Anybody ever heard how much you can lose per week and stay healthy?

[Simplex3]

I seem to remember someone telling me that 2lb/wk was the most fat you could expect to lose and anything more than that would be either water or muscle. Was that a wive's tale? I'm trying to set up my goals and I'm looking for some guidance on how much I can reasonably lose without becoming less healthy than I am today.

[morphius]

I have seen so many differing opinions on this I have no idea what the right answer is. I can tell you that you can lose more then 2 pounds a week without it being all water and muscle, because I was adding muscle while losing 3 pounds a week and drinking lots of water.

But really, just know in your first few weeks that you can lose a lot pretty quickly, after that it may taper off and become more difficult.