How much of this loss will be water, do you think?

[WellTidy]

I’ve lost 5lb in two weeks, I have just under two stone more to lose before I’d have a BMI of 22.

I’m 45, if that makes a difference, been eating pretty healthily and doing moderate exercise (a new thing for me, despite it being moderate).

Hard to say as depends on what kind of diet you've been following and whether you started off in water retention/bloated mode as many of us did following Christmas but I would say at least a lb or 2, possibly more of that is probably 'genuine' fat loss so well done you, that is a great starting loss and must be really motivating.

I will say don't be disheartened if your weight loss goes more in fits and starts, sometimes you may not lose anything in a week, other times you may lose a few pounds at once without any obvious rhyme or reason in terms of what you've eaten or exercise you've done. It would be so much easier to lose weight psychologically if the weight loss followed a linear pattern and directly responded in an 'eat less lose more' kind of way but sadly our metabolisms don't play ball, your body will tend to go more 'oh no i'm getting less food, famine is here better hold onto this fat store for a while', 'oh OK I've had less food for weeks now, better burn off some fat...' repeat etc. Also as you get closer to target weight, sadly the weight loss will slow even more, the less fat your body has 'spare' the more reluctant it will be to lose it which is a bit of a PITA...

As long as it’s not all water, I will take it! I am absolutely going to keep going, as I really need to lose this weight. Im eating less, moving more. I haven’t ruled out any foods, but making better choices and, for example, just having a very small slice of birthday cake rather than a large chunk. Having one drink at weekends. I’m not expecting an average of 2 1/2lb a week loss, I would just like to not put on any more weight if I am not actively losing!

1 to 2 lbs is usually water for me