2 lbs per week?

When I set my goals on this site it responded that my goal was too high and that I shouldn't try to lose more than 2 lbs per week. I have cut my diet to below 1700 per day, usually in the 1400's and have been working out with slow to medium intensity cardio almost everyday. This allows me to work out longer and regardless of what hardcore gym rats say, it works. Anyway, I've been losing 3- 5 lbs per week for the last 4 weeks. Other than getting the flu, I feel fine. Is losing this fast bad and why?

Men tend to lose weight fast, especially at first, so I don't think that is "bad" per se.  But I suspect that what you are doing is not going to be sustainable over the long haul because:

• You are eating too few calories for a man your size.  The recommendation is to stay above 1500 even if sedentary, and you are not sedentary.  This helps prevent breaking down muscle for energy needs, since the body can only mobilize so much fat in a given time period.
• It is hard to get good nutrition on a very restricted diet, why not eat a little more healthy foods and make sure that you can stay healthy?
• It is better to develop long term eating habits that you will find sustainable so that maintenance is easier.  Too much restriction and most people tend to yo-yo back up once they stop "dieting".

Obviously, you know yourself better than a random stranger on the internet, but you did ask!

What you're doing sounds similar to what I'm doing.  I started 3 weeks ago and have been doing about an hour of cardio every day, at medium intensity and have been eating about 1400 calories a day.  I started at 249 lbs and am not down to 229.6 lbs as of this morning, so that's almost 20 lbs in 3 weeks.  I don't know your stats but the more overweight you are the faster you can lose fat because your body can mobilize more fat the more you have.  I think that's one of the reasons I've been losing so fast, and the fact that I'm a guy helps also.  And my skeletal muscle % has even gone up so I must not be losing that much muscle.

I think men do generally lose weight faster, I have lost 18 pounds in 15 days. 10 the first week, I have been eating between 1,600 and 1,800 calories per day. not all nuts and berries either. I have had a Big Mac a couple times, last night I had pizza. whatever works for you...