What is a healthy weight loss rate?

jnativ

I started my weight loss journey again last April 4 and so far it’s been good. I’ve been losing about 2.75lbs/week through pure dieting. I originally planned to start exercising once I reach a threshold weight since I didn't want commit the mistake of going “ALL IN” again. I am making gradual little changes to my lifestyle and I originally planned to achieve my target goal in 1.65 years.

However my co-workers have already started my weight loss and life style change. I went from white rice to red rice and have also been turning down a lot of snacks in the office. One particular office mate challenged me to get to 180 lbs by September 12 (my birthday, which is in 4 months), he says that if I meet that goal he’ll be giving me USD 1000.00. The cash incentive is a nice motivation I’m really in this for the weight loss, however I’m also a very competitive person and naturally I would want to win the challenge.

However I currently weight 263 lbs. and the goal would require me to lose 4.65lbs/week. I don’t really want to have a lot of loose skin which is why I was comfortable with the 2.75lbs rate/week. I’ve read all over that the recommended, healthy weight loss rate per week is only at 1-2lbs. With this I would like to seek your advice regarding this challenge? Is it worth taking up or should I not even try losing weight too rapidly? Are there consequences that I may not be seeing? Looking forward to your thoughts.

rheddmobile

That sounds doubtful to me. It's possible you could lose that much, but it probably wouldn't be good for you in the long run. Studies of the people on the Biggest Loser found that not only did most of them gain back the weight, they had permanently damaged their metabolisms. If you're losing more than 2 lbs a week pretty effortlessly at this point, I would hesitate to change what's working for you.

DanSanthomes

Permit an 'old man' to give you his perspective...

Your original plan sounds very mature. You didn't look at going 'all in' and losing the weight in 6 weeks or anything like that. You also recognised that making too many changes too quickly may cause you to falter and eventually quit. (You are changing your lifestyle - not going on a diet - and you can't focus on too many new habits at the same time).

If you were a family member, I would recommend you stick to your original plan, lose the weight in a slow and SUSTAINABLE way and ignore the 'betting' side of it. Believe me, you'll earn plenty of thousands during your career - they'll come and go - but if you lose the weight too quickly, you face:

• Falling off the wagon before you even finish
• Creating an unsustainable lifestyle that leads to you putting weight back on again
• Creating a couple of mental issues where food is concerned (calorie obsessions etc)
• Having to pay for skin reduction surgery (much more than a grand I bet)

Slow and steady wins the race. I sincerely wish you the best of luck, whatever you choose. Make sure it is YOUR choice though, don't be blinded by money/kudos/competitiveness - do it right, do it once.

amusedmonkey

The recommended sustainable weight loss rate is about 0.5% of your current weight weekly. A maximum of about 1% of your weight per week is still considered okay especially if you are active. Any higher than that is too high and too fast. I would not take the challenge as it could mean you may end up spending those 1000 on a galbladder surgery.