Healthy Weightloss Recommended 2lbs/Week.. BUT..

YumiZoomi
YumiZoomi Posts: 42
in Fitness and Exercise
I've always heard people say the healthy recommended weight to lose is 2lbs per week. But, I've also seen/heard many people lose more than 2lbs a week as well. So I guess I'm wondering, is there a healthy way to lose more than 2lbs/week? Or is it safe to say that losing more than 2lbs a week, no matter what method, is unhealthy?

Replies

  • Camo_xxx
    Camo_xxx Posts: 1,082 Member
    It's kinda like the posted speed limit on the highway. It's a relatively safe speed for the average persons skill set.
    If you or the person guiding you has the skills to keep it safe, the recommended limits can be exceeded.
    If you are questioning what knowledge one needs then you probably do not have a good enough working understanding to exceed the recommendation. Safe is relative and increased speed in anything brings more risk.
  • JossFit
    JossFit Posts: 588 Member
    It depends on the person.

    If someone is 300 pounds, losing 2 pounds per week is not unhealthy. If someone is 110 pounds, 2 pounds per week may be indicative of muscle loss, not just fat loss.

    As a general rule of thumb, the less someone weighs the slower they should be losing weight.
  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
    It's an average. Some weeks you can certainly lose more, others you won't.

    It also really depends on your current weight. I lost really quickly the first month (20 pounds), but 9 months later my loss has averaged out to about 1.8 pounds a week.
  • YumiZoomi
    YumiZoomi Posts: 42
    Ohh Okay. Thanks for that. I'm trying to lose about 50lbs by June 11 (My Birthday :smile: ).. 20 Weeks from now. I'd like to make sure I'm doing it healthily though. I been super strict on diet. So hopefully I can make it happen.
  • lansford101
    lansford101 Posts: 1 Member
    Remember u gotta eat look towards being healthier in the future
  • YumiZoomi
    YumiZoomi Posts: 42
    Well.. I'm eating for sure.. I work out a lot to eat more.. LOL. Calories consumed avg 1700-2000... and I burn about 750-900 through workout.. bringing me to my 1210 recommended by MFP. But I will say consuming enough protein is difficult for me. I'm trying to maintain the 40% carbs/40% protein/20% fat nutrition guideline.. but I'm never exact. Close, but no cigar. I think only once or twice in the 17days I've logged consecutively have I been like 1-2% off from perfect. So frustrating. I eat proteins but then they have carbs.. I eat proteins, low carb but it has fats.. what the heck man. It's so annoying!! I might as well just drink protein shakes for every meal smh. Ugh! But I keep trying.. chicken n fish.. egg whites.. greek yogurt.. cottage cheese. Just started incorporating some tuna salad (no mayo recipe!!).. We'll see if it works out better.
  • zipa78
    zipa78 Posts: 354 Member
    edited January 2015
    YumiZoomi wrote: »
    Ohh Okay. Thanks for that. I'm trying to lose about 50lbs by June 11 (My Birthday :smile: ).. 20 Weeks from now. I'd like to make sure I'm doing it healthily though. I been super strict on diet. So hopefully I can make it happen.

    Don't set goals that are next impossible to reach, you are only setting yourself up for disappointment. You cannot directly influence your weight, so don't set any strict goals for something that you can't really control. Sure, you can eat a deficit of approx 3500 kcal, but that does not automatically make you exactly 1 lbs lighter. There are so many other factors influencing your weight.

    Make your goal to eat healthy and exercise at least three times per week from now until your birthday and take whatever weight loss that may or may not come with it as an extra bonus.

    EDIT: So, losing 50 lbs is a fine goal, it is not a good idea to tie it to a strict date, though. If you keep setting unrealistic goals, you will find that you can barely ever meet them, and that is a huge demotivator.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,956 Member
    1% of your body weight a week is a good goal.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • YumiZoomi
    YumiZoomi Posts: 42
    Well.. I was kind of asking this question mainly because 2 weeks ago, I had to stop running the treadmill due to major shin splints. The next day, I just walked and even then it was burning up. So then Saturday I got acupuncture and was ordered to not put any pressure on it or anything X_X.. I'm a swimmer so I asked if I could resume my workouts through swimming and he said yes. So I've resulted to swimming the past week and a half and I dropped 5lbs in that one week. I've been consuming a lot of protein so that I'm not burning muscle (or so I hope) and following the MFP Calorie recommendations for losing 2lbs/week.

    I was just concerned if the 5lbs in the past week was an unhealthy loss? (The week before when I was treadmill running, I lost 2lbs).
  • zipa78
    zipa78 Posts: 354 Member
    I have had my weight swing 5 lbs back and forth in one day. Don't sweat it, there are so many factors that influence you weight at one specific point in time. As long as you are eating enough (so that you are not starving yourself) you're good.
  • YumiZoomi
    YumiZoomi Posts: 42
    Coolios... I like to eat.. LOL That's never a problem. Hence, my overweightness lol.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    YumiZoomi wrote: »
    Ohh Okay. Thanks for that. I'm trying to lose about 50lbs by June 11 (My Birthday :smile: ).. 20 Weeks from now. I'd like to make sure I'm doing it healthily though. I been super strict on diet. So hopefully I can make it happen.

    If you have a total of 200 lbs to lose, this might be doable. If you have a total of 50 lbs to lose, then 20 weeks is not very realistic. Forget the deadline and be prepared for the weight loss to slow down as you get closer to your goal.
  • YumiZoomi
    YumiZoomi Posts: 42
    Okay... realistically I understand 50lbs maybe hard for that timeline. And from past experience, I do know that my plateau is always 190. I've always made it to 190, and months and months of workout and eating right and never drop past 190. I been to 189.9 before.. LOL but then back to 190.1 the next day. SMH!

    So this time around, I'm prepared mentally for that plateau.. And I feel like once I've past 190 I can achieve anything. But seriously... I've heard lots of people say losing 20lbs in a month is doable if you eat correctly and workout twice a day... I'm not even aiming for 20lbs a month, just 8-10lbs a month and I'll reach my goal in time I think. So.. is it REALLY that farfetched to achieve 50lbs in 20weeks?
  • Joncgilliam
    Joncgilliam Posts: 3 Member
    If you want to up your protein without adding a lot of carbs or fat the following foods are your friends: eggs, canned tuna or salmon in water, lowfat cottage cheese, and nonfat greek yogurt. I don't eat meat (other than fish), but boiled chicken could also be added to the list.

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