What are the benefits and negatives of dropping weight to fast?

[-Aaron-]

Let's discuss this.

The last topic I read was "Stop telling people you can't lose 20 lbs in a month." so that gave me the idea to start this.

[Cherry]

Negative:
Depending on your size, if you drop weight too fast the skin will not retract and you'll have saggy empty skin.

Benefit:
If it's May and you just realized you can't fit into a bikini, you can look decent by June. Not that I'd... ahhh... know anything about that warped thinking, of course.

[-Aaron-]

Negative:
Depending on your size, if you drop weight too fast the skin will not retract and you'll have saggy empty skin.

Benefit:
If it's May and you just realized you can't fit into a bikini, you can look decent by June. Not that I'd... ahhh... know anything about that warped thinking, of course.

Very good points, except the Benefit you listed.

Somehow, I think you knew that though.

[ceno]

this is a bodybuilding site, here we try to keep the hard earned muscle mass while losing the FAT...

if you try lose 20lb in a month, you will be losing muscle, water and some fat...

the idea is to keep the muscle....

otherwise, at the end you'll still look fat...skinny fat with no muscle.....

and in my book its worse than being overweight....

[TheKansan]

At the size I started at (475 pounds) the loose skin issue would affect me regardless of how fast I lost.

I think the only negative that I am concerned with is the loss of muscle mass. I know that at the rate I am losing, I am losing some muscle mass. I wouldn't reccommend what I am doing to someone under 300 pounds.

[jason1052004]

the idea is to keep the muscle....

x2 - You lose weight too fast, and that means your nutrition is not where it should be, and you will lose muscle. Muscle burns fat, so while in the short run it might sound nice to lose the weight quickly, you will be better off taking your time, and going slowly.

Severely obese people I would say can lose weight more quickly since I believe the first goal is to get them out of the obese stage as quickly as possible before worrying about muscle mass. So you can break some rules, and not be as concerned about muscle loss.

Somebody just starting out on a diet could lose 20 pounds in a month, and not be unhealthy. Just by a change in diet (cutting out sugar, excess sodium, etc.) you can lose 2-3lbs a week in fat plus probably several pounds through the month in excess water weight making your total weight lost at months end 20lbs. This would not continue however since your water weight would come into balance, and then you'd be left with just losing fat, and things would slow down.

[Whingman]

I think it really depend son a number of factors...IMHO a big one is how much muscle you are carrying around to start with...I ended up dropping around 60 pounds in a short period of time (4 months give or take). But I had already been working out for a fairly long time...and after I stopped loosing weight...I simply adjusted my calories up a bit...I never returned to eating anything close to the amounts I did...when I was at 225. Which might explain the rapid weightloss....there was less food in my system when I stepped on the scale.

What we need to focus on is the fact that alot of people that ask for adice, need good advice. They are new to bodybuilding, they haven't been working out for a long time, they do not have alot of muscle and cannot afford to loose that muscle...it is an important ally in the weightloss process. We shouldn't treat it like a suicide bomber in the war against obesity.

Obviously other factors include your metabolism...by dropping weight to fast you most likely will dramatically slow it down...and you don't want to do that as it will make it even harder to accomplish your ultimate goal.

Of course there are some people that maybe very heavy I am thinking 350+, in which case loosing an average of 5 pounds a week for the first month or two...will not be a big issue...and probabley should be expected due to the dramatic changes they are expirencing. Obviously the 2 pounds a week thing does not apply equally to everyone...because not everyone is equal.

[heathershubby]

IMHO the skin is an issue. The other thing is that if you lose a lot of weight fast when you hit a platue before you get to your target weight it will be extreamly discouraging and harder to handle. As for losing weight and at what rate everyone is different and because you lose some weight fast at the start does not mean you are losing muscle. The first day I started dieting this is what I ate.

1) 2pcks oatmeal 5 egg whites 1 egg

2)same as above

3)can of tuna, apple and orange

4) same as above

5) chicken breast potato and 1 cup mixed vegg

6) same as above

7) 1 cup cottage cheese and a glass of skim milk

After the first day I was 14 lbs lighter thats 14lbs in one day and I know I didnt lose any muscle or not much at least.

