The internet is often full of fantastic weight loss stories and testimonials. From famous celebrities to everyday people, you’re guaranteed to come across someone who claims to have lost an incredible amount of weight in a very short period of time.
The topic of how to lose 100 pounds in 6 months is one such success story that has many people wondering if they can do it too. There’s no denying that a 100 lb weight loss is a great feat, but completing it in just half a year is even more impressive.
So how do you go about it? Can anyone manage to achieve a 100-pound weight loss in this time frame? Read on to learn what science says about this and more.
When it comes to how to lose 100 pounds in 6 months, the two main ways you can try to do this are by optimizing your diet and adding exercise to your weekly routine. In terms of diet, you should be eating at a caloric deficit and regarding working out, you should try to exercise at least 2 to 3 times a week.
With that being said, it’s important to understand that diet and exercise alone aren’t the only things that determine how much weight you will lose in a specified time period. Factors such as your starting weight, age, sex, the amount of sleep you get each night, stress, medications you’re taking, underlying health issues, and your genes, also play an overarching role (1, 2, 3).
Yes and no. The answer is a little complicated.
While it cannot be denied that some people have managed to lose 100 pounds in 6 months, these people tend to be the outliers. For the majority of the population, there’s no possible way for you to lose 100 pounds in just 6 months.
If you were to undergo some kind of weight loss surgery, then yes, a weight loss of 100 pounds in just half a year is entirely possible. However, if you don’t have surgery or go through unhealthy weight loss methods such as overexercising and/or starving yourself, then such a significant loss of fat and weight is probably not possible.
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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, healthy and sustainable weight loss is achieved through good nutrition, regular physical activity, and stress management (4).
If these 3 conditions are met (and you have no underlying factors that affect your health), then experts claim that you should expect a slow and gradual loss of 1 to 2 pounds a week (4).
This means that if you follow the steps above, then you should expect a loss of 4 to 8 lbs in a month. Therefore, in 6 months you should expect to see a loss of anywhere between 24 and 48 pounds. From these calculations, we can see that losing 100 pounds in 6 months means losing more than double the estimated amount.
Not only is such a loss considered too quick to be healthy, but it likely won’t be sustainable in the long term and you could end up regaining the weight, bringing you back to square one.
Read more: 7-Day Diet To Lose 10 Pounds: Diving Into Why Rapid Weight Loss Is A Pipe Dream In And Of Itself
So if 6 months is too little time for the majority of the population to lose this much weight, how long should you wait to lose 100 pounds? Following the 1 to 2 lbs pace given by the CDC, the average person should give themselves 1 to 2 years to get rid of 100 lbs of weight:
(100 lbs ÷ 4 lbs per month) = 25 months
(100 lbs ÷ 8 lbs per month) = 12.5 months
Don’t be disheartened by this. Yes, compared to the l00 lbs loss in 6 months, waiting a year to a little over two years can seem like a long time, but remember that above all else, weight loss demands patience.
Comparing your success rate to that of a few outliers will have you questioning your progress and increase the chance of you ultimately giving up. However, if you face the reality, practice patience, and are consistent in your efforts, two years will go by without you even realizing it and you’ll ultimately reach the body goals that you’ve been dreaming of. To learn more about losing 100 pounds in a year, check out our in-depth article on the topic.
Yes, you can. 6 months is more than enough time to transform your body and health to a much better state than it is right now. While you may not achieve all your body goals by the 6-month mark, it’s still enough time to make significant and noticeable progress.
As stated above, with realistic expectations, you can transform your body in just half a year. Here are some scientifically proven weight loss tips and tricks that can help you do this:
The saying ‘Failing to plan is planning to fail’ isn’t just for students or finance experts. This saying rings true in every aspect of life, including your fitness lifestyle. Some things you should think about and outline in your plan include:
According to a review that looked at the best diets for weight loss and maintenance, researchers agreed that an energy deficit, not a specific type of diet, is the most important factor for this (5).
An energy deficit can be created in two ways – by eating fewer calories than your body requires in a day or by increasing your daily physical activity and burning more calories than you consume.
As your daily schedule of demands can interfere with how much exercise you can get in a day, eating at a caloric deficit may be the simplest way to do this. In addition, you can never out-exercise a bad diet. The recommended deficit of weight loss is 500 to 1,000 kcal less than your daily intake.
