Am I losing weight too quickly?

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I started a weight loss program approximately 3 weeks ago and my goal is to lose 4 stone/ 56lb in 6 months. My starting weight was 18 stone/ 252lbs, I’m male, 32 years old and 5’ 11”. My diet is eggs, fruit or porridge for breakfast, a salad with baked (no oil used) chicken breast or tinned tuna for lunch and also for dinner. Once a week I’ll have a small handful of pasta with my salad or forgo the salad and have a baked potato. No snacking either. On one or two occasions I’ve treated myself to a takeaway but other than these I’ve rigorously stuck to my diet. I try to do some moderate exercise when I can (time permitting due to work and family life) which is usually a brisk one or two mile walk.

Ok, here’s the crux of my query (hoping that the info above is enough to go on).

I’m nothing if not realistic and I know that to have good weight loss you need to do it slowly and over a sensible period of time (as outlined above). In the time I’ve been dieting (3 weeks) I’ve lost just over a stone/ 14lbs. I’m concerned that the weight has come off TOO quickly.

I’ve been told that my diet appears too regimented but it really works for me and I don’t feel worse because of it. In fact I feel much better as I seem to be less lethargic and more alert these days and my IBS problems have gone from being severe to almost non-existent (the IBS has caused me no end of misery so as the diet above is the first that has truly worked in calming it I’d stick to it, weight loss or not).

Also my appetite has decreased quite dramatically although again I feel no worse for it. My portion sizes have halved yet I still feel full and do not need to snack.

Why have I lost this first 14lbs so quickly? Is it because my body has gone into some “shock” mode by literally going overnight from a high fat, calorie and carbs diet to one extremely low in these things?

Will it begin to level out or is this within the realms of normality and I should not worry?

Sorry for the amount of info above I just wanted to include everything in case someone can spot something I’ve overlooked.

Replies

  • Jayneopopsidoodle
    Jayneopopsidoodle Posts: 63 Member
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    Hi,

    Initial weight loss is always the biggest, I've learnt this from being members of both slimming world and weight watchers where men have seen huge losses like a stone in two weeks etc. It is a case of your body being used to such a high calorific/fat content to it being given something completely different. I'm not a great weight but my body loses weight quite quickly - about 4lb a week for the first few weeks and now its about 1/2 a pound per week as my body has got used to it. Keep up the good work and well done :) x
  • e46dude
    e46dude Posts: 15 Member
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    When you first start a diet, especially if you cut carbs, you'll see a large loss initially but it's mostly water weight. 
     With the stats you gave  you should probably be cutting at around 1800-2200 calories perday depending on how physically active you are. 
    If you're still losing 4+ lbs per week after 4-5 weeks then you might want to reexamine things.