I believe I read once that a 'healthy' amount of weight to lose per week is 1% of your body weight. So 5-6 pounds is not unreasonable for someone that is 500-600 pounds. If you're less than that, then your healthy loss range would be lower. Most people experience a really high loss in the first couple of weeks due to water weight loss, then it starts to slow down. Remember this is a marathon, not a sprint, you likely didn't gain 5-6 pounds a week every week to get here, you shouldn't try to lose too quickly.

Honestly? Yes, that is an unreasonable expectation; 5-6 lbs/wk is not sustainable, no matter how much you have to lose. And that fast, even for an obese person, is dangerous - people who would be 500-600 lbs and losing that fast long term should absolutely be under a doctor's supervision while attempting it, and I can tell you that no doctor would keep them losing that fast for a long term plan; as their weight dropped, so too will that loss rate.

Remember that a calorie deficit is a major stress on the body; the bigger the deficit, the more stressful it is. When you are starting out obese, you have more reserves available which helps minimize some of that stress, but you can't negate all of it. Drastically under eating for long periods of time leads to all sorts of malnutrition problems up to and including heart damage at the extreme end. That's why MFP is completely against very low calorie diets and sets the minimum at 1200 for ladies and 1500 for guys as that's the scientifically determined minimum calorie input needed daily just to survive (of course, for very, very short or very very tall people, those could be slightly different).

And under-eating for an obese person, even dangerous under-eating, will occur at a higher calorie deficit than it will for a smaller person because the bigger you are, the more demand your body is under because the greater mass it is carrying around and therefore the more calories it takes to survive. This means that the minimum needed for an obese person just for daily body needs to survive is actually higher than that 1200 calories.

This above is why there are limits and suggested safe loss rates, such as the 1% rule. But remember about the 1% rule: that's the maximum reasonably safe loss rate on average; it may not be the reasonably safe loss rate for YOU.


when you first start eating in a deficit, especially if you are going for a 1000 calorie deficit, you will drop a lot of water normally in the first couple of weeks; this is why you lost 8 - 9 lbs. And when you are eating low carb/keto, you lose even more water in the first few weeks because the body needs more water to process carbs so when you are eating fewer carbs, your body needs less water to deal with them and thus flushes that excess water out.

So you need to understand that much of that 30 lbs that you lost in the first 6 weeks was actually water and not fat. The good news is that your rate now, 6 weeks later, is mostly likely now actual fat loss, meaning your 3 lbs/wk is going to be mostly fat if you are sticking to your deficit and is your true loss.

Also note that as you lose weight, you have less mass that your body needs to sustain and therefore you naturally have less calories needs than before so if you don't adjust your deficit to account for that, over time, your body will naturally reduce that deficit and you will lose slower. That means that your BMR (which is the calorie needs your body needs just to be alive) will naturally reduce as you lose weight. That's not your problem at the moment, but as you have more success and lose more, it will become a problem and will naturally lead to a slower loss rate.



Look at it this way: you did not gain all that weight in a few weeks; you cannot lose it in a few weeks either. When you are starting from a large weight and have over 100 lbs to lose, you really must come to accept that it is going to take months and years to get down to your goal weight.

But this isn't bad news! You have to think in terms of sustainability - is what you are doing now something you can continue doing long term? The idea is to make weight loss as painless as possible and to set up new habits and strategies that not only work when dieting is new and fresh and exciting but that will continue to work several months down the road when it gets old and boring and rote. You are trying to establish a new lifestyle because the end goal isn't actually the weight loss; the end goal is actually maintenance. Many people have great success losing the weight; keeping it off is another story. So what you are doing now is trying to set up the new habits that can last you a lifetime and help you keep the weight off, and doing it slow and steady is key to helping get those new habits ingrained and in place.

I've been at it now for 3+ years and have dropped over 140 lbs in that time frame. I still have 50 lbs to go, and it will likely, if I can keep going, be another year or more to get that last 50 off because I need to slow my loss rate down for health and to ease into maintenance. But I can commiserate with the struggle with the loss rate slowing down; the guys here have heard me moan about it enough this summer as I've gotten to the point where 2 lbs/wk is not reasonable any longer and I'll likely come September need to slow it down even more. I'm planning a long term diet break for 2 months or more to practice maintenance eating and to give my body time to adjust to the weight and readjust my hormone levels before restarting in the spring, and when I do restart in the spring, it will be at a slower loss rate than before.

More importantly to me than the weight loss is the knowledge that in that 3 years span, I've developed a lot of new eating habits that have started to become ingrained, and I need those eating habits to maintain my loss this time around. The first time I lost a lot of weight, I gained back 90% of it; the second time I lost a lot of weight and then plateaued, I only regained about 30% of it. I'm really working this time around to stave off the plateau all together or at least not regain - to me the better success each iteration in keeping the weight down proves to me that I'm learning something from the process!

Congratulations on your loss so far! 6 weeks in as a big victory in and of itself because you've stuck to it!

You are off to a great start! Good for you.

Yes, many of us loose a lot more weight in the first few weeks of a serious diet, its not all fat some water, some just less mass in your digestive track. In my case I settled down to losing on average about 2.5 lbs/week. And I think that is about as fast as weight loss gets longer term anyway. If you can lose 1 or 2 pounds per week that would be pretty good.

So you should be happy with your progress to date, and your continuing weight loss. You really are doing very well!

