Weight loss to fast but not on purpose.. advice and help

Hi, my name is Kay. A little bit of a back story first so that my problem is a little more clear.
I have had hypothyroidism since about 12 and had half of my thyroid removed at about 14 due to nodules.
As an adult it was difficult but not impossible to lose weight.
Then this summer I developed a nodule on the other half which ended up being cancer and had a completion thyroidectomy. So now absolutely no thyroid. I also had a hysterectomy. Now, both these surgeries and problems frequently come with weight gain or very difficult to lose. Im on meds and have been since I was diagnosed but they were increased.
I started working out again to lose a few pounds and also try and make sure the weight gain didnt happen.
All of a sudden its soo easy. Almost to easy. Im doing the same things I was before and never saw these results so fast. I do a mixture of excercises that mostly invlude using weights, circuit traininh and yoga.I do a pre stretch video about 5-9 mins. My excerices are 15 to 30 mins. At least 4 times a week but I listen to my body. If im to sore or tired I take a rest day. I eat when im hungry. I average about 1100. Sometimes it just ends up where the fkod im eatting keeps me full and it doesn't reach 1200. I dont restrict. I have cheat days but dont go over board. I have treats if my calories allow it even. I take vitamins and drink protein powder and my healthy food has allowed me to get tons of nutrients. Today I weighed my self. It was 131 and I just couldnt believe it. Ive lost 8 pounds and it hasnt even been 2 months. Maybe thats not to fast but Im shocked at the change. Is this normal?

Replies

  • KickassAmazon76
    KickassAmazon76 Posts: 4,678 Member
    I guess the biggest questions are.. How tall are you?
    Do you weigh and measure your food, or just eyeball it?
    Do you have mfp configured to lose weight and at what rate of loss?
    What amount of calories does mfp recommend based on your weight and rate of loss?
    How many pounds are you wanting to lose?

    Most people here would advocate that 1200 cals a day is a minimum recommendation... So if you are logging and that's all you're eating... Then you're not eating enough and it explains why you're losing so fast.
  • EpilepsyWarrior
    EpilepsyWarrior Posts: 56 Member
    edited February 2021
    @KickassAmazon76
    Im 5'5, I measure all my food and drink, its configured to lose 1 pound a week I beleive, its configured at 1200 calories, im close to my goal which is 125/130.
    Same goals, everything the same as last time. Im just shocked at the ease. Its odd. At least for me. I do try and get as close to 1200 as I can. Sometimes it just doesnt add up to that and I feel rly full.
  • EpilepsyWarrior
    EpilepsyWarrior Posts: 56 Member
    edited February 2021
    Im probably paranoid but I thought I would ask lol
  • Fflpnari
    Fflpnari Posts: 975 Member
    1200 is way too low! With your stats you can probably eat close to 1600 and still lose
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,029 Member
    8lbs in 2 months is fine. Keep doing what you're doing. Just make sure to check with your doctor once your weight really gets lower because the dosage for thyroid med might end up being too high.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

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  • KickassAmazon76
    KickassAmazon76 Posts: 4,678 Member
    @KickassAmazon76
    Im 5'5, I measure all my food and drink, its configured to lose 1 pound a week I beleive, its configured at 1200 calories, im close to my goal which is 125/130.
    Same goals, everything the same as last time. Im just shocked at the ease. Its odd. At least for me. I do try and get as close to 1200 as I can. Sometimes it just doesnt add up to that and I feel rly full.

    With only 5-10 pounds to goal, I would agree that it's better to work on eating more. You want to consider the fact that you're not far from switching to maintenance and that will be harder if you get into the very low cal diet habit.

    It's easy to find a couple hundred calories... Some cheese, peanut butter, Greek yogurt, raw almonds or nuts... Healthy, higher calorie items that fill you up and help you hit both calorie and protein needs.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited February 2021
    What percentage of the calories you earn from exercise are you eating back?

    You're losing too fast because you are not eating enough. Furthermore, you are under eating for the amount of weight you need to lose.

