what is a safe weight loss per week?

[PiPi84]

How much weight is considered safe to lose per week?

[Jose123]

My experience has been a pound a week. This is what has worked for me.
Sent from my iPad

[Heybales]

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@SunsetRunner wrote:
Everyone is unique. I can lose 5lbs a week without issues

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5 lbs of what?

With enough self-control, anyone could lose 5 lbs of weight.

Most want to lose only fat weight, even if they aren't aware of losing muscle mass.

If your eating deficit to a good honest daily burn isn't 2500 calories - got some bad news as to what lots of your weight lost is. 

[Knowledge]

I really don't think its fair to say that if you lose more than 2 lbs per week you will lose mostly muscle mass. Studies have proven that if someone goes on a low-carb diet for example they can easily lose 4+ lbs per week with 90% being from fat.

For example, I have been on a low-carb diet since January 3rd. I have lost 57 lbs to date in 12 weeks. That is roughly 4.75 lbs/week. My starting lean body mass was 167 lbs and it is now at 171 lbs as I do strength straining 3x a week in addition to my cardio routine. Yes I gained muscle rather than lost it. You could argue I lost muscle mass and gained water weight but I can lift a lot more than I did in January so I highly doubt that. I eat 1300-2000 calories a day and end up with an average 2500 calorie deficit depending on the day. That comes down to my average of 5 lbs per week weight loss.

Ironically I am full at my 1500 daily calories and don't feel like I am ever starving myself. Why eat more if I am full? My body is losing weight well and my muscle is not going away. I am getting stronger and able to lift more weights than I did 3 months ago.

If I didn't strength train I would probably guess I would have lost muscle mass rather than have gained muscle mass. But you can't tell me that having been 306 lbs and 45% body fat in January compared to 249 lbs and 31% body fat now that I am less healthy than I was back in January? Of the 57 lbs I lost I gained 4 lbs muscle mass and burned off 61 lbs of fat. I think that is a success and it didn't at all follow the "healthy recommendation of 1-2 lbs/week"

[Heybales]

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@Knowledge wrote:

I really don't think its fair to say that if you lose more than 2 lbs per week you will lose mostly muscle mass. Studies have proven that if someone goes on a low-carb diet for example they can easily lose 4+ lbs per week with 90% being from fat.

For example, I have been on a low-carb diet since January 3rd. I have lost 57 lbs to date in 12 weeks. That is roughly 4.75 lbs/week. My starting lean body mass was 167 lbs and it is now at 171 lbs as I do strength straining 3x a week in addition to my cardio routine. Yes I gained muscle rather than lost it. You could argue I lost muscle mass and gained water weight but I can lift a lot more than I did in January so I highly doubt that. I eat 1300-2000 calories a day and end up with an average 2500 calorie deficit depending on the day. That comes down to my average of 5 lbs per week weight loss.

Ironically I am full at my 1500 daily calories and don't feel like I am ever starving myself. Why eat more if I am full? My body is losing weight well and my muscle is not going away. I am getting stronger and able to lift more weights than I did 3 months ago.

If I didn't strength train I would probably guess I would have lost muscle mass rather than have gained muscle mass. But you can't tell me that having been 306 lbs and 45% body fat in January compared to 249 lbs and 31% body fat now that I am less healthy than I was back in January? Of the 57 lbs I lost I gained 4 lbs muscle mass and burned off 61 lbs of fat. I think that is a success and it didn't at all follow the "healthy recommendation of 1-2 lbs/week"

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Some are genetically gifted, but you'll rarely find that in studies, even with extreme deficits and lifting, some LBM is lost.

And there is a difference between what scales attempt to read as LBM (Lean Body Mass) and the muscle mass which is merely a part of that. You easily gained water weight which is part of LBM when you started lifting, more carbs stored for the workload, and more water retained for repair.

And that's IF the scale or skinfold was even that accurate, which they aren't.

Just as there is a big difference between increasing strength and muscle size without actually gaining more muscle, you tap out existing muscle first before you add more, which 3-6 months is about right for newbies and a progressive lifting program. You may indeed have even added muscle if you tapped it out and have enough fat to spare, perhaps 1 lb gain every 4-6 weeks if that happened.

The amount of strength you can gain from full CNS (Central Nervous System) engagement and improving form is surprising to many people, it can be a lot.

