Fast or Slow Weight Loss?

alazio

So I've heard it said many times that slow and steady is the way to go with weight loss. Reasons cited being that
gradual changes in habit stick better,
you retain more muscle mass,
metabolism remains higher,
more realistic to stick to than more extreme calorie restriction.

I've always bought into that approach and have only aimed to lose ~1 pound/wk at most. But lately I've seen a lot of pushback to this way of thinking, especially from the body building community, and am curious what others think. One pro fast loss article I read posed the question (I'm paraphrasing), "do you actually know anyone who has lost noticeable weight by 1 pound a week for, say, 30 weeks? I don't." He continued, "The few people I know who dropped significant weight and kept it off did it fast, and made big changes. And they look great!" At first this struck me as simply bad advice and made me mad. BUT I couldn't shake the thought that the three people I can think of in my life who have transformed their bodies did lose quickly upon making radical changes and becoming a borderline obsessive about their diet and fitness routines.

So what do you guys think? Different strokes for different folks? Or are you firmly on Team Fast or Team Slow?

wizzybeth

I personally do not think fast weight loss is smart. Unless you are really really significantly, morbidly obese overweight. It's not good for your gallbladder and it can also lead to having an abundance of excess skin. Whereas if you lose the weight slowly your body has time to adjust.

The last time I lost weight I lost 50 lbs in a relatively short period of time. And then my thyroid acted up and then I was sick. I am convinced that had I lost the weight much more slowly... I never would have gained it back... I never would have gotten sick. I'm just thankful I didn't have gallstones.

aeloine

I think that these are people that go through cut/bulk cycles, who are performance athletes and who aren't starting this out being really overweight and never having worked out. The types of people who lurk around the body building community have a different approach to their bodies than.... well, than me. I had 100+ pounds to lose, never worked out, and didn't know what a MACRO was. My body was not a machine. It's becoming one, but I'm not there. And the guy you mention probably is much more of an athlete than I am.

CSARdiver

alazio wrote: »

So I've heard it said many times that slow and steady is the way to go with weight loss. Reasons cited being that
gradual changes in habit stick better,
you retain more muscle mass,
metabolism remains higher,
more realistic to stick to than more extreme calorie restriction.

I've always bought into that approach and have only aimed to lose ~1 pound/wk at most. But lately I've seen a lot of pushback to this way of thinking, especially from the body building community, and am curious what others think. One pro fast loss article I read posed the question (I'm paraphrasing), "do you actually know anyone who has lost noticeable weight by 1 pound a week for, say, 30 weeks? I don't." He continued, "The few people I know who dropped significant weight and kept it off did it fast, and made big changes. And they look great!" At first this struck me as simply bad advice and made me mad. BUT I couldn't shake the thought that the three people I can think of in my life who have transformed their bodies did lose quickly upon making radical changes and becoming a borderline obsessive about their diet and fitness routines.

So what do you guys think? Different strokes for different folks? Or are you firmly on Team Fast or Team Slow?

Put me on team "It depends".

For bodybuilders or anyone with a history of discipline I would imagine they would opt for the fast approach - it's a matter of time management and goal achievement, much of which is performance based.

For the average person who has no aspirations of marathons and just wants to get to a healthy weight it's probably in their best interest to take things slow and develop good habits that will aid long term success.

jjpptt2

I'm also an it-depends-er.

sardelsa

It depends.. but for the most part slow and steady is typically the way to go for more sustainable habits. If you have a lot of weight to lose you can start off faster, but as someone gets to goal the general recommendation is to slow things down to prevent excess muscle loss, fatigue, burn out, binging etc. I've seen many people drop weight quick using aggressive/ fad diets and gain it all back and then some because they haven't made a lifestyle change.

There are exceptions obviously. I am not a pro bodybuilder but I run bulk/cut cycles and bodybuild recreationally.. some do fast aggressive cuts to drop some weight, they do lose some lean mass but it's usually temporary. If I wanted to drop some weight fast I could do it because I already have good habits and I know what I'm getting myself into. However being already lean I wouldn't go more than 1% bodyweight per week since I'd like to minimize muscle loss.

In general though for me personally, I am team slow. When I cut down after a bulk I lose 0.5lb per week or less, I don't have much to lose (usually 8lbs or less) and I usually see physique results fairly quickly.

Need2Exerc1se

Different strokes for different folks.

cwolfman13

alazio wrote: »

So I've heard it said many times that slow and steady is the way to go with weight loss. Reasons cited being that
gradual changes in habit stick better,
you retain more muscle mass,
metabolism remains higher,
more realistic to stick to than more extreme calorie restriction.

