Rapid weight loss congratulations?

To me, 5 pounds in a month is completely normal and healthy.

Some people that are seeing the big losses may not be going about things in the most healthy way. But for others, especially those of us with a lot to lose (starting at 300lbs+), it's not uncommon to see huge losses at the beginning and things slowing down as we get smaller.

For me, I lose about 7-10 pounds a month. So that's sometimes a bit under, or sometimes a bit over the 2ib per week baseline. Personally, I still have 40 pounds to lose, so that will slow down probably when I get 20 pounds closer to my goal. It all depends on how close you are to a healthy weight.

Everyone is different. Those who lose slower aren't necessarily wrong and those who lose faster aren't necessarily either.


If you take two identical 170 lb women at 5 foot 5 and give one a moderate-easy program and the other one a moderate-hard program... one is working harder than the other and will lose faster. Just because its faster, doesn't mean it won't stay off. Just because it is slower, doesn't mean they aren't doing a great job.

And for those who have a lot to lose like me, doing that harder more intense program/eating will have even MORE of an effect because I was eating pizza 1-2 times a week before and whatever I wanted ...

If someone has lost weight, that should be congratulated. If they have dangerously low body fat, that is a different story. If they are taking *dangerous* unprescribed pills, that is a different thing.

You should be happy for people who lose weight, and not focus on whether they didn't do it perfectly. People who eat a small brownie 3x a week "to keep sane" aren't doing it "perfectly healthy" either. As long as people are progressing and their own habits are getting better (do you know what someone's previous habits were?), then they are doing a good job and that is all that matters.

Hope my difference of opinion doesn't unnecessarily offend.

EDITED to correct a word.

My only reaction to them is jealousy =/

(I'm speaking in generalities here, based on mysel)

Something to remember is that very heavy people tend to eat a lot of salty, processed foods. If they make the switch to healthier food and start drinking more water, they're possibly going to drop a whole lot of water bloat in a very short time. For example, I lost 30ish lbs in 5 days earlier this year. it was purely water weight--I came home from the hospital after delivering my son at 265 and by the following Monday I was 235.

Also, very heavy people can afford a steeper calorie deficit in the beginning because they have fat reserves they can burn off to keep them going. But as the weight comes off, the deficit needs to decrease.

Finally, before I had my son I lost 46 lbs via MFP, I had a 1-1.5 lb/week deficit set. even keeping strictly to that, using a HRM and eating my exercise back, my actual loss varied from 0.2 - 4 lbs/week. It's definitely not an exact science!

IOf course, it could just have to do with the fact that when you are much bigger you tend to lose weight faster at the outset?
Thoughts?

BINGO

Everyone is different. Those who lose slower aren't necessarily wrong and those who lose faster aren't necessarily either.


If you take two identical 170 lb women at 5 foot 5 and give one a moderate-easy program and the other one a moderate-hard program... one is working harder than the other and will lose faster. Just because its faster, doesn't mean it won't stay off. Just because it is slower, doesn't mean they aren't doing a great job.

And for those who have a lot to lose like me, doing that harder more intense program/eating will have even MORE of an effect because I was eating pizza 1-2 times a week before and whatever I wanted ...

If someone has lost weight, that should be congratulated. If they have dangerously low body fat, that is a different story. If they are taking *dangerous* unprescribed pills, that is a different thing.

You should be happy for people who lose weight, and not focus on whether they didn't do it perfectly. People who eat a small brownie 3x a week "to keep sane" aren't doing it "perfectly healthy" either. As long as people are progressing and their own habits are getting better (do you know what someone's previous habits were?), then they are doing a good job and that is all that matters.

Hope my difference of opinion doesn't unnecessarily offend.

EDITED to correct a word.

Great answer!!!!

The more overweight you are, the faster you can lose weight in a healthy way. I could only ever lose about 1 pound a week but I was a healthy weight to begin with.

The most important thing is to lose it the way you are going to live it. If you can lose 5 or 6 pounds a week by eating and exercising the way you CAN and WILL live the rest of your life, then there is nothing wrong with that. However, many people will starve themselves and exercise themselves into exhaustion to lose 20 pounds then go back to eating and exercising normally and the weight comes back on (and usually brings a few friends along). You have to make changes that you can live with for the rest of your life in order to make the weight loss permanent.