[sartreroquentin]

youll look thinner behind clothing but without you will not

[ewitte]

Can't say I'm working my ass off to get 1lb/week. This week for instance 2400-2500C/day average, about 5 hours total cardio, 3 day weights and EC stack. I lost pretty quickly before but my eating wasn't anywhere near as clean (way too little too) and I'm using BCAAs like crack.

[Finnegan Bell]

I lost 6.6 lbs in the last two weeks,so I increased my calories to lose less!!

[DJohnson]

Primarily addressing PSMFs and the Velocity diet and the like...

Negatives off the top of my head of losing weight too fast:
- Massive production of fat storing enzymes, upon returning to regular calories nutrient partitioning will drastically be towards fat. This can cause muscle loss and fat gain even in a calorie surplus.
- High cortisol levels, low insulin over the long term causing muscle loss even with high protein intake
- Proper diet never learned, psychologically deprived state can easily cause a massive rebound and then some (this is the exact reason why 95% of diets fail)
- Metabolism lowered by as much as 30%, very long process to get back up. The "Get Shredded Diet" from T-Nation is a very intense regime, and they recommend a 6-12 week "diet" to get back to normal... why not just cut for 10-16 weeks instead of doing 4 weeks and a 6-12 week diet just so you don't gain it all back?
- Without carb ups your thyroid production will suck and therefore your metabolism will be lowered.
- You'll be really sensitive to carbs afterwards. Once again this takes a long time to adapt back.

Pros:
- You'll be at least temporarily leaner than someone who does it slowly.

[-Aaron-]

Negatives off the top of my head of losing weight too fast:
- Massive production of fat storing enzymes, upon returning to regular calories nutrient partitioning will drastically be towards fat. This can cause muscle less and fat gain even in a calorie surplus.
- High cortisol levels, low insulin over the long term causing muscle loss even with high protein intake
- Proper diet never learned, psychologically deprived state can easily cause a massive rebound and then some (this is the exact reason why 95% of diets fail)
- Metabolism lowered by as much as 30%, very long process to get back up. The "Get Shredded Diet" from T-Nation is a very intense regime, and they recommend a 6-12 week "diet" to get back to normal... why not just cut for 10-16 weeks instead of doing 4 weeks and a 6-12 week diet just so you don't gain it all back?
- Without carb ups your thyroid production will suck and therefore your metabolism will be lowered.
- You'll be really sensitive to carbs afterwards. Once again this takes a long time to adapt back.

Pros:
- You'll be at least temporarily leaner than someone who does it slowly.

Great points. I've always respected you as an inspiration to me, and others.

[NeedToBeBig]

Pros -

you'll have a lot of extra skin to hide under because obviously you're scared to death of muscles

Cons -

you'll have alot of extra skin.... and no muscles to protect yourself with

[dillingerescp]

Let's discuss this.

The last topic I read was "Stop telling people you can't lose 20 lbs in a month." so that gave me the idea to start this.

Well... If you are incredibly overweight, its expected to lose over 20 lbs. in a month, and thats great.

If however, I lost 20 lbs. in a month ... I think that would mean Id be dying, or incredibly sick...

If you are losing that much and you have less than 15% BF, then you are losing muscle along with it, and that is never good.

Although if you're over 15% BF, youre still losing muscle, but at that point, your main goal above everything should be to weigh less for your heart.

Also, if youre dropping weight too fast, that means you are in a severe calorie deficit, and you are starving your body of essential nutrients it needs, and I fail to see how that is healthy at all.

[cawiau]

Did you guys also take into consideration the starting weight of the person?

Someone 300lbs and up can easily lose 20 lbs the first month they start working out. It get the more the difficult the month afterwards but first month should be a peace of cake.

