10 lbs in 20 days

I'm massively overweight at 324 starting lbs. After 20 days of light exercise and calorie counting I'm at 9~10 lbs lost. Is this good enough? Is this a good rate of weight loss or do I need to go harder? I genuinely don't know since I'm so big and have so much weight to lose. I feel good sometimes but worse at other times, especially when it comes to motivation. I'd like to hear your thoughts, just be brutally honest with me.
Answers
-
3 pounds a week is a very good rate of loss.
1 -
0
-
0.5% to 1% are excellent rates of loss. Most people with a lot of energy reserves available to be lost are more likely to be able to sustain loses closer to the higher end of that for several months. People with less to lose will probably find 0.5% to be closer to their speed limit!
Speed is a marginally important goal. Progress multiplied by lots and lots of time. Time that gives you the opportunity to learn, explore, consider, modify, try again, embed, and slowly transform yourself into a person with eating and activity habits that promote the new lower weight. That's very important--or at least that was the case for me! 🤷🏻♂️
All in all... an excellent start!
3 -
you’re 9-10 pounds less than you were less than three weeks ago, and asking if this isn’t good thing?
Heck, yeah!!!!
And the next 9-10 will be even better!It may seem like a long way and it may seem insurmountable right now, but it will happen. Right now you’re actually going at a very good clip, and being brutally honest as you requested, that’s because you’re starting out at a high weight.
If it slows down to 2 or even 1 a week, so stinking what? A year from now you’re potentially 50-100 or more lighter. You can’t even conceive yet how life changing that’s going to be.
Stop looking at social media or looking at any quick fixes you might be eyeballing. The ads you’re getting (or will be soon) are constant and tempting. There is no quick loss. It’s not hard, it’s just consistency and application, using your head to think “what can I change here, what can I substitute there?”
Stop stressing. If you’ve got to worry, “worry” about making changes you can stick with and carry into maintenance. You don’t ever want to have to do this again.
You’re off to a marvelous start. Don’t let self doubt creep in and stomp on your start.8 -
and btw, when I had a large loss to overcome, I found it really helpful to break it into “bite size” pieces, and reward myself with every mini goal.
Not food rewards. Maybe a new pair of leggings or workout gear. A pair of really high quality Balega socks. A larger goal might call for a second pair of quality walking shoes.
Yesterday, I wore my very precious and fancy fringed suede “goal” boots I rewarded myself with when I reached goal. I would normally never spend that kind of money on shoes, but I fell in love with them and set them as my reward. It was nice swishing around in them and admiring them, and knowing what they represented.
5 -
that is a good start but just to temper expectations a little bit consider how much of the weight loss is water weight and digestive tract contents. Usually if you go from eating a high calorie diet to a much lower calorie intake you will initially see a relatively large drop which isn't all fat loss. It's very possible that 5-6 of the 10 lbs loss could be non fat losses. This could mean that your current calorie deficit is only netting you around 1-1.5 lbs fat loss which is fine, but if you expect to continue at 3+ lbs a week it may not happen. Just recognize this to avoid disappointment and keep on the path you have started and you will get there!
0 -
My experience- and everyone’s is different- I lost 10 lbs a month for the first six or seven months.
At no point did I starve myself, or choke down only zuchinni and plain chicken breast. I made a point of finding foods and recipes I could enjoy in lieu of the garbage I used to eat. (I know I know, we don’t villainize food here on MFP but I’ll be the first to tell the world, I was a junk food smuggler par excellance.)
OP is starting out higher than I did, so if she is assiduous with weighing and logging, does some type of exercise (not required but speeds the process and/or allows more calories to eat), I think 2-3 pounds a week is very do-able.
What’s a shock to the brain is, having lost at such an encouraging clip, it becomes smaller losses and slower progress as you get smaller.
Slowing down to a pound, then half a pound a week, and then maybe half a pound a month can be a mind grind.
And of course, always always always bearing in mind that goal is not where your throw up your hands and say,”Bring back the M&Ms and Breyers, boys! Mama’s ready to par-tay again!”
Maintenance is as hard- many would say harder- than the process of loss.2 -
This content has been removed.
-
That’s actually really solid progress! Dropping 9–10 lbs in just 20 days is a strong start, especially at the beginning when a mix of water and fat comes off quickly. You don’t need to “go harder”… what matters is finding a pace you can actually keep up with long term.
Some days will feel easier than others, and that’s normal. The key is consistency, not perfection. If you keep doing what you’re doing tracking, moving, and staying patient.. the weight will keep coming off. You’re off to a great start, and the fact you’re already down nearly 10 lbs shows it’s working.
1
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 398.1K Introduce Yourself
- 44.6K Getting Started
- 261.1K Health and Weight Loss
- 176.4K Food and Nutrition
- 47.7K Recipes
- 233K Fitness and Exercise
- 461 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.7K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153.4K Motivation and Support
- 8.4K Challenges
- 1.4K Debate Club
- 96.5K Chit-Chat
- 2.6K Fun and Games
- 4.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 16 News and Announcements
- 19 MyFitnessPal Academy
- 1.5K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 3.2K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions