This 1lb..1 1/2 lb. per week thing...
If you're just starting then you're likely to get faster just because you're learning how to row properly. If you're more experienced then it's more of an indicator, but it could well just be your cardio system improving even faster than your muscles are evaporating 
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icomefrombirmingham
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- Joined: July 13th, 2007, 2:48 pm
- Location: Niagara Falls, Ontario
cran,
First apologies...I am sure that I haven't had a notification of posts added to this thread for a while and therefore came across your contribution by chance...hence the delay in responding.
Second, thanks, what you say makes sense and now clarifies for me what others had contributed about the body going in to "starvation mode".
If what you wrote is correct and the body starts to use muscle when it "thinks" there is a famine, in order to preserve fat stores, then I can see a logical reason for losing the weight very slowly.
It seems also that the body doesn't discriminate between losing mass by excercise or restricted calorie intake. As far as the body is concerned, it's "starvation" all the same.
Actually, I dropped from 285 lbs to 255 lbs fairly easily and quickly. But the loss has been much slower since then (currently 245 lbs). I now plan to lose another 30 lbs by the end of January 2008 (approximately 2 lb / week)...and a few more (down to <210) by next season.
Brent
First apologies...I am sure that I haven't had a notification of posts added to this thread for a while and therefore came across your contribution by chance...hence the delay in responding.
Second, thanks, what you say makes sense and now clarifies for me what others had contributed about the body going in to "starvation mode".
If what you wrote is correct and the body starts to use muscle when it "thinks" there is a famine, in order to preserve fat stores, then I can see a logical reason for losing the weight very slowly.
It seems also that the body doesn't discriminate between losing mass by excercise or restricted calorie intake. As far as the body is concerned, it's "starvation" all the same.
Actually, I dropped from 285 lbs to 255 lbs fairly easily and quickly. But the loss has been much slower since then (currently 245 lbs). I now plan to lose another 30 lbs by the end of January 2008 (approximately 2 lb / week)...and a few more (down to <210) by next season.
Brent
6'2.5", 228lbs[img]http://www.c2ctc.com/sigs/img1247165781.png[/img]
I'm joining the thread a little late in the game here...but the following article does (IMO) a good job of trying to explain a lot of the science behind all of this. He uses a few educated guestimates of some of the numbers...but the concepts are pretty solidly rooted in science.
http://www.mindandmuscle.net/articles/l ... um_fatloss
Just figured you (or someone else interested in this thread) might find it an interesting read!
http://www.mindandmuscle.net/articles/l ... um_fatloss
Just figured you (or someone else interested in this thread) might find it an interesting read!
~~All Glory Comes From Daring To Begin~~
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icomefrombirmingham
- 2k Poster
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- Joined: July 13th, 2007, 2:48 pm
- Location: Niagara Falls, Ontario
Welcome and thanks for the article.
I was scanning through the article as it was printing out. It looks very interesting and my intuition agrees with it. I'll now go off and try to calculate my body fat %...I don't trust my Tanita scales somehow.
Brent
I was scanning through the article as it was printing out. It looks very interesting and my intuition agrees with it. I'll now go off and try to calculate my body fat %...I don't trust my Tanita scales somehow.
Brent
6'2.5", 228lbs[img]http://www.c2ctc.com/sigs/img1247165781.png[/img]
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Lincoln Brigham
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- Contact:
Depends on the person
A 250 lb man can take off weight more quickly than a 125 pound woman. So the 2 pounds rule is not for everyone. I don't think losing 5 or even 10 a week is going to harm you, but my experience is that fast weight loss is generally not as sustainable as slow weight loss. If you are going around hungry all the time two things happen--your metabolism slows, and the desire to pig out grows. Years ago I lost 50 pounds at a rate of about 2 lbs a week and managed to maintain the low weight for a good decade, before work, injuries and lifestyle changes started to see me creep a little up. (I actually lost no weight for the first 4-6 weeks, when I was converting fat to muscle mass--then it came off steadily at 2 lbs a week.) That weight loss plan had three elements: cardio, strength and diet. I never starved myself, just ate sensibly. Building muscle mass ramped up my metabolism, as did the daily cardio. When I got to the ideal weight, I was able to maintain it, because I really didn't need to "go off" a crash diet or stop exercising. I could tune down the exercise a notch--and allow myself a little latitude on the diet. Since neither the diet nor the exercise was extreme, the change from weight loss plan to maintenance plan was modest.
