How quickly can I reach my goal weight?

Want to lose weight fast? Rapid weight loss is a one-way ticket to gaining it all back. Find out how fast you can achieve your weight loss goals without compromising your long-term results.

FACT: The more weight you carry, the quicker it will come off. Someone who is aiming to lose 10-plus kilos can expect a greater weekly weight loss than someone struggling to lose the last two. Health and fitness coach Amelia Phillips warns against trying to lose too much weight too quickly.

How much should I aim to lose each week?

"If you weigh under 100 kg, aim for 0.5 kg per week," the Sydney-based trainer says.

"If you weigh between 100 and 150 kg, then one kg per week is achievable, and if over 150 kg, then two kg per week is healthy."

And while the default human setting is to want the reward, like, yesterday, practise releasing the sense of urgency; not only will it make progress seem quicker, but it will insure against rebound weight gain.

"Rapid weight loss never works long term. If you're losing more than the recommended weekly amount, it's not extra fat you're losing, but usually water and sometimes muscle wastage," says Burton.

What's the secret to successful weight loss?

Clinical psychologist Louise Adams agrees that a sustainable long-term plan is critical to achieving good health and happiness. Set yourself strict and often unrealistic food and exercise goals in the short term and you're doomed to feel like a failure.

"Psychologically, the main thing that happens when we diet is we feel deprived – suddenly there are a lot of rules about what we can and can't eat and how much we can eat," says the Sydney-based practitioner, who specialises in health and wellness and runs the Treat Yourself Well program.

Our minds and bodies are cranked into overdrive at the onset of any weight loss regime, making us feel hungrier and emotionally sensitive. Throwing out all the junk food in the house and telling ourselves over and over that sugar is the devil will actually make us crave the sweet stuff more. 

Instead, Adams suggests putting more focus on the process of wellness rather than aiming for a specific goal weight or a punishing gym routine – switch from being a slave to food and exercise and instead make an attempt to eat more mindfully, she says, and you'll ultimately feel a lot more empowered in your quest for good health.

 

 

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