How much fat loss per month is reasonable?

[Zegna]

Hi Everyone,

New to the forums because I have done a lot of reading into body building / mass gain / fat loss but still have some questions that hopefully people here can help me out.

I bulked up from around 127 pounds to about 168 pounds over 5 yr period. I know its super slow but with work I have to travel which puts me in a cycle. At 162 pounds i had more than 21% body fat. So i decided to try to cut up for summer. 8 weeks into cutting up I am now 154 lb with 12.7% body fat (8 lb lost and 8.3% body fat lost)

Yesterday i was reading that about 1/2 to 1 % body fat loss per month is ideal over that you are wasting away at muscle. Is that true? Am I undoing all my hard work put in years to gain muscle? I dont feel like i am losing muscle that much muscle. Infact on weight training days i am increasing the weight still doing 12-15 reps. I know in the process of cutting up you do lose some muscle but i dont want it so i go back to square one of being thin but no muscle.

Thoughts, suggestions, guides, links to studies or other posts?

Thanks in advance.

[CCCP77]

Well, from what I read in many mags, for every lb you lose, its 60% muscle, 40% fat. You just have to make sure you consume at least g of protein per lb to maintain most of your muscle mass. Its a constant circle, you bulk, then diet.


Read this article, http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=5899101.

From what I read, diets like this ensure minimal muscle loss.

Good luck.

[lewis69]

i would say about 12-14 lbs a month is a good amount but there is no reason why you couldnt lose more with the correct diet http://wanttobeatthefat.blogspot.com

[fatchops51]

IMO 2lbs a week is the max you should be losing, so that would be 8lbs/month. Realistically you will lose some pretty quickly then get down to a solid .5 - 1lb/week. This is fine, the slower you lose it the more you can be assured tis fat and not muscle. Patience and perserverence is key. Keeping the protein high and the carbs moderate has worked for me consistently. if you have any questions you can PM me

[MA5Bergey]

Long story short, the most you want to lose per week is 1-2 lbs a week on average. The less you lose, the more likely that weight is to be fat, and the more you lose, the more likely you are to lose a substantial amount of muscle with that fat. Also, the slower you lose the weight, the more likely you are to keep it off. So aim for around 8-10 lbs a month, max.

[jay24k]

I've read 80% fat, 20% muscle if you continue to lift and eat sufficient protein.

[DuLac]

1-2 lbs per week, to stay healthy and not lose muscle.

But, realistically, if you're gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time, you might only 'lose' .75 lbs on the scale.

Bottom line: Get your body fat % tested, stay away from the scale. Eat right + weightlift + cardio. Then check your bodyfat again in 6 weeks.

[Zegna]

Thanks for the replies... from reading the links posted and other ones i have found on the internet the average concensus seems to be 0.5% bodyfat loss per week.

Just from pure math if i was at 162 with 21% body fat and 8 weeks later i am at 154 with 12.7% then that means

Lost 8 lbs total from overall weight
Lost 14 lb body fat ( .21*162 - .127*154)
Lost ~1% bodyfat per week (started faster slowing now)

That looks a little off to me? This is the first time i have tried to cut up so please let me know if thats 'normal' or i am over doing it and should increase calorie count.

I roughly have 120g of protien a day (going to increase that after reading the links posted). Eat around 5-6 meals a day with 40/30/30 ratio that adss up to about 1200-1500 calories a day. Also on cardio days i have been doing about 50 mins with 130 bpm. Should i decrease that to 120 bpm (I have read between 120-130 is good)?

Thanks again

[DuLac]

Gym newbies almost always exceed expecations to start. If you are still hungry at meal time, and your lifts are improving/staying the same, and your pants are getting looser, then you're doing just fine.

[dzasta0]

Also got to remember that at the beginning of diet, a lot of water weight is dropped...

[FloridaGator]

Long story short, the most you want to lose per week is 1-2 lbs a week on average. The less you lose, the more likely that weight is to be fat, and the more you lose, the more likely you are to lose a substantial amount of muscle with that fat. Also, the slower you lose the weight, the more likely you are to keep it off. So aim for around 8-10 lbs a month, max.

Sound advice. Also ... if you have a lot of weight to lose ... losing it too quickly could mean having very loose skin. The slower you lose it the easier it is for your skin to keep up with the new shape. I think it would be very frustrating to put all that work into losing weight only to be embarrased about the skin being too stretched out.