If you are losing weight very fast, it is likely because you are engaged in diet and exercise regimens that you are not likely to be able to sustain for long--maybe not even as long as you need to get to your goal. In weight loss it seems that slow and steady wins the race.
If you are losing weight very fast, it is likely because you are engaged in diet and exercise regimens that you are not likely to be able to sustain for long--maybe not even as long as you need to get to your goal. In weight loss it seems that slow and steady wins the race.
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thomaspinckney
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- Joined: November 19th, 2007, 10:59 am
- Location: Gaithersburg, Md
So is it safer to lose weight VERY quickly instead of having a heart attack from being too (perhaps morbidly) obese? Well, most of us fat guys (I'm always working on it) after a while know all about this. Want to know how to lose weight? Ask a fat person - they all know how to do it. The problem is taking it off & keeping it off!! We all can go to the "experts" on weight loss and they can help us lose weight. However, most of them never tell us why to lose only 2-3 pounds per week, etc.
I'm no medical person, but thru years of contstant battles to stay in shape I've learned a lot from OTHERS. This is what I understand the way things really are:
Too much weight loss quickly (as mentioned) does result in a loss of muscle tissue. Not only do you lose it from the muscles that you can see, but you also lose it from your internal organs. Not a safe thing! Some people have written that you can "protect your muscle weight loss" by lifting weights. Not sure if this is true. However - you can actually lose fat mass, build up muscle tissue and not see anything on the scale drop. However, the mirror tells the truth as does the size of your clothing as it gets too big.
Now for this "getting fatter" after you lose weight at 2-3 pounds per week. I don't believe that is the case that you lost a certain amount of weight but the fact that you gained weight back. Here's how things work:
You do not lose fat cells when you lose weight. You only shrink them - thus the weight IS lost, but the fat cells remain. Yep -they are still there and you will not get rid of them. When you gain weight your body has MORE fat cells, so you are actually fatter than before at the same weight! Thus a skinny person that was once fat may have a higher perecentage of body fat than someone much larger that appears to be fatter. The more you diet, the fatter you become IF you constantly yo-yo like most of us!! According to some "experts" it's actually safer to be fat and stay that way rather than yo-yo diet!!
The best thing of all is to never become fat at all (good luck). It takes us while to put on all of that weight. We put it on one pound at a time. Why think you can get rid of it safely any (much) faster than that?
Just keep at it and you will succeed.
I'm no medical person, but thru years of contstant battles to stay in shape I've learned a lot from OTHERS. This is what I understand the way things really are:
Too much weight loss quickly (as mentioned) does result in a loss of muscle tissue. Not only do you lose it from the muscles that you can see, but you also lose it from your internal organs. Not a safe thing! Some people have written that you can "protect your muscle weight loss" by lifting weights. Not sure if this is true. However - you can actually lose fat mass, build up muscle tissue and not see anything on the scale drop. However, the mirror tells the truth as does the size of your clothing as it gets too big.
Now for this "getting fatter" after you lose weight at 2-3 pounds per week. I don't believe that is the case that you lost a certain amount of weight but the fact that you gained weight back. Here's how things work:
You do not lose fat cells when you lose weight. You only shrink them - thus the weight IS lost, but the fat cells remain. Yep -they are still there and you will not get rid of them. When you gain weight your body has MORE fat cells, so you are actually fatter than before at the same weight! Thus a skinny person that was once fat may have a higher perecentage of body fat than someone much larger that appears to be fatter. The more you diet, the fatter you become IF you constantly yo-yo like most of us!! According to some "experts" it's actually safer to be fat and stay that way rather than yo-yo diet!!
The best thing of all is to never become fat at all (good luck). It takes us while to put on all of that weight. We put it on one pound at a time. Why think you can get rid of it safely any (much) faster than that?
Just keep at it and you will succeed.