How many pounds do you expect to lose weekly?

Would love some advice please. :) I started calorie counting with mfp on 2nd May, and as I want to lose 28 lbs I was advised to stick to 1200 calories a day.

I have managed to be good most of the time, and have lost 6lbs in 10 days.

Is this too quick? I have an overactive thyroid, which I thought had stablilised, but am now wondering whether this is helping speed up my weight loss?

I don't want to lose too much too quickly. What do you all think? :(

Replies

  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    that is quite quick, a rate of 1 to 2 lbs per week is more usually viewed as "safe".

    See what the next week brings, there may have been an initial water loss or other adjustment. If it's too fast eat a bit more - plug in a lower target loss rate.
  • SewingLynx
    SewingLynx Posts: 27 Member
    6 lbs in 10 days is fast weight loss, but with the overactive thyroid (you're a lot luckier than me, mine is slow) it probably will always be a little faster regardless. Medicine can only do so much. You could even bump up your calories a little if you want to make sure. But I think it may steady out the longer you're on your diet plan. Mine always does that. When I start leaning out again, I always lose like 8 lbs the first two weeks or something--that's fast for me. I typically aim for 2lbs a week. GL! ;o)
  • Needmorewillpower
    Needmorewillpower Posts: 11 Member
    Thanks. I am feeling good and am not hungry all the time, nor am I tired. So will carry on another week and then perhaps up my calorie intake to 1500 per day. :)
  • hanahlai
    hanahlai Posts: 281 Member
    You lose weight faster at first. I lost 15 lbs in my first month. After that, I started losing 1-2 lbs a week. Now I am sporadic at about a 1 lb a week. You can do this!
  • bfbooty
    bfbooty Posts: 189 Member
    the first 2 weeks I started to diet I lost 10lb it then evened out to 1-2lb a week on average, some people do lose a lot initially and then it slows right down, see how you go but like others have said if you find it's still coming off too quick for your liking then up your cal intake
  • KeKy4
    KeKy4 Posts: 62 Member
    MFP puts nearly everyone on 1200 cals. I lost 6 pounds the first week but now it's slowed down! Probably mostly water!
  • RedWeb
    RedWeb Posts: 108 Member
    1 to 1.5 lb's a week = 6 lb's a month = 1 Stone every 2 months.

    That should be enough for most people. Take it slowly and steadily and don't go hungry.
  • Depending on how heavy you are 6lbs in 10 days is not a lot of weight being that you cut down your calories to 1200/day. However, you should note that the first few pounds is water weight. You should be losing a safe 1-2lbs weekly from now on. Good luck!
  • Jarnard
    Jarnard Posts: 497 Member
    I'm maintaining but if I work out harder or do not eat enough to maintain, i could lose anywhere from 1/2 A LB to 1 lb.
  • hedgiie
    hedgiie Posts: 1,226 Member
    looks like your close to the last 25 lbs, i suggest that you evaluate yourself, do you feel good? does your body seems to get toned? how's the bowel movement? not to mention your skill should still be glowing.

    anyway, going back to your question, i'm expecting to lose 0.5 lb per week which is good enough since i'm within the last 25 lbs
  • strawberrie_milk
    strawberrie_milk Posts: 381 Member
    If you just started, most of that is water weight. It'll level off in a week or so. If that rate of loss stays the same, then there's something wrong. My deficit has me losing around 1/2 lb. per week.
  • ZugTheMegasaurus
    ZugTheMegasaurus Posts: 801 Member
    A lot of people see a drastic weight drop like that right when they start; it's a loss of water weight. Don't expect it to continue at that rate; it will slow down when you're seeing actual fat loss, and the rate that will be normal varies from person to person. 1-2 pounds per week is generally recommended as a realistic expectation.
  • deeva2266
    deeva2266 Posts: 65 Member
    When I first started I lost 7 lbs quickly (water) but it has slowed alot and now 1/2 lb to 1 lb but I don't restrict myself too bad on food. If I truly want something I eat it but in moderation. I am making a lifestyle change so I want this to be something that I will stuck with and I know if I deny myself too many foods I won't be able to.
  • Needmorewillpower
    Needmorewillpower Posts: 11 Member
    Thanks everyone. I'll keep an eye on it. This is my first time at dieting, and I don't really understand how you can lose "water weight". Not heard this term before. Can anyone point me in the direction of an article which explains this? Thank you. :)
  • bathsheba_c
    bathsheba_c Posts: 1,873 Member
    Not sure if this is relevant to you, but menstrual cycles can also have a huge influence on weight. A lot of ladies here "gain" about 5 pounds during their periods, which they lose soon afterwards. Then there are all sorts of weird things, like having eating a high-sodium meal, that can throw off any individual reading. Best to see what happens over the first few weeks. :)
  • Natihilator
    Natihilator Posts: 1,778 Member
    I also think that you will fall into a groove now that your water weight is gone, and I don't think it will be coming off as quickly.

