Triple Digiters - when did the fast weight loss slow for you?
 

One thing we hear and this forum has shown is that the very obese tend to lose weight quickly for awhile. Even without exercise until the last couple of weeks, I have lost 25 pounds in just under a month, and although I had a couple of periods I thought I was stalled, it seems to be going full steam.

But of course, this woosh of fast weight loss probably won't last forever and some point it is going to slow down for me.

So to those of you who have been in the TDC, current or former, how much weight did you lose before you saw something of a slowdown? I want to prepare myself for the day it happens. If it kept at 25 a month, I'd lose everything I want to do in about 6 months but I don't expect it to.

The first couple of weeks are mostly water.
Every body is different, but I'll share my experience.

First round of LC: Starting weight of 264+
1st 6 weeks ='d 26 pounds.
1 year mark ='d 100 pounds
27 months = 140 pounds lost and goal

Second round of LC: Starting weight of 220
1st 6 weeks ='d 22 pounds
1 year mark ='d 87 pounds
16 months = 95 pounds lost and goal


How fast you get to goal weight isn't too important. Finding a way of eating that your body likes and that you can live with for the rest of your life is the important part. If you do that, your body will get to it's goal weight in it's own sweet time. Because honestly, your maintenance "diet" won't look much different than your weight loss diet.

Here are some threads that show what people lose on a monthly average.
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...5&page=22&pp=15
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...162#post8955162
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...714#post8966714

It's hard not to get disappointed when the losses slow down, but in a way you are lucky--as a guy, you will probably lose more quickly and consistently :) I've only been doing this for three months, but my numbers so far were 20 in the first month, five in the second, and ten in the third. I'm convinced it would have also been ten in the second if I had realized one of my regular meals was making me stall. So, if it helps, you will probably have high losses for at least the next two months. :)

I started (this time) in February 2014. I lost nearly 20 the first month, at or around 15 pounds for the next couple of months, and then averaged around 11 pounds a month over the summer. Then things started slowing to single digits. In October & November I was down to 7 pound per month.

Up to that point, I was just 'winging it' as far as the diet goes. I stuck exclusively to 'on plan' foods and I let my appetite guide me. I roughly counted the carbs and occasionally counted calories just to see where I was at. I was averaging < 35 net carbs and somewhere around 2600 to 2800 calories per day. By November, I was down 120 pounds and simply was not burning the same calories I was when I was 400+ pounds. The slow down was inevitable.

At that point, I started "dieting" within this way of eating. I started tracking food, reduced my snacking between meals, and started doing intermittent fasts once or twice a week. I set a target of under 2000 calories per day. This refocus got the scale moving faster again. I averaged a 9 pound per month loss in December, January, and March. February was a bit of a fluke (3 pound loss) due to the fact that I stopped taking blood pressure medication and that resulted in a 5 pound water weight gain. Take that away and I lost 8 pounds of fat in February.

FYI: I do not lose weight evenly from day to day. I plateau for up to 3 or 4 weeks and then go through several days of daily drops. As I lose fat, my body stores water in its place. When my body figures out that I have no intention of filling those cells again with fat, it dumps the water. I've learned it is best to just chill about the scale and wait out the plateau, although I don't always succeed. It is hard not to get stressed when the scale number doesn't move. Month to month, the loses are pretty even. But day to day and even week to week - I often see little change in the scale.

FYI: Here is what my weight loss chart looks like...



If I posted my weight every week, it would look like steps. But since I only log it once a month or so, it looks like a smooth rate of loss. BTW: I have no idea what is going on with the double march lines at the bottom. It seems to be a glitch with the software here on MY PLAN.

Hope this helps. Stay on plan and you will get where you want to go.

Thanks, this is very helpful and encouraging news for those of us who experience a lot of plateaus :agree: .

In the past when I experience a plateau I change up the food choices. I find that I tend to just eat the same things over and over and perhaps my body gets used to it. It usually helps break the plateau. One thing I've learned here is fasting days. I have done that...but didn't know it was a technique. It helped me too.

My weekly average ended up around 4lbs from my first day to my goal weight. Couple of ups and stalls in there but was pretty consistent overall. Maintenance on the other hand has been all over the place.