What’s a Healthy Rate of Weight Loss?

Are you losing weight too fast? It’s natural to want to reach your goal quickly, but losing weight too rapidly can ultimately jeopardize your weight loss plans. What is a healthy rate of weight loss?

How Fast Should You Lose Weight?

Most experts agree that a healthy rate of weight loss is between a half-pound and two pounds per week. Losing about a pound a week is realistic and achievable for most people. Since a pound of fat equals 3,500 calories, to lose a pound per week requires cutting back by 500 calories each day or burning 500 more calories per day. The best option is to eat 250 less calories a day and work off 250 more through exercise. Exercise not only helps to prime the metabolism, but has additional health benefits as well.

The Problem of Losing Weight Too Fast

Why is it important to maintain a healthy rate of weight loss? Why not lose it as fast as you can? Ultimately, this strategy will work against you. When you restrict calories too much, your body goes into starvation mode as a strategy to conserve energy. This means you’ll burn fewer calories as you restrict your diet more. Even though you may lose weight in the beginning, the weight loss will eventually slow down leading to the dreaded weight loss plateau.

The other problem with losing weight too fast is the risk of nutritional deficiency. When you decrease calorie intake below 1200 calories per day, it’s very difficult to get all the vitamins and minerals a healthy body needs. The goal should to lose weight in a healthy manner – not to feel tired all the time and have your hair fall out.

Achieving a Healthy Rate of Weight Loss

Before beginning a weight loss program, use a calorie calculator to determine how many calories you need each day for maintenance and subtract 250 calories from that total. This assumes you’ll be doing a thirty minute workout each day that burns 250 calories. Once you know how many calories you need, choose nutritionally dense foods such as whole grains, lean sources of protein, and more fruits and veggies to make sure you’re getting the necessary vitamins and nutrients.

Keep a food diary and write down how many calories you’re taking in each day along with how many you’re burning off through exercise. There are calculators online that can do this for you. Keep in mind that as you lose, your calorie requirements will change and you’ll require fewer overall calories. Make adjustments for that.

The Bottom Line?

Fast isn’t better when it comes to losing weight. Be patient and realize that a healthy rate of weight loss will give you a better chance of long term success. Don’t fall into the trap of losing weight too fast.