Losing too much too fast?
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CGVeronica
Posts: 13 Member
Hi everyone,
I’ve been actively tracking my calories and going to the gym for 11 days now.
I’ve seen a pretty decent loss on the scale - since I’ve started, I’ve lost about 7-8 pounds. Although my initial reaction is “yay!” I’m almost a bit concerned? I googled if it was unhealthy and all the articles I read were about “crash diets,” but that’s not what I’m doing.
MFP has given me 1300 calories a day and I typically eat 1100-1250 calories a day and have been going to the gym every other day for 1-1.5 hours (weights and cardio).
I know that you typically lose more rapidly during the first week or so of “dieting” - I hate calling it a diet, btw - but I started to get a bit concerned that I’m somehow doing something wrong? That I’m doing my body more harm than good?
I think I’ve been eating a decent mix of foods? For breakfast, it’s typically been a fruit smoothie, fruit and peanut butter, or eggs w veggies and fruit; for lunch, I’ve been eating chicken salad over spring mix, tuna salad, grilled chicken over salads; for dinner I’ve been eating pasta and meat sauce, grilled chicken over salads, rice, beans, and veggies, sautéed tuna cakes w veggies. If I’m hungry after dinner sometimes I have special k. I guess it’s been relatively low carbs but I’ve certainly been eating them. I’ve been thinking about where I could make substitutions for healthier options but I haven’t been restricting myself of anything.
What, if anything, am I doing wrong? Thank you in advance.
I’ve been actively tracking my calories and going to the gym for 11 days now.
I’ve seen a pretty decent loss on the scale - since I’ve started, I’ve lost about 7-8 pounds. Although my initial reaction is “yay!” I’m almost a bit concerned? I googled if it was unhealthy and all the articles I read were about “crash diets,” but that’s not what I’m doing.
MFP has given me 1300 calories a day and I typically eat 1100-1250 calories a day and have been going to the gym every other day for 1-1.5 hours (weights and cardio).
I know that you typically lose more rapidly during the first week or so of “dieting” - I hate calling it a diet, btw - but I started to get a bit concerned that I’m somehow doing something wrong? That I’m doing my body more harm than good?
I think I’ve been eating a decent mix of foods? For breakfast, it’s typically been a fruit smoothie, fruit and peanut butter, or eggs w veggies and fruit; for lunch, I’ve been eating chicken salad over spring mix, tuna salad, grilled chicken over salads; for dinner I’ve been eating pasta and meat sauce, grilled chicken over salads, rice, beans, and veggies, sautéed tuna cakes w veggies. If I’m hungry after dinner sometimes I have special k. I guess it’s been relatively low carbs but I’ve certainly been eating them. I’ve been thinking about where I could make substitutions for healthier options but I haven’t been restricting myself of anything.
What, if anything, am I doing wrong? Thank you in advance.
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Replies
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1. How much weight do you need to lose to be in a healthy BMI
2. Don't eat UNDER what your goals are. Eat to your goals. 1100 is too low.
3. On days you exercise, enter it into the Exercise tab and eat more. This site is set up to work that way.
You may be set at too-aggressive a weight loss Goal. That depends on your current height/weight and daily regular activity. No way for us to know based on the little you've told us. 7-8 pounds in the first couple weeks isn't uncommon, and it's usually mostly water weight due to changing what you eat. Again, give us some more info.6 -
Eat to your calorie goal, not under and monitor. Could just be initial water whoosh. If your rate stays higher than you like, or if you feel like crap, eat more.7
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Are you eating back your exercise calories? Eat at least half on top of the 1300 MFP gives you.
