Is 3 pounds a week reasonable?

[deidre 1]

I have calculated it, and if I lose 3lb a week for the rest of the year, I will be 15 lb under my goal weight. I am exercising 5x a week, low carbing it, and watching calories (obviously). By exercise, I mean I have started couch to 5K on the elliptical, and will be switching to the treadmill as the weight comes off and my knees are better. I was banded April 21 and have lost 24 lb so far, with really no exercise (I had an incision re-open-yuck).

[amberakamom 13]

It's possible, but not probable.

[byrdmen 18]

Deidre,

3 a week is absolutely reasonable. I lost 3 a week for my entire first year, which just passed a couple weeks ago. That was with minimal excercise, so you should easily make it. Good luck!

I have calculated it, and if I lose 3lb a week for the rest of the year, I will be 15 lb under my goal weight. I am exercising 5x a week, low carbing it, and watching calories (obviously). By exercise, I mean I have started couch to 5K on the elliptical, and will be switching to the treadmill as the weight comes off and my knees are better. I was banded April 21 and have lost 24 lb so far, with really no exercise (I had an incision re-open-yuck).

[Jess55 97]

I guess it is possible, but average weight loss is 1-2 lb per week. You may lose faster in the beginning but I would not set yourself up to be angry if you fail at if you expect that

[honk 780]

Based on my unscientific personal experience no. I do think people who go from no diet before the pre surgery liquid diet, and no exercise at all loose faster once they change their habits. I had been on a very stricked diet for 7 months and had been doing an hour of cardio 7 days a week for 18 months; and I have been loosing at about 1 pound a week. I lost 52 pounds from my first consult to surgery.

[Jess55 97]

Based on my unscientific personal experience no. I do think people who go from no diet before the pre surgery liquid diet, and no exercise at all loose faster once they change their habits. I had been on a very stricked diet for 7 months and had been doing an hour of cardio 7 days a week for 18 months; and I have been loosing at about 1 pound a week. I lost 52 pounds from my first consult to surgery.

I actually was wordering that. I've been dieting for like 5 years prior to getting my band and exercising too. I was at my surgery date about 60# below my highest weight. I feel I have been losing slower than a lot at about 1-1.5 # per week

[vickyd 24]

It is possible but be careful about setting unrealistic expectations because you don't want to get down on yourself if you don't meet that goal. I consider myself a pretty fast loser and I have averaged a little under 3 lbs a week but my weight loss has slowed down significantly over the past month. I also started out with a little over 160 lbs to lose so I expected the weight to come off faster than those with less to lose.

[Birinak 19]

Deidre,

3 a week is absolutely reasonable. I lost 3 a week for my entire first year, which just passed a couple weeks ago. That was with minimal excercise, so you should easily make it. Good luck!

I don't think that it's highly improbable for you to lose even more than 3 pounds in some weeks, especially the first few. I have lost more than 3 pounds some weeks (although some of it was likely Water and possibly even muscle, unfortunately), but my usual weight-loss is 2 pounds (in the first 6 months, it was only about 1-1.5 pounds). Remember that, for many people, restriction doesn't occur until 3 or 4 months in. Some people pick up the slack and go through bandster hell in the interim, while others, like me, eat more than 1 cup in the first few months and lose slower until restriction. As others mentioned, you might be disappointed when you fail to reach your goal or you might end up eating far too little at the expense of your health (malnutrition and muscle loss) and your metabolism.

To byrdmen, your progress is really great (congratulations on losing 149 pounds!), but you can't quite compare your experience to Deidre. Aside from the fact that a person's weight-loss is dependent on their metabolism and other factors, there are two factors that make it easy for you to lose 3 pounds a week consistently over a year; you are male and you have 341 pounds to lose, according to your ticker. On average, most males lose weight much more rapidly than females, partly on account of higher muscle mass and the fact that females have evolved to retain fat more easily for reproductive function.

Most importantly, people lose weight quicker if they have more weight to lose and they're farther from their ideal body weight. That's why you see people who weigh 800 pounds sometimes losing 25 pounds/week. That would be an impossible or highly unhealthy feat for someone who weighs 259 pounds and whose ideal weight might be about 110 pounds away.

You could easily create a 2200 caloric deficit and lose 3-5 pounds/week, while still staying above the 1600 calorie a day guideline for males. If Deidre were to create a 2200 caloric deficit, she might be severely malnourished. If she weren't malnourished (if she was previously consuming 3000 calories and exercising), she'd still be eating a very strict diet in comparison (much lower than the 1200 calorie guideline for women), so it would not be an easy weight-loss. I eat about 900-1100 calories a day and I cannot lose 3 pounds a week consistently over a whole year. For people with less to lose, weight-loss slows down over the year since many are getting very near their ideal weight by one year.

[mominoc 11]

My Dr asks me to lose 1 pound a week, but I've lost more than that. Its very possible to lose 3 lbs a week.

[Birinak 19]

My Dr asks me to lose 1 pound a week, but I've lost more than that. Its very possible to lose 3 lbs a week.

The question that she asked is: is it "very possible" for her (a person her size) to lose 3 pounds a week every week for a year? Most of us have lost 3 pounds some weeks--I've lost 3.5 pounds this week--but some weeks we have plateaus and sometimes life gets in the way.

To the OP, I'm not saying you can't do it. As long as you try to attain 3 pounds/week without lessening your health, go for it. But, so that you're not disappointed in the end when you really should be proud of your progress, you should know that an average of about 1-2 pounds a week is more common for people your weight who diet and exercise.

[stateofzen 46]

You would be highly atypical if you were able to lose 3lbs a week every week. Maybe you will (I hope so!), but try not to set yourself up for disappointment.

It's really hard to compare because there are so many variables, but a rule of thumb seems to be the closer you get to goal, the slower you lose. I lost very quickly for the first 100 lbs but now that I'm at 180, I've been stuck here for a month. I'm going to have to change things up to kick start my loss again. Because I expected this, it is less frustrating than it might otherwise have been (still frustrating, just less so).

In any case, I wish you the best of luck.

[Rachel412 116]

Yeah, I agree that 3 lbs. a week is very attainable in the beginning, but the smaller you get, the harder it is to get pounds off. Don't set yourself up for disappointment

[Acadia 20]

Keep in mind that women also have natural weight fluctuations once a month so you may have a week every month where you lose little, nothing, or gain a bit, but the next week you may lose more.

I would count on 1.5 lbs/week. That's safe. If you do more, fantastic. If you do less, you can make it up.

3lbs a week is not possible every single week for a year. It's medically not possible without causing your body damage.

Also - rather than make your goals lbs, make a monthly measurement goal. Say to lose 2" off of your waist per month. That is a much better goal to work on than lbs. Lbs lost can be muscle. Inches lost are rarely muscle.

[Cindy C 150]

Deidre,

3 a week is absolutely reasonable. I lost 3 a week for my entire first year, which just passed a couple weeks ago. That was with minimal excercise, so you should easily make it. Good luck!

That's really not a fair comparison. With 341 lbs to lose, 3 lbs/week is .8%. Deidre has 119 lbs to lose. 3lbs/week is 2.5%. That's a huge difference. Of course, someone who has more to lose is going to lose more lbs faster, but the percentage is going to be about the same. Deidre, a more realistic expectation would be 5-6 lbs/month. I'm guessing you didn't gain it all in one year. Don't expect to lose it all in one either.