How Much Weight Can You Lose In 2 Months?

How much weight can you lose in 2 months? Most people looking to lose weight certainly aren't looking for the slow path to do so, but is there such thing as losing weight TOO fast? Losing weight as fast as humanly possible without feeling deprived or suffering negative side effects seems to be the dream for most dieters.

Unfortunately, trying to lose weight too quickly can put your health at risk and even lead to metabolic slowing and disordered habits that aren't sustainable or healthy.

Here at Joyfully Fit, we are far more focused on "reality" and what's truly sustainable without reducing quality of life. We'll give you real answers and scientifically proven strategies for sustainable weight loss, that you'll actually be able to keep off!

How much weight can you lose in 2 months?

According to all the magazines, various internet sites, and fitness gurus, the claim is that you can lose up to 10 kilos (22lbs) in a month, hence, 20 Kilos in two months. Most of the rules to achieve this sort of result are through various rigid diets, limiting or cutting out starchy foods, sugar intake, etc.

But, while these methods might work to create FAST results (if you're not a chronic dieter already), but the methods to getting those results are usually so challenging to adhere to, a few months later, you gain back the weight you lost. 

It's quite unfortunate so many have no idea that losing too much weight too fast can greatly reduce the speed of the metabolism. So, they experience the yo-yo weight loss effect, which means they keep gaining the weight back each time they lose it until eventually, they're stuck eating low calories without any weight loss from metabolic adaptation.

So, what is the magic number of pounds that you can lose in two months and keep it off? Well, according to the CDC, you can lose 1 to 2 pounds every week, hence, 8 to 16 pounds in two months. While, we don't necessarily base our nutrition and weight loss techniques their advice, this one we definitely agree with.

How Losing Weight Too Fast Can Reduce the Speed of The Metabolism

The body responds to extremely reduced calories by extremely reducing the metabolism through a process called metabolic adaptation, which is commonly called 'fat storage mode.' People tend to drastically reduce their calorie intake in hopes of making the fat loss process faster.

While this will cause rapid weight loss (the magic 20 pounds in a month according to some claims), it also brings with it several negative consequences that hinder ongoing weight maintenance and the basal metabolic rate.

Beyond 10 pounds per month, you risk:

• Losing muscle mass; being dehydrated;
• Gaining back what you lost (or more) when you stop your diet program; 
• Feeling very tired, because you will have deficiencies; 
• Feeling depressed or burnt out. Depriving yourself of what you like for a while leads to frustration and limiting calories over prolonged periods can alter hormone levels and effective thyroid function.

If you're finding it challenging to lose weight or even maintain your weight, even at low calories, metabolic adaptation might be the culprit.

What Is Metabolic Adaptation?

The body reacts to dieting by slowing down the basal metabolic rate, meaning that it burns fewer calories even when at rest. This is an adaptive response to protect the body from too much weight loss and subsequent starvation.

In fact, most diets will actually cause you to GAIN weight once you resume eating normally again since metabolism stayed low from under-eating.

This means that you need to restore the metabolism by increasing calories, not decreasing them further, if you want to be able to lose fat in the future without severely low calories.

You constantly suffer from cravings even though you try to keep up your diet as best you can. You find yourself bingeing after days or even weeks of staying on track with your diet.

Most people blame themselves and believe they must not have enough discipline, rather than realizing it's their restrictive diet or metabolic adaptation. 

4- No Losses. Stagnant Or Gaining

Having trouble maintaining your body weight even at a low-calorie range. Possibly even noticing gaining weight with low calories or slightly eating more than usual. 

When this occurs, the metabolism is in fat storage mode, and dieting is the worst thing you can keep doing. Instead, restoring the metabolism by eating MORE is the solution. 

Now that you know the red flags of the unhealthy weight loss program, in the next sections, we will share with you 8 scientifically proven tips to lose weight and keep it off in 2022. 

9 Best Scientifically Proven Tips To Lose Weight Fast In two months

TDEE is the amount of calories your body burns in a day. Fat loss occurs when we're in a calorie deficit, which means the energy (calories) coming in is less than the energy (calories) going out.

This means we're eating fewer calories than our TDEE. 

This includes energy you use during exercise, but also the energy used to digest and metabolize food, maintain muscle mass, and keep your body functioning normally.

Once you know your TDEE, you can figure out how many calories you need to eat for weight loss. For example, if your TDEE is 2,000 calories and you want to lose weight, you would need to eat 1,800 calories per day. 

2. Safe and Healthy Calorie Deficit 

Fat loss occurs when we're in a calorie deficit, which means the energy (calories) coming in is less than the energy (calories) going out. Doesn't matter how clean or healthy the food is. Eat more calories than your TDEE, you will gain fat!

It's imperative to set a safe deficit of calories for fat loss to avoid negative issues such as fat storage mode, loss of period, loss of hair, slowing of thyroid, loss of energy, etc.

We recommend starting at 15% below your TDEE to start. Pushing for more aggressive losses will happen at first, but the metabolism will then slow aggressively, as well.

