The Historian wrote:
wrote:

A lot of people say you should not lose more than 2lb a week. I
understand the reasoning.

But in my case I am close to 400lb more than double the weight of an
average person. Surely therefore it is OK for me to lose twice as much
healthily.


Hi Brock,

When I began at 385, I lost 15 pounds in the first two or so weeks. I
had lost 25 by month's end. Until this month, I've managed 10 pounds
lost a month. So yes,a larger person can lose weight more quickly. I
keep having to explain this to the dieting women in my office. :-)

However, there are some possible drawbacks to a rapid weight loss. One
is loose skin. Another, related factor is muscle loss - when you lose
weight you lose some muscle and sinew along with the fat. And there's
the additional stress on your body.

To minimize these concerns, I've been working out, so I am building
muscle while losing.

Actually, it's doubtful you are BUILDING muscle as you lose weight**,
but studies conclusively show that doing resistance training while on a
catabolic (deficit) diet will help to partition the weight loss towards
FAT loss versus a mix of fat and lean.

You typically want to preserve your metabolically active lean body mass:
which includes bone density, organs and muscles (including your heart.)

Resistance training is Pure Gold when you're losing weight. I'd prefer
to see people doing THAT versus cardio workouts if weight loss is their
main goal. (Of course, having decent cardio conditioning is a
reasonable goal, too, so in practice we suggest people exercise most
days of the week, alternating between cardio and resistance training.)

Dally

** There is something called "newbie gains" where you can build muscle
WHILE losing fat, but you only get this magical window once in your
lifetime and it only lasts about 6 months.