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Re:Beginner's Health and Fitness Guide by KirinDave on Thursday June 03, 2010 @11:31AM (#1401573)
I'm not saying it's not great, but it's not a sustainable rate of weight loss if your goal is to lose a lot of weight.

When I cut soda from my diet I lost 10lbs in a month. In a month! And then it tailed off and I was depressed because I couldn't sustain it, I had unreasonable expectations. And if you're losing 2lbs a week for a very long period of time, it can be an indicator of underlying medical issues.

Re:Beginner's Health and Fitness Guide by unexpected on Thursday June 03, 2010 @11:57AM (#1401661)
2 lbs is totally sustainable. I lost 80 lbs this way and have kept it off for two years.

I would say 10 lbs a month is about average for someone who is motivated and losing weight.

Re:Beginner's Health and Fitness Guide by greyboy on Thursday June 03, 2010 @12:10PM (#1401698)
I have to disagree. Most doctors will agree that losing up to two pounds per week for a healthy adult is acceptable and normal during the course of intensive exercise.

Much like matwood, I was ~205 at 6' with an athletic build. I wasn't overly fat, but hefty (ok, kinda fat). Running and working out six mornings/week and basketball in the evenings allowed me to drop 2 lbs/week, to a much leaner 165. Coincidentally, I had a doctor visit or two during that time and the doctors never expressed any concern over it.

Fortunately, and I believe this generally for healthy adults, you will reach a plateau. I did so at 165 and never fell below that, even when I increased my running, lifting and other recreational activity.

Re:Beginner's Health and Fitness Guide by jules on Thursday June 03, 2010 @12:50PM (#1401801)
You can't sustain any weight loss no matter how little for the simple mathematical reason that body weight is nonnegative. I do agree that 2 lbs/week which is about 8000 calories, or about 3-4 days worth of calories, is a lot. For an average weight person. If you weigh a lot then it may be ok because you naturally burn more calories per day so 8000 calories may only be 2-3 days worth. You shouldn't look at the lbs/week figure but at how many percent fewer calories you're consuming than you need to sustain body weight.
Re:Beginner's Health and Fitness Guide by matwood on Thursday June 03, 2010 @11:40AM (#1401600)
At some point though you shouldn't want to lose anymore weight. Unless you start out really overweight, simply losing weight shouldn't be the goal anyways. Lowering BF% is a much better goal that reflects your overall body composition. I'm 6' 1" and almost 200lbs and weight wise I could be considered overweight, but my BF% was 11% the last time I had it checked and I've since gotten leaner.

In short, don't get depressed about the scale. Look in the mirror and keep making body composition changes.