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losing weight fast.

Hi I am new here and have a question about losing weight too fast. I read a thread about this earlier but after joining the forum I can't seem to find it. Sorry to post this question again.

I am 5'10 and weighed 210 lbs just under 4 weeks ago. I now weigh 190 lbs (my goal is 160) . I am worried that this is too fast. I hear that it is not recommended to lose more than 1 - 2 pounds a week. Is it dangerous to lose 5 lbs a week?

I am eating about 1500 cals a day. I do aerobics for about 45 mins a day, lift weights for about an hour a day, and do some ab exercises for about 15 mins.

Before starting my diet and exercise routine I was not eating as often as I do now so I do not feel hungry most of the time. I just make better decisions about what I eat and drink. I feel like I actually eat more now. Sometimes I find myself eating when I'm not hungry because I don't want to eat too little calories.

I don't feel tired and I don't suffer from dizzy spells or anything so I am not sure if I should increase my calorie intake or not.

Does anyone know if I should? What the dangers might be if I continue to lose weight this fast?

That is an amazing loss in a short period of time! Congratulations! I'm becoming more and more convinced that some people are naturally fast losers and some are slow. And weight loss often seems to slow down as you get closer to your goal, anyway.

Any really fast, drastic change is hard on the body, and losing over 10% of your body weight in one month is a lot of change, even though some of those pounds in the beginning could be mostly fluid. But overtraining and insufficient food can cause the body to burn muscle tissue for energy, and you don't want that. It's also hard on the liver and kidneys, IMO, because you're suddenly asking them to work much harder. It can also be tough on your skin, which can get a bit loose and flappy with quick weight loss, although that has a lot to do with heredity, how long you've been fat, your age, etc.

I'm guessing you're fairly young, which would also explain a faster than usual weight loss. And you're tall, which often seems to make a differerce. At 5'10, 1500 calories is not a lot of food. I think you could easily eat 1800 - 2000 calories, with your exercise plan, and still lose. It might be safer, especially as we hit the warmer weather and we all get out to play more. That also implies drinking lots of water, but you already knew that. I'd say try it for a week or two and see what happens. Good Luck!

Thanks for your advice,

I am a 31 yo male and I'm not sure how long I was overweight for. I mean I knew I was not skinny but I had no idea I was so far over weight. I went to the doctor for a check up and when they weighed me they told me I was 211 lbs. I thought that was a bit heavy so I went home and did some research. I found that my BMI was in the obese range. I honestly had no idea.

I do think I will take your advise though because that loose skin thing does not sound very appealing :D . If what I have read is right then 500 calories a day = about 1 pound a week. I guess 2500 calories would be a good amount for me to increase to.

Oh, you're a young guy! Well, that explains it! Guys tend to lose faster than women, sometimes much faster! (But we forgive you anyway!) I think you're on target: 2500 calories, for a thirty-something guy like you, sounds about right. Keep us posted, and :goodluck:

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeekInnerThinChick

Wow you don't know how good it is to hear someone call me young. I have 4 kids at home and they all call me an old man. lol

I think this is a great forum. I just found it today. I'm going to tell my wife about it. She has been trying to lose weight too. We work out together and plan meals together.

She has been doing good too. She is 5'6 and she has lost about 10 pounds in the same 4 weeks and now weighs about 145 pounds. Her goal is 120.

She sometimes feels frustrated because she is not losing weight as fast as I am. I keep telling her that most men lose weight faster than most women (gotta love testosterone :D), but it does not help. I sometimes avoid telling her what I weigh in at on Sunday mornings (Sunday is our weigh in and measuring day). I don't want her to feel discouraged. This is another reason I want to increase my calorie intake.

She is also lifting weights so I tell her that she is also probably gaining muscle mass and would not see as many pounds come off due to this. I'm sure this is exactly what is happening because she is losing inches at about the same rate as I am. I just can't convince her of this by myself lol.

nice to have you here!!! and SITC is ALWAYS right. a very smart woman.

and men have more muscle mass than women, and that's another thing that helps YOU burn more than us.

building muscle in women is absolutely the right thing to do as well [as SITC so often reminds me!!!!]. it burns more calories. 50 calories per day per pound. fat burns exactly 0.

not to mention the benefits in strengthening bones and preventing osteoporosis

What they said. :lol:

I remember going to WW meetings a long time ago and the few guys would almost get beaten to death with pointed sticks because they would lose more than the gals (and they were with their WIVES most of the time at these meetings...the glares they would get!!! Because of course, they got to eat more on the program, being men and all). As has been stated the first couple weeks on a diet/exercise program, you'll invevitably lose a bunch of water weight, then (as long as you're eating right, etc) it'll ramp down quite a bit. You'll likely have weeks go by where you don't lose an ounce, no matter how clean you eat or how much you work out. TOTALLY normal. That's all that muscle building and stuff going on.

