Losing too fast

Background:

I put on a lot of weight really fast. I had already crept up to what
I thought was really fat, and six months later, I had packed on
another 50 lbs. beyond that. I discovered that my scale simply reads
"OL" once you're over 309 lbs. There were health issues, and still
are, and I used that as an excuse, but I have grown bored with leaning
on that crutch - I'm tired of being fat!

I started counting calories, and found somewhere that it took about
3500 calories a day to maintain my weight, so I was trying to keep
under 3000 a day. It was coming off slowly. I had lost 17 lbs. when
I spent a week with my parents (we ate at Golden Corral three times)
and got home to discover I had gained back all 17 lbs. in a week. I
figured it was just water, and would come right back off, but it
didn't. I joined Weigh****chers.

I wonder if packing it on so fast has anything to do with dropping it
so fast. I've been on WW (online) for just over two months and have
lost 35 lbs.

My first week, I lost 9.5 lbs. I didn't kid myself, I knew it was
just water. The next week, another 5 lbs. gone, and the week after
that, 3.5 more. Now when I record my weight each week, it keeps
yelling at me for losing too fast, and offers me lectures on why
that's bad. And yet, when I recorded my weight today (lost 5 lbs.
this week), in the same breath it told me to be proud that my target
points were dropping from 32 to 30 a day, having crossed below 275
lbs.

I earn activity points (and I've been more active since starting WW),
but I almost always eat them. I eat most of my Flex points each week,
too. In fact, I went beyond my Flex points allotment three weeks,
once by two points!

My 32 points a day (now 30) is somewhere in the realm of 1600 calories
(now 1500). It's no wonder it's melting off, considering I was losing
at 3000. I suppose I could try adding 5 points or so over what I'm
allotted, but that really seems to be defeating the program. I joined
the program because it works, and I must say it really does for me,
and I confess that I'm not displeased with the weight I've lost. I
keep thinking it will slow down and I should enjoy the ride while I
can.

My body has always responded well to being treated well, and yet I
have almost always treated it very badly. I got to 309 (and beyond)
by treating it badly. Now I'm treating it well, and it is responding
with great joy and my knees are happier and my feet are happier and I
don't have to hold my breath while I tie my shoes and so on. I just
have such a hard time believing that this is a bad thing!

Of course, my wife, who has been on a plateau for three weeks, doesn't
want to hear about it anymore, and just tells me to shut up. Well,
that and if I say my knee is bugging me, she'll say, "Oh, it's
probably gall stones from losing weight too fast." She's really very
sweet...

Stan
309/273.5/199

Stan wrote:

Gall stone in you KNEE? Hm, you DO have a serious health issue! ;D

Seriously, people higher up the weight scale DO lose faster to begin
with: it will slow down to a more normal 1-2 lbs a week when you get
down towards the low 200's... There will be plateaus along the way, and
the odd week when you go up, but don't sweat it too much! And if my WW
group is anything to go by, the blokes lose better than the gals
whatever they do!

--
Kate XXXXXX (Facing gall bladder removal from the usual place on 22
December!)
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.diceyhome.free-online.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

Stan wrote in
:

Background:

***snip***
I wonder if packing it on so fast has anything to do with dropping it
so fast. I've been on WW (online) for just over two months and have
lost 35 lbs.

***snip***


Stan,

Here are my numbers for my first 8 weeks OP

6.4
4.2
3.4
3
3.2
2.8
4
5.2

For a total of 32.2 lbs. I started out at 332.4 It took a total of 90
weeks to reach my goal of 185 with an overall average weight loss of 1.62
lbs per week.

You will lose a lot at first, it will slow down. Stick to the plan. If
you have any concerns, talk to your physician.

As for going over your Flex Points, I have had weeks where I have been over
as many as 20 Points and maintained. It does, however, usually come back
to bite me the folowing week with a small gain.

Enjoy the big numbers while you can but realize it will slow down. It took
me about 20 weeks to drop to 2lbs per week average (I didn't exercise a
lot for the first year or so) but you are doing great. Eat your Activity
Points, use your Flex Points when you want/need them and keep your diet
balanced. I find if I eat a lot of protein that my wieght loss levels off.
My wife has to watch her carbs for the same reason. Everyone is different
but I am sure you will find your balance and succeed on the plan.

