I have been told that when you are very big, that the weight comes off quickly at first. Is this true? Is it actually bad stuff you are losing? Or is a lot of that muscle? I've heard that it's kind of like this: when you first start losing a lot comes off, then as you get smaller, the amount you lose gets smaller too until it's at a normal pace (1-2lbs/week).

Can anyone help me with this?

I always lose quite a bit in the first few weeks because it's mostly water weight. This summer when I started I lost like 8 pounds my first week. Now when I started it was more like 4. I am down to about 2 a week and as much as I hate it I know it's the healthy way to do it and keep it off.

Hey!

A lot of folks here report larger-than-usual losses the first week. Some of that is water weight as their metabolism tries to adjust to the new food plan. But not everyone experiences this.

When we lose weight, we lose more than fat only. Some muscle loss also occurs. That's why the best plans try to keep muscle loss to a minimum through a proper amount of calories, even though the total is a deficit; through a regular exercise program of 5 days a week; and through eating enough protein to allow muscle repair after exercise.

Body fat percentage is often a good guide for how well fat is being lost. For instance, when I began to lose weight at 198, my body fat percentage was around 44%. When I got to my first goal weight, it had dropped to around 33%. That means of the 43 pounds I lost, 36 pounds was fat, and 7 pounds was nonfat (muscle, other tissue).

A healthy rate of weight loss is 1 to 2 pounds per week, but that does usually slow down as you get into the lower weights. And, you can't count on it happening every week so neatly!

Good luck!

Jay

Weight loss is impossible to track and plan for like this. Typically, at the start of a weight loss, you'll have a big drop, which is mostly water weight as your body adjusts to the reduced sodium and sugar intake. Then your losses will slow somewhat. If you are starting at a larger size, you may experience faster losses at the beginning, since you are able to create a bigger calorie deficit with less effort (you burn more calories at rest when you are larger, so you'll lose more weight than a smaller person eating the same amount).

The amount of deficit you're able to easily create goes down as you get smaller...your body burns fewer calories at rest, and you can only cut your food intake so much, so your weight loss will slow, and probably to below 1-2 lbs a week at the very end.

Everyone's body is different, though, so it is impossible to predict. Just try to stay on plan and let your body do what it will.

It really depends on a lot of factors. The more you weigh, generally the more calories you need to maintain that weight. When a 350 lbs person, a 250 lb person and a 150 pound person go on a 1500 calorie diet, the larger person is generally going to lose weight faster, especially at first. The early days of any diet, tend to be a little more rapid for everyone, of all weights and usually the proportion of water lost is higher.

But, your age, your activity level, if you've dieted frequently, take certain medications, have certain health conditions, what you eat and of course the calorie level you start at, all affect how quickly you lose weight, and how how much of that is fat, water, and muscle.

Also, are you planning on sticking to a relatively low calorie diet that will take you all the way to your goal weight, or do you plan on reducing your current calorie level by 500 - 1000 calories and stepping down your calories (whatever allows you to lose 1/2% - 1% of your body weight per week) until you lose it all.

"How fast" is very difficult to estimate, and focusing on it can be frustrating if your body doesn't cooperate with your goals. Asking "what changes can I live with?" is sometimes a better place to start.

It's true in my experience too. At this point I'm only losing 3 lbs. a month!

But I have to say - 2 lbs. a week is not slow IMHO. It's a good healthy rate. Please don't feel disappointed if you lose 1-2 a week now, later, whenever. The important thing is to keep moving in the right direction. Don't get too caught up in what might or might not be happening down the line. Just get started!

The various websites I have been to told me that about 2200 calories is what I can eat right now and I will lose weight. But I, and this might be bad of me, wanted to challenge myself more and try to stay between 1500-1800... just cause I know that I will have to decrease it later anyway. Plus this way if I do mess up I haven't really messed up as much... does that make sense? Not that I intend to mess up.

Should I consider getting a body fat scale? I have one but the last time I used it it tried to tell me I was 20 pounds lighter than I was (as nice as that seemed at first).

I know 2lbs. a week is not slow, I just don't want to get too comfy with seeing huge loss in the first week. I needed to be reassured that this is just how it works in the beginning.

This is how it works in the beginning.

My feeling about the calorie level is that if you are able to lose comfortably on 2200 calories a day, then that is what you should do. Why assume from the outset that you're going to 'mess up'? 2200 calories is a nice, healthy number (actually, that's my maintenance number without exercise) and you should be able to organize your meals and snacks without feeling particularly hungry or deprived. You can drop your calories lower when you need to and in the interim, you can get used to regulating and planning your eating.

well i mostly just want to eat now how i want to eat later, and since i am not really having a hard time with the low calorie intake, i figure... why not?

Hey again,

I see nothing wrong with doing what you're doing, beauty--but if you start feeling too hungry, you do have some room to add a little bit from time to time--like an extra apple, say, or a glass of 1% milk. You do want to keep your metabolism from slowing down, so just watch how you feel and whether you have enough energy on 1800 cals.

Good luck!

Jay

I actually did not lose a lot of weight at the beginning. It was slow going at the beginning and I had to just not think about the scale. About the middle, all of a sudden I noticed that ... WOW ... I'd lost a lot of weight. It seriously was like it happened overnight.

I remember calling a friend of mine and leaving her a voice message that said "Um ... I have cheekbones!!!!" After I noticed that, it seemed that the weight just melted off in the middle.

Right now I"m stuck (partly the holidays, partly my motiviation becuase of stuff going on in my life, and partly just in a rut), but I suspect it'll come off in chunks again later on ... with the same sort of "oh my gosh, look what's happened" realization.

the cheekbones thing really inspired me. i want to be able to wear regular rings... and not feel like i have 10 chins.

I lost 40 pounds my first two months. I sort of jumped in blindly and was on 1200 calories and 15-20 minutes of exercise every day. I wouldn't do it now, with all of the weight loss knowledge I have now, because I really didn't have any option other than working out more when I plateaued. After I got smaller, my weight loss got slower, from 4-3-2-1-0 pounds a week. I think the too low calories have all balanced out now, because I haven't been counting calories for over a year and I have maintained (I don't consider it a plateau, because I haven't actively been trying to lose weight). I know I eat more than 1200 now. When I buckle down this year and finally reach my goal, I know 1200 a day will do it, but I expect a 1-2 pound weight loss a week.

Beauty----I would do a lot of research before buying an in-the-home Body Fat monitor. And if you do buy one, please take those numbers lightly. The body fat monitors that you stand on (like the one I bought on a whim) are notoriously inaccurate, as the method that they use for determining your body fat content depends on how quickly a signal travels through your body. Therefore, it is dependent upon how hydrated you are, as well as how much fat you have in your body.

The best methods for measuring your body fat are the (horrible and terrifying ) Skin Fold caliper test, or the water dunk test. It's kindof hard to find someone to do the dunk test on you, simply because most gyms/facilities aren't equipped for it. But, most gyms have personal fitness trainers who are trained in doing the caliper test. I'd suggest having one of those done every now and then... But give yourself plenty of time between tests to see a difference (those numbers tend to move so much more slowly than your actual weight! )