Good morning, all three of you feigning interest! I had a good week this week, and these weigh in posts are one hell of a lot easier to do if you have a good week, you know?
Current Weight: 315.8 lbs
Weekly Loss: (-3.6) lbs
Total Loss: (-7.2) lbs
I read an article this week talking about the optimum speeds at which to lose weight. In general, we want it to happen as fast as possible, and we get discouraged when that doesn’t happen. However, recent longitudinal studies have shown that the people who lose between 0.5 and 1.0 pound per week are more likely to keep that weight off in the long run than those that lose weight significantly faster. The bigger you are, the more that number can go up (a 400 pound guy can lose 3 – 5 pounds a week no sweat without any issues – it takes a lot of metabolism to keep all of this fat tissue alive, you know), but at the end of the day you’re looking for half a pound to one pound per week.
This is the end of my 5th week weighing in, and I’ve lost an average of 1.44 pounds per week. That hasn’t been a steady decline, but that’s the average, and that’s about right. I really believe that my number can be more like 2 pounds per week until I get back to the weight I was at 15 months ago (around 275). At that point, my expectations will have to align with reality.
In the meantime, this is working, as I knew it would. Exercising 3-5 days per week and staying within a reasonable amount of daily calorie intake causes people to lose weight. Funny how that works.
Onward!
A Constant State of Hunger 
From experience, the slower it comes off…the longer it will stay off. This isn’t my first try at losing weight. I was able to keep off 20 pounds for four years. I gained it all back and then lost 20 again two years ago but gained it all back within six months because it was due to having no appetite from a medication. It was great to lose the weight so quickly but I gained it all back in six months and added another ten pounds as soon as the medication stopped. You are doing great! I went through a period of about a month where I was losing inches and not weight, which was a bit frustrating. Don’t get discouraged! You can do it!
Thanks! I hope that didn’t come across as discouraged – I’m thrilled with the progress so far. If I can lose between 1 – 2 pounds a week and keep that up for awhile I’m golden. You appear to be killing it, too – its a beautiful thing.
It really didn’t. We all have our ideal goals in mind and most of the time we meet them somewhere in the middle. I went through a long period of nothing and finally when I was strict on calorie counting I saw progress. Those 300 calories that I choose not to eat make a huge difference.