NovusDies wrote: »

Unless you weigh 800+ pounds the answer is that yes, you are being unreasonable. I do not say that with any judgment though. I did the same thing many times when I lost a lot of water weight at first. You think it will continue and it will not. Water can drop several pounds in a single day. Fat is dropped in a fraction of a pound each day. Water weight will come and go the entire time you lose. There will be periods in which you show no losses or even gains for a week or more while you continue to lose fat because of water weight.

I had A LOT to lose when I started. During my first year I lost 158 pounds which averages to about 3 pounds per week. That was being moderately aggressive since I decided to stay under the 1 percent rule but higher than the 2 pounds per week. I could have lost faster and stayed at the 1 percent rule but I could never find adequate research to suggest that was safe over a long period of time.

As long as you are not making yourself miserable while you are losing weight it will seem, at times, like it is taking a long time. However, if you keep refining your process and making it as easy and comfortable for yourself as possible you will likely be, as I have been, shocked how fast it all happens. It happens so fast that your brain may not be able to keep up and you will be participating in the "fat brain" thread we have here.

What is the 1% rule?

Ccricfo wrote: »

NovusDies wrote: »

Unless you weigh 800+ pounds the answer is that yes, you are being unreasonable. I do not say that with any judgment though. I did the same thing many times when I lost a lot of water weight at first. You think it will continue and it will not. Water can drop several pounds in a single day. Fat is dropped in a fraction of a pound each day. Water weight will come and go the entire time you lose. There will be periods in which you show no losses or even gains for a week or more while you continue to lose fat because of water weight.

I had A LOT to lose when I started. During my first year I lost 158 pounds which averages to about 3 pounds per week. That was being moderately aggressive since I decided to stay under the 1 percent rule but higher than the 2 pounds per week. I could have lost faster and stayed at the 1 percent rule but I could never find adequate research to suggest that was safe over a long period of time.

As long as you are not making yourself miserable while you are losing weight it will seem, at times, like it is taking a long time. However, if you keep refining your process and making it as easy and comfortable for yourself as possible you will likely be, as I have been, shocked how fast it all happens. It happens so fast that your brain may not be able to keep up and you will be participating in the "fat brain" thread we have here.

What is the 1% rule?

As @conniewilkins56 explained is the maximum amount of weight a person should try to lose in a single week. There is an upper limit to how much fat a body can metabolize to cover energy deficits after it reaches that limit it will turn to lean body mass like muscle. There is also the issue of nutrition, energy management, and mental management.

It should be noted though that the problem with losing in excess of 1 percent is really only a problem in longer term scenarios. This is not something to worry about if it happens over a few weeks. Your body is designed to handle short term famine but very bad things will happen if you starve it for too long.

glp2323 wrote: »

Thanks for all the feedback. It has helped ease my concerns.

My current weight is around 560 lbs. My peak was about 640 lbs. I'm also 6'7" so I'm a tall big guy (38yrs old).

The coronavirus really was a wake-up call that I needed to get healthy if I wanted to be here long term for my family. I am disappointed in myself and feel incredible guilt it took me this long to "wake up"

I know I can't correct all my problems overnight but the urgency feels real. I just wish I had gotten serious about this sooner.

Thank you again for all the responses. Means more than you know!

I wish I had my “ wake up” call when I was 38!....oh I probably did because I lost over 100 lbs a few times only to gain it back plus more!....now at 69, I too am in a rush to get this weight off quick because realistically I might have 15 or 20 more good years!...you can lose your excess weight and still have very many healthy years ahead of you!...you are a young man!

Sorry to say the pounds do not come off as quick as we would like them to...I started at 350 lbs and I would have continued to gain if I hadn’t had my wake up call....that moment is a different time for each of us...in 15 months I have lost 90 lbs....could it have been more? Of course but I am losing weight and I am eating the amount of calories I can handle and be comfortable with...I am a binge eater so I have had some set backs and some days harder than others....I whine a lot and what the scales tell me usually sets my mood for the day....not always good!..

But you CAN do this!...Larger Losers is a very supportive and motivated group....if you have questions, someone will find the answers for you...Novus is so motivating and encouraging and inspires all of us!...I find it helpful to read all of the posts and comments here the old and new ones...

We all have one common goal.....getting healthier and losing weight in the easiest way possible....I never in a million years thought I would still be here and actually losing weight and becoming more active...if I can do this, anyone can....I hope you stick around and join in the conversations...there are a lot of good people here!..

@bmeadows380 🤷‍♂️

Link from MFP doesn't work.

Google search for body weight planner.
(Or Kevin Hall body weight planner)

Pretty much first result.
Still comes up as per below on long press and copy/paste on phone browser.

Not sure how MFP redirect kittens it up above... below worked a second ago!!!! ☹️🤷‍♂️

https://www.niddk.nih.gov/bwp


Furthermore and to avoid misunderstanding after I reread my post above: I am absolutely not advocating increased or vigorous activity at current weight. Danger to joints says anything else than progressing quite carefully would truly scare me. I am talking long-term plans and over the course of several years. By the time diet knocks off 150+ lbs of weight you will be WANTING to become more active because of your improved relative power to weight ratio. And I would still be discussing joints with a doctor and making sure I am protecting them for the next 50 years 😘 water based may be the way to start a few months down the road...

That was an interesting link. I put in my information and said that I was not adding any exercise and it told me that I should eat more than what MFP has told me to eat. Food for thought. Pun intended lol