I just started WW on Monday and have already lost four pounds. I'm extremely excited about that... but I know this couldn't possibly keep up like this... can it? When should I expect things to slow down? Is this normal in the begining? Is it possible that this kind of weight loss will continue? I'm not going to the meetings so I'm just doing it alone here at home... any help would be great!

The first 1 to 3 weeks will have water weight loss usually thus showing a higher loss.

The average loss OP is .5-2 pounds a week after the first 1-3 weeks. Some weeks may be more or less but it should average around that.

When you have a great deal of weight to lose, a lot often comes off in the very beginning. When I started Weight Watchers back in the Stone Age (1984) I lost eight pounds my first week and five the second. That tapered off to about two per week until I met goal. Now that I am older, my rate of loss is painfully slow, but I am sticking with it because it is a healthy way to eat whether I lose weight or not.

Thank you both so much! I hope it's more around the 2lbs per week than the .5, lol

FYI the basic average is around 1 pound a week for most.

The three numbers below are my total points per week, my average points per day for each week, and my weight loss for each week. I started WW at 217.4 and am down to 194.8 in 11 weeks which is an average of 2.1 lbs per week.

189 27.3 -6
202 28.9 -1.4
230 32.9 -0.8 right before tom
224 32.0 -3.2
233 33.3 -1.2
204 29.1 -2.2
246 35.1 0.2 right before tom
230 32.9 -4.8
216 30.9 -1.8
206 29.4 -1.8
217 31.0 0.4 right before tom

I have been very accurate about counting my points the entire time, even on over the top days when I have had 50 or 60 points. BTY, here are my points per day below.

PTS 24 30 27 24 26 33
26 40 23 25 40 24 24
25 24 36 22 32 31 60
24 23 25 35 31 36 50
15 39 44 29 51 31 24
24 28 35 24 30 24 39
25 46 25 36 24 41 49
26 27 32 54 42 22 27
23 25 50 26 26 38 28
27 25 30 23 37 36 28
22 31 24 30 35 35 40

It just all depends on your body. The average is 2 lbs per week. For me, if I stick to plan, I usually can lose around 4-5 per week. But that's just me.

To lose 1 pound a week you must reduce your caloric intake by 3500 calories less than what you need to maintain (which varies on individual and activity levels).

To lose 4-5 pounds a week is 14000-17500 caloric reduction and relatively impossible...losing that much includes water and more than likely some lean muscle mass which is what a person does not want.

Good and healthy rate of weight loss is an average of .5-2 a week but remember too that some weeks may be higher or lower as the body adjusts thus taking more fat one week but compensating the next by taking less.