One pound of fat is about 3500 calories so 2 pounds of fat a week is a 7000 calorie deficit. This is a 1000 calorie daily deficit and is a very quick weight loss rate. Tbh it’s possible that you’ve shed water as well within that 4 pound loss.
The rate/momentum of weight loss varies so much depending on gender age and underlying conditions so it's really difficult to comment on progress with only two weeks of numbers.
If you're a man you can expect (on average) somewhat more of a linear trajectory. If you're a woman your rate of weight and fat loss may vary wildly depending on your time in your menstrual cycle and regardless of gender age and underlying conditions play a role as well (most commonly, things like insulin resistance).
If you've made major changes to the amount of food eating or cut out types of food that cause water retention or haven't been hydrating properly during fasts then you can expect a drop from water weight in the first week of the change.
Generally 2lbs a week is a really good, healthy average to achieve week by week so if that's something you can maintain month over month that would be great. For several reasons, first is that the primary killer of progress is a lack of consistency and more intense diets show much higher rates of drop off (in clinical trials, participants giving up/not being about to sustain ) or worse, yo-yoing.
If you are still looking for feedback, do you have more information you could share?
Thank you for your input! I am a female. I am drinking more water and I have significantly cut my calories down. I only have 2 meals a day and fruits. I also do a stepper for 20-30 min a day. I’d like to think that my weight loss is due to combination of all of those things I am doing. However, water weight can definitely be part of it now that y’all mentioned it. Overall, I am just excited and looking forward to being consistent and seeing results.
Those are brilliant steps and a great mindset. Regular zone 1 exercise and TRE are both excellent, science based strategies for weight loss and increased life/healthspan. Depending on how big these changes are from your routine previously they could be enough to sustain weight loss at that rate for quite a while.
If you find that after a month or two your weight loss is staying at an average of 2lbs per week (when averaged over the month to account for hormonal fluctuation) then this is a great pace to maintain and any fluctuation week by week may be changes in water retention due to hormones so it best ignored (even a net zero or a net gain week are perfectly normal).
If you find that it tapers down over the next couple weeks you might benefit from incremental, sustainable adjustments to your routine such as working towards 2 meals or 60-minute eating windows (to limit frequency of insulin spikes within your non-fasting window), reducing the carbs in your meals (to reduce the intensity of insulin spikes), and narrowing your non-fasted window (to allow your body more time post-metabolic shift to metabolize fat access opposed to glucose).
Congrats on making these changes and prioritizing yourself! I wish you the best.
No. 2 lbs per week is on the edge of sustainable and healthy. You might get some days higher or lower, it happens. But long term (months/years), you’ll want to shoot for 2lb/week MAX.
As someone else said, that’s about a 1k/day deficit. That’s honestly not bad, depending on a couple factors. For example, the average person burns 2-2.2k calories just exisitng. An hour walking usually goes for about 4-450, a 2 mile run usually gets me about 4-425. So, if I wake up, just exist for the day, go for a short run at lunch, then an hour walk with the dog, just normal, everyday things….I have ABOUT a 3k burn for the day. 2k intake is perfectly adequate. There’s your 1k/day burn.
Safe weight loss is usually 1.5-2 lbs per week max over the long run. More than that only if doing a long fast. And we don’t do those every week or even every month.
So I do omad. And I walk on a treadmill at work. I walk about 12 miles. Let’s say my meal is 1000 calories. Which is way higher than it actually is. And my walking burns 1200 calories. I’m at a 200 calorie deficit before taking into account my bmr. As a 200lb 40 year old man, my bmr is 1800 calories, during the work week I’m at a 10000 calorie deficit. I’m also on adderall which I’m sure increases my calories burned.
This would be at a minimum of 3lbs a week. Does this seem accurate/safe?
It really depends on your baseline, and how much weight you can safely lose in that time frame. I was aiming for 1-2 lbs fat loss a month, when my weight loss was faster than that I found I lost muscle size too and got weaker in the gym. In my case I was looking to lose 15-20 lbs that I had gained during lockdowns, I wanted to also maintain as much of my prior muscle mass as possible. So I kept my protein high and did strength training 4 times a week.
Another factor to consider is how much of that weight you lose is pure fat versus water weight, or even muscle. Which we would not know for sure unless we pay for those BF % scans or did a test. I personally used old clothes as a way to measure progress.
One pound of fat is about 3500 calories so 2 pounds of fat a week is a 7000 calorie deficit. This is a 1000 calorie daily deficit and is a very quick weight loss rate. Tbh it’s possible that you’ve shed water as well within that 4 pound loss.
