Losing more than 2lbs of fat per week

[John555]

Note I have no intention of losing any fat. But this issue keeps coming back. A lot of sources advises that you should only drop 1 to 2 pounds per week max. My question is, why?

Conveniently a 1 pound drop is 500 cal per day deficit for 7 days while a 2 pound drop is 1000 cal per day deficit for 7 days. Is it because dropping calories by 500-1000 is much more manageable for the average person, so thats the figure they advise?

Either way I'm not too sure, but I would really like to know how this 1 to 2 pound per week standard came to be.

 

[irishjoe]

Note I have no intention of losing any fat. But this issue keeps coming back. A lot of sources advises that you should only drop 1 to 2 pounds per week max. My question is, why?

Conveniently a 1 pound drop is 500 cal per day deficit for 7 days while a 2 pound drop is 1000 cal per day deficit for 7 days. Is it because dropping calories by 500-1000 is much more manageable for the average person, so thats the figure they advise?

Either way I'm not too sure, but I would really like to know how this 1 to 2 pound per week standard came to be.

Apart from weekly dexa scans it's impossible to tell where the weight loss is comming from on a weekly basis. The idea of the half kilo a week is to give some assurance of minimal muscle loss to account for the drop in weight.

 

[John555]

I get really pissed off when I see 'gurus' or 'authors' say you can only lose 1-2 pounds of fat MAX per week without giving an explanation. What is there some clock in your body that says "oh we hit 2 pounds for this week, time to hoard fat like gold!"

 

[Gauche]

People who are loosiing one to two pounds a week a generally people who are larger. If you are 80kg and want to drop two pounds it might take a month where as some carrying a 150kg weight on them permenitly will find it much easier to hit those targets with the right diet and exercise. 9000cals to a kg as far as I remember and I'd be VERY happy personally if I was doing a kg a month when I was cutting.
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[John555]

I'd say its closer to 8000cal per kg. What do you mean drop 1 kg per month? In my opinion thats quite a low amount, even for a very light guy.

Did you count calories when you were cutting? Even the initial drop in water weight ad glycogen should exceed 1 kg in the first week when you're cutting.

 

[Gauche]

If I drop a kilo it's of the very last fat on my body which is extremely hard to move. A kilo in a month of that fat is awesome. Your bodys survival instinct is to hold onto that last bit of fat. Right now because of the cycle in did I have three or four kilos to loose so even then my goal will be 1-2 kilos a week as I don't cut calories when cutting just up my workout load. I.e 2 hiit a week, 3 20 minute power walks after my gym seission and 3 40 minute power walks on days off. I'm certainly a believer of more fat being able to be lost in a shorter time frame but at what cost?

I heard a disturbing thing the other day which I wasn't happy to hear. Aparently once your body creates the fat cat cell when you loose weight all you do is shrink it meaning that the fat cells your body creates are permenant. So this mean because I was an obese teenager it makes it very easy for me to gain fat as the fat cells are already there then just start growing again. So anyone who has put excessive amounts of weight of will find it harder to keep the weight off as their body is now a well trained and proficient fat storing machine. Don't know how true it was but it was a doctor who said it.
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[John555]

If I drop a kilo it's of the very last fat on my body which is extremely hard to move. A kilo in a month of that fat is awesome. Your bodys survival instinct is to hold onto that last bit of fat. Right now because of the cycle in did I have three or four kilos to loose so even then my goal will be 1-2 kilos a week as I don't cut calories when cutting just up my workout load. I.e 2 hiit a week, 3 20 minute power walks after my gym seission and 3 40 minute power walks on days off. I'm certainly a believer of more fat being able to be lost in a shorter time frame but at what cost?

I heard a disturbing thing the other day which I wasn't happy to hear. Aparently once your body creates the fat cat cell when you loose weight all you do is shrink it meaning that the fat cells your body creates are permenant. So this mean because I was an obese teenager it makes it very easy for me to gain fat as the fat cells are already there then just start growing again. So anyone who has put excessive amounts of weight of will find it harder to keep the weight off as their body is now a well trained and proficient fat storing machine. Don't know how true it was but it was a doctor who said it.
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Unfortunately that is true, your body can create extra fat cells when you gain a lot of weight, but the fat cells will only ever shrink when you lose weight. Not sure if that makes it easier for you to gain weight or not though.

I would understand the 1-2 kg of fat per month if you don't diet/cut cals etc.

 

[confuzzl3don3]

I think you also have to account for performance to train intensely. When you try to lose fat and maintain muscle mass you need to lift with a high intensity in order to 'convince' your body to hold onto that muscle mass as it is a required adaptation. If you go on like a 2000 calorie deficit to drop like 3-4 lbs/week and you can still hit the gym with the same intensity then kudos to you, but most will report a reduction in performance and strength and hence not provide the sufficient stimulus to maximise muscle maintenance. I know it sounds pretty bro-sciency, but if you research into it, i'm pretty sure this is all supported by science as well as anectodal evidence from thousands and thousands of lifters. And generally as you get leaner, as Gauche pointed out your body becomes more adept at holding on to your fat stores and large calorie deficits are more likely to cut into your muscle mass rather than adipose tissue.

 

[PTC]

Your body CANNOT create extra fat cells if you are an adult, unless you are a pregnant female.

ALL your fat cells are created before adulthood, they simply get larger or smaller.

Liposuction can remove them, then fat looks for other storage areas, with no fat cells in your stomach, it goes to your pecs/ass/thighs etc and gives you an odd shape.

 

[Gauche]

That's interesting ptc and come to think of it the show I watched said teens who were overweight when they were young would have a tough time keeping weight off when their older. What's the science behind an adult not making more fat cells? Why doesn't the body do it? Just curious that's all
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[elchris0]

wow this is interesting.

this could be part of the reason why I can move my weight around so easily now...I was a pretty fat kid or maybe it's just my metabolism. haha.

 

[dave]

There has been some new research that has stated that 10% of your fat cells die each year and are replaced. So it looks like they have disproven that adults can not create fat cells. It still needs more research because they still have not shown that eating more will create more fat cells, just that your cells die and are replaced to the same levels.

 

[John555]

I'm getting really sick of people saying it's my metabolism or its because I created too many fat cells as a kid. The excuses are overwhelming.

 

[dave]

It is all about discipline. Everyone knows it. If you have a slow metabolism then you obviously need to eat less than you are now

 

[Gauche]

Absoloutly I've had my body at minimal percentages of body fat and I was a fat kid. It's is extremely easy for me to put weight on though which can destroys allot of peoples motivation. You have to get your mind healthy before you can reach goals like that.
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