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How much weight can I lose in 30 days?
On average, you can expect to lose about 4 to 8 pounds in 30 days. This is in line with what health experts recommend, a slow and steady weight loss of about 1% of your total body weight or 1 – 2 pounds every week.
However, keep in mind that how much weight you lose is influenced by factors such as; your starting weight, age, gender, height, and lifestyle. A person weighing 250-pounds, won’t lose the same amount of weight weekly as someone weighing 155-pounds. The heavier person might lose more weight every week compared to the lighter person even while both are losing 1% of total body weight. The same goes for lifestyle. A person with a sedentary lifestyle with a desk job might not lose weight at the same rate as some who exercise daily with a job that requires them to walk around all day. Overall, the goal is to aim for healthy and safe weight loss, that doesn’t involve making any drastic changes to your diet or lifestyle.
Can you lose 30 pounds in a month?
No, it is not possible to lose 30 pounds in a month. This type of quick weight loss is not in line with what most health experts recommend as it requires drastic changes that cannot be sustained.
But first, let’s understand how weight loss occurs to see why losing 30 pounds in a month is an impossible goal for many. Weight loss occurs when you eat less, forcing your body to tap into stored fat for energy. To lose one pound, you need to create a calorie deficit of 3500 calories. You need to maintain this deficit daily for a month to achieve your goal of losing 30 pounds.
There are only two ways to achieve weight loss, diet and exercise. With this goal, you will need to eat 3500 fewer calories each day to lose 1 pound daily. This is starvation and impossible as healthy adults need food daily to function properly. The other option is to burn 3500 with exercise. Howeevr, even with the most vigorous cardio workouts such as swimming, you can burn at most 300 – 500 calories in a 30-minutes session. It would take you at least 3-hours or more to burn 3500 calories. An achievement that’s impossible to do every single day for a month for most people.
Can you lose 20 pounds in a month?
No, it is not possible to lose 20 pounds in a month. This type of quick weight loss involves making unhealthy drastic changes to your diet that cannot be sustained.
Based on the fact that you need a deficit of about 3500 calories to lose 1 pound. We know that losing 20 pounds in a month means creating a calorie deficit of at least 2300 calories every day. This is not possible to achieve with diet or exercise. Even with the best cardio workouts such as; swimming, you burn a moderate 300 – 500 pounds in a 30-minute session. A goal of burning 2300 extra calories will involve swimming for at least 3 hours or more, for example. Unless you’re a top athlete training for the Olympics, this is difficult to do daily to a month. Also, most adults need to eat at least 2000 – 25000 calories to maintain their weight. Eating 2300 fewer calories is unrealistic and impossible. It is for these reasons that losing 20 pounds in a month is not recommended for most people.
Final thoughts; how much weight can I lose in 30 days?
On average, you can expect to lose about 4 – 8 pounds in 30 days. This is a healthy and safe weight loss range in line with what the CDC and most health experts recommend.