    To answer your question:

    Well, I expected 2lbs a week, given my starting weight.

    The reality: just did the math and I lose on average 1.3lbs a week. It can feel quite slow at times (lost a whopping 3lbs during the month of March), but I'm not very good with keeping my salt intake under 2500, and I lift heavy weights and do cardio frequently so my water retention is all over the place. I also eat more than 1200 calories, so all of that factors into a slower, but steady and hopefully lasting weight loss.

    Good luck!
  • clobercow
    clobercow Posts: 337 Member
    OP check this out.

    FYI its not overly fast.

    http://www.leangains.com/2010/04/leangains-guide.html

    http://examine.com/faq/

    http://doubleyourgains.com/musclebuildingmastermind/The_Leangains_Approach_Final.pdf

    Its easy and i have never felt better and i drop fat quickly.

    Trolls or bro-scientists will say that is wrong/unhealthy.
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    MFP puts nearly everyone on 1200 cals. I lost 6 pounds the first week but now it's slowed down! Probably mostly water!
    MFP usually only puts you on 1200 cals a day if you choose an unrealistic weight loss goal when you don't have much to lose.
    I suspect that many people would have an easier time and better longterm outcomes if they set a more moderate calorie deficit.
    OP, if it was me, I wouldn't find 1200 cals a day sustainable - moving up to 1500 cals might be a better bet.
  • BazAbroad
    BazAbroad Posts: 248
    1 to 2 pounds,
    it stuck for a while,
    then I pushed the cardio and started taking fat burners and some weight disappeared again,,,


    Exercise and eat back the extra cals u need, thats the way I do it.
  • george29223
    george29223 Posts: 556 Member
    i lost 10 pounds the first week but it was all clothes weight it was great till everyone got pissed off i was walking around naked
  • gonna_do_it_56
    gonna_do_it_56 Posts: 206 Member
    i lost 10 pounds the first week but it was all clothes weight it was great till everyone got pissed off i was walking around naked


    :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
  • suziecue66
    suziecue66 Posts: 1,312 Member
    I'm maintaining but if I work out harder or do not eat enough to maintain, i could lose anywhere from 1/2 A LB to 1 lb.

    How much were you losing per week when in fat loss mode? How long to lose 64 pounds?
  • HonkyTonks
    HonkyTonks Posts: 1,193 Member
    Would love some advice please. :) I started calorie counting with mfp on 2nd May, and as I want to lose 28 lbs I was advised to stick to 1200 calories a day.

    I have managed to be good most of the time, and have lost 6lbs in 10 days.

    Is this too quick? I have an overactive thyroid, which I thought had stablilised, but am now wondering whether this is helping speed up my weight loss?

    I don't want to lose too much too quickly. What do you all think? :(

    Often when you start a diet program you lose a lot of water weight initially. The weight loss will begin to slow. Don't be disheartened if you see it slow to 1-2lbs a week. Personally I think if you have 40lbs or less to lose, 1lb a week is more than enough.
  • k1mmi3
    k1mmi3 Posts: 10
    Well according to the goals section I can only lose 0.9 lbs a week, and thats only eating 1200 calories a day. I only have 14 pounds to lose so I don't expect to lose more than a pound a week really and this is my fourth day of cutting down and I have lost 0.8 so it predicted it about right.

    What I do intend to do though is every third or fourth day to go over my calories and probably upto my actual calorie expenditure so that I don't go into starvation mode and my bodily cleverly reduce my metabolic rate.

    Also hoping that as I am starting back at the gym it will make a difference.