I've always bought into that approach and have only aimed to lose ~1 pound/wk at most. But lately I've seen a lot of pushback to this way of thinking, especially from the body building community, and am curious what others think. One pro fast loss article I read posed the question (I'm paraphrasing), "do you actually know anyone who has lost noticeable weight by 1 pound a week for, say, 30 weeks? I don't." He continued, "The few people I know who dropped significant weight and kept it off did it fast, and made big changes. And they look great!" At first this struck me as simply bad advice and made me mad. BUT I couldn't shake the thought that the three people I can think of in my life who have transformed their bodies did lose quickly upon making radical changes and becoming a borderline obsessive about their diet and fitness routines.

So what do you guys think? Different strokes for different folks? Or are you firmly on Team Fast or Team Slow?

It depends...but the bolded makes zero sense to me. I lost about 40 Lbs in a little over 30 weeks...that's pretty *kitten* noticeable...like I look completely different.

In regards to body builders...a lot of them do cut fast...I don't think it's particularly healthy, but it is also of short duration...we're talking weeks which is a lot different than someone who needs to drop 30/50/100 Lbs, etc where even with fast weight loss we're talking months and into years.

I usually put on about 8-10 Lbs every winter and cut it in the spring...given that it's only 8-10 Lbs I cut relatively fast when I get things going...about 1-1.5 Lbs per week. I think that's still a safe level as it is under 1% of my BW per week, but it is aggressive and requires some discipline...but it's a very short duration...a handful of weeks...not months and months and months.

People with a substantial amount of weight to lose are not likely to maintain the discipline necessary for fast weight loss...because you're still talking about months on end of eating in a very steep deficit and I think that's where much of the damage is done in regards to your health.

TravisJHunt

I'd say depends on how much you've got to lose. Trying to lose 5 lbs when you're already in an acceptable BMI range is a lot more difficult than going from say 300 to 250 (which is what I'm doing). I've lost 25+ lbs in less than 2 months but I'm not doing anything extreme, just going from 296 lbs and eating as terrible as I was means I've had weeks of 4 lbs+ even with keeping my intake above 1800 cals or more on exercise days. Plus I'd say the fact that I used to body-build and run, etc. means I had a bit of a head start, I just got really complacent and lazy in life.

ggeise14

You do you! Advice is good and can be helpful, but ultimately it's what will work for you that you need to navigate.

SolotoCEO

It's all about the person. Drastic, obsessive, weight loss is not my style. That doesn't mean it's wrong - it just means for me I've tried it, the weight came back on as fast as it came off. I need a lifestyle approach - not an all or nothing. It took me just over a year to lose 100 lbs. and I've kept it off for over 5 years. Now, I'm working on getting the final pounds off - slow and steady. My best advice - do whatever is right for you.

Tacklewasher

alazio wrote: »

So what do you guys think? Different strokes for different folks? Or are you firmly on Team Fast or Team Slow?

I lost close to 100 pound in 10 months, and have taken 6 months to lose 25ish.

Guess I go both ways

RAinWA

I lost my first 120 pounds in 12 months, which is fairly fast. I was also morbidly obese and needed for health reasons to lose weight immediately. It took me about 2 months to lose another 7 pounds as I gradually increased calories.

I maintained fine for ~3 years or so and then packed on 20 pounds last year. I'm taking them off very slowly.

So I'm in the "it depends" camp.

middlehaitch

I'm in the 'it depends' camp also.

I started at the top of my normal and went to close to the bottom, and I'm old and short.
My calories were low as it was, going any faster than a year for 30lbs would have been unhealthy.

If I had been 330, instead of 130, it would have been a different story. That first 100lbs I would have wanted to come off in less time than it took to lose the 30 I did lose. Then I would have done a graduated loss.

I also think those that work seriously at body composition can, and often do, manipulate their calories for fast brief losses. But they usually have good knowledge and an effective plan.

Cheers, h.

Momepro

The ones I know who have been most successful took a good couple of years to reach thier goals. Most of the ones I knoe whonhave lost quickly also regained quickly. I know everytime I've personally tried to lose quicly I failed. This time I'm going slowly, and though I haven't been 100% successfull atcyhis point, I have been losing fairly steadily since June, and have only had minor relapses, where before, I could never last 2 months.

richardgavel

Weight lifters are also, by definition, lifting weights during their cut, which helps to limit the lean mass lost during the cut. I feel that not lifting was my bigger mistake during my cut, not the speed of the cut.

sschauer513

Don't go be the weight number but the body fat percent I'd rather be 225 and 12-15% then 225 and 35-40%. Could I drop 10 lbs in a week absolutely would it be miserable and unhealthy absolutely. How long do you think I could maintain that? I started at 389 and did lose 11 lbs first 2 weeks was all water and just starting exercising and walking, but now at 280 much slower process.

