Defying law of physics?

Hiervolant

New member
Hi, I’m not an expert at weight lost and I just can’t understand what happen…
I’m a 39yo male. 5ft10. low exercise. 2 month ago, I weight 373 pounds. I lost about 60 pounds in 65 days. I found a solution that work for me, the intermittent fasting. I eat every 2 days. I love that diet and work good for me. I use the RENPHO Bluetooth Body Fat Scale bought on Amazon.
The problem? I stop losing weight. I’m autistic and basically eat the exact same thing every day at the same time. Here is exactly what I eat every 2 days:
Morning: 2 brown bread with peanut butter, 300ml of almond milk with 1 scoop of protein shake.
Afternoon: 3 eggs with 4 cheeses slice (black diamond).
And… That’s it…

My questions: I think I may need approx. 2500 calories per day just to maintain my weight… How it’s possible to lose only 3 pound in 4 week when I’m eating average less than 700 calories per days? (No cheating, I eat always the same thing)

Someone has an explanation cuz I’m completely lost…
Thanks!
 
I don´t know what happened but let´s see: how often do you weigh yourself? Do you have constipation? Have you been very tired, suffered from allergies, or had leg swelling in the past two weeks?
 
I don´t know what happened but let´s see: how often do you weigh yourself? Do you have constipation? Have you been very tired, suffered from allergies, or had leg swelling in the past two weeks?
Weight myself every morning at the same time and same conditions. Not tired, to be honest I have lot more energy since i eat less. No allergy. I go to toilet lot less often but I guess it's because I eat lot less... Other details i forgot, all i drink is Ocean Spray Diet. Maybe 2 to 3 l per day. It's about 80 calories/2l. Also, i often don't lose anything the day i eat nothing... Eat at 17h00pm, eat nothing until next morning, weight myself naked to avoid all cloth weight variable (ex 315pounds) then eat nothing until next morning, weight myself and got 315.2 pounds. How can i gain 0.2 pounds when the only thing entering my mouth is 100 calories of diet juice, and I need 2700+... :rolleyes:. All i can see is water % in my body? Tx for help!
 
How can i gain 0.2 pounds when the only thing entering my mouth is 100 calories of diet juice, and I need 2700+... :rolleyes:. All i can see is water % in my body?
Exactly, water is heavy. Being heavier the morning after a fast isn´t weird, especially if you haven´t pooped. Most people drink more water when they fast. (I hope you drink water as well as the diet drink?)
That´s also very likely the answer to your weight question: you must be retaining water for some reason. If you´re male, not allergic, your diet has been the same all along, you´re not approaching a dangerously low weight, you aren´t suddenly massively constipated, and you aren´t sick or anything I don´t know WHY you´re retaining water but that is the only reasonable answer. The one question you didn´t answer is if your legs swell up a lot, but even if they do that´s usually at its lowest early in the morning. Oh: have you started any kind of exercise or just activity that leaves you sore in the past couple of weeks? Sore muscles generally retain water as well.
 
Welcome to the forum! And congratulations on your weight loss, very impressive.

What you are describing is quite normal weight loss pattern, except that you are losing more than most. As LaMa says water and other things have a lot of impact on our day to day weight. What matters is fat loss, and so long as you are eating 700 calories/day you have to be losing fat, every day and consistently. It may not always be clear from your scale weight, particularly in the short run, but I have no doubt you are losing fat and will see a weight loss to match if you can give it time.

That said 700 calories is pretty low, you need to be sure what you are doing is safe and healthy for you. If you have not spoken to your doctor about this I suggest you do. Anything below about 1,200 calories a day for a man of your age can be a problem. Also you are most likely losing some muscle along with the fat, probably not something you want. Adding to that are the problems of what rapid weight loss does to your metabolism and difficulty in transitioning to maintenance once you reach your goal. My only expertise is based on my own experience. I lost a lot of weight fast, and looking back on it believe I would have been better off losing more slowly. Only you can decide that one, I am only suggesting that you investigate and evaluate your options.

Best of luck to you!
 
I'm counting 1124 calories:
Screenshot_20210703-092033~2.png



The good thing is you've been consistent, so we can estimate that in 65 days you should have consumed 36,530 calories.

1 lb of fat is about 3500 calories
1 lb of lean tissue is about 700 calories.

Since you haven't really been exercising, 20-25% of your lost weight has probably been lean mass so we'll say 13.5lb lean mass (9450 calories) and 46.5 lb fat loss (162,740 calories).

That suggests a calorie deficit of 172,200, to which we can then add back your 36530 calories and come up with 208,720 calories burned in 65 days - or about 3200 calories per day. That's pretty much what the default BMR calculator says is the TDEE for a sedentary male your size:
snapshot_www.calculator.net_1625330677266~2.png
So the laws of physics remain true, you just need to look at the big picture to see through the daily variation.