I posted an interesting snippet some time ago in the "Articles worth Reading" sticky in the LWL (Ladies who Lift) forum - you might find it interesting...'specially since it's written by a guy! ;)

Quote:

Get Thin Slowly

...certainly it's better to stay down [in weight] once you're down. And apparently one "secret" to doing this is to go down slowly.

Wayne Callaway, M.D., notes that marketing studies conducted by one weight-loss organization found that, when dieting, most woment expect to lose between 2-3 pounds a week and most men expect between 3-5 pounds a week. If this expectation is unmet, dieters will discontinue the program by the 3rd week. Not for nothing do you hear slogans like Slim-Fast's "Give us a week and we'll take off the weight".

"To remain financially successful, commercial operations try to meet this expectation, even when they know that most of the early weight loss is from water and that a water retention cycle will eventually follow," says Callaway. "Virtually all the experts - from the Surgeon General to well-respected popular health and nutrition writers such as Jane Brody...agree that diets designed to meet these expectations always fail over the long term."

Remember that virtually any diet can cause you to lose weight; the real problem is keeping it off. With that in mind, choose a regimen that emphasizes not speed but permanency. While one often hears that no more than 2 pounds a week should be lost, it appears even this is too much for most people who are not extremely obese. (Obviously, the fatter you are, the less of an overall percentage of your fat 2 pounds is. So with some people, 2 or even 3 pounds might be OK.)

George Blackburn, MD, chief of surgical nutrition at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, is considered one of the nation's foremost authorities on weight loss. He suggests that you begin by aiming to lose no more than 10% of body weight at the rate of no more than a pound a week. Only after maintaining that loss for 6 months and recieving permission from your physician, he says, should you attempt to take off another 10%.

In my case, after I began writing this book I initially lost 14% of my weight, which struck me as a good goal since it brought me to the weight that I was at when I joined the army at age 18. So I went a bit overboard, perhaps, but not by too much. In any case, it brought me down to a good, healthy weight. Then I went conservative and held that weight not for 6 months but for a whole year before trying to drop more. Then I said, "Congratulations, you did it. Now it's time to try and reach your ultimate goal, which is to be not only healthily slim but downright athletic." I'm not advising that for all my readers. But this was what I wanted for myself and I did it.

The main reason to aim for slow weight loss is because you are seeking to permanently change your eating habits. The calorie deficit you create should be close to what will be your permanent calorie level and certainly no lower than 1,200 to 1,300 calories. The further you go below this, the more likely you are to suffer from hunger - and nothing defeats a weight-loss regimen more quickly than hunger.

Another big advantage of slighter reductions in calories is that evidence indicates you may lose somewhat less muscle this way than with sharper calorie restrictions...

Very low-calorie diets may be necessary for those few cases where people need to lose a lot of weight quickly because of serious health problems, such as the need for surgery. Other than this, I believe they have little going for them - though all too many doctors continue to recommend them to patients. Studies comparing the two types of weight loss regimens have found that you definitely get more bang for the buck with less caloric restriction. That is, you lose more fat off your body per calories reduced with milder restriction. Consider severe energy restriction as a jackhammer while lesser restriction is more like a hammer and chisel. You can break up rock more quickly with the jackhammer, but more to your liking with the delicate instruments.

I just wanted to add something. According to the height/weight charts I have at 5'10" your weight range is 167 lbs for a small build to 187 for a medium build and 206 for a large build. Also for your wife at 5'6" her range is 126lbs for small build, 140 for medium build and 154 for large build. While I'm sure you guys are the best judge of what you look and feel like it sounds to me like you don't need to lose a lot of weight, maybe you just want to build some muscle?

I think you do too much of exerize :D

exerising helps alot on weight loss :)

I feel your wife's pain

samwise,
My husband loses weight very quickly as well. He is 31yrs old and 5'11 tall with a medium build. He can drop 20 lbs in a month without really trying, while I on the other hand take about 2 months to lose the same weight. We had went on a "diet" and so when we went off the diet we both gained the weight back. The important thing is to change your lifestyle and not go on a "diet". As for your wife becoming discouraged, I did too. I ticked me off that I had to eat less and lost weight slower than my husband. My husband tried to keep me motivated and always supported my efforts. One of the things he did to keep me motivated was to tell me how pretty I was whether or not I lost weight. He would say... "Your butt is really getting a pretty round shape" :o : or "You look really good in that blouse" :dizzy: He never said anything about my how slow my loss was, he only had positive supportive things to say about my body. I think the trick was he could envision me skinny, eventhough I couldn't sometimes. So he picked out the body parts on me that were shaping up nicely and played those up, boosting my ego and helping me to stay motivated because I liked hearing the things he said.

He's already started that again and I haven't lost a pound yet. :smug: But I am feeling better about the lifestyle changes we are making. This time it is a lifestyle change and not a diet.

Sharon