Rayman79

These are my thoughts, and my personal experience, having had successes and failures with slow and fast fat loss over the past few years.

In an ideal world we're all patient and controlled. We make changes to our diet and exercise routines that put us ~500 cals per day under maintenance and over time we adapt perfectly to our new lifestyles. The issue us in most cases this doesn't happen.

Why? So many things can and do go wrong.
That extra one treat for a birthday, or a meal with friends, or a glass of wine, or a missed workout, or sickness, or a work lunch, or giving into a hunger craving, or forgetting to meal prep for a day or two, or, or or or or...

When you are in such a small deficit, accuracy is everything. Weigh improperly, forget to log a couple of snacks, overestimate a calorie burn, all of these things can turn a decent deficit into maintenence, or in some cases even a surplus.

This often leads to the mistaken belief that "It doesn't matter what I do, the scale doesn't move anyway!!" I had this discussion with someone who said this recently, and ate the same meal I did, but had a couple of crackers with cheese before dinner, a glass of wine, and a cookie after her meal (probably ~400 cals), but she had "been good" all day!

Giving yourself a larger deficit means you are more likely to see faster progress, which keeps motivation (and therefore adherence) higher. It also means that you can give yourself a little wiggle room by going a little over your goal but remaining in a deficit - knowing this (in my experience) is less likely to lead to writing off a whole day because you've gone over your goal.

I think there is a "sweet spot" for most people that is large deficit that can be maintained healthily and without physical or psychological crashes. What that deficit is will vary for every person; the frequency of cheat days, refeeds and other diet breaks are probably also best found through trial and error.

One thing to note though, is that more aggressive deficits have more rules. Your protein intake will have to remain the same, your fat intake can't dip too low, so by default it's probably going to be pretty low carb. Whether a more aggressive diet is right for you will also somewhat depend on your lifestyle, any sporting pursuits etc that might be impacted by this kind of restriction.

So all said and done, for me at least, I'd rather go more aggressive and keep the flame of motivation burning by seeing results every week. YMMV.

fitforeternity493

I’m in the camp of it depends as I can only speak for myself. I’m currently in the 160’s as of now and have been maintaining for awhile... For me it took awhile to lose the weight because of my mind set.. I wanted results fast and instant gratification, and it absolutely was not a good thing.. I lacked discipline and proper habits... I think for me sloww and steady and not focusing on a aesthetic was the key to put me on the right path..

Nowadays I think of my aesthetic goal of looking long and lean for the summer time and it’s absolutely possible to achieve within the next three months, which is somewhat fast in my mind.. But I have the right discipline and tools that I need to achieve my goal.

1. You need the right tools at your grip
2. You need to have the right motivation and discipline
3. Lose the weight that is most sustainable for you.
4. Results differ from person to person focus on being the best version of yourself.

estherdragonbat

alazio wrote: »

So I've heard it said many times that slow and steady is the way to go with weight loss. Reasons cited being that
gradual changes in habit stick better,
you retain more muscle mass,
metabolism remains higher,
more realistic to stick to than more extreme calorie restriction.

I've always bought into that approach and have only aimed to lose ~1 pound/wk at most. But lately I've seen a lot of pushback to this way of thinking, especially from the body building community, and am curious what others think. One pro fast loss article I read posed the question (I'm paraphrasing), "do you actually know anyone who has lost noticeable weight by 1 pound a week for, say, 30 weeks? I don't." He continued, "The few people I know who dropped significant weight and kept it off did it fast, and made big changes. And they look great!" At first this struck me as simply bad advice and made me mad. BUT I couldn't shake the thought that the three people I can think of in my life who have transformed their bodies did lose quickly upon making radical changes and becoming a borderline obsessive about their diet and fitness routines.

So what do you guys think? Different strokes for different folks? Or are you firmly on Team Fast or Team Slow?

I've dropped 100 lbs in 16 months. I've still got a bit to lose, so I'm not ready for maintenance yet, but closing in. I just fit into a size 6 skirt today (and really fit, not 'managed to zip it up but look like a sausage in a casing in it'). I did it more slowly than necessary, i.e. never set MFP for more than 1lb/week even when I could safely lose 2. And the only 'big' changes I made were cutting back on bakery treats that I didn't feel I could ballpark the calories, or that I knew the calories and decided weren't worth it.

h1udd

It depends how much you have to loose from what I have read.

