How Long Does it Take to Lose 30 lbs in Weight?

Many dieters ask the question "How long does it take to lose 30 lbs if I go to the gym often and stick to a really healthy diet?"

With those critical diet and exercise habits set up, dieters often think their weight will drop like a stone thanks to all that hard work and get dejected at their lack of progress when their weight loss inevitably plateaus out.

When you reach this crossroads (as almost all slimmers do) where you are asking yourself this exact question, it is time for you to review whether or not you actually like the choices you have made or you have done these things simply because you felt you had to rather than you wanted to, as you are much more likely to carry on with those habits long after you have successfully shed the unwanted pounds. This is what will help you to keep the weight off in the future and be confident in the strength of your achievements.

Assuming you do enjoy what you are doing, then you might want to look at one or two surveys of those who have gone before you for an idea as to how long it actually takes to lose a significant amount of weight and not rely on extreme claims made on behalf of some products touted on the internet, which may not be representative of typical results:

A survey was carried out on willing Jenny Craig weight loss program subscribers (this is a very costly program so you would think that followers would be keen to drop the pounds) which showed that most fall by the wayside.

Within 4 weeks 27% dropped out, losing on average just 1.1% of their body weight.

After 13 weeks, 58% had dropped out, losing on average 8.3% of their body weight.

After 26 weeks, 78% had dropped out, losing on average 12.6% of their body weight.

After 52 weeks, 93.4% had dropped out losing on average 15.6% of their body weight.

Those who kept on going until weeks 40 to 52, typically lost an average of around 12% of their initial body weight.

These are genuine results not what is suggested on the web as hypothetically what you should be achieving.

So say for example you weigh 210lbs and want to lose 30lbs ... this is 14.3% of your starting weight (30/210 x 100), which indicates that you might need to persevere for anywhere between 26 to 52 weeks if you can copy the successful weight loss of those Jenny Craig slimmers.

A study of 157 Slimming World members indicated that a weight loss of 33lbs could be achieved over 11.1 months. That would be equivalent to just 0.69lbs per week when taken as an average result. Your 30lbs might take you around 10 months, or 43-44 weeks if Slimming World results are anything to go by.

The internet is littered with weight loss rubbish and marketing hype. That stuff about calories in and calories out is correct but flawed, it assumes that food label data is absolutely precise .. which it is not ... they are mathematical averages from repeated tests, can vary by a significant margin and will change due to season, growing locality, cooking time etc etc. A helpful guide yes, but that is really all they are ... a guide.

My own weight loss program resulted in slower progress than both of the examples quoted above. In about 13 months I went from 180lbs to around 150-155 pounds during 2002/03. I still watch my weight today long after my successful slimming campaign. Yes that may be slow, but after failing with those usual overmarketed products we have all tried and failed with, I decided to make up my own strategy and that inevitably took time to come to fruition. Now I know enough about weight management to make my weight a breeze to take care of.

In this crazy 24/7 world we live in today where we appear to be able to get anything we want and get it now, most of us are impatient and crave that perfect body right now, but those surveys of some of the most popular weight loss programs suggests that those who achieve weight loss over an extended timeframe, develop the habits of success rather better than crash dieters, who may lose weight much quicker to begin with, but often fail to sustain their early successes and ultimately end up heavier than they were at the start.

This brings us to the underlying triumph of any program of weight management, which only really surfaces after the excess weight has been lost, when we find out if we have discovered the secrets to successfully staying lighter for life. The secret lies in the pleasure we get out of those choices we made in our diet and exercise routines at the beginning of all of this, as any successful changes will most likely become lifestyle changes for the better for good rather than temporary patches to get over the finish line.

Whether you are just ready to begin a weight loss program or have already started, I hope you can use the information given here to work out how long it may take you to achieve your goals and I wish you good luck with your efforts.

Of course if you want to learn the successful slimming secrets I use every day, without having to study for yourself then pop along to my website now.

To Your Success and Thanks for Reading,

Ian B

Sources
Jenny Craig Study
Slimming World Study
My Own Weight Loss