Thread: too much to quick?

I'm not sure if I can be a lot of help here or not. . .but the first thing I would say is that you should feel very positive about creating and achieving a goal - though it seems like it happened pretty fast to me, I think a lot has to depend on your age, body type, metabolic rate, and how you combined dieting and other activity. I do know that it's important to structure a program that will help you not only take the weight off but maintain in a healthy manner -
I know that doesn't sound too helpful...I'm sure lots of people here will be able to lend a hand.

Thats pretty wicked fast, I lost about 21 pounds over 2 months or so and I felt that was pretty fast. I lost about 1/4" on my arms in the process though, not too much strength, so I am confident some of that was simply water.

Congratulations on your success thus far. Obviously you have chosen to make a healthy lifestyle change and it is paying off. Every now and then pick up a 30lb. dumbbell and remember that you used to carry that around with you 24/7. It helps put things in perspective.

Your weight loss is REALLY fast which means you are likely burning off muscle tissue as well. You other thread indicated you are at 1200 calories, which is way too little. That's why you are getting the rapid weight loss. Personally I'd start you at about 2000 and go up and down based on weekly progress.

I'll put it to you this way: if your goal is to lose scale pounds and you don't care about your strength or looking good, then continue your path. By now you should be at the point where lifting is important and you are going to want to build some muscle, which you can't do on the diet that you are on. You will look and feel much better in the long run if you lose the weight slowly and change your body composition at the same time, from more fat to more muscle.

Woah, I went down to 2300 calories and alot of people freaked at that, 1200 is starvation.

It's too much weight loss in too short a period of time. I don't mean to rain on your parade but you have succeeded in slowing your metabolism to a crawl. The body doesn't like being starved so it adapts by slowing down all bodily functions. This is the last thing a person in training wants.

You must've also lost alot of muscle along with the fat thereby slowing your metabolism even further. So, basically, now even if you eat less calories than before you will gain weight. I'll wager that you'll put the weight back on within a year.

Plain silly.

I don't mean to rain on your parade but you have succeeded in slowing your metabolism to a crawl.

Nah, not if he's eating five or more times a day, exercising, etc. A 300 calorie minimeal every few hours is good for losing weight, I've found. Also, he's probably going to get used to the way he eats now, he'll need less food to fill up, and in all, he should feel great, there's no reason that he should "gain the weight back", so stop putting him down.

I speak from personal experience. I lost 24-26 pounds of fat in a few months, and I KNOW I could have done it faster if I wanted. Exercise, smaller meals, water... It's really simple.

Congrats, guy! Now, heed the advice of the others on this board, and increase your calorie intake if you want to train muscle.

The mistake was made, but at this point there might be nothing he could do about it except to slow the additional loss of weight, and maybe even ease up on the exercise if he feels a lack of energy. I've heard that eating more times a day speeds your metabolism too, but personally, I would stick to three, which I think is best as a perminant way of eating for a healthy person.

Until not too long ago, I think losing five pounds per week was the typical goal of dieters, and some diet plans still boast about that rate of weight loss. I don't think he's way off on the rate, but he does need more calories. The typical recommendation I've seen after searching Google is "a 6' man of medium build needs between 2000-2500 calories daily."

Im not putting him down. I'm putting down his diet.
Anyone lifting weights and doing cardio on 1200 calories a day will fall flat on their face.

I agree with Vanity. 1200 cal per day is for a man of 120-130 lbs. All science will tell you to drop 500 cal per day/per week until you reach 10 kcal/per lb weight of ideal weight. Dont search for a 6' man. Search for the mid-range weight of a 6' man then determine your cals. Lets say that it is 200lbs. 2000 cals for you each day will drop the weight appropriately.