Pros :
--> Mental booster
-->Motivation

Cons :
--> Lose muscle
--> Extra loose skin

[NeedToBeBig]

good point cawiau, I agree that if you have alot of fat to lose the numbers will be higher in terms of lose in direct correlation to the numbers in weight, both will get smaller as the cut goes on

[W.I.N.]

I experienced that skin problem, I was 13 and didn't know it was wrong, so I starved till I lost some fat(I don't even remember the moments I starved it's just I know I did that), now I'm 17 and I just ****ing hate my skin and how idiot I was damn... I'm on a cutting diet but I don't really know if it's gonna work because of skin, I'm not that fat and my skin is not that bad, but it's still not normal... you can look forward for some pics when I get me a camera hehe

[Ibballard]

Pros:
You can fit into girls pants
You'll save a lot of money on food
You'll be better able to relate to girls with eating disorders
The cops will believe you're speeding because you need to get to the doctor
You'll save hours of time you would have spent on the toilet
For Halloween you can shave your head and be a chemo patient


Cons:
Deadlifting the curl bar will seem like a reasonable goal
Getting beaten up by the local bully... of the elementary school
Eating your own flesh starts to seem like a good idea
Having a slice of lemon in your water starts to seem like a cheat
Your tapeworm will starve to death, and then you'll need a new pet

[yioti]

^^^lol from the elementary school

[ironraider52]

i would think that the only realy positive side effect, is that u get to eat more food when u lose the weight faster...but then again i guess u would just gain it all back.

[-Aaron-]

i would think that the only realy positive side effect, is that u get to eat more food when u lose the weight faster...but then again i guess u would just gain it all back.

How would you gain it all back? I know this happens, with self control, can't you avoid it?

[TheKansan]

Primarily addressing PSMFs and the Velocity diet and the like...

Negatives off the top of my head of losing weight too fast:
- Massive production of fat storing enzymes, upon returning to regular calories nutrient partitioning will drastically be towards fat. This can cause muscle loss and fat gain even in a calorie surplus.

First of all why is it assumed that the person will ever return to "regular calories"? If the person goes back to old eating habits they will gain the weight back. If the person keeps a healthy diet, there is nothing to prove that they will suddenly gain fat.

- High cortisol levels, low insulin over the long term causing muscle loss even with high protein intake

I'm not quite sure why cortisol levels would increase, and I highly doubt that a proper diet even at a slightly higher deficit, would result in hyperglycemia. Just as an example my blood sugar has gotten much lower since I decided to change my life

- Proper diet never learned, psychologically deprived state can easily cause a massive rebound and then some (this is the exact reason why 95% of diets fail)

This may be true of fad diets like the Low Carb diet and Velocity diet, but simply eating at a higher deficit still teaches a person the kind of foods needed to live a healthy lifestyle. When that person decides they want to maintain their weight, they still have to maintain their activity level and watch what they eat.

- Metabolism lowered by as much as 30%, very long process to get back up. The "Get Shredded Diet" from T-Nation is a very intense regime, and they recommend a 6-12 week "diet" to get back to normal... why not just cut for 10-16 weeks instead of doing 4 weeks and a 6-12 week diet just so you don't gain it all back?

As you stated, the effects on the metabolism are short term overall. Would it not be safe to assume that for a person who is 150+ pounds overweight, it would be well worth a 6-12 week time period to reset your metabolism, especially when issues like hyperglycemia and hypertension are putting your very life at risk?

- Without carb ups your thyroid production will suck and therefore your metabolism will be lowered.
- You'll be really sensitive to carbs afterwards. Once again this takes a long time to adapt back.

You are assuming that a person is doing a low or no carb diet. This only applies to those such diets

Pros:
- You'll be at least temporarily leaner than someone who does it slowly.

Pros:

-Motivation to keep going is much greater when you lose weight at a faster speed. The thought of taking 5 years to lose the weight that I had to lose was enough to make me give up immediately. That would mean that I would have to spend the next 5 years as an obese man still facing the stereotypes, still having to buy my clothes in special shops, still not repected and seen as lazy, still unable to get a decent job, etc. That was unacceptable in my mind.