When we greatly reduce calories, our metabolism is greatly reduced as well to prevent us from starvation.

2. The 80/20 Rule

One of the main reasons 95% of dieters FAIL to keep any weight off after their diet is from the All or Nothing mindset that diets often encourage where you avoid all "bad" foods and restrict your choices to only those foods deemed as "good".

Learning how to choose foods that taste good and FIT within the TDEE budget we talked about earlier is KEY for seeing weight loss that lasts without feeling deprived.

The 80/20 rule is a balance of 80% nutrient dense foods and 20% calorie dense foods that fit within your TDEE for fat loss and gives you variety! This means you can have that cookie and still lose weight!

3. Increase your physical activity, But Don't Obsess Over Cardio

When you start exercising regularly, your body is positively affected. In general, blood pressure is lowered, blood lipids improve, and the risk of type 2 diabetes is reduced.

One big advantage of exercising, even more so with resistance training, while losing weight is that you won't lose as much muscle mass as you do when more sedentary. This is great for not only maintaining and improving strength, but also for maintaining a higher Basal Metabolic Rate BMR.

Cardio isn't bad for weight loss, but resistance training proves to be far superior for longterm weight loss due to increased BMR, greater EPOC demands (Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption) which means your metabolism will operate faster for hours after the workout to replenish the used oxygen.

Excessive cardio can lead to adaptive thermogenesis, which is when your body decreases its metabolic rate in response to the sustained caloric deficit. This means that you may actually find it harder to lose weight over time if you engage in too much cardio, as your body will work to conserve energy. A healthy balance is key!

4. Set a goal and be consistent instead of attempting Record-Breaking

What makes you want to lose weight? What advantages and disadvantages do you see? Obstacles? Do you want to improve your blood pressure, be able to play with your children, feel better or buy clothes in a smaller size? Start by setting a goal for your weight loss.

An important part of this is to set a date by which you will have achieved your goal. Then break the goal down into sub-goals and treat yourself to a reward when you reach them. Also, set out a strategy for dealing with setbacks and relapses. For example, what will you do at the Christmas dinner, the birthday party, and the Midsummer celebrations?

Important note: For most high achievers, it's tempting to want to speed up the process by cutting calories faster than needed or by trying to make every single workout a record-breaking one. This very mindset is what leads to burnout, metabolism slowing, or even injury, whereas focusing on consistency leads to steady fat loss without crashing the metabolism or getting injured.

5. Maintain Lean Body Mass

As we're in a calorie deficit, it's easy for the body to lose lean body mass, which greatly decreases the amount of calories needed each day.

This is why we must focus on keeping protein intake high enough to preserve muscle which helps the BMR (basal metabolic rate). 

This also helps us stay feeling fuller longer, so we're less hungry on reduced calories. It's also important to exercise with resistance training to help preserve lean body mass, which can increase your BMR, too.

6. Change Course When Needed 

If you’re not losing weight, even while eating low calories, you need to cease attempting to lose fat because you're experiencing symptoms of metabolic adaptation (what's commonly called "fat storage mode" or "starvation mode")

Restore your metabolism by eating at your maintenance calorie zone (TDEE) for a bit because your body won’t let go of fat in this mode without going to dangerously low calorie levels.

Your ability to lose fat is directly related to your dieting history. The longer you've dieted, the longer it takes to restore the metabolism back to your original TDEE.

7. A Metabolism Focused Phase Should Come After A Fat Loss Phase 

Reverse dieting is a metabolism boosting technique where you'll be consistently and in intervals, adding calories, but slowly and steadily for the metabolism instead of cutting calories for fat loss.

Metabolic adaptation is a process that makes dieting a never-ending cycle, where you continually have to reduce calories more and more to continue seeing results.

Reverse dieting avoids this issue by restoring the metabolism so that dieters can eventually lose fat again without having to suffer through ever-decreasing calorie intakes.

8. Maintain An Open Mind (Flexibility Is Key)

Dieters often FAIL to lose consistently from the All or Nothing mindset where you avoid all "bad" foods and restrict your choices to only those foods deemed as "good." This is what we call "avoidance," & it rarely works long term without eventual sabotage of goals.

Flexible eating is a more flexible way of eating that allows you to be within your TDEE but still able to enjoy your favorite foods to keep you feeling more satiated while losing weight. The 80/20 rule means that 80% of your foods come from nutrient-dense calories (healthier foods), and 20% come from calorie-dense foods (less healthy, fun foods). 

The reality is that it’s not just about reaching your goals. It’s about HOW you do it. If you learn  how to eat whatever it is you like to eat, without sabotaging your fitness goals, that’s how you never get derailed from your journey ever again!

9. Watch This FREE video training on Sustainable Fat Loss and the Metabolism to understand how fat loss actually works long term

With all the internet gurus, TV doctors, TV "celebrity trainers all selling something different and all claiming they all work best, it can be a challenge knowing what works and what doesn't and what's even safe.

Understanding energy balance (TDEE) and learning how to choose foods that taste good AND fit within the TDEE budget we talked about above is KEY for seeing weight loss that lasts without feeling deprived.