What’s the most weight you could healthily lose in a month?

[Frondee]

I’ve lost 30 pounds very slowly since the beginning of the year (no glp1s). I have definitely stalled in the last month or so. I’m a size 12 on top. 10 on bottom. Would love to be slimmer for a holiday I have coming up. I’m in the healthy range for BMI. How much could you lose in a month if you committed and were strict with yourself. I’m kind of over doing things slowly and just want it over and done with.

I’ve found that after a long period of calorie counting and weight loss the way to breakthrough a plateau is to increase calories for a couple of weeks.

I'd say 7lbs but since you're already in a healthy BMI range, you'd do well to lose two or three pounds.

That completely depends on the start weight of the person. Generally 2lbs a week is considered a healthy loss. So 8lbs a month.

The most I have lost in a month was 14lbs when I was 18 and went to the gym for an hour every day. This is not the case at 31! Now I could do about 7lbs a month.

The issue with losing weight too fast is that your body takes from muscle as well as fat. This not only reduces strength but also brings your caloric needs down and potentially weakens the heart. It also strips nutrients from the bones (collagen and calcium) leading to increased risk of fractures (peak bone mass is reached at 30ish, after this you can’t get more bone mass).

So it’s not a case of just losing weight quickly… too quick and you are undermining your future health. 8lbs should be enough per month.

Take a brisk one hour walk twice a day

As you have already lost substantial weight - just a few pounds

I would focus on exercise (weights/resistance bands/kettle bell workouts) vs dieting at this point

2-3 workouts a week for a month and you will see a difference in your shape & be slimmer in your clothes

It's a marathon not a sprint! It's about making lifestyle changes not rapid weight loss. You are a healthy weight and a 'normal size', why the frantic need to shed more weight? I have lost 30kg over the past 16 months, and I am now a size 10 all over, albeit with larger boobs and a small waist. I have only lost about 2kg in the past 6 months, but I have lost fat and gained muscle because I am doing weights/strength/resistance work 4 times a week in addition to cardio and my body is changing shape even though the scales aren't moving. Is it a case of needing to build muscle/lose fat rather than losing weight? If so, again, that's a lifestyle change and a long term commitment. I have been doing weights etc 4 times a week for a year now. I am putting the work in and seeing the results.

What exercise are you doing?

Would depend where in the healthy weight range. Just inside one or a bit more a week. In the middle of range it gets harder

3kg if upper end of healthy BMI?

A healthy and sustainable rate of weight loss is 0.5 - 2lbs a week. As you're already a healthy BMI it's not unreasonable for weight loss to slow or stall. I found intermittent fasting helpful when I was near my target weight but weekly loss had slowed.

Christ she doesn’t need to walk 2 hours a day, most people have jobs and lives. 😂 she can achieve the same in a much shorter time frame ie 30 mins with some hit etc,

No you’re right. I cycle to and from work 6 miles each way. And also do at home arm and core workouts just using the 2kg weights I own. Sit ups etc.

Cycling is great exercise and it's good you are doing some weights. I would try and incorporate more weights, not just arms. So work all the different muscle groups, do weighted squats and lunges, work the back, the shoulders, chest, are you doing triceps as well as biceps, etc. 2kg is a low weight, if it's easy it won't do anything. I would probably use 6kg weights for bicep curls and use a 10kg plate for overhead tricep extensions (Holding with both hands). Obviously I have worked my way up to those weights over the year and didn't start at that point.

2lb a week.
More than this and it becomes untenable

You need to build some muscle now to help burn the calories. You need heavy weights to make a difference.

Hmm, around ten pounds?

That's 1200 cals a day

It depends what you mean by healthily- you could lose loads, but you probably won’t keep it off. It won’t be unhealthy per sae, but probs not the best way.

i lost a stone in a month after a traumatic event- I could only eat 500-1000 calories

In a healthy BMI range, not more than 1lb a week on average for me.