But soon enough you'll notice that deficit will interfere with your progress, 3 months is short, but keep at it.

At some point your progress on the bar and the amount to lose will be a battle of priority.

Great weight loss so far though, keep it up.

Curious, has squats or deadlifts gone up over 57 lbs on the bar?

If you think about weight lost, it should have gone up the 57 lbs minimum, and additional as strength is gained.

I only ask because I'm surprised by how many don't realize that a 30 lb increase on the bar may sound great, until they are reminded they lost 35lbs off their body.

[Knowledge]

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@Heybales wrote:

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@Knowledge wrote:

I really don't think its fair to say that if you lose more than 2 lbs per week you will lose mostly muscle mass. Studies have proven that if someone goes on a low-carb diet for example they can easily lose 4+ lbs per week with 90% being from fat.

For example, I have been on a low-carb diet since January 3rd. I have lost 57 lbs to date in 12 weeks. That is roughly 4.75 lbs/week. My starting lean body mass was 167 lbs and it is now at 171 lbs as I do strength straining 3x a week in addition to my cardio routine. Yes I gained muscle rather than lost it. You could argue I lost muscle mass and gained water weight but I can lift a lot more than I did in January so I highly doubt that. I eat 1300-2000 calories a day and end up with an average 2500 calorie deficit depending on the day. That comes down to my average of 5 lbs per week weight loss.

Ironically I am full at my 1500 daily calories and don't feel like I am ever starving myself. Why eat more if I am full? My body is losing weight well and my muscle is not going away. I am getting stronger and able to lift more weights than I did 3 months ago.

If I didn't strength train I would probably guess I would have lost muscle mass rather than have gained muscle mass. But you can't tell me that having been 306 lbs and 45% body fat in January compared to 249 lbs and 31% body fat now that I am less healthy than I was back in January? Of the 57 lbs I lost I gained 4 lbs muscle mass and burned off 61 lbs of fat. I think that is a success and it didn't at all follow the "healthy recommendation of 1-2 lbs/week"

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Some are genetically gifted, but you'll rarely find that in studies, even with extreme deficits and lifting, some LBM is lost.

And there is a difference between what scales attempt to read as LBM (Lean Body Mass) and the muscle mass which is merely a part of that. You easily gained water weight which is part of LBM when you started lifting, more carbs stored for the workload, and more water retained for repair.

And that's IF the scale or skinfold was even that accurate, which they aren't.

Just as there is a big difference between increasing strength and muscle size without actually gaining more muscle, you tap out existing muscle first before you add more, which 3-6 months is about right for newbies and a progressive lifting program. You may indeed have even added muscle if you tapped it out and have enough fat to spare, perhaps 1 lb gain every 4-6 weeks if that happened.

The amount of strength you can gain from full CNS (Central Nervous System) engagement and improving form is surprising to many people, it can be a lot.

But soon enough you'll notice that deficit will interfere with your progress, 3 months is short, but keep at it.

At some point your progress on the bar and the amount to lose will be a battle of priority.

Great weight loss so far though, keep it up.

Curious, has squats or deadlifts gone up over 57 lbs on the bar?

If you think about weight lost, it should have gone up the 57 lbs minimum, and additional as strength is gained.

I only ask because I'm surprised by how many don't realize that a 30 lb increase on the bar may sound great, until they are reminded they lost 35lbs off their body.

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Thank you for the advice. What you wrote is probably right. I think at this point sacrificing some increase in muscle mass is ok for my priority which is my weight loss but I will need to begin to prioritize like you said soon enough. I have not gained too much strength since I began weight training but rather spent time just maintaining the current strength which probably validates your thoughts. I have gained maybe roughly 20 lbs increase in weights on the bar.

As for weight loss though the 57 lbs (59 as of today!) has been great as I've gone down from a XXXL to an XL and size 44 pants to size 38 🙂

[Knowledge]

Also for those on a low-carb diet this is an interesting read:

http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/3/1/9

Muscle is less likely to be lost on low-carb than other diets and is actually protective against muscle protein catabolism.

[dancefoxtrot]

Healthy weight loss Knowledge. Congrats. Hopefully you are eating healthy food like veggies, fruits, beans, nuts and fish.

Good for you and your blood sugar, blood pressure should be better too.

