How much weight can I realistically lose in a month?
For most people, 2 to 4 kg a month is realistic and keepable — roughly 0.5 to 1% of body weight per week. Heavier starting weights can lose faster at first; leaner people lose slower. Going much faster mostly costs muscle and adherence, not fat.
Lire en françaisThe arithmetic
A kilogram of body fat stores roughly 7,700 kcal. So a daily deficit of 500 kcal is about 3,500 kcal a week, or a little under half a kilo — around 2 kg a month. Doubling the deficit does not reliably double the loss, because hunger, fatigue and lower daily movement quietly eat into it.
Training helps in two ways: it adds to the deficit, and it protects muscle so that what you lose is mostly fat. That's why a plan built around sessions you complete beats a plan built around eating as little as possible.
Realistic monthly range by starting weight
These are ranges, not targets to hit exactly. The upper end is usually only sustainable for the first month or two.
| Starting weight | Sensible monthly loss | Weekly equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| 60-70 kg | 1.5-2.5 kg | 0.3-0.6 kg |
| 70-85 kg | 2-3.5 kg | 0.5-0.8 kg |
| 85-100 kg | 3-4.5 kg | 0.7-1.1 kg |
| 100 kg+ | 4-6 kg | 1-1.5 kg |
Why the first two weeks lie
- Much of the early drop is water and glycogen, not fat — it can be 1-2 kg on its own.
- The same effect works in reverse: a salty meal or a hard session can add 1 kg overnight with no fat gained.
- Weigh yourself the same way most mornings and read the weekly average, not the daily number.
Why plateaus happen — and what to actually change
A stall of two to three weeks with a genuinely unchanged routine usually means one of three things: your intake has crept up, your daily movement has dropped, or you now weigh less and therefore burn less. All three are normal, and none of them mean the plan failed.
- First, check the trend over three weeks rather than reacting to one flat week.
- Add movement before cutting food further — a longer walk costs less adherence than another 200 kcal off.
- Take a maintenance week if hunger, sleep or session quality have gone downhill.
- If nothing shifts over a longer period, or if you feel unwell, talk to a doctor rather than cutting harder.
What this looks like in FitPal
You set a target weight if you have one, log body weight when you feel like it, and the profile shows the trend rather than a single reading. The coach uses the same trend to decide whether the next week gets harder, holds, or eases off.