Much like the rate of weight gain, it’s hard to give a definitive guideline for fat loss because it’s largely individual, as are many things with the human body. Rather than above, though, where your rate of gain is dictated by your muscle gain potential and psychological response to fat gain, your rate of weight loss will be dictated primarily by your dietary adherence.
To improve adherence to a weight loss diet, it is generally thought that one should make small, steady changes which are as close to an individuals’ comfort zone as possible. A smaller deficit will result in a reduction in all of the above-mentioned methods your body uses to resist weight loss, meaning that a smaller calorie deficit results in less hunger, more energy and in the context of the modern lifestyle it allows for more ‘treats’. If you are eating 2000 calories rather than 1600 you have far more room for dessert or alcohol, which makes it easier, right?
Well, yes and no. Dietary adherence is not improved in the same way for everyone, and a big mistake is to assume that a slow and steady approach is what everyone will want and should do.
Faster fat loss approaches may cause greater hunger and potentially risk more muscle loss (though this will be mediated by following steps in later modules, unless you are very muscular and/or lean) but they also cause far faster visible results which can be hugely motivating. Consider it like removing an Elastoplast – you can hurt a little for a long time or a lot for a short time, and there isn’t necessarily a right or wrong answer.
As a rule of thumb, one should aim to lose 0.5-1.5% of your bodyweight per week, with the lower number being an easier diet and the larger being a faster result (with more associated risks and downsides to one’s health). The only caveats to that are very lean people who should opt for the lower number to reduce muscle mass loss risks (this is not really a problem unless you’re quite lean and muscular to begin with, fat is much easier to access for metabolic purposes) and very obese people who can stand to lose faster without concerns. This generally translates to a 10-25% calorie deficit on average (again depending on adaptations and resistance). For our 85kg male who needed roughly 3100-3200kcal per day, this would mean he should eat between 2700-2800 and 2300-2400.
A general rule of thumb is that you should lose fat at a rate that you can maintain for the amount of time it takes to lose the amount of fat you want to lose – no faster, no slower.