Setting a Realistic Weight-Loss Timeline

Weight-loss happens over months, not days or weeks.

Last week, I talked about maintaining a healthy and safe caloric deficit. As a refresher, it is typically not safe or healthy to be at a caloric deficit higher than 500 calories per day. If you can maintain a 500 calorie per day deficit, then given that all other factors are equal, you should lose about 1 pound of weight per week.

1 pound per week.

Most weight-loss supplements or services promote time frames in days or weeks. They’ll hook you with “I lost 10 pounds in two weeks” but realize that this is not realistic for most people. Fluctuations from one day to the next are often due to how hydrated we are, when we ate, or even when the last time we used the restroom was.

Sustainable and healthy weight-loss, specifically body-fat loss, happens over time and cannot always be tracked from one day to the next. Even from one week to the next isn’t always accurate. When we embark on a weight-loss journey, we have to realize that it is a long-haul trip, not a weekend excursion.

If you are just starting out on this journey, my advice is to weigh in, write that down somewhere (you can log your weight into MyFitnessPal, too), and forget about it for the next month. Dial in your calories, go on longer walks, and don’t think about your weight.

In a few weeks, we’ll talk about how you can start weighing in more often, but I don’t suggest that now because your focus should be on getting used to your new caloric intake.

The most important thing I want to leave you with this week is that weight-loss is not for the instant-gratification crowd. It takes time to lose weight in a sustainable and healthy way. That’s not to say that you may not see bigger jumps in progress as this process goes on. There are a lot of factors that can contribute to weight-loss. The point is to calibrate your mindset.

It’s like when you are on a long drive. Let’s say you have a 4-hour drive ahead of you. You are going to be far more patient with how long it is taking in the first three hours. Then, in the last hour, you might start getting anxious because you just want to get there. Think of weight-loss in this way. Strap in for a long trip and you’ll be more patient with yourself as you go.

Get into this mindset and keep on keeping on with your calorie tracking.

While we’re at it, how is your calorie tracking going? Have you stuck to it for the last week? Have you noticed any changes or differences in what you eat? I’d love to hear from you as this goes on, so don’t hesitate to reach out!

Keep it up and until next week, Johann