How fast can you lose weight safely?

1-2 pounds per week? 2-3? more than 4? Well it really depends on how much you have to lose. Mike Matthews has put out a great article on his website about this very question. He definitely squashes any guru or “bro science” talk in the article and he even goes against what is instructed by dietitians and doctors on this matter. He links scientific studies and uses what is known out there now as the basis of his article. He has links to all his sources.

So what does the article say? Well to quickly summarize the article says that the higher the fat percentage and weight you have to lose, the more rapidly you can safely lose without losing precious muscle mass. So a person that needs a lot to lose, can lose more than 4 or 5 pounds a week and be good, whereas a person with only like 15 -30 pounds to lose will have to lose more slowly, like 0.5-2 pounds a week to avoid the complications of losing too rapidly. Here is link to his article if you want to look at it. How Fast Can You Lose Fat if You’re Very Overweight?

So, how will I be using this information? I am now completely comfortable with the lifting aspect of my plan. I have been tracking my nutrition and now that I have everything where I want it in the gym it is time to kick this into full speed! This week I will be adding cardio to my week. I will be doing my lifting when I get off work mostly and when I wake up I will do my cardio. This is discussed in BLS and there is good science behind not mixing the two and separating by at least 4 hours. Also, I will be meal planning this week and over the next few week to a month getting better and better at it. I definitely want variety but I have to be more strict as I need to get a variety of nutrients in and still meet my macro and calorie goals. I am taking an aggressive approach from here on out and in order to be successful I’ll have to be more calculated about my approach.

Also, If you want to calculate what your personal goals should be then I highly recommend this TDEE calculator to find out what your needs should be. Macronutrient Calculator