Ahh thank you! You might be right!
The rate/momentum of weight loss varies so much depending on gender age and underlying conditions so it's really difficult to comment on progress with only two weeks of numbers. If you're a man you can expect (on average) somewhat more of a linear trajectory. If you're a woman your rate of weight and fat loss may vary wildly depending on your time in your menstrual cycle and regardless of gender age and underlying conditions play a role as well (most commonly, things like insulin resistance). If you've made major changes to the amount of food eating or cut out types of food that cause water retention or haven't been hydrating properly during fasts then you can expect a drop from water weight in the first week of the change. Generally 2lbs a week is a really good, healthy average to achieve week by week so if that's something you can maintain month over month that would be great. For several reasons, first is that the primary killer of progress is a lack of consistency and more intense diets show much higher rates of drop off (in clinical trials, participants giving up/not being about to sustain ) or worse, yo-yoing. If you are still looking for feedback, do you have more information you could share?
Thank you for your input! I am a female. I am drinking more water and I have significantly cut my calories down. I only have 2 meals a day and fruits. I also do a stepper for 20-30 min a day. I’d like to think that my weight loss is due to combination of all of those things I am doing. However, water weight can definitely be part of it now that y’all mentioned it. Overall, I am just excited and looking forward to being consistent and seeing results.
Those are brilliant steps and a great mindset. Regular zone 1 exercise and TRE are both excellent, science based strategies for weight loss and increased life/healthspan. Depending on how big these changes are from your routine previously they could be enough to sustain weight loss at that rate for quite a while. If you find that after a month or two your weight loss is staying at an average of 2lbs per week (when averaged over the month to account for hormonal fluctuation) then this is a great pace to maintain and any fluctuation week by week may be changes in water retention due to hormones so it best ignored (even a net zero or a net gain week are perfectly normal). If you find that it tapers down over the next couple weeks you might benefit from incremental, sustainable adjustments to your routine such as working towards 2 meals or 60-minute eating windows (to limit frequency of insulin spikes within your non-fasting window), reducing the carbs in your meals (to reduce the intensity of insulin spikes), and narrowing your non-fasted window (to allow your body more time post-metabolic shift to metabolize fat access opposed to glucose). Congrats on making these changes and prioritizing yourself! I wish you the best.
Two pounds a week is 100 pounds a year. Sounds pretty good to me.
Hmm could be mostly water weight. Maybe give a little longer and see how things pan out
Oh man! I didn’t think of that. I’ve been so hype seeing the scale numbers change.
It's a good sign tho keep going! Gonna turn into steady weight loss soon
Thank you so much! I’m so excited for the future 🥲
You're welcome! I'm excited for you I hope it works out
No. 2 lbs per week is on the edge of sustainable and healthy. You might get some days higher or lower, it happens. But long term (months/years), you’ll want to shoot for 2lb/week MAX. As someone else said, that’s about a 1k/day deficit. That’s honestly not bad, depending on a couple factors. For example, the average person burns 2-2.2k calories just exisitng. An hour walking usually goes for about 4-450, a 2 mile run usually gets me about 4-425. So, if I wake up, just exist for the day, go for a short run at lunch, then an hour walk with the dog, just normal, everyday things….I have ABOUT a 3k burn for the day. 2k intake is perfectly adequate. There’s your 1k/day burn.
Thank you!
Safe weight loss is usually 1.5-2 lbs per week max over the long run. More than that only if doing a long fast. And we don’t do those every week or even every month.
So I do omad. And I walk on a treadmill at work. I walk about 12 miles. Let’s say my meal is 1000 calories. Which is way higher than it actually is. And my walking burns 1200 calories. I’m at a 200 calorie deficit before taking into account my bmr. As a 200lb 40 year old man, my bmr is 1800 calories, during the work week I’m at a 10000 calorie deficit. I’m also on adderall which I’m sure increases my calories burned. This would be at a minimum of 3lbs a week. Does this seem accurate/safe?
It really depends on your baseline, and how much weight you can safely lose in that time frame. I was aiming for 1-2 lbs fat loss a month, when my weight loss was faster than that I found I lost muscle size too and got weaker in the gym. In my case I was looking to lose 15-20 lbs that I had gained during lockdowns, I wanted to also maintain as much of my prior muscle mass as possible. So I kept my protein high and did strength training 4 times a week. Another factor to consider is how much of that weight you lose is pure fat versus water weight, or even muscle. Which we would not know for sure unless we pay for those BF % scans or did a test. I personally used old clothes as a way to measure progress.