--
Started Weight Watchers together February 2002:
Chris
332.4/184.4/185
Pat
198.4/169.2/155
2002 combined loss 139
2003 combined loss 38.2
Total combined 177.2 lbs

Hi Stan. I was over 300 when I first started & like you I lost really
fast. But when I got down to the last 50, I slowed down considerably and I
think you will also. I believe that it's actually 1 % of your weight that
you can lose safely each week, but I know I lost a bit faster than that.
Elaine K
331.4/215.6/179

Stan wrote:

Background:

I put on a lot of weight really fast. I had already crept up to what
I thought was really fat, and six months later, I had packed on
another 50 lbs. beyond that. I discovered that my scale simply reads
"OL" once you're over 309 lbs. There were health issues, and still
are, and I used that as an excuse, but I have grown bored with leaning
on that crutch - I'm tired of being fat!

I started counting calories, and found somewhere that it took about
3500 calories a day to maintain my weight, so I was trying to keep
under 3000 a day. It was coming off slowly. I had lost 17 lbs. when
I spent a week with my parents (we ate at Golden Corral three times)
and got home to discover I had gained back all 17 lbs. in a week. I
figured it was just water, and would come right back off, but it
didn't. I joined Weigh****chers.

I wonder if packing it on so fast has anything to do with dropping it
so fast. I've been on WW (online) for just over two months and have
lost 35 lbs.

My first week, I lost 9.5 lbs. I didn't kid myself, I knew it was
just water. The next week, another 5 lbs. gone, and the week after
that, 3.5 more. Now when I record my weight each week, it keeps
yelling at me for losing too fast, and offers me lectures on why
that's bad. And yet, when I recorded my weight today (lost 5 lbs.
this week), in the same breath it told me to be proud that my target
points were dropping from 32 to 30 a day, having crossed below 275
lbs.

I earn activity points (and I've been more active since starting WW),
but I almost always eat them. I eat most of my Flex points each week,
too. In fact, I went beyond my Flex points allotment three weeks,
once by two points!

My 32 points a day (now 30) is somewhere in the realm of 1600 calories
(now 1500). It's no wonder it's melting off, considering I was losing
at 3000. I suppose I could try adding 5 points or so over what I'm
allotted, but that really seems to be defeating the program. I joined
the program because it works, and I must say it really does for me,
and I confess that I'm not displeased with the weight I've lost. I
keep thinking it will slow down and I should enjoy the ride while I
can.

My body has always responded well to being treated well, and yet I
have almost always treated it very badly. I got to 309 (and beyond)
by treating it badly. Now I'm treating it well, and it is responding
with great joy and my knees are happier and my feet are happier and I
don't have to hold my breath while I tie my shoes and so on. I just
have such a hard time believing that this is a bad thing!

Of course, my wife, who has been on a plateau for three weeks, doesn't
want to hear about it anymore, and just tells me to shut up. Well,
that and if I say my knee is bugging me, she'll say, "Oh, it's
probably gall stones from losing weight too fast." She's really very
sweet...

Stan
309/273.5/199

Thanks to Kate, Chris, and Elaine for your responses. You all
confirmed what I really thought about it, that a man over 300 lbs. is
just going to lose weight faster following the WW plan than, say, a
woman at 195.

My inclination was to enjoy it while it lasts, and to know that it
can't keep going like this all the way to goal (oh, wouldn't that be
nice, though).

It just started to make me nervous that it gives me the dire warnings
every week when I log my weight, and the article about gallstones,
saggy skin, hair loss and I don't remember what else didn't help.

Thanks for your support! I feel better now.

Stan


On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 02:21:23 -0600, Stan
wrote:

Background:

I put on a lot of weight really fast. I had already crept up to what
I thought was really fat, and six months later, I had packed on
another 50 lbs. beyond that. I discovered that my scale simply reads
"OL" once you're over 309 lbs. There were health issues, and still
are, and I used that as an excuse, but I have grown bored with leaning
on that crutch - I'm tired of being fat!

