What are realistic weight loss goals per week? It’s understandable that many people want to lose as much weight as possible, but what is the maximum amount that a person can reliably and realistically lose per week? In this article, I’ll first tell you how weight loss is achieved, followed by the theoretical maximum, and finally the most realistic goal to aim for.

Difference Between Inside and Outside

You only lose weight (fat stores) when your body needs to draw on them. If you are eating the same amount of energy that your body burns, then nothing will change.

However, if you eat less than you burn, you will lose weight. This can happen if you eat less food or if you burn more energy, that is, if you exercise more compared to where you are now.

Maximum loss per week

A deficit of around 1000 calories per day is pretty much the maximum anyone can tolerate and this should only be done for short periods. This will give you a weekly weight loss of two pounds (about one kilogram). You should never try to lose more weight than this.

Realistic weight loss per week

The aforementioned maximum is not sustainable in the long term. If you are 20 pounds or more overweight, I do not recommend it.

Instead, you should go for a more realistic daily deficit of 500 calories that will lead to a weekly weight loss of one pound.

One pound may not seem like much, but the above deficit won’t require a huge change in your lifestyle and will allow you to lose more than 25 pounds after half a year. Think about how quickly the last six months have gone by. In the same amount of time from now, you could be 25 pounds lighter if you commit to losing weight now.