Your great weight loss may be mostly water weight. When I eat low carb I lose a lot of water. I once lost 14 pounds in two weeks (10 + 4) then didn't lose anything for the next month. It evens out over time.1 -
I began at 163 lbs and am at about 156 today. My goal is 148-150 and then reevaluate. I set my MFP goal to lose 1.5 lbs a week. I don’t feel like I have too aggressive a goal. I haven’t given myself a time goal like “lose 10 lbs by June” etc. I don’t know what I need to lose to be considered a healthy BMI - I don’t really believe in BMI lol. I do enter my exercise on MFP but haven’t been eating back ALL the exercise calories, so I’ll start making sure that I do.0
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CGVeronica wrote: »I began at 163 lbs and am at about 156 today. My goal is 148-150 and then reevaluate. I set my MFP goal to lose 1.5 lbs a week. I don’t feel like I have too aggressive a goal. I haven’t given myself a time goal like “lose 10 lbs by June” etc. I don’t know what I need to lose to be considered a healthy BMI - I don’t really believe in BMI lol. I do enter my exercise on MFP but haven’t been eating back ALL the exercise calories, so I’ll start making sure that I do.
1.5lbs is WAY too aggressive. Bump that down to 0.5lbs/week.2 -
My two cents: eat all your exercise calories back, and decrease your weight of loss to no more than 1 pound a week. Why? I'm 5' 6" and started at 170 pounds. Lost at a rate of 2 pounds a week for three months. I lost a lot of hair, and some muscle mass. So, yes, it's okay to slow down, especially since you're not aiming to lose X amount by X date.8
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Wow, how many calories were you eating a day?0
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1BlueAurora wrote: »My two cents: eat all your exercise calories back, and decrease your weight of loss to no more than 1 pound a week. Why? I'm 5' 6" and started at 170 pounds. Lost at a rate of 2 pounds a week for three months. I lost a lot of hair, and some muscle mass. So, yes, it's okay to slow down, especially since you're not aiming to lose X amount by X date.
Wow, how many calories were you eating a day?
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@CGVeronica MFP gave me a calorie allowance of 1200 calories per day for a too-aggressive (for me) two pounds a week weight loss. I wish I'd reset for one-half to 1 pound per week and eaten around 1400 calories a day instead.0
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CGVeronica wrote: »1BlueAurora wrote: »My two cents: eat all your exercise calories back, and decrease your weight of loss to no more than 1 pound a week. Why? I'm 5' 6" and started at 170 pounds. Lost at a rate of 2 pounds a week for three months. I lost a lot of hair, and some muscle mass. So, yes, it's okay to slow down, especially since you're not aiming to lose X amount by X date.
Wow, how many calories were you eating a day?
Yeah, that happened to me too on too-low calories. I started at 220 at 5'8" - This site set my goal at 1200 calories PLUS exercise calories. So I was eating about 1400-1500 total calories per day when this happened to me.
CGVeronica, with as little weight as you aim to lose, lower your Goal to, "Lose 1/2 pound per week," and eat those exercise calories - or pay for it in ways like BlueAurora and I did.
In addition to the hair loss (which took a year to resolve) I also had skin and nail problems, developed depression, I was sleeping a lot and had trouble with my memory and concentration. That was just the damage I could see, God only knows what internal stuff was going on.
If that isn't enough, well. Carry on.
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cmriverside wrote: »CGVeronica wrote: »1BlueAurora wrote: »My two cents: eat all your exercise calories back, and decrease your weight of loss to no more than 1 pound a week. Why? I'm 5' 6" and started at 170 pounds. Lost at a rate of 2 pounds a week for three months. I lost a lot of hair, and some muscle mass. So, yes, it's okay to slow down, especially since you're not aiming to lose X amount by X date.
Wow, how many calories were you eating a day?
Yeah, that happened to me too on too-low calories. I started at 220 at 5'8" - This site set my goal at 1200 calories PLUS exercise calories. So I was eating about 1400-1500 total calories per day when this happened to me.
CGVeronica, with as little weight as you aim to lose, lower your Goal to, "Lose 1/2 pound per week," and eat those exercise calories - or pay for it in ways like BlueAurora and I did.
In addition to the hair loss (which took a year to resolve) I also had skin and nail problems, developed depression, I was sleeping a lot and had trouble with my memory and concentration. That was just the damage I could see, God only knows what internal stuff was going on.
If that isn't enough, well. Carry on.