Barbara 

[Heybales]

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@Knowledge wrote:

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Thank you for the advice. What you wrote is probably right. I think at this point sacrificing some increase in muscle mass is ok for my priority which is my weight loss but I will need to begin to prioritize like you said soon enough. I have not gained too much strength since I began weight training but rather spent time just maintaining the current strength which probably validates your thoughts. I have gained maybe roughly 20 lbs increase in weights on the bar.

As for weight loss though the 57 lbs (59 as of today!) has been great as I've gone down from a XXXL to an XL and size 44 pants to size 38 🙂

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Talk about a difference that will help form and allow increases.

And that weight difference between lost weight on body and more on bar is only on dead's and squats, where actually it's been found on average you only lift 72% of your weight.

So in reality, if strength has increased, you'd likely have increased weight on the bar by the same amount you lost. So that represents a net increase really.

And your situation is a perfect example of the fact you lose fat, you expose what's underneath.

If you are working what's underneath and it's strong, you got something to expose and see.

Contrasted to losing the fat and nothing is there to look at but perhaps more flab.

At which point it's too late to obtain those results easily.

So you are taking the much more efficient route of keeping what you got and adding any you can.

[Newbietogroup]

Good day

I am new to this community discussions and have had my fitbit for almost a year .. I really rely on my fitbit and feel lost without it.. Even when I don't get my daily goal steps in .. i know how bad I am doing .. Anyways, I am needing to get back on track and kick this weightloss .. I want to lose between 1-2 lbs per week and am looking for some motivation friends to do daily and weekly challenges with ...

[bcalvanese]

I think these activity trackers are designed to motivate a life style change, and not just count calories. I am doing a pound a week, but I have been trying to reach the activity goals as well, and I don't have the goals set too high either. I set my steps to 7000, and my sleep to 7 hours. Once I can do my goals consistently I will set them a little higher.

Slow and steady will always achieve the best result.

[BarbHELLO]

What is a Recovery Runner?

[HelenaFitbit]

Hello @BarbHELLO! Welcome to the Fitbit community 

"Recovery Runner" is a rank on the community forums, it means at least 5 posts by the poster, and the poster has been a forum member for 4 days or more.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions 

[roadwarriorphil]

I've heard the same 1-2 pounds per week. For me this issue is discipline. I've found that my surge helps me keep track of activity and calories; however, I still need the discipline to track my intake. The fitbit calorie tracker isn't bad but I prefer the Livestrong calorie tracker. It has a lot of choices to pick from, particularly if you're on the road and end up eating in a lot of chain restaurants. Being on the road and eating on the road is also difficult. But I digress, tracking or me has helped be quite a bit and I'd be quite happy with 2 pounds per week.

[sjkramer1991]

Typically 1-2# per week is a healthy weight loss without too much complication. The old adage that 1# of fat = 3500 Calories is kind of obsolete, as it may now be a little higher or lower depending on the macronutrient composition of your food as well as your body type, etc. But, as a general rule of thumb, if you cut out 500 Calories out of your typical day (so that could be that dessert at dinner for instance), that equals 3500 Calories for the whole week or 1 pound of fat (rough estimate). Another great way to help with appetite is to eat a small protein based snack about 30-60 minutes before you go to bed (a yogurt or handful of nuts, for example). Research shows that over time body composition improves as well as increases lean body mass (muscle tissue). Hope this helps!

-Sam (B.S. in Nutrition and finishing up my MS in Exercise Science and Registered Dietitan Credentials)

[Heybales]

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@sjkramer1991 wrote:

Typically 1-2# per week is a healthy weight loss without too much complication. The old adage that 1# of fat = 3500 Calories is kind of obsolete, as it may now be a little higher or lower depending on the macronutrient composition of your food as well as your body type, etc. But, as a general rule of thumb, if you cut out 500 Calories out of your typical day (so that could be that dessert at dinner for instance), that equals 3500 Calories for the whole week or 1 pound of fat (rough estimate). Another great way to help with appetite is to eat a small protein based snack about 30-60 minutes before you go to bed (a yogurt or handful of nuts, for example). Research shows that over time body composition improves as well as increases lean body mass (muscle tissue). Hope this helps!

-Sam (B.S. in Nutrition and finishing up my MS in Exercise Science and Registered Dietitan Credentials)

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LBM is everything that is not fat - which happens to include muscle mass, as well as organs, water, blood, bones, ect.

