You Can Lose Over 20 Pounds in 3 Months — Here's How (2024)

FAQs

Is it possible to drop 20 pounds in 3 months? ›

If you have more to lose, surpassing that number can bring you even greater benefits. With the right exercise program — and a healthy diet — most people can easily lose 20 pounds in three months.

How Much Weight Can I Lose in 3 Months? A safe, healthy, and realistic goal is to lose 0.5-to-1% of your body weight per week, which is around 1-to-2 pounds of weight loss per week for most people. In other words, you can expect to lose 12-to-24 pounds in a 3-month period.

That said, many healthy weight-loss guidelines say you should aim to lose one or two pounds per week (whether you have five or 50 pounds to lose), that means it could take anywhere from 10 to 20 weeks to lose 20 pounds.

Weight loss has to be sustainable over the long term, and losing 20 pounds in 90 days is absolutely doable on a diet such as the Mediterranean diet. "While it's not necessarily the primary goal of the diet, losing weight is a positive side effect of the Mediterranean diet," says Penn Medicine.

Losing 5 pounds a week comes to reducing your food intake by 3500 calories over seven days. The value that represents the decrease in calorie intake is known as the calorie deficit. If you want to lose 5 pounds in a week, you will need to reduce your food intake by 17,500 calories, which is a huge calorie deficit.

Results vary, but in one clinical trial that studied 175 patients, the average weight loss was about 15 pounds in three months. This breaks down to 5 pounds per month if there is a steady state of weight loss.

In that time period, it's safe to aim to lose about 12 to 20 pounds which comes out to be about 1 to 2 pounds per week. So if you're interested in losing a small to moderate amount of weight, there are a few things you can do to slowly and safely lose weight in 3 months.

“At 6 to 8 weeks, you can definitely notice some changes,” said Logie, “and in 3 to 4 months you can do a pretty good overhaul to your health and fitness.” Strength-specific results take about the same amount of time.

The first place men typically lose weight is the belly, while women tend to lose weight all over, but hold onto weight in their thighs and hips, Dr. Block explains. Men typically experience quicker weight loss than women, due to the lack of comparable hormonal fluctuations, says Dr. Peralta-Reich.

How much weight a person needs to lose for it to be noticeable is also subjective as it depends on your frame and starting body mass index, according to Guzman. On average, a 15 to 20-pound loss (approximately 2 to 5 percent of your starting body weight) is enough to notice "significant changes in your body," he said.

What's the fastest way to lose 20 pounds? ›

Although everyone's body is different, in general, people can expect to lose one to two pounds a week if they are doing so in a healthy manner, Jim said. So for three months, or about 12 weeks, a healthy goal is 12 to 24 pounds. Losing weight at this rate ensures that you'll keep it off for the long term.

"Generally, 1 mile—or roughly 2,000 steps—walked equates to [burning] 80 to 100 calories." Since there are 3,500 calories in 1 pound, "this means to lose 1 pound, you'll need to walk roughly 35 miles or 70,000 steps. Over the course of a week, this means targeting 10,000 steps a day," says Davis.

Simply put, you can lose 20 pounds in several months by eating fewer calories than you do now and exercising vigorously for three to five hours per week using resistance training, interval training, and cardio training.

Rapid weight loss may lead to weight regain through metabolic changes, muscle loss, hormonal changes, and possibly frustration with the restrictions associated with dieting. With that in mind, for many people, 3 months is a realistic timeframe for losing 30 pounds. That amounts to losing a little over 2 pounds a week.

Set a realistic timeframe

At one to two pounds per week, losing 25 pounds will take you a little more than 12 weeks, or three months. To lose weight in a healthy manner, you should cut 500 to 1,000 calories a day by eating less and exercising more.

Losing weight without trying may indicate an underlying condition. Conditions that cause unexplained weight loss include overactive thyroid, inflammatory bowel disease, and depression. A good rule of thumb is to see your doctor if you've lost a significant amount — more than 5% of your weight — within 6 to 12 months.

Losing weight too fast may be unsafe. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends people looking to lose weight aim to lose 1–2 pounds per week for safe, healthy weight loss.