How did doctors decide that 1-2 lbs a week was okay, and more was not?
Okay Chicks, I have an interesting question for you, and I would love to hear your insight.
So, this past week was a really good week for me. I stayed OP, I exercised- even stayed perfectly OP on the weekend. I ended up dropping over 3 lbs. Now, personally, I am tickled by that fact. However, it called into question that common ideas of "if you lose weight too fast, you'll gain it right back and then some" and "it's safe to only lose between 1 and 2 lbs a week".
Now, I am eating the proper amount of calories (between 1200-1600). I vary my calories daily, based on how my body is feeling (I am trying to eat intuitively and listen to my body better, because I am a firm believer that my body knows what it needs), but it's always over 1200. And I am only 5'2" so my body doesn't need more than 1600 calories a day.
I exercise, but certainly not excessively- either an hour a day of brisk walking (it's been so nice outside) or 1/2 hour to an hour of Dance Dance Revolution (which I count as HIIT). Eventually, I will start doing strength training, but I am going to wait for my first paycheck to come in (finally got another job) and then I'll purchase some weights or resistance bands. Either way, my exercise burns no more than 500 calories a day... and it's probably less since those online estimators are always too high.
These 3+ pounds aren't the "it's the beginning of my weight loss so I am going to lose faster" pounds either... I have been doing this now for over 2 1/2 months.
So, I guess what I am asking is... if I continue to do everything as I am now, and I am lucky enough to continue losing more than 1.5 a week (which I am not saying will happen- this is more of a hypothetical question)... how is it bad?
I always figured that those statistics/sayings were brought on by the fact that the people who are most likely to lose weight "too fast" are the ones that are going to have made very drastic changes to their lifestyle (and/or taken pills and supplements), and therefore it wouldn't be maintainable, so they would go back to their old habits and gain weight from binging and such. Their bodies felt "deprived" so they gained a lot back, and then some. But me... this is the first time I don't feel deprived at all. I love the foods I am eating, I feel great, I am sleeping better, I have more energy, and I am doing exercise that I love. I can't imagine that losing more weight on a plan that makes me feel so good, could possibly be bad.
But maybe I am wrong. Where did the saying of "don't lose weight too fast" come from? and how did doctors decide that 1-2 lbs was healthy, and anything above that for the average person was excessive?
By the way... to make sure I am being healthy about my eating, I have put down two days worth of meals that I ate this week. Feel free to critique, and offer suggestions. Maybe I am missing something.
DAY 1:
Breakfast- 250 Calories
1 Serving of steel cut oats mixed with a teaspoon of raw organic almond butter, half of a banana, 1/2 serving of wheat bran and cinnamon
snack - 50 calories
1 kiwi
Lunch - 350 Calories
Sandwich with 2 slices of Ezekiel bread, 3 slices of ham, 1 serving of light mayo, 1/2 tomato (sliced) and lots of green leaf lettuce piled on top.
Snack - 200 calories
1 serving of low fat cottage cheese and a piece of fruit
Dinner - 400 calories
1 Big Bowl of Turkey and Squash Soup-
Made with turkey cutlets, low sodium chicken broth, butternut squash, red peppers, corn, and leeks. (fantastic recipe... found it on www.eatingwell.com)
1 slice of ezekiel with some unsalted butter for dipping in the soup (I don't believe in hydrogenated fats, so I don't use margarine or spreads... I stick to the real stuff, which I feel is healthy in moderation.)
Snack- 70 cals
1 Navel orange (I am obsessed with these lately)
Total: 1270 calories (this is a lower day)
DAY 2
Breakfast- 300 calories
2 x 150 calorie bran muffins made with lowfat buttermilk, applesauce, carrots and raisins
snack- 200 calories
Lowfat cottage cheese and a piece of fruit
Lunch- 275
Leftover turkey and squash soup (mmm, it was so good, I needed to go back for more, lol)
Snack - 175 calories
1/2 sandwich like day 1 with lettuce and tomato
Dinner- 400 calories
1 large mahi mahi fillet marinated in garlic, olive oil, lime juice and honey, and topped with 1/2 serving of panko
1/2 potato's worth of oven baked sweet potato fries with 1 teaspoon olive oil and seasonings
Snack- 240 calories
Splitting a bag of all natural (but not the low-fat kind) microwave popcorn with the hubby
First, your menu looks SOOOOO yummy! I think I'm coming to your house to eat!
