Weight-Loss Is 17 lbs. in one month too much?

[sm334]

A little bit of background.

I am a 23 year old male who is 6'3. Six years ago, I graduated high school and was 205 pounds and in fairly decent athletic shape from a cardio standpoint. However, my diet was very bad living at home and I had a body fat % of around 24 when I started college (I had a friend in the Kines department). As college went along, I worked out some and added 15 lbs. of muscle. However, I drank a lot, slept a lot, and began to eat even worse. After graduation I weighed 258 lbs and had a BF% of 28 (I bought a high end scale off of the college when they remodeled the weight room, so I am fairly sure this is fairly accurate.)

Over the last six months, I have decided since to get healthy. First I started drinking in moderation. Then I gave up chewing tobacco (and saw some weight gain). Finally, I made the hardest change which would be my diet.

I have a fairly demanding job on a dairy farm that requires me to be on my feet for 7-12 hours a day, 7 days a week. I still try to play basketball 3 nights/wk. I estimate my caloric needs to be around 4500, depending on the day.

I decresed my caloric intake from roughly 5000 calories a day down to between 2300-2800, depending on the day. I also tried to get more of my calories in the form of proteins; I began eating peanut butter sandwiches after work and workouts and switched to leaner meats like turkey. I also gave up empty calories and instead of drinking nearly a case of soda a week, I drink Gatorade with my meals. Instead of sitting down and eating a whole box of Little Debbies at a time, I allow myself two desserts (of 150 calories or less) or one dessert (of 300 calories or less) each day.

In one month, my BF% dropped 3.5% and my weight dropped by 17 lbs. I know you are only supposed to lose only like 1-2 lbs per week and you are supposed to eat healthy and not crash diet. I am eating healthy for the first time in my life and am probably actually eating more volume than ever (just in the form of fruits and veggies). My energy is through the roof and I almost never feel sluggish anymore. Am I doing something wrong? Do you have any suggestions?

 

[aravind82]

I don't think it's too much for your first month. Most people lose the largest amount during their first month. I'd venture to say that about 3-5 lb of your loss has just been water but that's completely normal since you sodium intake has most likely dropped drastically.

I lost 15 lb my first month and only 9 this past month. Just keep doing what you're doing and the weight will keep coming off, probably just not as fast as the first month.

 

[KaraCooks]

The 1-2lbs per week has been somewhat adjusted since there is no one-size-fits-all number. Now the recommendation is 1% of your overall bodyweight per week. That allows for individual fluctuations and keeps in mind that someone who weighs 400 lbs is going to be able to lose more per week than someone who weighs 250, and soemone who weighs 250 will lose more than someone who weighs 120, etc.

I would say for you, at 258, a 10-12 pound loss per month is going to be normal, to begin with.

But even more, you cut a LOT of carbs out of your diet as well as a lot of sodium (a case of soda? wow!), which is going to lead to you losing quite a bit of water weight at first as well. That's fairly normal and I'd say a 5lb - 8 lb drop of water weight is also pretty normal the first month.

If you feel good and you're not exhausted or ill, you should be fine. I would imagine that next month your loss will slow a bit as you've already dumped a good bit of water weight. Going forward about 10lbs a month should be about average for you.