Typically, in the first week of the keto diet, people see a very quick drop in weight — anywhere from a few pounds to as much as 10. This happens because keto causes you to initially release a lot of water weight (not fat) as a result of drastically cutting your carb intake.
After a week or two, weight loss will happen at a slower and more steady pace. A safe, average weight loss after the first week of keto dieting is around 1-2 pounds per week. Studies show that losing weight at this rate is the best way to keep the weight off for the rest of your life. If you are very overweight or obese, however, you will be able to lose more weight per week, around 0.5% – 1% of your body weight, in a healthy way.
As you get closer to your goal weight, your weight loss rate will slow down. This happens because, as your weight decreases, your total caloric needs each day decreases, causing you to burn less body fat per day.
It is also important to keep in mind that you may not lose weight at a predictable rate every week. For example, you might have some weeks where it seems you haven’t lost anything, then you’ll weigh yourself a week or two later and be down 3-4 pounds. The key is to stick with your diet and not get discouraged — just give your body time to do its thing.
Only after your progress has stopped for a month should you start making small adjustments to what you are doing. If you’d like to find out what you should do when this happens, check out our article on weight loss plateaus.
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