How Much Weight Per Week?
Experts often say that you should lose 1-2 lbs per week if you are on a diet. They say that losing more than that is unhealthy. This is standard advice and it could be different depending on your situation. We will explore this statement in depth a little bit more and talk about how much weight you lose on various diets.
The First Week
The first week of a weight loss plan is usually the exception to the "1-2 lbs" rule. Don't be surprised if you lose 5 to 10 lbs in your first week of dieting and exercising, depending on how much you weigh at the start. This is because your body is shedding water weight. But don't worry! Some of that weight is fat and your body will begin burning more fat as you go throughout the weeks.
It's important to stick to your weight loss plan beyond that first week so that you can really get into the fat burning and develop good habits. You don't want to fall into a cycle of yo-yo dieting.
Yo-Yo Dieting
Over time, yo-yo dieting actually causes steady weight gain. You do not want to keep hopping on and off weight loss plans over and over. This will be horrible for your health if you continue. You will always gain back the weight you lose and then some. This will repeat over and over until you finally decide to stick with something.
Weight Loss Is Not Linear
One reason people quit their weight loss plan is because weight may fluctuate and this causes them to lose motivation. They don't see a point in depriving themselves if they aren't getting the results they were wanting.
What you have to remember is that weight loss isn't linear. What this means is that some weeks you will lose less weight than others. Some weeks you'll lose more weight than others. Some weeks you won't lose any, and some weeks you may even gain weight. This will happen all through your weight loss plan.
It's very easy to get discouraged when this happens. What you need to do is try to weigh yourself only once per month. It will help you realize that you are losing weight over all, even if there are weekly fluctuations. The monthly weigh-in should always show a loss as long as you are following your weight loss plan.
If you are following your weight loss plan religiously, but stop losing weight for weeks, we call that a weight loss plateau.
Weight Loss Plateaus
Weight loss plateaus typically happen after you've lost a bit of weight. You may lose 15-20 lbs at first and then get stuck, even though you are doing everything right. Depending on how long your weight loss journey is, you could run into more than one plateau. This can be frustrating, but it's not a reason to stop.
Listen, if I had stopped the very first time I hit a plateau, I would have been stuck at 165 lbs forever. But instead I found a way to break the plateau and got myself down to 115 lbs. You don't have to give up and there are ways out of it. Read my article on how to break a weight loss plateau.
Your Period Matters
You have to remember that weight will fluctuate week by week and your period does make a difference. This is one reason I stress only weighing once per month. You don't want to get discouraged because your weight went up around your period. That may cause you to stop your diet.
Pick a day of the month to weigh and try to hide the scale for the rest of the month so that you aren't tempted to get on it. I know I get tempted if the scale is just sitting right there on the floor. It's so easy to weigh yourself without even thinking much about it. Weighing yourself too often can lead to discouragement.
Loose Skin
Let's revisit the "1-2 lbs per week" rule that I mentioned before. Most experts will tell you that you should be losing weight at a rate of 1-2 lbs per week.
One reason experts say you don't want to lose weight too fast is because you may develop loose skin. Those who weigh more and those who have less skin elasticity (such as the elderly) are more prone to having loose skin from weight loss. It's generally not something you should worry about unless you are morbidly obese or losing weight much too rapidly.
Average Keto Weight Loss
Keto is a popular diet that many people follow for weight loss. I searched the internet and compiled some data to figure out the average weekly weight loss for those on a keto diet. The average weight loss for keto is 2.74 lbs per week. As you can see that is above the standard 1-2 lbs that is preached by the professionals.
Average Intermittent Fasting Weight Loss
The average person who intermittent fasts loses 2.23 lbs per week. But as I said previously, some lost more and some lost less. The lowest recorded weight loss per week was 0.5 lb. The highest recorded weight loss per week was 3.5 lbs. Your weight loss could be anywhere within this range.
Half a pound of weight loss per week is not a lot. But if you keep at it, you will have lost a ton of weight by the end. These averages come from all kinds of intermittent fasting schedules.
Remember that these averages also varied throughout that person's weight loss journey. For example, they may have lost a total of 20 lbs, but they lost different amounts each week. They may have lost 5 lbs one week, 3 lbs another week, 0.75 lbs another week, and so on. This goes back to the saying that "weight loss is not linear." You will lose different amounts each week.
Your Average Weight Loss
Remember that I'm sharing averages here. While the average person's weight loss is around 2-3 lbs per week, some people were losing more and some were losing less. It changes from person to person. You should stick to a weight loss plan for at least a month to get past any weight fluctuations and find out if it's truly working for you or not.
If you give up too soon, you may never see the results you were looking for, and you might gain the weight back and then some. It's best to just stick it out. If you haven't lost much weight after a month, tweak your weight loss plan slightly until you feel like it's working for you.
Weight Loss Maintenance
Persistence is key. The reason people say weight loss is a "lifestyle change" is because if you lose a bunch of weight and then go back to old habits, you will gain it all back. You have to watch yourself even in maintenance. I promise it's not as hard as it sounds though, because once you lose the weight you can be a little more relaxed with everything. The problems only happen when you get too relaxed or completely go off the rails.
It's definitely easier to maintain weight loss than it is to lose the weight all over again. So make sure you do what you need to do to maintain your weight once it's lost.
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