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  • EpilepsyWarrior
    EpilepsyWarrior Posts: 56 Member
    Fflpnari wrote: »
    1200 is way too low! With your stats you can probably eat close to 1600 and still lose

    Its really confussing. I put in all my stats correctly and thats what it says to eat. Ill try to fo some research. Thank you. 😊
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Fflpnari wrote: »
    1200 is way too low! With your stats you can probably eat close to 1600 and still lose

    Its really confussing. I put in all my stats correctly and thats what it says to eat. Ill try to fo some research. Thank you. 😊

    What rate of loss did you select?
    That has a massive impact on whether you hit the minimum calorie limit.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,622 Member
    Fflpnari wrote: »
    1200 is way too low! With your stats you can probably eat close to 1600 and still lose

    Its really confussing. I put in all my stats correctly and thats what it says to eat. Ill try to fo some research. Thank you. 😊

    If you put in too aggressive of a weight loss goal (pounds/kg per week), you get too low a calorie goal.

    Even beyond that, it gives you a recommendation based on population average calorie needs for your demographic. Most people are close to average, a few are a bit farther off (high or low), a very rare few are very far off indeed (outliers). That's the nature of statistical estimates.

    Your results are a better indicator than the calculators. Believe your results.

    For some reason, I'm an outlier. If I ate what MFP tells me to *maintain* my weight, I'd be losing weight quite rapidly. That would be a bad choice on my part, since I don't really need to be much lighter than this (5'5", 125lbs) . . . so I eat the amount that actually lets me maintain my weight.

    Once you have enough personal data, use your results to guide your eating, not the calculator values. If they're close to the same, that's great. No guarantees they will be, just probabilities.
  • EpilepsyWarrior
    EpilepsyWarrior Posts: 56 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    Fflpnari wrote: »
    1200 is way too low! With your stats you can probably eat close to 1600 and still lose

    Its really confussing. I put in all my stats correctly and thats what it says to eat. Ill try to fo some research. Thank you. 😊

    What rate of loss did you select?
    That has a massive impact on whether you hit the minimum calorie limit.

    One pound per week. Ive lost about 8 pounds in less then 2 months. Ive never lost weight this easily. Not even close. Thats why Im shocked and confussed. I even tested my scale by weighing weights lol
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    edited February 2021
    sijomial wrote: »
    Fflpnari wrote: »
    1200 is way too low! With your stats you can probably eat close to 1600 and still lose

    Its really confussing. I put in all my stats correctly and thats what it says to eat. Ill try to fo some research. Thank you. 😊

    What rate of loss did you select?
    That has a massive impact on whether you hit the minimum calorie limit.

    One pound per week. Ive lost about 8 pounds in less then 2 months. Ive never lost weight this easily. Not even close. Thats why Im shocked and confussed. I even tested my scale by weighing weights lol

    Sounds like the projection wasn't actually that far off for you then. Not eating back exercise calories might have changed losing the aimed for 8lbs in 8 weeks to losing 8lbs "in less than two months".

    You now have the data to fine tune your calorie balance. That can be done by manually setting a number as well as by changing the rate of loss.
  • JustMe1962
    JustMe1962 Posts: 5 Member
    I had Graves Disease and almost died. They removed all 4 of my thyroid glands. I also have hypoglycemia. I then had gastric bypass and almost died (nicked something inside and I was bleeding too death) after 10 years and this quarantine, I've gained 40 lbs. I understand the 1200. I'm doing the same. But after a week and MyFitness, im back on track. I take tons of meds and shots. So I decided if I eat right, I won't be as hungry or unhealthy. 8 lbs in 2 months isn't fast to me. But if you've not been on a diet long, it's normal at 1200 calories BUT if just all of a sudden you are loosing... it could be something serious... go to doctor. I had a family member begin to loose weight and she ignored it and it was fatal. I'm not trying to be negative Nancy but if you just began diet and staying at 1100 to 1200, that would be normal in my thinking.
  • westrich20940
    westrich20940 Posts: 921 Member
    In general -- if you are losing weight faster than expected, especially if it a change from how it has been -- you should tell your doctor.

    I will say that I started back running the past year and was losing weight as projected until the Fall and then I continued to lose weight and got smaller than I actually intended too...but I think that was just due to getting fitter and having a higher metabolism while resting. I eat back all my calories now and eat at my TDEE estimate...and adjust little by little there. But I remember getting on the scale one time and having lost like 8lbs without trying and being a little nervous until I retooled my TDEE and just upped my calories a bit.