To learn how many calories you consume a day, track your calories for a week and take the mean average of the daily totals. Subtract 500 to 1,000 from the mean average number and you’ll have your new caloric target. Studies have shown that people who eat at a calorie deficit have better weight loss success than those who don’t (6).
Remember that a nutritionally balanced calorie deficit diet is one that consists of: (7)
When it comes to the three macronutrients (carbs, proteins, and fats), protein plays a huge role in weight loss and the calorie burning process. Research has shown that when you consume more protein it helps: (8)
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025 recommend that adults over the age of 19 years should get 10 to 35% of their total daily calorie intake from high-quality protein sources (9).
Research has also shown that eating more than the recommended protein intake can optimize positive health and weight loss changes so if you can, try and go beyond the recommendations and consume anywhere between 1.2 and 1.6 g of protein per kg of your body weight each day (10)
Fiber is a type of carbohydrate roughage that your body can’t digest. While this roughage is mostly known for its benefits against constipation, research has shown that it can be beneficial for weight loss.
One study published in The Journal of Nutrition in 2019 showed that increasing your dietary fiber intake, even without adjusting your macronutrient and caloric intake, can lead to weight loss and dietary adherence in overweight or obese adults(11).
A more recent study found that people who ate more fiber reported higher satiety levels and also had higher mean average weight loss results than those who ate less fiber (12). Fiber can be found in foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, and nuts.
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Research on the impact of added sugars and refined carbohydrates has shown that the higher the intake of these two things, the greater the risk of excessive body weight and obesity (13, 14, 15).
Not only are they rich in antioxidants that are good for your health, they’re also very low in calories. This means that you can consume large amounts of these specific foods without risking going over your recommended daily calorie intake.
As previously stated, you can lose weight by simply changing your diet and following the tips we have mentioned. However, research has shown that a combination of diet and exercise seems to work best for weight loss compared to diet or exercise alone (16, 17).
When it comes to exercise, it’s recommended to use a combination of cardio and resistance/strength/weight training. The former burns a large number of calories during the workout session and does wonders for your heart health, while the latter builds muscle, which helps with continued calorie burning, even long after your workout session is done.
Studies have shown that increased stress levels and a lack of adequate sleep can hinder your weight loss efforts (18, 19). Try healthy ways to manage stress levels such as walking in nature, meditating, or dancing. Also try adjusting your sleep schedule to ensure you get 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night.
Our previous article covers everything you need to know about somatic exercises for weight loss.
Studies on IF have shown that this patterned eating plan can help with weight loss and prevent obesity (20). Check out our guide to 30-day weight loss intermittent fasting to learn more about this.
Read more: Realistic 3-Month Body Transformation Female: What to Expect
Your body will obviously look smaller and weigh less, but you may also notice that you’re sleeping better, feeling more confident, experiencing better moods, and have more energy than before. If you visit your doctor, they may also inform you that your risk of chronic illnesses such as cancer, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension has reduced.
It could be linked to your mental health and perhaps the negative view you had of yourself and your body before losing weight. Being a bigger person can impact your self-esteem and how you view yourself. Losing weight doesn’t automatically fix these negative thoughts, so if you still look at yourself and feel fat, it may be beneficial to speak to a therapist and learn how to navigate these feelings.
There’s no miracle to help you get slim quickly. If you want to slim down and maintain your new weight and figure, you must stick to a healthy diet that includes a daily caloric deficit and a regular exercise schedule of at least 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. The weight loss tips previously discussed offer the best guidelines for how to slim down in 6 months. Remember that if you’re heavier, you may not achieve all your body goals within this time frame. Yes, it is. A gradual weight loss pace of 1 to 2 pounds a week can help you lose 40 pounds in 6 months. The average person cannot burn 1,000 additional calories without the risk of over-exercising, something that is dangerous for your health.Frequently Asked Questions
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Regarding the truth about how to lose 100 pounds in 6 months, the harsh reality is that this is simply a pipe dream for many who choose to achieve weight loss in healthy and sustainable ways. While some people may claim that they managed to do it, many of us cannot do the same. Instead of setting this as your goal, you should reduce your goal to something that is more healthy and realistic and work patiently and consistently toward it.
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