Losing a Pound a Day

[TooFatTooQuit]

Hi, I'm new here and I can't find any information for someone that is like me. I think I'm in a very unique situation.

I am male, 5'11, 260 lbs, 31 years old. I have always been heavy since I was a little kid. In highschool I weighed 275 lbs.

Before COVID I was treadmill running every day, my weight was down to 240 lbs and I was running 10 miles in 2 hours every day. Once a week I would run until I couldn't anymore to see my limit. My max distance was 17 miles in 3.5 hours. When COVID hit I gained 50 lbs in probably a year.

In 2022 I was able to get down to 215 lbs. I then moved to a different state, new, job, new life, new stresses and I gained 45 lbs in a a year and a half.

Here I am at the end of 2023 weighing 260 lbs. I decided to start exercising as my new year goal. In just 3 days I have been able to do 2 workouts a day each lasting 90 minutes. Each session burns around 1400 calories.

I did a Dexa scan before starting to exercise and I am 50% body fat with a Resting Metabolic Rate of 1900 calories.

Now here is my. If I'm able to burn close to 2800 calories with exercise alone and then lower my calorie intake to only about 1500 calories and make sure most of that is coming from protein. That's a total of a 3200 calorie deficit daily, which is close to a pound of fat which is 3500 calories. Would it be safe for me to lose a pound a day for a month, bringing me down to 230 lbs.

Thank you guys for taking the time to read my post.

[xsquid99]

Ignore whatever electronic device told you that you're burning 1400 calories from 90 minutes of exercise, that's probably double the real number. And what you're proposing is well into the depths of what we would consider extreme weight loss, which is not usually a good idea as its generally not safe nor sustainable.

Stop trying to do everything so fast and adopt some healthy long term sustainable exercise and eating habits, because what you've done so far has done nothing but proven to fail. This isn't a "I'm going to do this until I reach my goal weight and then stop" kind of thing, that manner of thinking got you precisely where you are now. You need diet and exercise habits that you can do every day for the rest of your life.

A rate of loss of about 1% of your bodyweight per week is right in the sweet spot. Initially you may see some much faster weight loss due to shedding water weight the first couple weeks.

[Tommy W.]

A) You re burning far fewer calories through exercise than you think

B) You'd need a calorie deficit of 3,500 calories a day for weeks on end which means that your TDEE would be around 5,500 calories a day which is highly doubtful.

Aim for around 1.5-2 lbs a week and Be weight training on a proven Beginners program. Once you achieve your goal weight you'll then have the challenge of not regaining the weight which can be harder than losing the fat. Once you're at your goal weight you can't consider it "job done" and go back to your old eating habits.

[air2fakie]

I think I'm in a very unique situation.

You situation sounds very typical.

[faithbrah]

Ignore whatever electronic device told you that you're burning 1400 calories from 90 minutes of exercise, that's probably double the real number. And what you're proposing is well into the depths of what we would consider extreme weight loss, which is not usually a good idea as its generally not safe nor sustainable.

Stop trying to do everything so fast and adopt some healthy long term sustainable exercise and eating habits, because what you've done so far has done nothing but proven to fail. This isn't a "I'm going to do this until I reach my goal weight and then stop" kind of thing, that manner of thinking got you precisely where you are now. You need diet and exercise habits that you can do every day for the rest of your life.

A rate of loss of about 1% of your bodyweight per week is right in the sweet spot. Initially you may see some much faster weight loss due to shedding water weight the first couple weeks.

OP, read the bolded part multiple times. your weight is yo-yoing because you end up ditching your unsustainable(?) plan for at least a year when something happens in your life

[kimnancy]

Hi! It's awesome that you're motivated to make changes. However, losing a pound a day might be too fast and not healthy. Aim for 1-2 pounds per week for safe results. Consult a professional for personalized advice. Good luck on your journey!

[Brentconroy]

Its a possible to Losing a Pound In a Day

[TPlain37]

If you are legitimately losing 1 lb. per day OP, I tell you this out of genuine concern....please re-evaluate your caloric intake, BMR, TDEE, everything. This rate of loss is extremely unhealthy for a number of scientifically proven reasons. Like others have mentioned here, it's also scientifically impossible to achieve that rate of loss per day, water loss weight? Certainly.

[kitkatwizard]

Hi, your situation sounds quite familiar to me and I hope I can give some solid advice. I had a very similar experience and would often hit plateaus with losing 50 pounds. I was doing hours of cardio every single day and would stay in a caloric deficit yet the progress was extremely slow and the scale wouldn't budge. The problem with relying on cardio to lose fat is your metabolism is extremely flexible and will learn how to adapt in a short amount of time doing so. The only way I could combat that back then was by decreasing my cardio almost completely and focused on resistance training.

Your body does not like burning body fat and you have to trick it by gaining more muscle and speeding up your metabolism by very slowly increasing your caloric intake for weeks and progressive overloading with the resistance training. I know it sounds counterintuitive by saying "You need to increase your calories" but you have a long journey with this program, you'll end up having to cut down to like 1,000 calories which is very unsustainable. This is the importance of doing proper research on reverse dieting combined with resistance training and progressive overloading (progressive overload = progressively increasing the weight you train with over time) then slowly cutting down your calories once you reach a certain point where your metabolism is much faster and you have more muscle.

I had several cycles of building strength and muscle to speed up my metabolism while simultaneously increasing my calories very slowly for weeks and THEN cutting for 2-3 weeks. I would exchange the two as to avoid hitting a plateau or having my metabolism adapt. You can use cardio to lose weight but often times it's extremely difficult, unsustainable, and horrible for a long term plan. If you ever hit a plateau with your training it's usually because your body needs a new stimulus. For more information, I also recommend watching Mind Pump Show. They post a lot of good advice about reverse dieting and resistance training. This is also just my personal experience and I highly recommend doing your own research. I wish you the best of luck in your fitness journey.

[GravelMn]

I've been where you are, more often than I care to admit, and now at 60y/o, I can tell you that fast "weight" loss is not the answer. Focus less on the scale and more on health and body composition. Sure, it is possible to lose a pound a day, for a while, at the start, but usually it is a combination of fat, water and lean tissue. Extreme workouts like 3 hours/day of high intensity, combined with caloric restriction below your BMR, is just asking for major problems, even if you are genetically gifted and/or pharmacologically enhanced. To lose excess fat while maintaining or gaining lean mass, and improving athletic performance you have to balance the triad of hard work, good nutrition and adequate recovery. One thing I notice in the OP is the lack of long-term goals in favor of looking for a quick fix to a recurrent problem. Where do you want to be in a year, five years, twenty? Once you know where you are going, set realistic objectives on how you are going to get there.

[Darkius]

How do your knees survive all that impact? Marathon at 270? How about lose weight on a bicycle first and then run to maintain?

1% per week is for people with decent testosterone levels.The study looked at average muscle gain and fat loss of the group, not commenting on whether any individuals lost most muscle.
Obese people can do 1.5% per week. I'm aiming for 0.7% per week just out of fear of losing muscle, although I am probably 27% body fat. Maybe overkill.

I also read it takes 2 months after starting a program for your testosterone levels to peak. They are lower when you go long without exercise, which means you can't cut as fast or lean bulk as fast when you first return.

[zakandrews398]

For this reason, it’s important to eat healthy fats in moderation and limit saturated and trans-saturated fats.

[zakandrews398]

Fiber moves slowly through the digestive tract and can help you feel fullerTrusted Source for longer to support weight loss.