I’m about 20lbs over my ideal race weight. (yeah… not good) Anyway, a week ago I made some drastic changes to my diet. I eliminated ALL processed foods, sodas,etc and am eating whole foods almost exclusively with lots of veggies,fruit,water,etc. My portion sizes have shrunk considerably and I’m hitting 2,200-2,500 cals each day. I’m working out daily, but only for about 30min because work is extremely busy. My energy level is good and I feel great.
I dropped a quick 4lbs the first week. I’ve heard that anymore than 2lbs per week and it’s muscle, not fat. Is this true in every case or is it a bit different considering a drastic diet change? I don’t expect the weight loss to continue at this pace, but should I add some more calories each day to slow the loss a bit?
I’m about 20lbs over my ideal race weight. (yeah… not good) Anyway, a week ago I made some drastic changes to my diet. I eliminated ALL processed foods, sodas,etc and am eating whole foods almost exclusively with lots of veggies,fruit,water,etc. My portion sizes have shrunk considerably and I’m hitting 2,200-2,500 cals each day. I’m working out daily, but only for about 30min because work is extremely busy. My energy level is good and I feel great.
I dropped a quick 4lbs the first week. I’ve heard that anymore than 2lbs per week and it’s muscle, not fat. Is this true in every case or is it a bit different considering a drastic diet change? I don’t expect the weight loss to continue at this pace, but should I add some more calories each day to slow the loss a bit?
One week is too small of a sample size to to determine. That 4 lbs could have been mostly H2O.
I’ve heard that shooting for a deficit of 500 to 1000 cals a day is ideal. That will produce a 1 to 2 pound loss a week.
I’ve lost over 50 pounds in 6 months. Some weeks I’ve gained, other weeks I’ve lost 3~4 pounds, but that still an average of 2#s / week. I’m not worried if a little of that weight is muscle. I really don’t think any of it is as I’m stronger now that I was before.
They lose 10-20#/wk on the biggest loser. Most of those people probably don’t have any muscle to lose to start with; so with my logic I’m guessing that’s just a rule of thumb. Granted they are under medical supervision and have larger dangers than extreme weight loss.
I guess it depends on your goals - I’m still hoping to lose 20 more as well. I’m okay with slow and steady weight loss as I still need fuel for my workouts and would prefer to feel strong. I’m thinking drastic weigh loss may backfire like many other need-it-all-now solutions do; which is why I’m guessing the stressing of moderation… but to hell with moderation on ST.
It is recommended that those wanting to lose weight and keep it off only lose 1-2 pounds per week. The idea is to make lifestyle changes that you can continue rather than “momentary” diet modifications. Those losing more than 2 pounds per week are typically the folks drastically reducing their calorie levels to something that they will not be able to maintain over time, or those following detox type diets, or other fad diets.
As an above poster has already stated, I’m guessing that the reason you lost 4 pounds in one week is probably water weight. If you reduced your average daily intake of carbohydrates over the course of that week, your body is retaining less water than it did the week before. Reducing carbs, reduces water which is why most on the Atkins diet lose so much initially but once you add carbs back in you typically regain some of that “weight” lost.
So to answer your question, you are most likely not losing much muscle. If you were to have drastically reduced your calorie intake and were not exercising, you might begin to worry. But from the sounds of it, and I have no idea what your calorie needs are, if you are taking in 2200-2500 kcals each day and losing weight, I don’t see a need to either increase or decrease if its working for you. If you find that you continue to lose that much per week, then I’d reinvestigate. Until then, enjoy the losses.
Fat = 3500 cal/lb. You want to lose fat. Figure out how many
calories you need to be down.
Then realize that 4 lbs a week is unlikely. 2 lbs a week is
difficult.
2 lbs a week of fat means you have to be negative 7000 calories
or 1000 calories a day. Male base metobolic rate varies but
is ~2,000. So, you need to either do 1k a day in exercise or
cut your diet in half, or some portion of each.
2 pounds/wk is ideal and sustainable. The initial large loss is probably due to a decrease in water and glycogen stores caused by your change in diet (less carbs and salt.) I would expect this loss to plateau.
As long as you are adequately fuelled for your workouts and are getting a good macronutrient split (especially protein) throughout the day, I would say a 1000kcal deficit/day is a workable goal.
As a side note it’s impossible to lose fat without losing some muscle mass. Its the ratios of muscle to fat lost that you can influence.
E.g. Going for a 3 hour ride on nothing but water and without having breakfast is going to involve severe muscle catabolism. On the other hand, consistent, short sessions like you are doing are very muscle sparing.
Sounds like you have got the right idea, keep it up!
what about training in a specific hr zone? i mean, as far as burning only “fat” calories go? this way you can keep muscle, as your body gets it’s energy from fat stores in the body.
i have a friend who wants to do a vo2 test. he says it’ll help him find his “real” zones (whatever that means). his main goal is to lose body fat (and weight also, i suppose) and change his body composition. he says this will help him find the idea hr training zone for fat loss.
i dropped about 35 lbs last year. i didn’t really do any zones or anything. just started watching what i ate, counted the calories. i figured my basal metabolic rate on fitday.com. i did the math and figured up how many calories i needed to burn during exercise to end up with a 1000 cal deficit. i used my polar hrm to make sure i burned the sufficient amount of calories. i averaged about 2 lbs a week. after i got going, it was pretty easy to maintain that program. i have no idea how much fat and/or muscle i lost.
for the record, i had a foot injury and stopped training in august. i put all the weight back on by october. to be fair, i admit i completely slipped on my nutrition. but damn, ding dongs and twinkies are good!