You're getting plenty of nutrients and your calorie intake is adequate. Your exercise isn't over-the-top. You sound like you're generally feeling healthy. I think what you're doing is fine.
In my own experience in 11 weeks on WW, my average loss has been 2.2 lbs. per week. Like most, I did lose a large amount of weight my first two weeks, and if I adjust the numbers by taking the first two weeks off, my average is more like 1.4 lbs. per week.
I think doctors tell us to aim for 1-2 lbs. per week for a few reasons. First, they don't want us going on crazy restrictive diets or unsupervised fasts. Second, they want to make sure we keep it off. Research shows that people who lose the weight slowly are more successful at keeping it off over the long term than people who lose quickly.
In other words, you're doing fine. Keep up the good work!
Thank you for the compliments on my menu, lol. I am glad you like it. I have been enjoying it myself Last time I changed my eating habits, I was always eating the same thing and I got really bored. This time, I am enjoying cooking, and I am always trying new recipes. I have found I even enjoy my food more when I put so much effort into it... it's more rewarding that way. Thanks for the reassurance. I appreciate it. i was just afraid I would have to change something to make my weight loss slower... and I didn't wnat to because I am enjoying myself where I am, lol.
The newer research is that the safest rate of loss is 1/2 to 1 percent of body weight lost in a week (for a 200 lb person this is 1 to 2 lbs). It isn't just the rate of loss most successful in maintaining the loss, it's also the lowest risk group. The faster you lose, the higher risk for complications, for several reasons. One, yes the faster you lose, the more likely you are using questionable methods of weight loss, and the less likely you are to be taking in adequate nutrition. Also drastic weight loss stresses the body. It can put extra pressure on various organs including the heart and gallbladder. Hair loss, dry skin are on the mild side of the symptoms associated with rapid weight loss, gall bladder and cardiac problems (especially a specific cardiac disorder called mitrovalve prolapse) are on the more severe end. The psychology is important also, in that if you're dependent on losing fast, when weight loss slows, it will be all the more discouraging. Or, the deprivation level that you need to sustain in order to lose as fast as you'd like to can become very discouraging if the numbers aren't high enough to make the deprivation feel "worth it." If you're depriving yourself too far AND you stop losing fast, it can be very difficult psychologically at that point to decide to deprive yourself less (it's just where the mind goes - if I can't lose weight at the desired rate on 1000 calories, adding another 200 calories, doesn't seem like progress).
Like all guidelines, there is no science that says what you specifically should or shouldn't lose 1 to 2 lbs per weeks. You've got to use common sense and monitor how you feel, as you go.
I don't think you have much to worry about, as long as you're smart about it. The first few weeks are generally a little faster weight loss, because of water weight loss and other issues. You may face the other issue, of feeling that losing 1 - 2 lbs is "normal" and something you should expect as a guarantee - or assume that if you're not losing at least this much you must be doing something wrong. That's not true either. Normal for you, could end up being 1/2 lb a week. If that's your "normal," can you accept that or will it tempt you to attempt unsafe methods of weight loss?
Weight loss isn't rocket science, the basics aren't all that difficult, however it's not an exact science, either. Common sense and trial and error are the best tools you have.
Your menu is Virtuous -- and looks wonderful. I've wondered about this myself (and thanks to kaplods for her explanation). I remember dear Dr. Stillman from the old Stillman diet saying that if you were very overweight, just get it off as fast as you can, and I've always wondered if the 1 to 2 pounds a week was aimed at those who had 10 pounds to lose and wanted to lose it in two weeks.
LittleMoonRabbit, it will be interesting to see what your weight loss pattern is for the next few weeks.
Kaplods- thank you for your thorough response. You are always so knowledgeable and so informative... I always love reading your posts!
