Too fast?

Some background:  I've always been very athletic.  When I left high school, oh so many years ago, I weighed about 150 and was and still am 5'11".  I got married, stopped caring (shame on me, I know) and in the last 8 years, I went from 170 (Which I was comfortable at) to 230.  I cannot even tell you how poorly I was eating.  Unimaginably poor food choices and CONSTANT snacking.  I want to be around for my son and wife and decided I needed a change.  So January 1st I went on a diet. 

 My question is this: Since January 1st of 2008 I have lost 38 pounds.  I'm consuming roughly 1600 to 1800 calories a day on average.  I've heard it said that any more than 2 pounds a week is dangerous.  Is my body just regulating itself?  WTH is going on?  I can tell you that I feel healthier than I have felt in about 8 years.  I used to get the shakes when I didn't get my lunch at a certain time.  Now I get hunger pangs, but the shakiness and general feelings of decrepitude are gone. 

Should I eat more, or what?

Edit: The things I eat are WAY healthier than before.  Kashi breakfast cereals, fruits, veggies, organic everything, pinto beans (which my wife loves!) etc...

There could be a few factors contributing to this:

1. The majority of people on this message board are women. Of course we have the guys, but there's a higher percentage of women. Women have a harder time dropping weight than men--we have more body fat, crazy hormones, and in order to sustain us for pregnancy our body clings more to fat.

2. Men also have a higher percentage of muscle, which burns more calories in day to day life than fat. Especially because you said you were athletic, I'm sure under all the 'extra loving' you packed on you still had good muscle mass that helped to burn it back off again.

3. If you've been naturally slim your whole life, and you put the weight on fairly quickly (which you did--60 pounds in 8 years), it tends to come off again faster than those who've been heavy their whole lives. Your body is returning to what it feels its natural state is. :-)

As for calories, just based on your stats, you probably want to lean more towards 1800 days than 1600 days, especially if you exercise.

But MOST IMPORTANTLY: Your body will send you natural cues! If you're feeling great and healthy and have energy, chances are you're doing something right! Embrace the fact that you're lucky and have no trouble losing weight! If you start seeing adverse effects (thinning hair, exhaustion, irritability), then you'll want to up your calorie count, but if you're feeling better than ever than you're on the right track. :-)

Congrats on your great weight loss!

Thank you very much for your reply.  It doesn't seem worth it to lose the weight and just be sick with some other condition related to rapid weight loss.  And I noticed it was mostly women on here.  Very intimidating!  I felt kind of goofy even asking, but better safe than sorry. 

 Thanks again!

Welcome, calorie counting man! You're not alone - I've seen other guys on the board. I'm not one of them, but I've seen some.

I've got to repeat what MinervaMoon said about listening to your body, because it's your single best tool for gaining and maintaining health. Listen to your body! It will tell you what to do.

If you're feeling good, and you're not hungry all the time, or getting irritable or paranoid, keep doing what you're doing until your body says to change.

Congratulations!

PS - During WWII, there was a study performed on a volunteer group of average American men, to determine the effects of starvation on war-torn Europe, and how best to help Europe's population recover from long-term starvation. That study used 1500 calories per day to simulate starvation, and it worked. The men starved for 9 months, and during that time developed a lot of psychological characteristics (such as irritability, obsession with food, paranoia, and overattention to minutia). Then the participants were re-fed back to a healthy weight, on varying types of diets and numbers of calories. Everyone lost those psychological issues as the weight came back, and within 2 years everyone returned to within 5 lbs of their pre-study weight, regardless of refeeding method. If the male body reacts even close to the same way when recovering from abuse by malnutrition and starvation as it does to recovering from abuse by malnutrition in too many calories, I'm not surprised you're rocketing back toward what your body considers your baseline healthy weight. But also, don't be surprised if your weight loss levels out pretty soon.

And, since that study successfully produced conditions of starvation and the psychological profile normally associated with anorexia in average (psychologically healthy) adult American men simply by feeding the participants at 1500 calories a day, I'd say 1600 still sounds a little low. But only your body can say for sure.

 

 

Yes, you are definitely not the only man on here and like you, when I first started my healthy eating plan, my weight dropped a lot faster than 2 pounds per week.  My average since last June has been 2.73 pounds per week, but just in the month of February, I have lost 9 pounds so far and will probably lose another two or three this week.  And like you, I feel great.  Tons more energy and stamina and generally just more mentally alert.

Mark and Dog,

Same here.  I lost about 2.5 lbs/week when I started counting (before CC was so helpful).  I wasn't counting calories so much as I was counting deficits from my usual calories.  And it worked for me -- quickly!

But then I stalled.  A number of things stalled me: unsupportive family, holiday eating, loss of focus.  I didn't gain, but I didn't lose much.  Then I regained my focus and got back on the program.  I was eating what I had been before, and I was exercising, too.  I lost 1lb/month for about a year. Major plateau.

Turns out, I was no longer eating enough since I added my 3-day/week exercise program (2100 calories extra burned).  That's just 300 calories different per day on average, but it was enough for my body to call it quits!  I felt fine.  I felt like I had enough energy.  I felt like I should be losing.  But I wasn't.  Not fast, anyway. (My journal has charts if you want to see 'em.)

To get out of this slump I had to eat more.  Once I started counting all my calories instead of just my deficits, I realized I had drifted into 1400 calories/day on average, and I was exercising an extra 300 calories/day on average.  So my deficit was about 1600/day.  Far too big.

So... I caution you to enjoy your rapid weight loss, but be careful to monitor your deficit.  If it gets too high for too long, it will bite you. 

Another guy here......If you're eating healthy, then I think you should be ok.  Just don't starve yourself to get that drastic weight loss. 

you sound like your body is just catching up with this new healthy outlook you've adopted! which i wanted to say i greatly respect you for looking out for not only your body, but the betterment of you family : ) congrats