    I have an underactive thyroid and am on high levels of thyroxine, I can go high if I am not careful and then the weight drops off but I don't like the palpitations etc that go with it. I can normally tell in myself if I am stable and I have always been right when my bloods came back - so follow how you feel and good luck with the loss x
  • Yunnieh
    Yunnieh Posts: 89 Member
    i lost 10 pounds the first week but it was all clothes weight it was great till everyone got pissed off i was walking around naked
    :noway:
  • tripitena
    tripitena Posts: 554 Member
    Ideally I'd like to lose a pound or so. I'm not a slave to the scale and weigh in when the mood hits me. I've lost 35 lbs, am 9 lbs from goal and am fine with it if I dont lose much, or at all from one weigh in to the next. As long as I dont gain & I have a loss at next weigh, I'm ok with it.
  • darkenedfalling
    darkenedfalling Posts: 26 Member
    i don't know you height and weight but think you should be eating more than that. It's not good to lose faster than 1 lb a week as 1 lb of fat is 3500 calories, howevre 1 lb of muscle is LESS calories only about 600 I think, so you want to make sure you lose fat not muscle! I'm recommended to eat 1500 calorise at 5 foot 4 and weighing 103 lbs and being moderately active 3-5 days a week, so i'd say because i weigh quite ltitle most people should be eating a lot more than that! say 2000 if you are excersing regualarly!
  • ZugTheMegasaurus
    ZugTheMegasaurus Posts: 801 Member
    Thanks everyone. I'll keep an eye on it. This is my first time at dieting, and I don't really understand how you can lose "water weight". Not heard this term before. Can anyone point me in the direction of an article which explains this? Thank you. :)
    "Water weight" refers to excess fluid held by your body tissues. When you weigh yourself, you're seeing the total sum of everything in your body: organs, bones, fat, and fluids included. So while the scale measures your total weight, it's not the whole picture; when most people say they want to lose weight, they really mean that they want to lose excess fat. And it's the fat that should be lost at a reasonable rate, which is that rate around 1 lb/week that people are talking about.

    Right when you first change your diet, depending on what you're changing, it's very possible to release excess fluid quickly. Water retention depends on a variety of factors, everything from very high sodium intake to not drinking enough fluids to sore muscles. If your new lifestyle changes something that was causing you to hold water, then you can see a sudden drop in the number on the scale.

    Fat is lost at a slower rate that varies widely from person to person, but people generally agree that somewhere between a half-pound and two pounds a week is reasonable (depending on how much excess fat there is). So once you drop that initial excess fluid, the rate of loss measured by the scale will slow down as it is then showing loss of actual fat tissue.

    Generally speaking, when you see very rapid gains or losses, it's probably due to water weight. Watch for a general trend in order to find the actual fat loss. Hope that helps!
  • Needmorewillpower
    Needmorewillpower Posts: 11 Member
    MFP puts nearly everyone on 1200 cals. I lost 6 pounds the first week but now it's slowed down! Probably mostly water!
    MFP usually only puts you on 1200 cals a day if you choose an unrealistic weight loss goal when you don't have much to lose.
    I suspect that many people would have an easier time and better longterm outcomes if they set a more moderate calorie deficit.
    OP, if it was me, I wouldn't find 1200 cals a day sustainable - moving up to 1500 cals might be a better bet.

    Well I'm very active, particuarly at the weekends, so find that once I have added in my extra calories for all the exercise I am eating more than 1500 a day. I still have 355 calories left today, and have eaten three good meals. I've just cut out all the unhealthy snacking that used to go on pretty much through the whole day!
  • Needmorewillpower
    Needmorewillpower Posts: 11 Member
    i don't know you height and weight but think you should be eating more than that. It's not good to lose faster than 1 lb a week as 1 lb of fat is 3500 calories, howevre 1 lb of muscle is LESS calories only about 600 I think, so you want to make sure you lose fat not muscle! I'm recommended to eat 1500 calorise at 5 foot 4 and weighing 103 lbs and being moderately active 3-5 days a week, so i'd say because i weigh quite ltitle most people should be eating a lot more than that! say 2000 if you are excersing regualarly!

    I am 5ft 8ins tall, and currently weigh 178 lbs. Five days a week I am quite sedentary as my job means I am either at my desk, meetings, or driving in my car. I do walk my three dogs once a day during weekdays.

    At the weekends I am more active as I horse ride and all the associated jobs keep me busy!