I'm losing 2+ lbs/wk since starting. Normal?

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liveforthis
liveforthis Posts: 8 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I started tracking what I eat over a week ago (10 days ago). The first week, I lost 4.6 pounds. As of now, I'm down about 9 pounds!? Referring to my SW, I was 90+ pounds away from my GW. I've been weighing a lot of my food & I'm sedentary. Yes, I'm eating ALL of my calories. Is this normal?

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  • angelsja
    angelsja Posts: 860 Member
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    The first few weeks you generally see a big drop slot if it will be water weight it should slow down after a few weeks if it doesn't your daily expenditure may be higher than mfp estimates
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    liveforthis wrote: »
    I started tracking what I eat over a week ago (10 days ago). The first week, I lost 4.6 pounds. As of now, I'm down about 9 pounds!? Referring to my SW, I was 90+ pounds away from my GW. I've been weighing a lot of my food & I'm sedentary. Yes, I'm eating ALL of my calories. Is this normal?

    yep, sounds like water weight to me.
  • Deviette
    Deviette Posts: 979 Member
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    Echoing as said above. Yes, it can be normal and is very much in line with what you get when you lose a lot of water weight. Give it another two weeks. If you're still losing that that kind of rate then you need to start eating more.
  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
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    If you see big losses in the first couple weeks don't worry about it, most of it's water weight and it should calm down in a few days. If you continue to see bigger losses though, then it wouldn't hurt to re-run your stats and make sure your numbers are correct.

  • elothen
    elothen Posts: 155 Member
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    Your gender, age, and starting point all have a huge impact on this. When I was 29 with ~70lbs to lose I had similar results. Now that I'm pushing 40 and starting a moderate cut it took a good 3 weeks before the scale moved at all! 1-2 lbs/week average is the recommended safe, maintainable weight loss target so I think you're fine. Just don't let it get to you if you seem to stall out at points along the way. Keep the faith and keep pressing!

    Also, regarding the exercise, I lost ALL of my weight with NO significant exercise (a small bit of periodic walking). In fact I think it's a mistake to try to become too physically active when you're still overweight. When you're carting around an extra 50+ lbs it's REALLY hard on your joints and the risk of injury is high. Injury can be really crushing. Once you're closer to a healthy weight though then I'm a strong advocate for picking up a sport, hobby, and/or gym habit.

    Good work, keep it up!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,178 Member
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    If it continues past a couple of weeks more, or you start feeling weak or persistently fatigued (with no other clear cause), start eating a bit more. Otherwise, wait to see what your average loss is after 4-6 weeks.

    Then, try to settle in at no more than 1% of body weight lost weekly, possibly slower when within about 50 pounds of goal, and certainly slower if that makes the process more sustainable. (Slow and steady has better results than restricting then overeating in compensation.)

    Some of us do lose faster on the estimated calorie goal than expected, which is not a good plan.

    Be aware that one fairly common pattern is a quick drop in the first couple of weeks, followed by a pseudo-stall with little loss or even a tiny gain for a couple of weeks. If that happens, don't panic. Stick it out, it's still just water weight weirdness.

    Best wishes!
  • JetJaguar
    JetJaguar Posts: 801 Member
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    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Be aware that one fairly common pattern is a quick drop in the first couple of weeks, followed by a pseudo-stall with little loss or even a tiny gain for a couple of weeks. If that happens, don't panic. Stick it out, it's still just water weight weirdness.

    I was just going to say the same thing. Also you say you're currently sedentary and I don't know if you're planning on incorporating exercise at some point, but if you do, keep in mind that it is very common for weight to increase when first starting a new exercise routine. That's because the muscles will need to retain extra water in order to repair themselves. That's perfectly normal and nothing to be alarmed about. Welcome to the world of water weight fluctuations! Remember that you're playing the long game here, these short-term fluctuations will all balance out in the end.
  • liveforthis
    liveforthis Posts: 8 Member
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    JetJaguar wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Be aware that one fairly common pattern is a quick drop in the first couple of weeks, followed by a pseudo-stall with little loss or even a tiny gain for a couple of weeks. If that happens, don't panic. Stick it out, it's still just water weight weirdness.

    I was just going to say the same thing. Also you say you're currently sedentary and I don't know if you're planning on incorporating exercise at some point, but if you do, keep in mind that it is very common for weight to increase when first starting a new exercise routine. That's because the muscles will need to retain extra water in order to repair themselves. That's perfectly normal and nothing to be alarmed about. Welcome to the world of water weight fluctuations! Remember that you're playing the long game here, these short-term fluctuations will all balance out in the end.

    I've done a couple full body workouts (15-20 min/workout) each week but nothing drastic. but I definitely don't move enough to be considered lightly active yet. I will probably be way more active once I lose 20-40 more pounds.

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