I started counting calories, and found somewhere that it took about
3500 calories a day to maintain my weight, so I was trying to keep
under 3000 a day. It was coming off slowly. I had lost 17 lbs. when
I spent a week with my parents (we ate at Golden Corral three times)
and got home to discover I had gained back all 17 lbs. in a week. I
figured it was just water, and would come right back off, but it
didn't. I joined Weigh****chers.

I wonder if packing it on so fast has anything to do with dropping it
so fast. I've been on WW (online) for just over two months and have
lost 35 lbs.

My first week, I lost 9.5 lbs. I didn't kid myself, I knew it was
just water. The next week, another 5 lbs. gone, and the week after
that, 3.5 more. Now when I record my weight each week, it keeps
yelling at me for losing too fast, and offers me lectures on why
that's bad. And yet, when I recorded my weight today (lost 5 lbs.
this week), in the same breath it told me to be proud that my target
points were dropping from 32 to 30 a day, having crossed below 275
lbs.

I earn activity points (and I've been more active since starting WW),
but I almost always eat them. I eat most of my Flex points each week,
too. In fact, I went beyond my Flex points allotment three weeks,
once by two points!

My 32 points a day (now 30) is somewhere in the realm of 1600 calories
(now 1500). It's no wonder it's melting off, considering I was losing
at 3000. I suppose I could try adding 5 points or so over what I'm
allotted, but that really seems to be defeating the program. I joined
the program because it works, and I must say it really does for me,
and I confess that I'm not displeased with the weight I've lost. I
keep thinking it will slow down and I should enjoy the ride while I
can.

My body has always responded well to being treated well, and yet I
have almost always treated it very badly. I got to 309 (and beyond)
by treating it badly. Now I'm treating it well, and it is responding
with great joy and my knees are happier and my feet are happier and I
don't have to hold my breath while I tie my shoes and so on. I just
have such a hard time believing that this is a bad thing!

Of course, my wife, who has been on a plateau for three weeks, doesn't
want to hear about it anymore, and just tells me to shut up. Well,
that and if I say my knee is bugging me, she'll say, "Oh, it's
probably gall stones from losing weight too fast." She's really very
sweet...

Stan
309/273.5/199

Stan wrote:

Thanks to Kate, Chris, and Elaine for your responses. You all
confirmed what I really thought about it, that a man over 300 lbs. is
just going to lose weight faster following the WW plan than, say, a
woman at 195.

My inclination was to enjoy it while it lasts, and to know that it
can't keep going like this all the way to goal (oh, wouldn't that be
nice, though).

It just started to make me nervous that it gives me the dire warnings
every week when I log my weight, and the article about gallstones,
saggy skin, hair loss and I don't remember what else didn't help.

Thanks for your support! I feel better now.

Stan


Well, let me tell you from experience that losing weight MAY trigger a
gall stones attack, IF YOU HAVE THEM ALREADY! Otherwise, there's nowt
to worry you! Sometimes the weight loss can trigger the first attack,
but the gallstone would have been there for years by then anyway...

Very saggy skin usually only happens if you are older (less elasticity
to the skin), have very dry skin (as before), or lose too fast: if you
lose at a nice steady rate, MOST of the spare skin shrinks with you.
You may find massaging moisturizers into it helps, if you have dry
skin. Both the moisturizer and the massaging help. Yes, you will
notice some sagging, especially if areas where you have a lot to lose.
Women who had children notice extra tummy skin quite a lot, which is why
tummy tucks are a favourite with them after big weight loss. Sometimes
you need to wait a year or two after reaching goal before going for
something like this: it's amazing what vanishes with time!

Hair loss? I'm a woman - I wouldn't know about that! ;P DH lost his
hair back to his ears years ago (think Shakespeare's hairline!), and
he's never had to lose weight! Maybe that's just age...

