How to set a weight loss goal?

trekkiebeth

In general, anywhere from 0.5 to 2 pounds a week seems to be the recommended weekly weight loss goal, but obviously some people will lose weight faster than others depending on what their percentage of body fat is. How do I know how much I should be losing in an average week or month? Is it a certain number of pounds, or can I calculate it based on my body fat percentage?

Acg67

personally figure out maintenance and cut 10-20% from that. that way if you hit a plateau you can cut further if need be. if you start with a monster deficit, it makes it much harder to overcome a plateau

skinnyminniexx

the first few weeks of your diet, you may lose a lot of weight, but after a month you should be losing 2 lbs at the most. some weeks will be more and some will be less, but on average 2 lbs a week max. anything over that for the most part is water weight, not fat.

lynheff

My only suggestion is to be careful setting a specific weight loss goal. It is the normal thing to do but it can set you up for a failure mind-set. You are in control of what you eat, how often you exercise, what kind of exercise you do etc. You are NOT in control of how rapidly your body will respond to that. Of course if you aren't seeing any results in--say three weeks to a month--you need to reeval what you are doing and try a new tactic. But an awesome 1 pound this week can feel like failure if you had your heart set on two. Good luck!!

kleavitt1992

first month i lost about 15lbs then it slowed down to 10 the 6 then 5 now i like barley lose a 1-2 a month gain some back lose again but eh just keep at it you wont know how your body reacts til you keep with it

finchase

My only suggestion is to be careful setting a specific weight loss goal. It is the normal thing to do but it can set you up for a failure mind-set. You are in control of what you eat, how often you exercise, what kind of exercise you do etc. You are NOT in control of how rapidly your body will respond to that. Of course if you aren't seeing any results in--say three weeks to a month--you need to reeval what you are doing and try a new tactic. But an awesome 1 pound this week can feel like failure if you had your heart set on two. Good luck!!

Very good points! I sometimes get myself in this mindset. My weight loss has been fairly rapid because I had so much to lose that anything I did towards eating properly and exercising was bound to have an effect. Since I have been very disciplined in my eating and exercising, I've had some really good results some weeks. I find that on the weeks where I only lose 1 pound I am quite downcast about it, as if I'd gained weight. I have to talk myself out of that mindset and look at it for what it is: A positive result.