Ringing up more than a 7,000-calorie deficit in a week...?

Question

In Men's Health Mag, there's an article by an overweight guy who quit his job, dumped his girlfriend, and started working out constantly all in an attempt to overhaul his young (25 yrs old) life. This is a little extreme, but makes for a good story.

Anyway, in the article he says he was careful not to run up more than a 7,000-calorie deficit (or 2lbs of fat) in any given week because the body will freak out.

Could somebody better define "freak out"? I'm planning to take a week off from my desk job to just workout and jumpstart my metabolism again. I've been eating healthy the past year and a half, but I'm not a huge calorie counter to know exactly what my intake is nor do I care to keep track of the calories I'm burning. However, I do care that my body doesn't freak out and would like to understand the physical warning signs before I reach that point. After this week of excercise I plan to continue by building the habit of working out at least 3 times per week.

Answer 1

your body does not freak out,he is reacting to the theory that more than two pounds of weight loss a week is unhealthy and will result in loss of tissues you would Rather not lose and a decrease in bone density.there is a lot of truth in this but the two lb figure is highly arbitrary.most of the weight loss folklore that reaches us is created by women's magazines and targets middle sized women with flabby thighs that need to lose maybe 20 lbs.a large man is quite comfortable and capable of losing 4 or 5 lbs a week.2% of total body weight is not a bad guide.

Answer 2

Probably your body will "freak out" because of such an immediate change. That's 2 lbs. of weight loss in one week! The best way is to take it nice and slow.