How long does it take to lose weight and maintain it? What you need to know

The time it takes to lose weight varies according to the individual, according to factors such as your starting weight, your gender, your hormones, your health problems and your medication. Experts recommend aiming to lose 1 to 2 pounds per week to ensure safe weight loss and increase the probability of keeping the weight.

With diet and exercise

Weight loss of 1 to 2 pounds per week (or 4 to 8 pounds per month) is considered a healthy rate. More than six months, it’s about 26 to 52 pounds. This number will vary depending on your starting weight.

If your goal is to lose weight and maintain it, focus on progressive weight loss instead of rapid weight loss. Experts recommend combining a low calorie diet, regular exercise (both cardiovascular and strength) and behavioral changes to achieve your weight loss objectives without medication.

With weight loss medications

Weight loss drugs can help people with obesity to lose significant amounts of weight when other methods do not work. The prescription semaglutide (for example, Wegovy and Ozempic) is particularly effective.

These drugs help overweight and obesity – which constitutes a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more – down 15% to 20% of their body weight over 68 weeks (about 15 months).

Factors affecting weight loss speed

1. Drugs

Some drugs can make you gain weight or make it more difficult to lose weight. Examples of these include:

• Antidepressants
• Antihyperglycemic
• Antihypertensives
• Antipsychotics
• Certain forms of birth control
• Corticosteroids
• Lithium

Do not change your drug diet without speaking to a health care provider. Discuss your concerns with them if you think your drugs affect your weight loss goals.

2. Age

Age can also affect the speed at which you lose weight due to natural changes in the human body. After 30 years, body fat increases slowly and the lean muscle decreases. Then, as men almost 55 years and women almost 65, the weight can start to decrease due to hormonal changes.

3. Genetics

More than 50 genes are associated with obesity, which can make more difficult for people with these genes to lose weight. There is also evidence that genetics can predispose you to better weight management by making you more sensitive to exercise.

4. Sex

Some evidence suggest that men can be able to lose weight faster than women because they have a higher metabolic basal rate (BMR). This is the speed at which your body burns calories at rest.

5. Hormones

Hormonal imbalances can affect your ability to lose or gain weight:

• Thyroid hormones regulate metabolism. Hypothyroidism (low thyroid levels) can make weight more difficult, and hyperthyroidism (high thyroid levels) can facilitate weight loss.
• Low levels of estrogen, which can occur during perimenopause (the transition phase leading to menopause) and menopause (the cessation of the menstrual cycle), can contribute to weight gain, in particular around the abdomen.
• Initial weight loss can also lead to changes in ghrelin, leptin, cholecystokinin and other hormones that affect appetite and metabolism. These can lead to a slower weight loss speed, a weight loss or lost retirement tray.

6. Start of the weight

You can lose pounds faster if you have a higher starting weight. A recommendation is to lose 5% at 10% of body weight in the first six months. Someone who weighs more will therefore have more books to lose.

For example, 10% of 300 pounds are 30 pounds, while 10% of 150 pounds are 15 pounds. If the two people reached their weight loss goals, the person who weighed 300 pounds would have initially lost more books during the same period.

7. Calories

The amount of calories you consume affects the speed at which you lose weight. You will want to be in a calorie deficit (which means that you burn more calories than you consume) from 500 to 1,000 calories per day to lose 1 or 2 pounds per week.

Avoid fashionable diets (diets that promise rapid weight loss, such as Atkins diets or detoxification) which limit significant nutrients and excessively restrict calories. Without professional orientation, it is not recommended to take less than 1,200 calories per day for women or 1,500 calories per day for men.

8. Activity level

Being more active can help you lose weight faster. It can also improve your cardiorepiratory form (heart and lung) and help you maintain weight loss.

The exercise directly burns calories and increases muscle mass, which can improve your BMR by burning more calories at rest. Experts recommend combining cardiovascular exercise with force training. Aim for 30 to 45 minutes of moderate physical activity three to five days a week and build from there.

What are the risks of rapid weight loss?

Losing too much weight too quickly (more than 1 to 2 pounds per week) can make you difficult to keep you long -term weight loss. Quick weight loss often occurs with fashionable diets or excessive exercise, both habits that are not long -term durable.

It can also be dangerous to lose weight quickly, endangering you:

• Loss of bone density
• Constipation
• Dehydration
• Depression, anxiety and excessive diet
• Diarrhea
• Electrolytic imbalance
• Fatigue
• Gain weight quickly
• Bile
• Drop
• Headache
• Hormonal changes
• Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)
• Nausea and vomiting
• Vitamins deficiencies

What habits can inhibit weight loss?

Habits that inhibit weight loss include:

• Be sedentary (not move enough)
• Drinking sugary or transformed drinks, including diet sodas
• Eat large portions during meal times
• Abandon
• High stress levels of work, family or life
• Make too many changes in regime, exercise or lifestyle that you cannot support
• Insane snacks between meals, especially on sweet or processed foods
• Do not take into account alcohol calories or drinks
• Do not have enough quality sleep

Advice to support healthy weight loss

Advice to support healthy weight loss include:

• Find ways to move more, for example, to stretch during a lunch break or to take a bus stop early to walk further.
• Follow a regular exercise routine.
• Go sleep and wake up regularly.
• Identify and manage desires.
• Keep the fruits and vegetables available for snacks instead of sugary or processed foods and drinks.
• Measure your progress.
• Plan meals in advance.
• Reward to achieve your weight loss goals with non -food rewards (such as a massage, a bouquet of flowers, a good bath, attend a concert, and more).
• Set realistic and time-related objectives (for example, “I take a 30-minute zumba lesson twice a week for six weeks”, instead of “doing more exercise”).
• Do you surround others that share similar health objectives.
• Talk to a specialist in weight loss or nutrition.
• Use community resources, such as public parks or group weight loss programs.

What is the best diet to lose weight?

In general, the rest of a low calorie diet is recommended if you want to lose weight. Beyond that, the best food model for losing weight is the one that works for you and keeps you motivated and on the right track with your goals.

• The Mediterranean regime is a food style supported by research which has advantages for long -term weight management. It is a question of eating whole fruits, vegetables, lean meats, fish, olive oil and nuts, and by avoiding processed foods and saturated fats.
• Steady fasting is another popular approach to weight loss. It has restricted the moment of your meals and is a diet that has been recognized lately. Calories are not limited during the food window.

Research shows that intermittent fasting can reduce body weight, body mass index (BMI), waist tower, blood sugar and triglyceride levels (a type of fat in the blood). Based on research, participants lost around 7 to 11 pounds over 10 weeks while intermittent fasting.

Fashionable diets are not healthy for you, especially in the long term. It is important to eat a balanced diet containing fibers, nutrients, proteins, carbohydrates and healthy fats. Putting your body rather than hungry will give you energy to exercise and stay in a calorie deficit while feeling good.

When do you have to contact a health care provider?

Sometimes it may seem that you do everything well and don’t lose weight. Or maybe you have lost weight at the start, but now your weight loss is flat. This may be due to a “survival mechanism” that your body is going through during weight loss.

If you have trouble losing weight by yourself, talk to a health professional about your weight loss goals. They can direct you to resources such as weight management clinics, dietitists, nutritionists, physiotherapists, bariatric surgery (weight loss surgery), weight loss drugs and other options.