always good and the op is moving forward, so all good!
However to me it sounds like a way of eating that is extremely low protein and probably in the 1200 Cal range. But without quantities there is no real way of knowing.
So with a clear conscience this is what I can suggest:
1.5% of bodyweight per week evaluated using a trending weight app or web site while obese III and obese ii.
Probably around the obese level droping to no more than 1% of bodyweight per week.
Eat more protein. Probably in the 120g of protein range. Your turkey slices are probably 10-20g of protein.
If losing faster than above eat a bit more each day
If about to give up and eat the universe eat a bit more each day
Any progress is better than giving up. Even no progress but being in the fight is better than giving up.
See your doctor about the unexpected loss of appetite.
How long have you had no appetite? What happened to your weight during that time?
Beyond that you do need to figure out what is happening with you and food.
You would be far from the first very obese person who has used food as something beyond fuel ;-) talking to someone about all that might be helpful.
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