Tell me why losing 20 lbs a month is not healthy

[Mike28]

While talking with a friend, this came up.

My friend is trying to lose weight, so being the good natured person I am, I sent him this way to learn the ways of the wise. He started talking to me about a diet plan his friend used to great success.

(This kid supposdly lost 20 lbs per month, for 6 months, starting at 350ish)

1200 Kcals a day in 2 meals
Hour of cardio
Hour of lifting

I bout fell out of my chair and told him that was in no way healthy and his friend either lost tons of muscle, or was a complete butterfiend and had no muscle to begin with. He keeps asking me "well, why is it not healthy" and I can't seem to put the right words together.

Anyone?

[Graphite]

How much feet of lose skin does have?

[bigvegan]

At 350 lbs, the weight he's losing is far more important to his overall health than the muscle mass he may be losing at the same time.

The problem with this diet is of course that he is losing muscle mass, and that it's hopelessly unsustainable, as you don't get over 300lbs without having some pretty serious emotional attachments to food.

If your friend's friend can stay at 240 or below for any length of time, then he'll be okay.

However, high-speed weight loss is usually unsustainable, and rapid massive weight fluctuations aren't very good for your heart.

The real problem is how frustrated that guy is going to be once he tries to start eating regularly. Earlier this year, I went from 300+ lbs to 220, and then as soon as I found myself under stress, the eating picked up again, and now I've gained back about 40+lbs.

The real problem is not just that the high-speed weight loss is unhealthy, it's that it's almost impossible to maintain the loss at the end of the diet.

It's hard to get over the feeling that "I'm at my goal weight, now I can start eating regularly again."

For me, I've just got to admit that I need to change my eating habits on a permanent basis.

If you're really trying to convince your buddy to lose weight sanely, just tell him that much of the weight he's losing will be water weight and muscle mass if he doesn't diet properly, and the weight will come back within a month or two once he gets done.

Crash diets are addictive, because they do take weight off quickly. The problem is that it doesn't stay off, which is very frustrating.

[Matadon]

Tell your buddy that I've got a great diet -- you go to the ATM and withdrawl whatever it will give you. You then weigh yourself. After that, you put all the money in your wallet in an envelope and mail it to me, then weigh yourself again -- you will have lost weight! Now, the trick is, keep doing this whenever you have money; not only will the exercise of running between the ATM and post office be beneficial, but you'll eat zero calories per day, because you won't have any food.

[Superdude87]

Originally posted by Matadon
Tell your buddy that I've got a great diet -- you go to the ATM and withdrawl whatever it will give you. You then weigh yourself. After that, you put all the money in your wallet in an envelope and mail it to me, then weigh yourself again -- you will have lost weight! Now, the trick is, keep doing this whenever you have money; not only will the exercise of running between the ATM and post office be beneficial, but you'll eat zero calories per day, because you won't have any food.

Solid advice.

[taffer]

say bye bye to any muscle he once had... theres nothing worse than cutting down to a skeleton, then having to take twice as long to bulk back up, and because you havent learnt any good habits on the starvation diet, you end up eating kfc for protein! get fat again

[Bily Lovec]

hummmm
one lb = 3500 Kcals....
20 lbs - 70,000 kclals..

70,000 / 30 days in a month =
2,333 Kcal deficite a DAY ~!~

your friend will have to go to a pretty serious deficite to drop that kinda weight...

[bakers11]

He is on the Romac diet!

[fatstripper]

its not just unhealthy but not very effective in the long run. If you lose a lot of weight your body wont re-set its 'set point'. this means when you go back to eating regular amount of calories you will weight back on.

A slow losing of weight will allow your body to change its set-point and and so not seek to put any weight back on once you have finished dieting. this is the permanent option.

[CKD4me]

I don't know, I went from 267 to 247 in about 3 weeks w/ the CKD diet, I feel great, and if anything, it looks like I gained muscle (though I don't think I did) as I can see better separation between my delts, traps, and pecs I'm 5'10", currently 20 years old, and started weight lifting when I was 14, and sine then, have been doing so on and off, and finally decided it was time to stop looking "stocky" or bulky, and get lean/cut! So I'm working at it!

I eat/use flaxseed oil, tuna, tuna, tuna, water, water, water, eggs, w/ a side of eggs, lean turkey, etc. and try to eat enough celery, brocolli, sesame oil, canola oil, whey protein, creatine (just started w/ it), dextrose in my PWO shake, etc.

[on1tyr]

What is more unhealthy? Maintaining 350lbs, or losing 20lb/month?

People give me the same grief. I lost ~50lbs in 3 months (~305-255). Granted, I leveled out and am losing more slowly now, but I don't have any loose skin. Hell, I still have a gut.

At least he's doing something.

[Slide]

When you're obese and go on a good regimen of diet and exercise, it's not uncommon to lose a lot of weight.

If he weights 350 pounds, his maintenance calorie intake is 3500 calories. Eating a 2kcal diet would easily result in fat loss. It's basically like an equilibrium problem. When he starts getting to a healthier weight, he'll find it will be much harder to lose the weight.

[bkman4]

When you are that obese, it is important to loose it. The 2lb a week thing is not for obese people. What everyone else said is correct, a crash diet will eventually stop working and he will have to do better. If he is not dedicated he will gain it back. Fluctuations of obese/not are worse for your heart than being fat or skinny.

[bkman4]

When you are that obese, it is important to loose it. The 2lb a week thing is not for obese people. What everyone else said is correct, a crash diet will eventually stop working and he will have to do better. If he is not dedicated he will gain it back. Fluctuations of obese/not are worse for your heart than being fat or skinny.