Oh, and your feet can shrink...
--
Kate XXXXXX
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.diceyhome.free-online.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

while you have lost fast, the losses are slowing down. I think I read that
the recommended was up to 2 pounds or 1 percent of your weight so I wouldn't
worry about it. if you are following program and you feel better that is
what matters. Keep in mind there will probably be a point where they really
slow down and that is normal, good luck, Lee
Stan wrote in message
...
Background:

I put on a lot of weight really fast. I had already crept up to what
I thought was really fat, and six months later, I had packed on
another 50 lbs. beyond that. I discovered that my scale simply reads
"OL" once you're over 309 lbs. There were health issues, and still
are, and I used that as an excuse, but I have grown bored with leaning
on that crutch - I'm tired of being fat!

I started counting calories, and found somewhere that it took about
3500 calories a day to maintain my weight, so I was trying to keep
under 3000 a day. It was coming off slowly. I had lost 17 lbs. when
I spent a week with my parents (we ate at Golden Corral three times)
and got home to discover I had gained back all 17 lbs. in a week. I
figured it was just water, and would come right back off, but it
didn't. I joined Weigh****chers.

I wonder if packing it on so fast has anything to do with dropping it
so fast. I've been on WW (online) for just over two months and have
lost 35 lbs.

My first week, I lost 9.5 lbs. I didn't kid myself, I knew it was
just water. The next week, another 5 lbs. gone, and the week after
that, 3.5 more. Now when I record my weight each week, it keeps
yelling at me for losing too fast, and offers me lectures on why
that's bad. And yet, when I recorded my weight today (lost 5 lbs.
this week), in the same breath it told me to be proud that my target
points were dropping from 32 to 30 a day, having crossed below 275
lbs.

I earn activity points (and I've been more active since starting WW),
but I almost always eat them. I eat most of my Flex points each week,
too. In fact, I went beyond my Flex points allotment three weeks,
once by two points!

My 32 points a day (now 30) is somewhere in the realm of 1600 calories
(now 1500). It's no wonder it's melting off, considering I was losing
at 3000. I suppose I could try adding 5 points or so over what I'm
allotted, but that really seems to be defeating the program. I joined
the program because it works, and I must say it really does for me,
and I confess that I'm not displeased with the weight I've lost. I
keep thinking it will slow down and I should enjoy the ride while I
can.

My body has always responded well to being treated well, and yet I
have almost always treated it very badly. I got to 309 (and beyond)
by treating it badly. Now I'm treating it well, and it is responding
with great joy and my knees are happier and my feet are happier and I
don't have to hold my breath while I tie my shoes and so on. I just
have such a hard time believing that this is a bad thing!

Of course, my wife, who has been on a plateau for three weeks, doesn't
want to hear about it anymore, and just tells me to shut up. Well,
that and if I say my knee is bugging me, she'll say, "Oh, it's
probably gall stones from losing weight too fast." She's really very
sweet...

Stan
309/273.5/199

Don't sweat those screaming online warnings, Stan. I remember when I used to get
them. One week I would feel like the message was yelling at me for not losing
enough, then next it was screaming about losing too fast. At first I took it
seriously, after a bit I started seeing the humor in it. There ought to be a way
the online program can look at the *average* over a specified period of time.

Enjoy the rate you are losing at now, and remember it if/when things eventually
slow down. grin

Joyce


On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 22:26:43 -0600, Stan wrote:

Thanks to Kate, Chris, and Elaine for your responses. You all
confirmed what I really thought about it, that a man over 300 lbs. is
just going to lose weight faster following the WW plan than, say, a
woman at 195.

My inclination was to enjoy it while it lasts, and to know that it
can't keep going like this all the way to goal (oh, wouldn't that be
nice, though).

It just started to make me nervous that it gives me the dire warnings
every week when I log my weight, and the article about gallstones,
saggy skin, hair loss and I don't remember what else didn't help.

Thanks for your support! I feel better now.

Stan


On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 02:21:23 -0600, Stan
wrote:

Background:

I put on a lot of weight really fast. I had already crept up to what
I thought was really fat, and six months later, I had packed on
another 50 lbs. beyond that. I discovered that my scale simply reads
"OL" once you're over 309 lbs. There were health issues, and still
are, and I used that as an excuse, but I have grown bored with leaning
on that crutch - I'm tired of being fat!

