We hear this all the time, women "should" lose about 2lbs a week - does anyone know where this figure is actually originally derived from? It's repeated and repeated by medics and media and general public, but how did it come into circulation?

Perhaps it's a result of the deduction of the safe minimum calorie intake (which, let's face it, has changed markedly over the years because 1000cals used to be recommended for women with under 30lbs to lose) from standard activity levels to come up with a "safe" (but not necessarily realistic) weight loss per week.

Or perhaps it's a result of research in weight loss, that women who were involved in the research lost about 2lbs a week on average - but what cohort of women was that? All different starting weights? All different heights? All different genetic backgrounds? Did they diet for a while or just a short period of time? If you get a group of 5'9" otherwise healthy white women and they diet on the old recommendation of 1,000 cals a day for 12 weeks and when you average their weight loss it comes to 2lbs a week then what on earth has that figure to do with a 5'2" African American woman with a knee injury who is in week 56 of her program? (Not to say that white and African American women necessarily lose at different rates, but if it's not been researched then how would we know?)

I'm not getting myself hung up on this figure, but unfortunately my medical team are totally getting hung up on the figure, but are actually completely unable to tell me where it comes from, they think they can just say "from research" and expect a smart, investigative mind to leave it at that.

Does anyone know how this figure actually came into circulation, and when?

I'm interested to know as well. My mum always said that she "knew" that 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) per week was a good/expected rate of weight loss. I've just started week 22 and have lost 16kg so far...but then again, I guess the way I'm doing it is so I don't drive myself crazy by depriving certain things from my diet.... interested to see the responses here though.

The statement as I heard it is that a healthy rate of weight loss should not exceed 1 to 2 pounds per week, on average.

I don't know where the idea of 2 pounds per week as being ideal came from--probably someone's fantasy.

Jay

No idea, but I much prefer to say 4-8 pounds per month. That's what we actually lose, not 1-2 per week. Some people do, but I think more people than not do NOT lose linearly. I think it's an important message to get out there, personally.

This is what I was going to say also.

1000 times this.

I don't know where it came from however I know a bit of why. When you lose weight faster then that you are more apt to put the weight back on. It is only healthy weight loss if you can keep it off.

Not necessarily agreeing here though. I have had weeks that more then 2 go and I am determined I will not gain any back. I am even goodwilling the clothes as soon as they are too big!

I saw a nutritionist and they did a whole calculation on a computer. It showed how many calories I need to eat to maintain my weight which was about 1600 and how many calories i would burn if i worked out for half an hour 3x a week which was about 600. and they came up with the suggested calorie intake of 1300cals a day. At the end..the calculation said if i eat 1300 cals and work out 30 minutes a day 3x a week...i would loose 1.7 lbs a week. so maybe there is some scientific thing to it?..but for the record..i have yet to loose 1.7 a week.

Here is what an average of 1 pound a week looks like for some:

Week 1: 0
Week 2: 0
Week 3: 0
Week 4: -4 pounds

For others it looks like this:

Week 1: -2 pounds
Week 2: -1 pound
Week 3: +1 pound
Week 4: -2 pounds

In other words, ON AVERAGE means just that. It doesn't mean each and every week you lose.

Jay

Like others have said, the way I understood it was that 2lbs a week was the maximum for healthy weight loss. 0.5-1lb a week on average is chill too. Not sure why your team of doctors is so insistent on 2lbs a week exactly, but don't sweat it if you're not losing that much. But I have no idea where that exact number came from

I've always heard 1 - 2 pounds per week. Then again, my weight loss has been all over the place. Weeks (even months) with it scale barely budging and then having weeks where I've dropped 4 or 5 pounds.

I think people like to say to lose 1 to 2 pounds per week because if you go on a fad diet or are extremely restrictive in your calories that you are setting yourself up for a failure. However, you can still be on plan and hit a healthy calorie amount and have big drops sometimes (and no drops or even slight gains other times).

The scale will do what it will do.

I've read it a few different places but our body supposedly will only release so much fat at a given time so a decent average is .5% to 1% of your body weight per week. Those that have a lot more to lose have more flexibility though.

I would think that this is the reason why 1-2 lbs. a week would be considered healthy and the average weight loss. If you are eating the minimum healthy amount of calories and working out a few times a week, the calories burned would equal a 1-2 lb. loss a week. Of course you can lose more than that if you work out much more but most people shouldn't/don't have time to work out for hours every day.

nelie beat me to it - I think I've seen some "debunking" articles about the two pound rule. Losing around 8/10 of a percent of body weight in a week is good progress for most people. That is only a one pound on a 125 pound person.

I don't think it's "should", that's the max they recommend you use.