1) 12 weeks x 2lbs/week = 24 pounds

2) 24 pounds = 8% of ? pounds:
8/100 = 24/?

3) 24 pounds out of 300 pounds = 8% OR
24 pounds is 8% of 300 pounds

Weight loss at the rate of 2 pounds per week is usually considered health, safe and effective in terms of keeping it off.

Let’s throw some numbers out there anyway. I suck at math, but these should be pretty easy to understand.

Let’s say she weighed 140 lbs at the beginning.

Before:
140 lbs x 27% Body Fat = 37.8 lbs of Body Fat

140 lbs – 37.8 = 102.2 lbs Fat Free Mass

After:
123 lbs x 17% = 20.91 lbs Body Fat

123 lbs – 20.91 = 102.09 Fat Free Mass (no loss of lean mass as stated above)

37. 8lbs of fat at the start – 20.91lbs at the end = 16.89lbs of Body Fat lost in 12 weeks.

16.89 lbs of Body Fat / 12 weeks = 1.4075 lbs of Body Fat per week.

Pretty rapid fat loss for a woman, but still looks safe to me.

Perhaps if you could share your calculations we could better understand what you’re trying to say.

Actually, this article was written by Tom Venuto, but obviously, we can still discuss it.

“Your 40-something (don’t you really mean middle-aged?) client’s mind, body and spirit won’t allow anymore unhealthy weight, muscle and fat loss.”

I don’t understand this comment. Could you please clarify?

The laws of science tell us that every single human body out there can do these 4 things:

1. Lose Muscle
2. Gain Muscle
3. Lose Fat
4. Get Fatter

Sure, a lot of people struggle to reach their goals (many people don’t even have a goal), and look for excuses as to why they are not reaching their goals.

There are no valid excuses, only reasons. This is gonna sound strange, but many frustrated people out there don’t want to hear the solutions to their problems.

It’s called getting stuck in a rut.

For some strange reason, these people keep doing the same things and making the same mistakes over and over yet, they are still expecting a different result. Many people never get out of this vicious cycle.

Do you know anyone that’s been showed how to do something more efficiently but still chooses to do it the way they’re used to doing it or how they want to do it?

“Her motivations were wrong and you should have recognized that her goals and motivations were not in her best interest.”

I can’t speak for anyone but myself, but I usually refrain from “telling” people (especially strangers) what their goal should be or where their motivation should come from unless they are actually asking me for the answers to those questions.

It’s a totally different situation if a person approaches me and says, “Chris, I want you to help me set a goal”, or, “Chris, I want to do x, y, z. What’s the most efficient way to get the job done?”

In this case, the woman was using a contest as motivation to reach her goals. Contests with deadline’s work great for motivating people. But fitness doesn’t end when the contest is over.

Ride the wave of motivation while it’s there, but keep it in perspective. Everybody wants an “8 week program” for this and a “12 week program” for that. We need to be dedicated to fitness for the long haul.