…are two questions that I get asked regularly. Obviously the answers depend on lots of factors – so things like:
- whether you’re talking weight loss or fat loss (losing water, particularly if you cut carbs will register as loss on the scales, but this isn’t the same as fat loss)
- how much fat you have to lose in the first place / how much muscle you want to gain
- calorie intake (both quantity & quality)
- if you’re sticking to good eating habits – consistency matters!
- activity levels and training intensity
- age, gender and genetics
- breastfeeding status
- how much sleep you’re getting
- your stress levels
- what kind of macronutrient split you have in your diet
To give you some realistic rates to manage your expectations around…
- A comfortable amount of body fat for a woman to lose in a week is <0.5% of bodyweight
- Reasonable fat loss progress would be 0.5-1% of bodyweight per week
- And extreme progress would be more like 1-1.5% of bodyweight per week.
How does this fit with your expectations? Did you expect it to be more? Or are you seeing much less than this?
Weight loss is both a science and an art, so revisit what you’re doing every 2-4 weeks and if you’re CONSISTENTLY (and that’s the key word here!) adopting great habits but still not seeing the results you’d expect, make tweaks to your strategy, as needed.
And if you’re not consistently following it then that very much needs to be your starting point.
Finally, a female with a lower level of fitness could realistically expect muscle gain of 0.5-0.75% of bodyweight per month. Someone at a more intermediate level of fitness more like 0.25-0.375% of bodyweight per month and 0.125-0.1875% per month for someone with an advanced level of fitness. And both nutrition and workouts are obviously key to this.
I hope that’s hope that’s proved helpful. If this sounds like the kind of thing that you need more support with, please do get in touch. You have the option to:
- undertake my Nutrition Jumpstart – either on your own (as it’s now available to purchase as a standalone online course here), or with the next group intake (likely mid April); OR
- work with me on a 1-2-1 basis where we can calculate a plan that’s specific to your needs and circumstances.
Just know in advance, that as a Precision Nutrition coach (Level 1), my approach centres entirely on helping you to make sustainable positive change to your diet in a way that feels really achievable and so becomes a way of life over time.
I don’t buy into any crazy diets that overhaul your life in an instant and nor do I subscribe to anything that involves having to pay someone else a small fortune for products.