Healthy Calorie Deficits Based on BMI

SamAdams125
SamAdams125 Posts: 54 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I read an interesting article (sorry, can't remember where I found it!) that argued that if you're trying to lose weight, the healthy max deficit you can have is based on your BMI. This is what the article suggested:

BMI of 30+ = max healthy deficit of 1500

BMI of 25-29 = max healthy deficit of 1000

BMI of 24 or less = max healthy deficit of 700

Obviously, you could have a smaller deficit that those listed; those above were suggested as the max that someone should aim for to avoid losing too much lean mass.

On face value this makes sense to me (assuming you have something that can fairly accurately track your calorie burn [like a bodymedia or fitbit] and you're doing well tracking what you eat/measuring etc). I'm just curious what others thing of the general premise. :)

Thoughts?

Replies

  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    That sounds about right. Obese can go up to 3lb/week loss, overweight can go up to 2lb/week loss, and healthy up to 1.4lb/week loss according to those numbers. With the 24 and under range I think it could even be lower depending on how low your weight is. I was losing about a pound a month since I was already at a low weight.

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