[KateRN]

Here is a question...

how many pounds a week does everyone lose on average?
just wondering!

thanks!

[kykaree]

When I started I lost about 1 - 2 lbs a week, then it slowed to 1 to 1/2 a pound a week. Now I do a happy dance whenever I lose anything!

I am such a slow loser!!! LOL. It doesn't bother me anymore, it used to, but I just grin and bear it now.

[karistiana]

I was averaging about 4, but it started to go down a bit to now 3.8 which I expected it to start slowing down as my body gets adjusted and all.

I think I read that 1-2 lbs a weeks is about average? I know I keep my goal at losing 2 lbs a week because that's reasonable, and as I said, I know that my weight loss will slow down, but I feel that I can keep it around an average of 2 lbs a week even when that happens.

[cantforgetthis]

Yup, they do say that 1-2 pounds is average. The higher you start at usually the faster you loose in the beginning. I started over 300 and for the last 5weeks, 4 pounds has been my average. I'm trying to eat about 1500-1600 calories a day which is actually figured from the BMR. I fully expect it to slow any time now. I know in the past when I started at less, the average was about 2.

[Heather]

When I started around 300 pounds I lost about 2.5/week. Over time it has slowed and now closer to 1.5/week.

I deliberately did not try to lose weight too quickly. I wanted to be more satisfied along the way and try to avoid binges and any problems that might come with losing weight fast, having heard that moderate (1/2 - 2 pounds/week) is healthy. It's been plenty fast, as I seem to run through a size in a few months and have a tough time keeping up with clothing!

[andoreth]

At this point, my loss is still mainly staying at about 2.6.

Like I've mentioned recently, I've taken the tack of just entering maintenance now and letting the old bod adjust. By "the math", that should mean the weight loss will appear like a parabola on a graph, with the first 1/2 of the weight taking about 1/4th (or less) of the time of the second.

It's driving my SO crazy (she's going for a more sensible approach), but I'm such a creature of habit that I know the only way I'll really make a permanent change in my behaviors (and thereby my body) is to be very precise with my expectations for myself. Give me any wiggle room and I'll wiggle myself right into the nearest donut shop!

[Glory87]

Originally Posted by andoreth

By "the math", that should mean the weight loss will appear like a parabola on a graph, with the first 1/2 of the weight taking about 1/4th (or less) of the time of the second.

Yes, that was my experience You can see my initial weight loss chart here:

http://gloriana.myphotoalbum.com/vie...bum02&id=chart

I started in July 2004 and I lost around 1-2 lbs most weeks (with a few 1 week plateaus here and there). The chart stops in March 2005 when I started a brutal 12 week plateau at 140. I lost around 55 lbs from July 2004 to March 2005 - I thought it was very fast!

Around June 2005, I decided that my weight loss had stopped, so I decided to start maintaining. Increased my calories and tried to stop being frustrated with my weight and began to really enjoy what I had accomplished. I lost a couple more lbs that summer without really trying and by January 2006, I weighed 127. It took me nearly 9 months to lose the last 13 lbs.

I hadn't heard it described as a "parabola" before, but it definitely was

[phantastica]

Interesting ... I had the same questions. I've noticed that I lost weight more quickly in the beginning, and now it's slowing a bit. Part of that is me not being as enthusiastic and committed as I was initially.

[kittymuse]

A parabola? That's so depressing, but probably true. I'm not even at half-way yet and it's been 10 months. Ack! If I subtract the health road blocks I've had, it's been about 5 months of actively trying to lose, so maybe I can think about THAT to cheer me up. I just figured out that I could just BARELY make it to my goal by Christmas 2007 if I lose at 1lb per week.

Both times that I started exercising regularly I lost about 2.5 lbs per week for the first 4 weeks or so, now I'm at 1.5 lbs per week (average since late May) - but I'm sort of at a plateau at the moment. Things have really slowed down for me because I had to cut exercise way down to let myself heal from a car crash.

The good news is that I can probably increase my exercise now, and maybe that will shock my body and jump-start the loss again to get me off this plateau.

[andoreth]

I don't know, I kind of find it comforting rather than frustrating. I've been able to kind of divorce myself from the weight expectations and really concentrate on behaviors instead. Since I know the loss is going to slow, that slow down isn't an enemy I have to look out for and fight. Since I have no goal weight, there is no "failure" because I stall out 5 lbs higher than I thought I would. Plateaus aren't things to "fix".

I just keep ploddin' along with my 2000 cals/day and my exercise. I lose 3 lbs and I plod... I gain 2 pounds and I plod... I stay the same weight for 2 weeks and I plod...

[Heather]

Originally Posted by andoreth

I don't know, I kind of find it comforting rather than frustrating. I've been able to kind of divorce myself from the weight expectations and really concentrate on behaviors instead. Since I know the loss is going to slow, that slow down isn't an enemy I have to look out for and fight. Since I have no goal weight, there is no "failure" because I stall out 5 lbs higher than I thought I would. Plateaus aren't things to "fix".

I just keep ploddin' along with my 2000 cals/day and my exercise. I lose 3 lbs and I plod... I gain 2 pounds and I plod... I stay the same weight for 2 weeks and I plod...

me too. I mean, I love it when the scale moves (and am ITCHING to lose another pound!!! ) but I'm just keepin on, keepin on, with a focus on the behaviors than will not only lose weight and get me helathier, but keep me there.

[phantastica]

andoreth and wyllenn, I'm so glad you said that about plateaus. I keep thinking a plateau means I've somehow failed and I need to step it up, rather than just celebrating that I'm learning to maintain or allowing my skin and my psyche to catch up with my body.

[lilybelle]

I lost on average 2 lbs. a week for the first 6 months, then only about 5 lbs. a month for the last 6 months or so. It definitely slowed with the closer i got to goal.

[Glory87]

Originally Posted by phantastica

andoreth and wyllenn, I'm so glad you said that about plateaus. I keep thinking a plateau means I've somehow failed and I need to step it up, rather than just celebrating that I'm learning to maintain or allowing my skin and my psyche to catch up with my body.

Yes!! That was the probably my biggest weight loss break through. When I hit that plateau at 140 lbs, it made me crazy. I weighed everyday. I lowered calories, raised calories, worked out more, worked out less, whined about it. I was miserable, hating me, hating the scale.

After a couple of months, I realized - hey, I'm not LOSING but I'm not GAINING either. I don't think I had ever maintained a weight loss for 2 months before! I was like wow, I am STILL 140! Not 145, not 150! Not binging, not eating packages of cookies again - still planning/eating healthy meals, no break in the routine, no break in the system.

I think that was the a-ha moment, I could keep doing what I was doing and I would STAY the same weight. I would always just give up before and go back to my unhealthy eating habits.

[Heather]

Originally Posted by Glory87

I think that was the a-ha moment, I could keep doing what I was doing and I would STAY the same weight. I would always just give up before and go back to my unhealthy eating habits.

Glory -- And I love the next part to your story -- that after that realization, you lost more!

Relaxing about the weight loss and focusing on the behaviors has definitely been a big breakthrough for me.