I started counting calories, and found somewhere that it took about
3500 calories a day to maintain my weight, so I was trying to keep
under 3000 a day. It was coming off slowly. I had lost 17 lbs. when
I spent a week with my parents (we ate at Golden Corral three times)
and got home to discover I had gained back all 17 lbs. in a week. I
figured it was just water, and would come right back off, but it
didn't. I joined Weigh****chers.

I wonder if packing it on so fast has anything to do with dropping it
so fast. I've been on WW (online) for just over two months and have
lost 35 lbs.

My first week, I lost 9.5 lbs. I didn't kid myself, I knew it was
just water. The next week, another 5 lbs. gone, and the week after
that, 3.5 more. Now when I record my weight each week, it keeps
yelling at me for losing too fast, and offers me lectures on why
that's bad. And yet, when I recorded my weight today (lost 5 lbs.
this week), in the same breath it told me to be proud that my target
points were dropping from 32 to 30 a day, having crossed below 275
lbs.

I earn activity points (and I've been more active since starting WW),
but I almost always eat them. I eat most of my Flex points each week,
too. In fact, I went beyond my Flex points allotment three weeks,
once by two points!

My 32 points a day (now 30) is somewhere in the realm of 1600 calories
(now 1500). It's no wonder it's melting off, considering I was losing
at 3000. I suppose I could try adding 5 points or so over what I'm
allotted, but that really seems to be defeating the program. I joined
the program because it works, and I must say it really does for me,
and I confess that I'm not displeased with the weight I've lost. I
keep thinking it will slow down and I should enjoy the ride while I
can.

My body has always responded well to being treated well, and yet I
have almost always treated it very badly. I got to 309 (and beyond)
by treating it badly. Now I'm treating it well, and it is responding
with great joy and my knees are happier and my feet are happier and I
don't have to hold my breath while I tie my shoes and so on. I just
have such a hard time believing that this is a bad thing!

Of course, my wife, who has been on a plateau for three weeks, doesn't
want to hear about it anymore, and just tells me to shut up. Well,
that and if I say my knee is bugging me, she'll say, "Oh, it's
probably gall stones from losing weight too fast." She's really very
sweet...

Stan
309/273.5/199

On Tue, 25 Nov 2003 11:01:53 +0000, Kate Dicey
wrote:

Stan wrote:

Thanks to Kate, Chris, and Elaine for your responses. You all
confirmed what I really thought about it, that a man over 300 lbs. is
just going to lose weight faster following the WW plan than, say, a
woman at 195.

My inclination was to enjoy it while it lasts, and to know that it
can't keep going like this all the way to goal (oh, wouldn't that be
nice, though).

It just started to make me nervous that it gives me the dire warnings
every week when I log my weight, and the article about gallstones,
saggy skin, hair loss and I don't remember what else didn't help.

Thanks for your support! I feel better now.

Stan


Well, let me tell you from experience that losing weight MAY trigger a
gall stones attack, IF YOU HAVE THEM ALREADY! Otherwise, there's nowt
to worry you! Sometimes the weight loss can trigger the first attack,
but the gallstone would have been there for years by then anyway...

Very saggy skin usually only happens if you are older (less elasticity
to the skin), have very dry skin (as before), or lose too fast: if you
lose at a nice steady rate, MOST of the spare skin shrinks with you.
You may find massaging moisturizers into it helps, if you have dry
skin. Both the moisturizer and the massaging help. Yes, you will
notice some sagging, especially if areas where you have a lot to lose.
Women who had children notice extra tummy skin quite a lot, which is why
tummy tucks are a favourite with them after big weight loss. Sometimes
you need to wait a year or two after reaching goal before going for
something like this: it's amazing what vanishes with time!

This is very, very true ... at least from my experience this trip around. Yes, I
still have a little bit of excess skin in the tummy area ... kids, c-sects, age,
whatever - but it isn't enough to make me seek out surgery to get rid of it. In
just 6 months time I've seen a lot of reduction in what I thought were the saggy
areas, and things are still shifting around.

