Many people make the mistake of choosing the amount of weight they want to lose in a short amount of time first before looking for exercise programs and diet plans that can help them achieve their goal in the shortest time possible.
Even though losing weight that way seems sensible, it’s often not the best or most healthy way to go about it. Why? The answer is simple. If you combine extreme dieting and exercise to achieve enormous weight loss, chances are, once you get off that diet plan, you’ll begin to gain back the weight you lost returning you to ground zero. Additionally, the methods the diet plans use to produce enormous weight loss in the shortest time possible often carry a lot of risks and side effects.
So if determining the amount of weight I want to lose in a set period of time is the wrong way to get about it, what’s the correct approach? The correct approach recommended by experts is to determine the amount of weight you can safely lose within the time frame or period you set for yourself
In today’s guide, we’ll not only be focusing on the topic “can you lose weight in 8 weeks?” but we’ll also determine the amount of weight you can safely lose within that time frame.
Can you lose weight in 8 weeks?
The answer is yes. Of course, you can lose weight in 8 weeks if you follow a daily routine accompanied by a safe dieting plan.
Now, you know it’s possible to shed weight in a period of 8 weeks, the real question becomes, how much can I safely shed in that time span? To find out, continue reading.
Fundamentals of a healthy weight loss
When you browse weight loss on the internet, you’ll find several blog sites claiming they can help shed as much as 5 pounds in a week, 10 pounds a week, or even 1 pound a day. They promise you large amounts of weight loss in the shortest time possible if you follow their diet.
With such amazing offers, it seems too good to be true. It’s no wonder many people fall for those claims and start believing that they can miraculously shed that amount of weight when they start practising their dieting plan. They’ll follow the diets up until reality kicks in and you realise that you can’t safely or healthily lose that amount of weight.
The reason is that many of those nutritional plans that claim to have such outstanding results are often too restrictive and poorly balanced or just ineffective. Therefore, if you have a set time frame to lose weight, rather than decide the amount of weight you want to lose in that time frame, instead determine the amount of weight you can safely lose in your set time frame and then work towards it.
Have you ever wondered how people gain weight? Once you start consuming more calories than you burn, your body starts storing the excess as fat in your body. Losing weight is simply the reverse. When losing weight, you consume fewer calories than you burn. In that case, your body will start using its stored fat as a source of energy. What does this tell us? It means that, in order to lose weight, you’ll have to create a caloric deficit (eat fewer calories) and exercise more.
How much weight can I safely shed in 8 weeks?
If you want to safely lose weight in a period of 8 weeks then you must know what’s possible (what to expect). That knowledge helps you track your progress and also keeps you motivated.
To determine how much weight you can safely shed in 8 weeks, you’ll have to first calculate how many pounds you can safely shed if you follow a healthy diet that creates an adequate caloric deficit. Experts in the health and fitness field recommend reducing your daily energy intake by 500 to 1000 calories. A pound of fat contains about 3500 calories which means that if you follow a healthy diet, you can safely lose or shed 1 to 2 pounds in a week. That means, in 8 weeks, you can safely shed 8 to 16 pounds of fat.