Wow. Well I’ve set my goal to 0.5 lbs a week and it’s upped my intake to 1790 calories - which is enough to almost throw me into a whooole panic, it just seems like so much. I just assumed MFP knew what it was doing and gave everyone safe calorie goals. I’m going to up my protein intake, too.
Thanks everyone for sharing your stories. It’s hard because once I get going on a “diet” I become kind of consumed by it all and the idea of upping my calorie intake my 500/600 calories is upsetting to me. Obviously I’d love to reach my goal weight by the summer but setting time goals has hurt me in the past. Considering seeing a nutritionist to see what they’d have me doing.4 -
If I set my goal to 1 lb a week MFP gives me 1500 calories. Is 1500 calories safe or should I stick to 1790? I’ve never eaten that many calories while trying to lose weight. I will be eating my exercise calories back.0
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CGVeronica wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »CGVeronica wrote: »1BlueAurora wrote: »My two cents: eat all your exercise calories back, and decrease your weight of loss to no more than 1 pound a week. Why? I'm 5' 6" and started at 170 pounds. Lost at a rate of 2 pounds a week for three months. I lost a lot of hair, and some muscle mass. So, yes, it's okay to slow down, especially since you're not aiming to lose X amount by X date.
Wow, how many calories were you eating a day?
Yeah, that happened to me too on too-low calories. I started at 220 at 5'8" - This site set my goal at 1200 calories PLUS exercise calories. So I was eating about 1400-1500 total calories per day when this happened to me.
CGVeronica, with as little weight as you aim to lose, lower your Goal to, "Lose 1/2 pound per week," and eat those exercise calories - or pay for it in ways like BlueAurora and I did.
In addition to the hair loss (which took a year to resolve) I also had skin and nail problems, developed depression, I was sleeping a lot and had trouble with my memory and concentration. That was just the damage I could see, God only knows what internal stuff was going on.
If that isn't enough, well. Carry on.
Wow. Well I’ve set my goal to 0.5 lbs a week and it’s upped my intake to 1790 calories - which is enough to almost throw me into a whooole panic, it just seems like so much. I just assumed MFP knew what it was doing and gave everyone safe calorie goals. I’m going to up my protein intake, too.
Thanks everyone for sharing your stories. It’s hard because once I get going on a “diet” I become kind of consumed by it all and the idea of upping my calorie intake my 500/600 calories is upsetting to me. Obviously I’d love to reach my goal weight by the summer but setting time goals has hurt me in the past. Considering seeing a nutritionist to see what they’d have me doing.
Alas, MFP gives no guidance around calorie goals and many of us, including me, come to the site with unrealistic expectations due to watching shows like The Biggest Loser, so lots of us start with overly aggressive calorie deficits.
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kshama2001 wrote: »CGVeronica wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »CGVeronica wrote: »1BlueAurora wrote: »My two cents: eat all your exercise calories back, and decrease your weight of loss to no more than 1 pound a week. Why? I'm 5' 6" and started at 170 pounds. Lost at a rate of 2 pounds a week for three months. I lost a lot of hair, and some muscle mass. So, yes, it's okay to slow down, especially since you're not aiming to lose X amount by X date.
Wow, how many calories were you eating a day?
Yeah, that happened to me too on too-low calories. I started at 220 at 5'8" - This site set my goal at 1200 calories PLUS exercise calories. So I was eating about 1400-1500 total calories per day when this happened to me.
CGVeronica, with as little weight as you aim to lose, lower your Goal to, "Lose 1/2 pound per week," and eat those exercise calories - or pay for it in ways like BlueAurora and I did.
In addition to the hair loss (which took a year to resolve) I also had skin and nail problems, developed depression, I was sleeping a lot and had trouble with my memory and concentration. That was just the damage I could see, God only knows what internal stuff was going on.
If that isn't enough, well. Carry on.
Wow. Well I’ve set my goal to 0.5 lbs a week and it’s upped my intake to 1790 calories - which is enough to almost throw me into a whooole panic, it just seems like so much. I just assumed MFP knew what it was doing and gave everyone safe calorie goals. I’m going to up my protein intake, too.