Mollie- Yes, it will be interesting to track my weight loss for the next few weeks. I have been doing this since the end of December, but to be honest... up until last week, I was have 1 cheat day every weekend. Then, I was losing only 1.5 lbs (on average) a week. I cut out my cheat day and BAM now I lost over 3. I am going to try to be strict again this weekend (I am going out to dinner with the DH tonight, so we'll see if I can keep to my word) and see if after another week of perfectly OP, I lose another 3 lbs, or I go back down to 1.5. It will be an interesting experiment Thank you by the way for the thumbs up on the menu!
mygrits- I am glad you liked my menu as well. It makes me feel good to know that I am eating good food that others would enjoy too. Yes, feel free to try anything that I eat, lol. I have a bunch of other recipes from www.eatingwell.com that I plan on trying in the upcoming weeks as well. I have a lean chile verde and a quinoa, snowpeas and scallops dish coming up in the future as well
you've lost 3 lbs. . . . . ok no big deal... because it may be better to look at how much you've lost in one month then average it out over the weeks... e.g. week 1: 3 lbs lost, week 2: 1 lb lost, week 3: 2.2 lb lost, week 4: 2.6 lb lost
= average of 2.2 lbs lost per week for the month
Eh, it happened once, right? I think it's unlikely that someone your weight who is losing 3 pounds a week consistently is eating enough but ... it happened once, right?
Where I think the 1-2 lb idea came from... So if you lose 1 lb a week, you're buring... what 250 calories a day. If you burn 500 calories a day, for a week, that's 2 pounds. 500 calories, what is that a 45 minute run? However you burn your 500 calories. Anymore, and I think you would be putting a lot of strain on your body. Even something like swimming for an hour burns something like 700 or 800 calories I believe, but for me, if I do that, I am SOO hungry after a work out like that, so even though I burned 700, I ate 300. And that's slow weightloss.
Anymore is considered too fast and you risk gaining it back. Let's say you're off from school in the summer so you exercise some 3 hours a day, lose a lot of weight quickly...but then school starts again, you can't keep up that routine. So you gain it back. I think burning 500 calories a day is reasonable and maintable. Long day at work? But you still have time for a walk, or whatever you do.
I think doctors took life into account. Not everyone has loads of freetime to just work out. 500 calories a day max, combined with life, is reasonable.
Definately gallbladder issues.That is why many people post WLS end up having gallstones.Personally that is reason enough.I can tell you that only because I have them now and they hurt.OWIE!!!!
Another reason why it's not good to lose weight too quickly is because when you're in a caloricly deficient mode, your body won't just burn fat. It'll also go after your muscle in order to keep your organs working.
To maintain your current weight, without exercising, you need to take in around 1780 calories a day. To lose a pound a week, you can drop another 500 calories a day through caloric restriction or increase your exercise by 500 calories a day. The exercise is the smart choice because you'll be building muscle. The more muscle you have, the more easily you will be able to maintain fat burning. Cardio burns fat while you're doing it, but muscle burns fat even when you're sitting around doing nothing.
For me, a bit of it is mental/psychological. We all got fat because we have no idea how to eat/exercise in moderation. Bringing it to the other end, eating too little and exercising too much, it exactly the same, and will probably lead you to gain all the weight back again (since you haven't figured out how to live in the middle).
... I remember dear Dr. Stillman from the old Stillman diet saying that if you were very overweight, just get it off as fast as you can, and I've always wondered if the 1 to 2 pounds a week was aimed at those who had 10 pounds to lose and wanted to lose it in two weeks.
This was once a very common medical opinion, that being severely overweight had so many risks, that it was necessary to get the weight off as quickly as possible, by any method necessary, no matter how risky.
This opinion is still fairly common, but not supported by most of the research. In fact, the risks of rapid weight loss may be even greater for those who have the most weight to lose. However, there are still many people, even in the medical community, who believe that regardless of the health and medical issues, being fat is a fate worse than death, so risks don't matter.
Personally, I prefer a fat life to no life, so I've looked carefully at the health risks, and the risks of rapid weight loss at my weight and health, and decided that slow weight loss is the healthiest (and most likely to succeed).
I do wonder if one of the reasons the most obese have the least success is that they are most encouraged to "get it off as fast as you can, by whatever means necessary." If you have 15 lbs to lose, many people will tell you to lose it slowly, but if you have 150 lbs to lose, most will say "just get it off."
I spent more than three decades trying to get it off fast, and it only made me fatter. Even at nearly 400 lbs, slow weight loss has been the only manageable and doable weight loss.
How did doctors decide that 1-2 lbs a week was okay, and more was not?
Keep up the good work!
