You can’t lose more than a kilo a week – is that right? And what is the maximum weight you can lose in a month? We’ll tell you!
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How Much Weight Can You Lose in a Month?
To answer this question, the weight you want to lose must first be defined more precisely. From a health point of view, there is a big difference between losing weight in the form of fat, water or even muscle mass . For example, you can lose two liters or more within an hour through sweating during training. That makes two kilos lighter on the scales, but on the one hand it is not an advantage in terms of health and on the other hand the kilos are back on as soon as you compensate for the water loss with sufficient liquid.
There are also forms of diet such as the ketogenic diet , which by omitting carbohydrates leads to a reduction in glycogen stores in the body. Because glycogen binds a lot of water, you lose weight quickly on a keto diet, but most of that weight is water. As soon as carbohydrates are eaten again, the body stores more glycogen together with water. A loss of water is – apart from pathological water retention – never desirable.
Losing muscle mass is also undesirable. Strict fasting or a low-protein diet quickly leads to muscle atrophy, since muscles burn a lot of energy, which the body wants to save in times of hunger. On the other hand, he can “burn” muscle cells to use them as energy. Since this path is easier than breaking down and burning fat cells, the muscles have to put up with it first in the starvation metabolism. In the long term, the loss of muscle mass in turn leads to weight gain, since the basal metabolic rate drops significantly as a result of muscle atrophy.
So the question should be, how much body fat can you lose in a given amount of time?
How Much Fat Can You Lose in a Month?
How to lose half a pound of fat a week
A commonly used rule of thumb is the 3500 calorie rule: to lose half a pound of body weight you need to eat 3500 fewer calories per week. This means that to lose a pound of weight, you would need to consume 500 fewer calories per day than you expend. This rule is very simple and practical – but is it true? The rule is based on the assumption that one kilogram of body fat contains approximately 7000 calories. However, a study published in the journal Nature showed that the 3500-kcal rule is not exactly true. Accordingly, the participants of weight loss programs lost less fat than the calorie deficitwould suggest. However, the differences were relatively small – at least within the first three months. The more the subjects lost weight, the lower the continuous weight loss became.
The maximum possible fat loss per month
As a rough guide, the 3500 calorie rule is still useful, despite slight deviations. Logically, 7,000 fewer calories per week would then lead to the loss of one kilogram of fat. In practice, however, this is not quite so simple. It is true that one kilogram of body fat consists of around 7000 calories. However, most people with a calorie deficit of 1000 calories per day are already in starvation metabolism . With an average daily calorie requirement of around 2000 calories, the intake of just 1000 calories causes the body to switch to economy mode and tries to save fat. Instead, lean body mass is burned in the form of muscle – not a good thing.
What is the maximum healthy weight you can lose in a month? In order to avoid starvation and negative health consequences , the calorie deficit should not exceed about 20 percent of the daily calorie requirement. For a 140-pound woman who needs 1,800 calories a day, that would be 360 calories. The 140-pound woman’s calorie intake should be no less than 1440 calories per day. This would result in a weekly deficit of 2,520 calories, which corresponds to a fat loss of 360 grams. That would be a healthy loss of 3 pounds of pure body fat per month.
Also interesting: This happens with only 500 calories a day >>
Factors influencing the maximum possible weight loss
How much weight someone can lose weight in a healthy way within a certain period of time also depends on the starting point of the person. Influencing factors that determine how quickly and how much weight you can lose are:
- Starting weight: Anyone who is severely overweight can lose weight faster and more with the right lifestyle change than a person who has already reached their optimal weight.
- Age: Due to hormonal reasons, a higher basal metabolic rate and a tendency towards more physical activity, younger people find it easier to lose weight than older people.
- Gender: Since women have less muscle mass on average and store fat more easily than men due to hormonal evolutionary factors, weight loss tends to be easier for men.
- Basal Metabolic Rate: The basic calorie consumption to maintain all bodily functions depends on physique, age, gender, body weight and muscle mass. A 20-year-old 75-kilo man with big muscles has a significantly higher basal metabolic rate than a 50-year-old 50-kilo woman with less muscle.
- Type and duration of weekly training: The combination of strength training to build muscle and high-intensity interval training to burn calories is best for both short-term and long-term body fat reduction.
- Nutrition: Calories serve as a good guide for losing or gaining weight. However, regardless of the amount of calories, there are certain foods that lead to fat storage and foods that stimulate fat burning .
