Weight loss, step by step: how to lose it and keep it off

• Calorie deficit: eat below your daily calorie need, usually by 10-20%. Your number comes from the calorie calculator.
• Protein: 1.8-2.4 g/kg a day while losing fat, to keep muscle and stay full.
• Pace: 0.5-1% of body weight a week is realistic; faster than that and you lose more muscle and regain.
• Movement and sleep: strength training, steps, 7-9 hours of sleep. Without them fat loss is slower and less durable.

Weight loss: how to lose weight in seven steps

1. Work out your calorie target

Your daily calorie need is your resting metabolism (the Mifflin-St Jeor formula) times your activity level. The calorie target for fat loss is about 85% of that. Two examples from our calculator:

The weekly loss is a rough estimate (1 kg of body fat is about 7,700 kcal), and in real life weight fluctuates. Do not go below 1,200 kcal (women) or 1,500 kcal (men) without medical supervision: the calculator does not let you either (1,200 and 1,500 kcal). For your own number: calorie calculator.

2. Choose a realistic pace

In practice 0.5-1% of body weight a week is the good band (Helms and colleagues’ recommendation). 1% is already a big deficit; for most people, especially beginners and leaner people, 0.5% is more sustainable. The calculator’s 15% deficit aims at roughly 0.4-0.5% a week.

If you are 85 kg and want to lose 10 kg, that is about 12 weeks at 1% and about 24 weeks at 0.5%.

3. Eat enough protein

According to the ISSN the target for fat loss alongside training is 1.8-2.4 g/kg a day. It protects muscle and fills you up best. For a 70 kg person that is 126-168 g a day. The protein calculator works out yours, and the high-protein foods chart shows good sources.

4. Build the plate

Half the plate vegetables, a quarter lean protein, a quarter a carb base, with measured fat. Measure the calorie-dense foods (oil, cheese, nuts) and eat plenty of the high-volume ones (vegetables, soup, salad). Recipes: diet recipes, ready menus: weekly meal plan, ideas: diet-friendly foods and low-calorie foods.

5. Move: strength and steps

Two or three strength sessions a week help you keep muscle, so more of the weight you lose is fat. Everyday movement (steps, walking, stairs) can be a large part of the deficit. Track your average daily steps for a week, then raise it by 1,000-1,500 a day. For beginners: strength training for beginners.

6. Sleep and manage stress

In a small study (Nedeltcheva and colleagues), at the same calorie deficit short sleepers lost less fat and more lean mass. Aim for at least 7 hours. Alcohol counts as calories too: a pint of beer is about 215 kcal.

7. Measure and adjust

The scale fluctuates day to day, so look at the weekly average. If neither the scale nor your waist moves for 2-3 weeks, cut 100-150 kcal a day or add to your steps. If it has stalled: breaking a plateau.

Losing weight fast: what is realistic and what is not

In the first 1-2 weeks the scale drops faster, but much of that is water and glycogen, not fat. The price of persistently fast loss is lost muscle, strong hunger and a plan that is hard to keep. In a study of elite athletes (Garthe and colleagues) the slower-losing group held on to, and even added, lean mass and strength better. It pays to be wary of “lose weight fast” promises: for most people the slower pace is the one that actually lasts.

• Water and glycogen: the big early drop is not fat.
• Muscle loss: with too big a deficit you lose more muscle, and your metabolism slows.
• Hunger and willpower: a plan that is too strict is impossible to keep, and weight comes back.
• Very low-calorie diets: only under medical supervision, not a solo experiment.

Diet, weight-loss plan, lifestyle change: what is the difference?

A diet or weight-loss plan is usually temporary: it has a start and an end. A lifestyle change builds habits you keep after you reach your goal. You need the first to lose weight and the second to keep it off. If you want to build the habits step by step, see the 30-day lifestyle change plan.

Everything that helps: guides, calculators, recipes and meal plans

• Calculate: calorie calculator, protein calculator, BMI calculator, body fat calculator, all calculators
• Meal plans: 1,200 kcal, 1,500 kcal, weekly plan, 1,800 kcal, 2,000 kcal
• Recipes: all recipes, diet recipes, chicken breast recipes, breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks, meal prep bowls, protein shakes
• Foods: calorie chart, high-protein foods, low-calorie foods, diet-friendly foods, overnight oats, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt
• Diets and habits: keto diet, intermittent fasting, belly fat, lifestyle change: a 30-day plan
• Supplements: protein powder, creatine, supplements
• Journal: setting a calorie deficit, breaking a plateau, cutting without losing muscle, strength training for beginners