Just as we do not gain weight overnight, we should not lose weight in a short period of time. Overweight and obesity is not an excess of kilos or liquids, it is an excess of "lipids", of adipose tissue. In order to lose 1 kg of body fat there must be a caloric deficit of 7000 kcal.
We must be very clear that there are no magic formulas to lose weight fast, the maximum recommended is to lose one kilogram per week by exercising and reducing calories in the diet.
Anything that is: "lose 10 kilos in two weeks" or similar will bring imbalances in the organism. Eating a very restrictive diet, with very few calories will help you lose weight quickly, usually at the expense of muscle mass and water, but you will also put your health at risk.
The yo-yo effect
In this situation your body will detect that it is "starving" and will trigger a series of neuroendocrine mechanisms that will cause that, as soon as you start eating normally again, you will gain the lost weight... with interest, that is, you will gain more fat than you lost and you will not achieve the same muscle mass with which you started the diet.
This will complicate further attempts at weight loss since the basal metabolism, which depends mainly on the amount of muscle mass, will be lower.
If you think you should lose some kilos, for health or aesthetic reasons or to improve your sports performance, the first thing to do is to set a realistic and achievable goal based on your constitution, avoiding comparisons and standardized tables of ideal weight.
Obsessing about reaching a physical ideal will only lead to problems. Each person is unique and what works for others is not necessarily the best for you.
A dietitian-nutritionist will advise you and establish a personalized diet plan adapted to you. Avoid any drastic method or miracle diets that promise a quick weight loss, since in the long run they will bring health problems and, most certainly, a rebound effect that will lead you to weigh more than you did before starting the diet.
How much weight should I lose per week?
Try to lose 05 to 1 kg per week and make sure you are consuming more than 1200 calories per day, since diets below this caloric valor cannot ensure the requirements of vitamins and minerals. If you have more than 10 kg over the normal weight that corresponds to your height (BMI >1859 kg/m2) you can aim to lose 1 kg per week, but if you have 4-5 kg overweight you should lose about 500 g per week. This rate of weight loss, together with regular physical exercise, will ensure that the weight you lose is mostly in the form of fat.
To lose weight, in addition to physical activity, it is essential to correct any possible dietary errors and to adapt caloric intake to caloric needs. To lose between 500-1000 g/week the diet should have between 500-1000 kcal less per day than the kilocalories expended. Thus, if 2000 kcal/day are expended, to lose 500 g/week the diet should be 1500 kcal/day.
There is no perfect diet, but a diet composed of the right amount of minimally processed foods, in which plants predominate, will improve not only your weight but also your health.
A diet to lose weight should take into account aspects such as the type of foods to be promoted and those of occasional consumption, culinary aspects, the distribution of the different meals throughout the day and others.
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