To think a person losing a stone in a week is impossible

[User566112]

I’ve just read that a friend has apparently lost that surely it’s impossible. She’s overweight by about five stone I would say.

Agree with PP - it is possible to see such a dramatic shift in the scales, but alot is water related and reflects how radically you alter your diet and lifestyle.

Funnily enough on March 8th I stood on my scales after a long period, including lockdowns of being extremely unhealthy, and tipped over the 14 stone mark to 14 - 2. Enough was enough. My "fighting weight" was always between 9 and 10 stone and I'd been denial about the creep due to alcohol consumption, takeaways etc, and at 52 was in denial about my fast and furious menopause with all the implications of that.

So I did a three day water fast, and since then have been eating one meal a day, early evening, ketogenic so meat, fish egg dishes with permitted veggies, and in the first week I was down ten pounds. Also no alcohol and no wheat or dairy as I suspect I'm a bit intolerant (IBS since 25). So yeas, lots of water weight.

It's slowed / stalled since then, but I feel so much better overall I don't really mind if it's a gradual process now - today at end of fourth week, I'm solidly at 13 - 2 after going up and down between that and 13-7.

I'm not saying this would work for everyone, but I'm a creature of extremes so don't come for me and I'm fortunate to have no risky underlying health issues.

So yes, it can be done depending on how restricted the diet is.

You're friends? Why would you assume she's lying?

Definitely possible especially if she’s that overweight but it won’t be all fat and a lot of water weight.

I’ve managed to lose 10 pounds before from juice fasting when I was approx 1 stone over weight but I put 6 of it back on once I started eating solids.

I’ve also lost 15 pounds before from a stomach bug which lasted 3 days. I think I kept about 4 pounds of it off.

It's very possible. I've lost 16lbs in a week before. The first week you'll lose the most weight as a lot of it is water.
If you're overweight to begin with, the first few pounds are easier to shift.

My dad lost that much in a week. It’s definitely possible.

Agree with everyone else! Definitely possibly if restricting calories and very low carb, and you start off with 5st to lose. But - it’s mainly water. Not a bad thing though, as long as you’re realistic that it won’t happen every week, in can give a really motivating initial boost when you have a lot to lose.

Maybe be pleased she’s made a start (even if she was exaggerating) rather than suspicious?

Yes, definitely possible. Her weight loss should even out over time though.

I lost 13lbs in a week during a gallbladder attack.

The first week / first stone is possible at that weight, just about. A lot will be water though.

I managed to lose 1 stone in a week before my wedding using the cabbage soup diet. It’s what they use for cardiac surgery patients to drop weight pre-op. It’s not very well liked online and general consensus is that you are losing mostly water so it goes back on after but I had a sample dress I had to fit into so if done correctly I would say it’s good for short term loss but not sustainable longer term.

I did. Most of it was probably water weight though.

Cryptosporidium- definitely possible.

I saw it happen a lot in the days when I used to do ww. Usually was a man or very overweight woman. The weight loss slowed down drastically after the first couple of weeks.

I lost 15 pounds in a week on the James Duncan diet as a PP mentioned. Like your friend, I was 5 stone overweight at the time. Was under no illusions it was all fat, at that speed it must have been mostly water, but I did it to kickstart myself. I then went onto a calorie counting and lost an average of 2 pounds a week after that, at most 4 pounds. I was also exercising a lot. Possible, but onto for those weighing a certain amount.

Definitely possible. My mum lost 3 times that in a couple of weeks but she was in hospital and it was fluid

It sounds like a lot but surely is relative to how much they had to lose.

It is strange that you are questioning a friend's weight loss though.

I lost stone and half in a day, turns out amniotic fluid and placenta weigh quite a bit...and then there was 10 pounds of DD!

If you chop your leg off you could lose a good couple of stone in an hour or two!

Its possible for the scales to be 1 st different at the start of the week to the end, but it will not be 1st of fat loss. It will be a combination of water weight, fat loss and maybe a big shit.

My ex friend lost a stone on her first week at slimming world

@ListeningQuietly

Norovirus.

No problem.

Amputation. No problem.

Of course it’s possible. Some people just tend to lose more weight easily, but then also tend to put it on more easily.

Our bodies are all different. I’ve lost 12lbs in a week before doing the Cambridge diet and I was 4 stone overweight at the time. Unfortunately regained it all pretty quickly when I fell off the wagon!

I lost 7.5kg in a week after having DS. Breastfeeding round the clock!

@TotorosFurryBehind

I lost stone and half in a day, turns out amniotic fluid and placenta weigh quite a bit...and then there was 10 pounds of DD!

Yup, my most successful weight loss days involved babies

Yep, happened quite regularly at WW when I used to go, I actually lost 12.5 lbs in my first week but again, it wasn't fat. I did have 10 stone to lose tho (and I lost it and a bit more). Averaged around 3 lbs per week after that

Assuming VLcarb diet...

Is (now 4 stone overweight) person likely to lose another 1 stone in week 2 -- after all the water weight went off in week 1?

OP: was this an after one-week report or something your friend says is happening every week since weeks ago started?