How Much Weight Loss is Safe Weight Loss?

The best way to lose fat permanently without muscle loss is to lose weight slowly with a focus on exercise rather than severe calorie cutting. In the ACSM’s position statement on "Healthy and unhealthy weight loss programs," The ACSM recommends losing weight at a maximum rate of two pounds per week. This two pound figure has become almost universally accepted as the standard guideline for safe weight loss.

Why? Because you can lose more than two pounds of weight per week, but you’re highly unlikely to lose more than two pounds of fat per week. Even at two pounds per week, it’s difficult to lose 100% body fat with no loss of lean body mass.

The more slowly you lose weight, the easier it is to maintain your lean muscle mass and keep the fat off. It’s better to lose only one pound of pure fat per week than it is to lose two pounds per week with one pound from muscle and one pound from fat.

Bodybuilders usually set their goal to lose weight at a rate one to one and a half pounds per week. Losing only a single pound a week may seem like an excruciatingly slow process, however, this is one of the best-kept secrets of bodybuilders and fitness models and one of the most important keys to permanent fat loss. Why would you want to lose weight faster if you know you’re going to lose muscle and there’s a 95% chance that you’re going to put the fat back on?

What should you do if you lose more than two pounds per week? It depends; everything is relative to the individual. If you have a large amount of fat to lose, then losing three pounds a week is safe and acceptable during the early stages (as long as you’re measuring your body composition and the weight you’re losing is fat and not muscle). However, as you get closer to your long-term goal, expect the weight loss to slow to one or two pounds per week.

For most people, losing more than two pounds per week means that you should actually eat more! This may be difficult for you to accept, but if you lose more than the recommended amount, you’re not just losing fat – you’re losing muscle. Don’t let the temporary ego boost from a large drop in scale weight sabotage your efforts in the long run. Be patient. Don’t ever confuse weight loss with fat loss.