[stmercy2020]

Assume a sixteen-year-old girl.  She weighs ~160 lbs (73 kg for anybody who isn't an American), and, being a normal girl, runs a bit to fat.  Over a two-week period, how much weight could she safely lose?

Assuming regular exercise isn't a factor (she isn't getting any), how much could she lose?

I'm asking for guesstimates, here- weight loss has never been an issue for me, and the character in question doesn't (didn't) have the option of exercise.

[pelourinho]

It depends.  How tall is she?  Not all weight is the same.  Supposing she is 5'8" or taller and athletic, she probably does not need to lose any weight at all.  If she is 5'6" or shorter and flabby, with an ordinarily slight frame, then she could probably lose 30 lbs total.  Then there is the matter of how she loses the weight.  If 160 is too heavy for her and she normally eats too many snacks, but cuts out this part of her diet, and/or starts exercising, then she will lose weight steadily over the course of a few months, but the first week might be slow going.  So maybe 5 pounds would be a safe weight loss over the 2 week period.  I'm sure there are less safe methods that would work faster.

[stmercy2020]

See, this is why I love this forum.  I can ask totally screwball questions and nobody comes after me with the coat with really long sleeves.

Thanks, Pelhourinho.

The character in question spent two weeks tied to a chair.  She was fed, but not much- probably just enough to keep her metabolic function going.  I was trying to figure out how much she could safely lose so that I could then figure how much more she might have lost without actually dieing…

Essentially what's happened is that a chubby girl was kidnapped and held for two weeks before the heroine of the story rescued her.  Now I have to figure out how unhealthy she's become…

[JimmyDimples]

Yes, well, I had read in a dieting brochure way, way back that encouraged exercise and healthy eating in the long haul that 2 lbs. a week was the way to go.

Also, I'd mentioned in my very first post ever here, that I remember a Vitality Magazine article saying that a woman's typical healthy weight was 100 lbs. for an even 5 feet tall, and add 5 lbs. for every inch taller.

The thread's right here: some of the other posts might be useful.

[stmercy2020]

The information in there is certainly very interesting.  I've actually been going largely by the stats of various athletes (bodybuilders and others) when figuring the weights of my more physically fit characters, and operating from experience when dealing with characters of more 'average' stature.

What I'm primarily trying to figure out, however, is how much sudden weight loss a body can endure in what is, essentially, a crash diet over a length of two weeks.  I suppose a corollary question ought to be what the side effects would be for exceeding this level of weight loss…

[cpbell0033944]

For crash dieting, I'd expect more like 4 pounds a week.  As to health side-effects, I'm no doctor, but hormonal imbalance and digestive complaints, dependant on what she is being fed.

[stmercy2020]

For crash dieting, I'd expect more like 4 pounds a week.  As to health side-effects, I'm no doctor, but hormonal imbalance and digestive complaints, dependant on what she is being fed.

That works out well.  I had her actually lose 5kg and then she ended up hospitalized for a time afterwards while the doctors got her stabilized.  I'm so glad that I'm not going to need to rewrite that- not that it would've been a huge rewrite, but it's the principle of the thing, y'know?

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