How Fast Should You Lose Weight? (To Avoid Muscle Loss)

By Jeff Nippard

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Most people want to lose weight as fast as possible. But the faster you go, the more muscle you risk losing. A meta-analysis of 38 studies found that once your caloric deficit goes over about 500 calories per day, you start losing more lean mass. And the bigger the deficit, the more lean mass you lose. But the subjects who kept their deficits smaller, under 500 calories per day, not only maintained muscle better, many subjects even gained a little muscle while losing fat. For most people, a 500 calorie deficit means you should lose about 0.5 to 0.7% of your body weight per week. That’s about one pound of weight loss per week if you weigh 180 pounds. And other research specifically on physique athletes backs this figure up: people who lose weight slower retain muscle better than people who lose weight faster. Yes, crash dieting will get the diet over with sooner, which can be great for motivation… but slower and steadier dieting really seems to hold onto muscle better. So, if you wa

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