PS: I agree with everyone else that you're probably eating too few calories and risking metabolic adaptation. In fact, your energy needs today are probably much lower than 3200.
 
Exactly, water is heavy. Being heavier the morning after a fast isn´t weird, especially if you haven´t pooped. Most people drink more water when they fast. (I hope you drink water as well as the diet drink?)
That´s also very likely the answer to your weight question: you must be retaining water for some reason. If you´re male, not allergic, your diet has been the same all along, you´re not approaching a dangerously low weight, you aren´t suddenly massively constipated, and you aren´t sick or anything I don´t know WHY you´re retaining water but that is the only reasonable answer. The one question you didn´t answer is if your legs swell up a lot, but even if they do that´s usually at its lowest early in the morning. Oh: have you started any kind of exercise or just activity that leaves you sore in the past couple of weeks? Sore muscles generally retain water as well.

My legs are normal. My only exercise are dog park 1h (sit and walk) and an 45min dog walk per day. I use to work in a shop but lost my job 6 month ago. Was a medium effort job but with lot of walking, so probably a change in muscle too. I spend most of my day studying online and playing video games so very few exercise. Do you think salt may cause to retain water? Thanks for help!
 
Welcome to the forum! And congratulations on your weight loss, very impressive.

What you are describing is quite normal weight loss pattern, except that you are losing more than most. As LaMa says water and other things have a lot of impact on our day to day weight. What matters is fat loss, and so long as you are eating 700 calories/day you have to be losing fat, every day and consistently. It may not always be clear from your scale weight, particularly in the short run, but I have no doubt you are losing fat and will see a weight loss to match if you can give it time.

That said 700 calories is pretty low, you need to be sure what you are doing is safe and healthy for you. If you have not spoken to your doctor about this I suggest you do. Anything below about 1,200 calories a day for a man of your age can be a problem. Also you are most likely losing some muscle along with the fat, probably not something you want. Adding to that are the problems of what rapid weight loss does to your metabolism and difficulty in transitioning to maintenance once you reach your goal. My only expertise is based on my own experience. I lost a lot of weight fast, and looking back on it believe I would have been better off losing more slowly. Only you can decide that one, I am only suggesting that you investigate and evaluate your options.

Best of luck to you!

Thanks for help! It's average 700 per day but it's approx 1100 to 1300 calories one day and 100 the other day. I'm not an expert but i try to have a good mix carb, fat and proteins. My target was to see doctor at 75 pounds lost but ill call her soon.
 
I'm counting 1124 calories:
View attachment 44774



The good thing is you've been consistent, so we can estimate that in 65 days you should have consumed 36,530 calories.

1 lb of fat is about 3500 calories
1 lb of lean tissue is about 700 calories.

Since you haven't really been exercising, 20-25% of your lost weight has probably been lean mass so we'll say 13.5lb lean mass (9450 calories) and 46.5 lb fat loss (162,740 calories).

That suggests a calorie deficit of 172,200, to which we can then add back your 36530 calories and come up with 208,720 calories burned in 65 days - or about 3200 calories per day. That's pretty much what the default BMR calculator says is the TDEE for a sedentary male your size:
View attachment 44778
So the laws of physics remain true, you just need to look at the big picture to see through the daily variation.


PS: I agree with everyone else that you're probably eating too few calories and risking metabolic adaptation. In fact, your energy needs today are probably much lower than 3200.

"So the laws of physics remain true" on the long run yes, but i just can't understand why i lost 1 pounds every day for 60 days and then 4-5 pounds in 2 week while eating the exact same thing... That part I just don't understand but what people say here is probably true. Water + sore muscle is probably the answer i'm looking for. Thanks!
 
Obviously, though, I'm not an expert but then ...I wish you the best!

Yet there are some helpful, free guide you can point your fingers to that can really help your condition, especially, online. Such as videos, articles, podcasts, newsletters and direct messages and mails in form of consultation you can get from experts.

I only don't know if I can be complying to the rules here by posting a link here which can help.

Fo
 
just can't understand why i lost 1 pounds every day for 60 days and then 4-5 pounds in 2 week while eating the exact same thing...
This is not unusual or unexpected for weight loss. Wish I could give you a better why, but I believe it mostly has to do with water. I have been on maintenance for almost a year, in that time my weight has gone up and down, my lowest was 143, and highest 172, that is a 29 pound range having little to nothing to do with fat gain. There have been times I lost or gained as much as 15 pounds in a week due mostly to water. I think I vary more than most folks, but I am just trying to use my own experience to show you that all weight is not fat. And even though I have been paying attention and trying to figure this out I cannot very accurately predict where my water weight is headed. I suspect I had the same kind of thing when losing weight, and it just showed up, like yours does, as rapid losses followed by plateaus.

You are doing fine, and smart to be watching it, I just suggest you try to be a little less concerned over shorter term changes.
 
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