Last week, I weighed myself at the end of the week, and I was 157 lbs. 3 lbs down from 160. Cool.

This week, I weighed myself again (usually I do it Sunday, but I forgot) and I was 154 lbs. Another 3 lbs down from 157. Uh. Wait.

I thought you were only supposed to lose around 2 lbs a week?

What's even stranger is that I'm not even aiming for 2 lbs a week. I'm cutting out roughly 500 calories a day, so I should technically only be losing 1 lb a week. My caloric intake for losing weight is about 1,490 a day, and every day this week I've eaten between 1,300 and 1,500.

I've also exercised three days a week, light cardio, about 20 minutes each time. Which worries me even more, because shouldn't I be losing less weight by not exercising much?

So... don't get me wrong, I'm psyched that the weight is coming off, but I don't want to be damaging my body by losing so much at one time. I'm not going for a crash diet.

Any ideas why I'm losing a pound more than usual every week? Or do you think it will even out as the month goes on?

Thanks for reading, I know it's kind of a continuous ramble...

If you've only been following your plan for a short while, then it's typical for people to lose more at first. If not, your calorie level and exercise level looks OK to me, although I'm no expert. So I'd say, take it the way it is and don't worry.

The 2 pounds a week is an average maximum. Some weeks you may lose more, some weeks less, some weeks nothing, and some weeks you may even gain. I once went three weeks with zero loss and then dropped 4 pounds.

As long as you are following a reasonable program, it should be OK.

Jay

Your body will fluctuate, that's perfectly normal. Heck, yesterday I was up 10 lbs over my actual weight because of my period. But so long as you're making sure you get enough food to sustain you (it sounds like you are), and not exercising yourself to death, don't fear unexpected loss.

If you have made a change to the type of foods that you eat you may be shedding water weight. Changing sodium, carb, fiber levels can change the stored water.

Yup, it's perfectly normal to lose larger amounts during the beginning of a weight loss program.

Most likely within the next few weeks or so, the weight loss numbers per week will lessen.

Keep up the good work and enjoy these numbers while you can.

Anyhow, I think that whole "2 lbs a week and no more" nonsense is just that - nonsense. "The Biggest Loser" proves that you can lose lots of weight very quickly, with no long-term health damage. If anybody can show me that any of these contestants have suffered ill-effects from their rapid weight loss, then I might change my tune. But until then, I think it would be perfectly fine to lose as much weight as you can each week.

1 lb = 3,500 calories
3 lbs = 10,500 calories

You would have to have a 10,500 calorie deficit every week in order to lose 3 lbs. That would be a 1,500 calorie deficit every day. At 160 lbs with moderate activity your body requires roughly 2,700 calories to maintain it's weight. (I looked at a calorie calculator). So if you are eating 1,400 calories per day and exercising 200+ calories off per day, you can lose 3 lbs/week. This is at 160 lbs though. If you continue to lose weight or if you start to eat more or exercise less, the weight loss will decrease. You probably also have a faster metabolism as well. Some people are never able to lose weight that quickly no matter what they do.

I would say that 3 lbs/week is too much weight loss for someone your size. It's appropriate for obese people to lose weight at that rate, but you are not that heavy. You are probably losing quite a bit of muscle mass, and there is an increased risk that you will gain all the weight back if you lose it too quickly.

Sounds to me like you are doing fine, but don't be upset if your loss slows down. It happens. The 2 pounds you hear about is an estimate. some lose more, some less. Everybody is different.

It's not just about health damage...its also about maintaining your metabolism and what it means for maintenance. Also, there is a big difference between a 300 lb person losing rapidly and a 160 lb person. (But again, I would not worry about this after only 2 weeks, there is no reason to think that this is detrimental at this point)

I've lost 3lbs. a week for the last 3 weeks also. I am doing weight watchers so the online tool thing is telling me I am losing too quickly, but I have a long way to go so it's not that crazy. If I was down to my last 10lbs. and I was losing that quick then I might worry.

Which calorie counter did you use? The one I used (can't remember which one now) gave me about 1,990 to maintain my weight, which would make 1,490 my goal for losing weight. Also, I don't think I've burned 200 calories in any of my exercise sessions. When I said light cardio, it was stuff like Bellydance for Beginners or walking on the treadmill for 20 minutes. So I've burned... 84 on Monday, 82 on Tuesday, and 90 on Wednesday for this week.

As for the lost muscle mass, would that be remedied by more exercise or strength training?


Anyway, thanks for the positive replies, everyone. It sounds like it might be due to me just having started out. I'll wait for it to slow down, but if it doesn't, I'll be back again. xP I want to keep this off!

You're fine. In the first 2 weeks, the loss is the fastest and you will lose some water weight. I would wager you are also not taking in as much sodium since you are watching what you eat.

You are already small (I started at your starting weight too, in the grand scheme of things, we weren't that overweight), so your loss will slow up very soon. That's fine. It took me one year to go from 160-155 down to 115 (then back up to 120 after strength training for years).

Too soon for any muscle mass loss (if you are eating 1500 calories per day). You also won't gain any muscle mass on such little calories (muscle gain requires OVER maintainance calories - probably 2,000+).

Just wanted to point out that the 3500 calories = 1 pound formula is only an estimate. The 3500 calories is how many calories of energy can be found in 1 pound of fat at approximately 9 calories/gram. That's not the same as saying losing 1 pound of body weight means a deficit of 3500 calories.

Losing 2 pounds in a week doesn't necessarily mean that someone has had a 7000 calorie deficit that week. A lot of weight lost is water weight and lean body mass as well as fat burning.

Jay

This is really not an exact science. The numbers will vary different from each person and it will even vary within each person from week to week. Weight loss is not linear. You can do the same thing 4 weeks in a row - food wise and activity wise and chances are you will get 4 very different results.