Hair loss? I'm a woman - I wouldn't know about that! ;P DH lost his
hair back to his ears years ago (think Shakespeare's hairline!), and
he's never had to lose weight! Maybe that's just age...

It's my understanding that hair loss can occur for many reasons, I've heard lack
of calcium being one of them. Whether that's true or not ... I don't know. Heck,
seasons seem to affect me with hair loss. I notice much more hair in the shower
drain during different times of the year. I am a female, not going bald but hair
thinning does naturally occur with age - and I don't think it is gender dependant.
Maybe I notice it more because it's *mine* ... or because my hair is thin anyway
(I would kill for thick wavy hair - lol).

Oh, and your feet can shrink...

My feet didn't shrink. What happened though was ... due to not having as much
weight pressure on them, they no longer spread as much - resulting in smaller size
shoes (some brands). It isn't that my feet are really smaller though.

Joyce

When I joined in 1981 at 365 pounds, I lost 15 pounds the first week and
then a bunch every week after that until I got into the 200's and slowed way
down. If I had not quit back then, I would have gotten to goal then. This
time when I joined at 247, I lost 7 the first week, then 4 and 5 or so for a
few, then dropped on down to 1 or 2 a week for the duration. Don't worry.
You are doing wonderful!

Lesanne
(365)247/160/164

"Miss Violette" wrote in message
s.com...
while you have lost fast, the losses are slowing down. I think I read
that
the recommended was up to 2 pounds or 1 percent of your weight so I
wouldn't
worry about it. if you are following program and you feel better that is
what matters. Keep in mind there will probably be a point where they
really
slow down and that is normal, good luck, Lee
Stan wrote in message
...
Background:

I put on a lot of weight really fast. I had already crept up to what
I thought was really fat, and six months later, I had packed on
another 50 lbs. beyond that. I discovered that my scale simply reads
"OL" once you're over 309 lbs. There were health issues, and still
are, and I used that as an excuse, but I have grown bored with leaning
on that crutch - I'm tired of being fat!

I started counting calories, and found somewhere that it took about
3500 calories a day to maintain my weight, so I was trying to keep
under 3000 a day. It was coming off slowly. I had lost 17 lbs. when
I spent a week with my parents (we ate at Golden Corral three times)
and got home to discover I had gained back all 17 lbs. in a week. I
figured it was just water, and would come right back off, but it
didn't. I joined Weigh****chers.

I wonder if packing it on so fast has anything to do with dropping it
so fast. I've been on WW (online) for just over two months and have
lost 35 lbs.

My first week, I lost 9.5 lbs. I didn't kid myself, I knew it was
just water. The next week, another 5 lbs. gone, and the week after
that, 3.5 more. Now when I record my weight each week, it keeps
yelling at me for losing too fast, and offers me lectures on why
that's bad. And yet, when I recorded my weight today (lost 5 lbs.
this week), in the same breath it told me to be proud that my target
points were dropping from 32 to 30 a day, having crossed below 275
lbs.

I earn activity points (and I've been more active since starting WW),
but I almost always eat them. I eat most of my Flex points each week,
too. In fact, I went beyond my Flex points allotment three weeks,
once by two points!

My 32 points a day (now 30) is somewhere in the realm of 1600 calories
(now 1500). It's no wonder it's melting off, considering I was losing
at 3000. I suppose I could try adding 5 points or so over what I'm
allotted, but that really seems to be defeating the program. I joined
the program because it works, and I must say it really does for me,
and I confess that I'm not displeased with the weight I've lost. I
keep thinking it will slow down and I should enjoy the ride while I
can.

My body has always responded well to being treated well, and yet I
have almost always treated it very badly. I got to 309 (and beyond)
by treating it badly. Now I'm treating it well, and it is responding
with great joy and my knees are happier and my feet are happier and I
don't have to hold my breath while I tie my shoes and so on. I just
have such a hard time believing that this is a bad thing!

Of course, my wife, who has been on a plateau for three weeks, doesn't
want to hear about it anymore, and just tells me to shut up. Well,
that and if I say my knee is bugging me, she'll say, "Oh, it's
probably gall stones from losing weight too fast." She's really very
sweet...

Stan
309/273.5/199