What's Considered a Healthy Rate of Weight Loss?

When you’re overweight, it’s normal to want to lose as quickly as possible, and you can find countless diets that claim to help you do just that. However, you've probably heard that it's best to lose weight gradually and steadily.

Data consistently shows that people who lose weight gradually are more likely to keep it off in the long run. On the other hand, losing weight too quickly can not only lead to rebound weight gain, but it can be harmful to your health.

When your goal is to reach and maintain a healthy weight, it’s best to rely on help from a medical weight-loss specialist. Our team at Nova Physician Wellness Center consists of two board-certified obesity medicine specialists and board-certified nurse practitioners that specialize in weight management. 

Our team helps adults and children lose weight safely and effectively through our evidence-based weight-loss programs. 

Potential dangers of losing weight too quickly

There are several potential dangers of losing a large amount of weight too quickly. Here’s an overview on some of the top dangers of rapid weight loss. 

Dehydration

Dehydration is a major concern when it comes to rapid weight loss. Losing even 2% of your body water can cause fatigue and weakness. Severe dehydration can even land you in the hospital. 

Lean muscle loss

Any time you reduce your weight, it’s normal to lose some lean mass. Our physician-supervised weight-loss program helps patients retain as much lean mass as possible while losing body fat. When you go it alone on a DIY weight-loss program and lose weight too quickly, it’s typical to have an accelerated loss of lean mass.

This has a negative impact on your body composition and does more harm than good. The less lean mass you have, the lower your metabolism and the fewer calories you burn. The result is often not only gaining back the weight you lost, but gaining even more. 

Low mood

Losing too much weight too quickly can take a major toll on your mental health. You may feel good when you start a DIY rapid weight-loss diet, but within a matter of days, it’s common for mood to take a nosedive. You may start to feel negative and pessimistic, and this may continue throughout the duration of your DIY diet. 

Nutrient deficiency

Your body needs an abundance of nutrients in the right amounts each day to fuel itself and carry out important functions. DIY rapid weight-loss diets often involve severely restricting certain foods, food groups, or overall calories, which is often a recipe for nutrient deficiency. 

Missing out on nutrients can cause issues like hair loss, poor exercise performance, low energy, digestive issues such as constipation, and loss of strength.

Our team can help you lose weight while meeting your body’s nutrient needs, so you feel energetic and good throughout your weight-loss journey. 

Choosing the right plan

Our weight-loss plans are individualized to meet your needs. Our team will determine a safe rate of weight loss for you and provide the guidance, structure, tools, and support for you to shed extra pounds and keep them off for good. 

What is a safe rate of weight loss?

In generic terms, many experts agree that it’s safe to lose weight at a rate of 1-2 pounds per week. However, people with a lot of weight to lose can safely lose at a higher rate. Additionally, patients with certain health conditions may need to lose weight at the slightly higher rate to prevent their condition from progressing and protect their health.

For example, it’s common for people with fatty liver disease to follow a rapid weight-loss plan under medical supervision. Our team can perform the appropriate tests to track your health and nutrient status and help you lose weight quickly and safely. 

Medically supervised weight loss

A doctor-guided weight-loss program aims to help you adopt an overall healthier lifestyle that will help you sustain your weight loss for the long term. Think of it as a lifestyle change and not a diet that you will start and stop. Changing your eating habits and the way you think about food is crucial to lasting weight loss.

Our expert team at Nova Physician Wellness Center provides customized weight-management plans that promote weight loss and improve health. To get started, call the nearest office and a team member will assist you in scheduling an in-person or telehealth consultation with one of our providers. Our offices are located in Fairfax, Ashburn, and Vienna, VIrginia. Change starts today!