Recently in USA Today there was an article entitled “Middle-aged dieters hit a brick wall after 10 pounds or so”. The article goes on to profile a few people who had lost about 10% of their weight and said:
“People usually drop about 5% to 10% of their starting weight in the first three to six months on a program. For many people, that’s a loss of 10 to 20 pounds. After that, some people hit the wall and their weight plateaus.”
For a standard diet, it’s recommended to lose 1-2 pounds a week. In medical weight loss from a medical bariatrician (physician specializing in non-surgical weight loss), you can expect to lose between 2-7 pounds per week.
Why Medical Weight Loss Is More Effective
Our experience shows that our patients lose weight quickly and safely with scientifically proven weight loss methods including meal replacements, behavioral counseling, and appetite suppressants. We can control hunger by using specific dietary strategies or medications. We monitor your progress with frequent visits with the doctor, body impedance measurements including body fat measurement on our Tanita scale, and blood tests looking at several aspects including kidney function, liver function, and electrolytes.
Average Weight Loss per Month with Medical Weight Loss
If you take all of our patients into account, both males and females below is a chart of average weight loss per week.
