why do people say that loosing 40 pounds in a month or 2 is impossible?

Question

i weighed about 180 pounds a month and a half ago
and now i weigh 140 pounds im male and 5'5 or 5'4 and im 15
i eat about 1500-2000 calories a day and weight lift bout 3 or 4 times a week and i drink alot of protein shakes and eat protein bars or meal replacement bars
so
why do people say its impossible if i just did it? lol
and iknow im not loosing muscle mass cuz i can tell nothing has shrunk ive actually gotten stronger and bigger (just incase someone said that)

im american...

my doc sed im healthy
just saw him the other day for a check up or watever

i take centrum performance every day
thats my vitamins lol

Answer 1

It's not impossible to lose 40 pounds on the scale in a month and a half, what's impossible to lose is 40 pounds of bodyfat in a month in a half. Even with the most ideal conditions, the maximum bodyfat anyone can lose is about two pounds per week, that's just human biology. Any more than that and you're losing water and muscle tissue as well.

I suggest getting your bodyfat tested using reliable and accurate means (hand calipers are generally the best for this, not electrolysis scales or BMI) and do that about once a week to track results. That's the true test of health - males with a bodyfat under 20% is generally considered healthy. Bodyfat percentage will always be a much better indicator than scale weight.

Answer 2

It's not impossible, just not very healthy. You may not lose all 40 pounds, but I dropped a lot of weight quickly by running stairs. My apt was on the 6th floor of a bldg and our elevator was broken. I dropped about 10 pounds in one month. Then I swam for an hour a day, and did 1/2 hour cardio and 1/2 hour weight training. EVERY DAY and I dropped another 50 in like 3.5 months. But it was hard to keep up. Unless someone is paying you to work out that much, it's hard to find the time. As for food, eat lots and lots and lots of raw veggies and fruits, with no toppings. Also eat lowfat dairy (cheese, milk, yogurt) and lean protein (eggs, chicken, fish - not fried, broiled or baked and again, no toppings). NO soda, NO candy, NO chips, NO fast food, NO sweets at all. You can do it. it just sucks. I'm at a 'can't do it' point myself. Just don't want to give up the food or take up the exercise.

Answer 3

This isn't impossible, but it isn't something you will see happening for a long time. If you were previously eating 4000 (I am assuming a number) calories a day, and now you eat 2000 a day you are pretty much cutting 2000 calories from your diet everyday. It takes 3500 calories to make up 1 pound. And if you are adding exercise on top of that then you are burning additional calories. So losing almost a pound a day isn't totally crazy. Plus in the beginning you are losing a lot of water weight, which will make for a dramatic weight loss.

It is healthy to try to lose 1-2 pound a week though, which you will probably start seeing after your body figures itself out.

Answer 4

It isn't that it isn't possible, it just isn't very smart. When you lose 1-3 pounds a week it means that you are changing your lifestyle and losing weight at a safe rate for your body. Your body is still able to fight off disease and is better protected from germs and viruses.

The longer it takes you to lose the weight the better chance you have of keeping it off.

It took me over a year to go from a size 18/20 to a size 7/9. I am a woman and am grateful that I took the time to change my lifestyle. I will be around a lot longer just like the new habits that I learned.

Good luck and please take care of yourself!

Answer 5

I....think ....I...just answered 2 one of u'r ? before.....w/this one which is more complet ....I....can say that alll that: protein, bars, etc. r increasing u'r ..."APETIT"....& "U"ll end-up eating more w/o knowing; once u stop doing exercise u'll get fat over nite & then will be v.v.difficult 2 take it off again. So just eat properly as I said 1LB.of food/day & stop w/the "BUST".
"YES" any body can loos 4-40-400pounds in a month w/ diet or starving...."BUT"...keeping that way it is v.difficult......

Answer 6

That's like losing more than 1 pound per day for a month which is crazy.

Answer 7

10lb of that was probably water weight and another 10lb was probably muscle. So perhaps you lost 20lb of fat which seems about right.

Answer 8

just kept your diet balanced you may need vitamins. if you get sick remember less fat less long term body fat need to eat more often

Answer 9

because they're American.

sorry

congratulations