An aggressive cut, low calorie, intense workouts can and does shred fat fast, you are not doing it long enough to damage your body, muscle loss is no more than a drawn out deficit all is good.

If you are going to be in a deficit for a while though ... go slow so you don’t deprive your body of the nutrients it needs

Body builders favour the 1st approach as generally they are not trying to loose 160lbs ... but 10lbs and going from 15% back down to 9%

Fisah17

I think it depends on the person and their goals. I am team slow to begin and pick up the pace as you go. I was slow to make lifestyle changes in my diet (overeating, sugar & caffeine) and tried to compensate with training myself hard...too hard. The result was a torn meniscus last summer, surgery and unwanted time off from the gym. Once that happened I was forced to reassess my habits. I have a long way to go, but I started reducing calories in November and decreased the intensity of my workouts so I could log more workouts without pain that sidelines me. Now that I am actually logging what I eat looking at macros and calories + workouts (structure and plans make me happy lol) I am noticing changes more quickly in weight loss and overall inches and see nothing wrong with the faster results since my goal weight loss/total weight loss is 12 lbs and will increase as I build muscle tone.

amusedmonkey

I'm firmly team "only do fast weight loss if you know what you're doing and only for short periods of time with a decent recovery plan". This also comes with the caveat that the bulk of weight loss, or at least your periods of weight maintenance between fast bursts, should be focused on habit building (which works best with a reasonable calorie budget). This is why I would never recommend fast weight loss to someone who is new to dieting or condone it if they ask. If done incorrectly, it's a recipe for burnout, muscle loss, hormonal disruption, disordered thinking patterns, deficiencies, and lack of experience with real life food situations (which can lead to regain).

For myself, I'm firmly team "slow weight loss" with 90% of the work focused on habit and strategy building. I'm not a body builder. I was morbidly obese, not a body builder of normal weight who who has done this often in a calculated way always followed by periods of maintenance or bulking. That's a special needs, special interests, special mental state kind of group, not the average dieter. The body building community can attract disordered relationship with food, though, so be careful what you pick up from there.

Weight loss needs to be done correctly by working on weight loss with maintenance in mind, regardless of chosen speed. Slow weight loss, however, gives you the most fat loss per calorie restricted because people experience fewer metabolic adaptations on a slow weight loss plan. That's why although I'm not completely against fast, I lean strongly towards slow.

xmarye

Team Fast Lost here!!

I gained weight with all my pregnancies, got depressed and developed bad eating habits... Personally, I usually need to overhaul my habits (drinking more water, eating more veggies, cutting off snacks when starting out) and get big results to develop a momentum and gain motivation. Usually I then try to find my middle ground and eating normal again. I might gain 5lbs at that point but I never gain it all back.

But that's just me!

WillingtoLose1001984

SolotoCEO wrote: »

It's all about the person. Drastic, obsessive, weight loss is not my style. That doesn't mean it's wrong - it just means for me I've tried it, the weight came back on as fast as it came off. I need a lifestyle approach - not an all or nothing. It took me just over a year to lose 100 lbs. and I've kept it off for over 5 years. Now, I'm working on getting the final pounds off - slow and steady. My best advice - do whatever is right for you.

100 lbs in a little over a year isn't that slow of weight loss!

fb47

Fast if your obese....slow when you're already lean and want to lose a couple of pounds. Too much will basically eat your muscles unless your goal is to look like a toothpick.

You can do fast (for example if you have a photoshoot), but as long as it doesn't a long time either.

I am sure there other circumstances where fast would be a good option, but in general, slow is usually the better option.

Tacklewasher

WillingtoLose1001984 wrote: »

SolotoCEO wrote: »

It's all about the person. Drastic, obsessive, weight loss is not my style. That doesn't mean it's wrong - it just means for me I've tried it, the weight came back on as fast as it came off. I need a lifestyle approach - not an all or nothing. It took me just over a year to lose 100 lbs. and I've kept it off for over 5 years. Now, I'm working on getting the final pounds off - slow and steady. My best advice - do whatever is right for you.

100 lbs in a little over a year isn't that slow of weight loss!