I'd be curious of a study where diet by itself increased LBM or muscle mass, outside just maintaining it by eating enough protein, I know those studies.

Though of course, eating more sodium increases water which also increases LBM, but I don't mean that kind of effect.

But you mentioned muscle can be increased merely by diet, never seen a study reference that.

And the 3500 calories is 1 lb of fat isn't a reference to what you eat, never has been.

It's about what it takes to burn off about a pound of fat as an energy source through a deficit that is causing only fat to be lost.

On the eating side 3500 calories of fat is only 0.85 lb actually.

And indeed, eating 3500 calories of anything in excess doesn't mean a lb of fat would be gained anyway, not even that 0.85 lb.

But when losing, there is water that goes along with the fat from the fat cells, not much, but enough to make up that 0.15 lb that isn't coming just from fat.

[sjkramer1991]

Here's the study. Keep in mind that this is more about meal frequency and in an obese population, but the fact is that a higher protein diet increased LBM with diet alone in this population. 

Arciero, Paul J., et al. "Increased protein intake and meal frequency reduces abdominal fat during energy balance and energy deficit." Obesity 21.7 (2013): 1357-1366.

[josephz2va]

My experience is up to 10 pounds a week depending on how overweight you are, but it's also the body composition that counts to weight loss. There's two key things to weight loss. Quality of your nutrition and how effective your fitness level is.

Quality of your nutrition would be what kind of food you are eating. Bad quality would be foods like donuts, chocolates, candy, powerbars, protein shakes, falling for Dr. Oz like commercials. Good quality would be what foods you research on Google for "Meal Plans that Build Lean Muscle". The 5 fruits and veggies plan. And Portionalizing your Foods. Watching how many calories you consume correctly. It's easy to overboard like buying a can of Planters nuts is up to 200 calories times 14 servings in a can. Some eat the whole can.

The effectiveness of your fitness level is also important. Not just running cardio 10,000 steps, 20,000 steps, etc. There's also strengthening the muscles. Personal training from Fitstar part of Fitbit. Jillian Michaels. Many programs suggest working out 5 times a week on personal training and 1 muscle release day.

[Heybales]

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@sjkramer1991 wrote:

Here's the study. Keep in mind that this is more about meal frequency and in an obese population, but the fact is that a higher protein diet increased LBM with diet alone in this population. 

Arciero, Paul J., et al. "Increased protein intake and meal frequency reduces abdominal fat during energy balance and energy deficit." Obesity 21.7 (2013): 1357-1366.

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That is interesting, especially the increase in Thermal Effect of Meals for the frequent protein group.

The increase in LBM, or lack of loss in the negative phase, was still within the range of variances for all the groups actually, while being a literal about 2lbs almost.

Lean body mass (kg)
TD3	44.0 ± 2.1	43.8 ± 2.1	43.4 ± 1.9
HP3	49.8 ± 3.6	49.9 ± 3.5	48.9 ± 3.3
HP6	45.7 ± 1.9	46.6 ± 1.8	46.3 ± 2.0

Despite the 25% deficit for high overweight/obese BMI folks, it didn't seem to effect their RMR or LBM at all no matter what diet or eating plan was used, not when the variances are included.

And that's after a month in diet mode, which is pretty good.

Similar studies with 25% reduction on low overweight BMI range showed a decrease in RMR and total daily burn. So more fat does help.

35% or 129-172 g of protein daily not too bad at all, sounds about right for good recommendations during a diet. Though it seems popular one is 30%, wish they had tested that more popular %.

[youngWerther]

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@sjkramer1991 wrote:

Arciero, Paul J., et al. "Increased protein intake and meal frequency reduces abdominal fat during energy balance and energy deficit." Obesity 21.7 (2013): 1357-1366.

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"Especially when using anabolic steroids and hGH."  There is the FDA and there is America.

[AD1969]

Lew,

It's generally a deficit of 3500 calories equals pound and by my calculations your example is spot on.  You had an average burn of 2850 and an intake of 1200 for a net deficit of 1650 calories per day.  November to August is 9 months or approximaely 270 days.  270 x 1650 = 445,500 calories.  Divide this by 3500 to convert to pounds = 127 pounds.

You went from 300 to 170 = 130 pounds.  Voila, it works.

AD