How Much Weight Can I Lose In 4 Weeks? (Sustainably & Safely)

 

Weight loss is a considerable challenge for many people. The process takes a long time, and feeling hungry all the time makes it feel even longer.

To that end, many people wonder about the results they can achieve in shorter, more manageable time frames––say, in four weeks.

If you’re also wondering, read on because we are answering the question, “How much weight can I lose in four weeks?” and why that mindset might not be in your best interest.

How Much Weight Can I Lose in Four Weeks?

There are two primary questions related to weight loss:

• How much weight can I lose in X amount of time?
• How much weight should I lose in X amount of time?

At first glance, any weight loss can be considered a win. After all, countless studies link weight loss to improved health markers, a lower disease risk, and mental health benefits.

However, achieving your weight loss goal as quickly as possible might not be ideal for reasons we’ll discuss in a bit.

To answer your main question of how much weight can I lose in four weeks, the answer is twenty pounds (give or take a couple). That comes down to five pounds a week, or just under a pound daily.

Unfortunately, achieving this weight loss presents a few issues. First, rapid weight loss requires a severe calorie restriction, which means cutting your calories significantly and constantly feeling hungry.

Plus, we can’t forget about binge eating. Dieting too hard or too frequently can affect your relationship with food, making you more likely to fall into perpetual binge-purge cycles, where you diet hard, get extremely hungry, stuff yourself silly for a few days, regret it, and go back to dieting.

Not eating enough also means there is less available energy, which can lead to lethargy, a drop in athletic performance, brain fog, and loss of motivation.

Second, rapid weight loss increases the risk of losing muscle and strength. Sure, you might see a significant drop on the weight scale, but much of it will be hard-earned lean tissue. As a result, you are more likely to end up skinny fat––appearing thin but lacking any muscle definition.

However…

For people that are generally 30%+ body fat, they can lose up to 5lbs and sometimes even more in a healthy way. This tends to happen because of extra bloat/water that they tend to carry. 

So, How Much Weight Should You Lose In 4 Weeks?

According to research, healthy weight loss per week is 0.5 to 1 percent of body weight. For most people, that’s around 1 lb per week of weight loss. In other words, that’s about 4 to 4.5 lbs in 4 weeks.

Ah, but there’s a problem:

This is excruciatingly slow.

Sure, that is somewhat true, but a fundamental mindset shift needs to occur if you ever hope to lose weight successfully and keep it off. Let’s talk about that.

A Common Weight Loss Roadblock

Most people obsess over short-term results, which is evident, considering the question this article is based on: How much weight can I lose in 4 weeks? At first glance, this is a perfectly fine question to ask. After all, people want to know what results they can get from a solid month of dieting and exercise.

However, that question also reveals a fundamental mindset flaw. People want to get it over with as quickly as possible and return to their old behaviors, which inevitably leads to regaining the lost weight.

The right mindset is to realize that weight loss will take time––often months. But think about it this way:

You didn’t gain all the excess weight in 4 weeks, so why expect to lose it that quickly?

Once you internalize this fact, you begin to think about weight loss differently. Rather than see it as something to check off on your to-do list, you begin to see it as something that can only come if you change your lifestyle and attitude.

The 5 Essentials For Successful Weight Loss

1. Calorie Deficit

Being in a deficit (eating fewer calories than you burn) is crucial for weight loss. Doing so forces your body to break down fat and lean tissue to compensate for the energy deficit.

For example, if you burn 2,500 calories daily but only consume 2,000, you’re in a 500-calorie deficit and on track to losing weight. Your diet composition and quality come second to that.

2. Adequate Protein Intake

Protein is necessary for supporting your muscles during caloric restriction. According to research, the recommended daily intake is 1.6 to 2.2 grams per kilo of body weight or 0.8 to 1 gram per pound.

3. Monitoring Your Diet

As mentioned above, a calorie deficit is crucial for weight loss. The best way to achieve and maintain a deficit is to monitor your diet in some way.

For example, you can use an app like MyFitnessPal to log your nutrition and a kitchen scale to weigh your food.

A 400 to 500-calorie deficit is generally the sweet spot for most people because it leads to quick enough weight loss without putting you at risk of starving or losing muscle.

On that note, there are no best foods to lose weight. The most important thing is to eat enough calories based on your goals and get the recommended protein intake.

Beyond that, simply focus on whole and nutritious foods, which are more satiating and make it easier to stick with your diet.

4. Physical Activity

Regular exercise, preferably resistance training, is beneficial when trying to melt fat because:

It provides a training stimulus, contributing to muscle maintenance while dieting
It burns calories, making it easier to remain in a deficit
Can have a favorable impact on hunger and satiety

You also don’t have to do a lot of training to maximize your results. Three to four sessions of 30-45 minutes each can be enough to train all the major muscle groups, burn extra calories, and protect your muscle and strength.

5. Adequate Sleep

Adequate sleep is always crucial but especially so while in a calorie deficit. According to research, sleep can have a profound impact on metabolic function and our ability to shed fat.

Specifically, chronic sleep deprivation increases the risk of muscle loss.

How to Stay Motivated When Weight Loss Feels Excruciatingly Slow

Losing just one pound a week could make the whole process feel incredibly slow. So, here are a few things you can do to stay motivated:

• Create challenges – workout challenges can be a fun and engaging way to enjoy your training, burn extra calories, and stay motivated
• Leverage accountability – having an accountability partner or leveraging personal training is a great way to stay committed and show up, even when you don’t feel like it
• Create small goals – small objectives (e.g., lose 5 pounds in the next 4 weeks) can be a great way to stay engaged because you always have something to look forward to

In Conclusion

As you can see, you can lose a lot of weight in just four weeks. But should you? In most cases, that would be a bad idea, setting you up for failure.

A better approach is to take the longer route and find ways to enjoy the process, and focus on building better habits instead of obsessing over short-term gimmicks.

 

 

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