When you have a significant amount of weight to drop or an imminent deadline (that class reunion really snuck up, huh?), trying to shed unwanted pounds quickly is pretty tempting. Here's what you need to know in order to do effectively and safely!
Medical Center and instructor at Harvard Medical School. So for a man who weighs 225, that would be 22 to 34 pounds. For one who weighs 350, he’s looking at 35 to 53 pounds—at least as a starting point. The bigger guy may also, therefore, drop more pounds in his first few weigh-ins. “Pace of weight loss is highly variable,” Basu says. “In general, though, for those with more weight to lose, initial weight loss can happen more rapidly.”
That first weigh-in may be dramatic. It’s not uncommon to see that scale needle make a satisfying downtick within the first week or two of changing your habits. “Generally the first week, most people can lose several pounds, which is mainly water weight,” says Basu. Why? When you put your body at a calorie deficit (i.e., eat fewer calories than you burn), your body immediately goes to its ready-energy stores of glycogen (basically, a form of sugar) to make up the difference. In the process, water is released. But once the glycogen is depleted and the body figures out it needs another way to find fuel, that’s when the actual weight loss begins.