Thanks everyone for sharing your stories. It’s hard because once I get going on a “diet” I become kind of consumed by it all and the idea of upping my calorie intake my 500/600 calories is upsetting to me. Obviously I’d love to reach my goal weight by the summer but setting time goals has hurt me in the past. Considering seeing a nutritionist to see what they’d have me doing.
Alas, MFP gives no guidance around calorie goals and many of us, including me, come to the site with unrealistic expectations due to watching shows like The Biggest Loser, so lots of us start with overly aggressive calorie deficits.
Thanks, that graphic is helpful. My thought was that I’d obviously lose much more rapidly in the first 1-2 weeks and then that number would decrease with each week. Also figured my loss was including water weight.
I only have maybe 10 pounds to lose and my plan was to up my calorie intake a few weeks down the line (didn’t feel that what I’ve been doing for past 2 weeks would in fact be sustainable, but I wanted to kind of kick start my “diet” and then have a less rigid plan/intake once I’ve lost some weight and was looking more to maintain weight and gain muscle.
Thank you for your help!2 -
CGVeronica wrote: »If I set my goal to 1 lb a week MFP gives me 1500 calories. Is 1500 calories safe or should I stick to 1790? I’ve never eaten that many calories while trying to lose weight. I will be eating my exercise calories back.
You could always custom goal it and split the difference of that would make you feel more comfortable. But in my opinion, it has to do a lot with how you plan to handle it. If you set 1790, are you going to eat at 1790, or are you going to always try to be 7nder, and eat closer to 1500-1600? If you are going to do the latter, I would set it at 1790 then.1 -
CGVeronica wrote: »If I set my goal to 1 lb a week MFP gives me 1500 calories. Is 1500 calories safe or should I stick to 1790? I’ve never eaten that many calories while trying to lose weight. I will be eating my exercise calories back.
You could always custom goal it and split the difference of that would make you feel more comfortable. But in my opinion, it has to do a lot with how you plan to handle it. If you set 1790, are you going to eat at 1790, or are you going to always try to be 7nder, and eat closer to 1500-1600? If you are going to do the latter, I would set it at 1790 then.
I was thinking I’d stay closer to 1500/1600 but I just want to be healthy. I’m leaving my goal at 0.5 lbs a week0 -
@CGVeronica if you have a smart phone, try the app Happy Scale. You input your weight every day or so, and it will show you a graph of your progress. I found it helpful because it kept me from freaking out about days when I hadn't lost weight. The graph shows a gentle curve rather than a series of scary spikes.0
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CGVeronica wrote: »I don’t know what I need to lose to be considered a healthy BMI - I don’t really believe in BMI lol.
BMI is a handy general indicator of risk of illness and disease along the line. Unless you're an American Football player or Sumo Wrestler, it's something to be aware of. A good chunk of the people who don't like BMI aren't too happy with where they fall. I certainly didn't. It had me in the middle of the 'overweight' category. I'd have sworn I was at the bottom, if that. But it spurned me on to actually do something about it. I'm 12 weeks in. 13.75 lbs down. Hit the 'healthy' category today and it pleases me more than the thought that I'm 1/4 lb off hitting a stone.
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CGVeronica wrote: »
MFP has given me 1300 calories a day and I typically eat 1100-1250 calories a day and have been going to the gym every other day for 1-1.5 hours (weights and cardio).CGVeronica wrote: »
Wow. Well I’ve set my goal to 0.5 lbs a week and it’s upped my intake to 1790 calories - which is enough to almost throw me into a whooole panic, it just seems like so much. I just assumed MFP knew what it was doing and gave everyone safe calorie goals. I’m going to up my protein intake, too.
MFP knows what it's doing, but you said yourself you weren't even reaching the recommended calories at first. I agree with other posters that you don't need such an aggressive goal as the one you started out with, and 0.5 lbs a week seems pretty good to me. Good luck, you've got this!
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