People’s relentless pursuit of fastest weight loss never ceases to amaze. Recently a popular radio talk show host, Rush Limbaugh had accomplished the fastest weight loss. He apparently lost 90 pounds in less than 6 months. That’s 90 pounds in about  180 days. If you break that down further, its 0.5 pounds per day.

Is Fastest Weight Loss Possible

Lets compare this to the maximum weight loss advocated by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).  ACSM advocates 1 to 2 lbs of weight loss per week. Can someone lose more than 2 lbs per week. Off course. Rush Limbaugh is living testimony of this. It’s possible!

If its possible to lose more than 2 lbs per week, why is ACSM advocating a maximum of 2 lbs per week. Well that’s because most of the weight loss above 2 lbs is likely to be water and lean body mass.

What is lean body mass? Lean body mass includes skeletal muscle, organs, tissues and all that is not fat. This includes your back muscles, your heart, kidney, etc. The bulk of the loss comes from skeletal muscle.

People are Willing to Lose Muscles for the Fastest Weight Loss

Most people say,” I don’t want to be muscular”. ” I am willing to lose some muscles if its going to give me a lower number on the weight scales!”. These people are missing the point.

The back muscles give you an erect posture. Strong muscles on the lower back prevent lower back problem. Lower back problems affect millions of people. Weak thigh muscles put tremendous strain on the knees. People who have strong thighs are able to hold their body weight without imposing too much stress on the knee joints. The list goes on.

These are all the functional use of muscles. Whether it’s important to you or not, muscles also give a man that macho “V” shape and women that much coveted “hour-glass shape”. Muscles give the body its shape!

Lets go back to Rush Limbaugh. He attributes his weight loss to a Florida based company called Quick Weight Loss Centers. The diet regimen combines a low-calorie diet and office visits. It also consists of supplements which include protein boosters, carbohydrate blockers and appetite suppressant. Where is the exercise?

Now if Rush was losing 0.5 pounds per day, he was most likely losing 3.5 lbs per week. ACSM advocates a maximum of 2 pounds per week. Assuming that Ross lost 2 lbs of fat per week, what is the balance 1.5 lbs?

Well its most likely lean body mass. Over a period of 6 months, it could most likely add up to 1.5 pounds x 26 weeks or 39 pounds Now this 39 pounds is valuable tissue that one should not be losing!

Consequences of Fastest Weight Loss

What are the consequences of losing so much lean body mass? Your metabolism is dependent on how much lean body mass you carry. You need energy to sustain lean body mass. Loss of lean body mass will result in one’s metabolism becoming sluggish.

Obviously a dieter like Rush is not going to be on this low-calorie diet forever. At some point he is going to be satisfied with his target weight and eventually want to go back to his normal lifestyle. This is where the rebound weight loss comes in. The dieter’s body losing substantial lean body mass will need lesser energy to sustain it. This is clear from the lower metabolism. Going back on a regular diet will result in the weight coming back faster that it was lost.

Everyone is looking for the holy grail of weight loss! Everyone thinks that they can find that something which will give them the edge in weight loss. Everyone is looking for the fastest weight loss.

Listen, if a magical diet or a pill or a method truly existed, Oprah would have found it. Who has more influence and resources than Oprah to do such a task? My advice is to let Oprah find the secret. She has more money, time and influence than you and me. When she does find the secret, you and I will know about it on the Oprah show. Until that happens, forget about the fastest weight loss.

Stick instead to Correct Weight Loss! Correct Weight Loss is where the weight loss comes from losing fat while preserving muscles.