And, therein lies the rub. It's slow if compared to grocery store magazines, but 100 lbs in a year is a pretty quick pace. I was about 10 months for 100 lbs, and an eternity (still ongoing) for the rest.

ryenday

I’m on team as fast as is healthy and does not interfere with fitness goals. That was about 1/2 lb a week loss for me on 1200 calories per day with a good amount of cardio and starting 2x a week weights. If I could have gone faster I would have.

The downside is I have a lot to learn as I go into maintenance. But imo that is much better than feeling as bad as I did or looking as awful as I was looking any longer than I had to. Plenty of time on this side of the diet to figure out approaches for the rest of my life.

So, yeah, team as fast as is healthy here.

psychod787

amusedmonkey wrote: »

I'm firmly team "only do fast weight loss if you know what you're doing and only for short periods of time with a decent recovery plan". This also comes with the caveat that the bulk of weight loss, or at least your periods of weight maintenance between fast bursts, should be focused on habit building (which works best with a reasonable calorie budget). This is why I would never recommend fast weight loss to someone who is new to dieting or condone it if they ask. If done incorrectly, it's a recipe for burnout, muscle loss, hormonal disruption, disordered thinking patterns, deficiencies, and lack of experience with real life food situations (which can lead to regain).

For myself, I'm firmly team "slow weight loss" with 90% of the work focused on habit and strategy building. I'm not a body builder. I was morbidly obese, not a body builder of normal weight who who has done this often in a calculated way always followed by periods of maintenance or bulking. That's a special needs, special interests, special mental state kind of group, not the average dieter. The body building community can attract disordered relationship with food, though, so be careful what you pick up from there.

Weight loss needs to be done correctly by working on weight loss with maintenance in mind, regardless of chosen speed. Slow weight loss, however, gives you the most fat loss per calorie restricted because people experience fewer metabolic adaptations on a slow weight loss plan. That's why although I'm not completely against fast, I lean strongly towards slow.

I agree with you. In some ways I wish I had taken my slower and settled for a slightly higher bw that my body liked. I was morbidly obese, so fast was an option at first, then I just took it overboard. I do wonder if taking it alow would have maybe set me back because I would not have seen results to keep me pushing. Now I am having to regain some weight, hopefully through a majority lean mass as I lift now.

CaliVeggieGal

Ooh! Fast, then slow has been the best for me. Meaning, a quick cleanse or detox, no more than a week, helps kill my food cravings if they have been getting the better of me and shed some pounds (including water weight for sure, but it's mentally such a boost at the beginning to see the scale drop and see results ASAP). Light exercise like long walks or bodyweight resistance, or nothing. Weight loss comes from diet, and exercise is body-building, so at first to see the numbers drop I just focus on eating less and cleaning up my diet, getting good rest and trying to de-stress. I usually feel amazing after this process, and ready to dive back into a healthier meal plan and exercise routine. My favorite for years has been Tone It Up.
In 6 years I've lost 30 very sticky pounds. As a 6'1" woman starting at 185 I wasn't huge, now I am 156 and it feels about perfect. So it's taken about 5 lbs a year, replacing old habits and negative self-esteem little by little. It's long work to do the mental shift. I lost 15 lbs the first year, actually in only 2 months, by going vegan, but put some back on when I discovered "vegan junk food." Just as fattening as regular junk food! I went through the process above to get that weight back off.
This year, since mid-Jan, I have stayed the same weight but have been slowly re-comping fat to muscle. It is making all the difference. I thought I was 5-10 lbs from my goal weight, but the weight of new muscles are keeping me here, and I actually love them! My waist continues to shrink, arms and back getting toned, and I'm growing the booty I always wanted. So my advice is to do a bit of "fast" loss as a motivator, then really dig in to the mental work of shifting unhealthy habits into lifelong good ones, otherwise it will come back on.

Brittheartsyou

I don't think fast weight loss is bad as long as you're toning and moving. I have lost weight fast and slow. I do lift with weights which probably helps fat loss but builds muscles so relying on weight alone is kinda useless unless you're prepping and it matters. I like to make sure the fat in my body isn't taking over my muscle (I don't have a ton of muscle but enough to burn fat and calories through my day) if you're finding that it's too slow to lose one pound a week bump it up just make sure you're not going crazy with yourself and starving all the time. If you're getting protein it should be fairly easy to stick to a low cal diet. It's just personal preference. If I go to lose fat, I aim to do it quickly and toning and working out. However I have went on a calorie restricted diet without doing much of anything besides tried to stay moving with house cleaning and kids and lost a very significant amount of weight when I was first starting and I did fine with it. As with anything in the whole world, if you go back to your old ways and not watching what you eat. YoulL gain it back. Do it at whatever pace you want