How to Lose Weight Fast and Safely
In this article, people can learn how to lose weight fast and safely for those times they really need to.
And they can do it without having to be concerned over the negative aspects associated with the long held beliefs about losing weight too quickly.
So let's take a look at this aspect of slimming on a fast but safe scale.
How NOT to Lose Weight Fast
First of all, let's look at how not to lose weight fast, or those methods that can be potentially hazardous to health or downright dangerous.
Crash Diets
Crash diets is the name often given to a way of eating that is designed to virtually starve the dieter. It is done in the erroneous belief that by severely restricting food, rapid weight loss will result and a person can quickly slim down into a slinky dress or a suit that used to fit 10 years ago so they can go out to a social event and look good.
It involves eating very little food and just drinking lots of water. The dangers of this kind of dieting are malnutrition, loss of energy, lethargy and tiredness due to a lack of nutrients and potential long term issues such as anorexia or eventual starvation and death.
This can happen when the person becomes fixated on severely restricted eating, which can happen after they see the short term rapid loss of weight and become obsessed with continuing for longer than is physically safe.
Despite losing more and more pounds, the person comes to believe that they are still "fat" and still need to lose more. This creates a downward spiral into anorexia if not caught early on and reversed.
Cosmetic Surgery
An increasingly common method of rapid weight reduction is booking yourself in for a liposuction procedure. This involves surgically removing excess fat cells by first making an incision in area to be worked on, such as the lower abdomen, or thighs or wherever else there is excess fat to be removed and inserting a hollow tube called a cannula attached to an aspirator, or suction device which sucks out the fat.
The procedure has improved greatly in recent years and the chances of complications developing are greatly reduced. That doesn't mean it is completely safe and things can still go wrong, especially in older patients.
When fat cells are removed from the body but the patient subsequently returns to their old, bad eating habits, the body will create new fat cells to store the fat. When fat cells are removed from one area through liposuction, the body may create new fat cells in different areas of the body.
Instead of having fat cells in your belly or thighs, you could end up having them grow around your heart or other vital organs.
How to Lose Weight Fast
There are safer ways to slim down quickly and the sensible person will always explore these methods first. While it is possible to lose as much as 20 pounds in a week with a carefully controlled diet and a rigorous exercise regime involving more than one hour per day of sustained, aerobic exercise, it is always better to opt for a slower rate.
You can safely lose 3 to 5 pounds a week with a good, calorie controlled diet and a daily aerobic exercise routine as long as you stick rigidly to it.
There is also the problem that when a person loses body mass very quickly, they are more prone to put it back on again just as quickly when they inevitably return to their regular diet and stop exercising.
The way to lose weight fast and keep it off once it has been lost is to maintain a daily exercise routine and even increase the level of those exercises over time, while maintaining a healthy diet. That way, your body gets stronger and keeps a more efficient metabolism, which means you can have the occasional "cheat" and get away with it as long as you don't do it too often.
Set Realistic Goals
The best way forward is to set achievable goals week by week. You can set yourself the task of losing, say 5 pounds in the first week and then work hard to achieve it, or make it a little easier by setting a 3 pound level to lose in the first week.
The easier you make it for yourself, the better chance you give yourself of achieving it. If you don't reach a goal in one week, let it extend to the following week before setting the next goal. If you do reach the goal, then set the next goal to be similar or slightly less than the first goal, say 3 pounds in the second week.
This way is perfect for forcing yourself to structure your daily efforts so that you do not feel like skipping an exercise routine or have a hankering for a high calorie snack. With a goal fixed in your mind and better still fixed to the door of your fridge in big, bold lettering, then you will keep reminding yourself what you wish to achieve and then be more determined to achieve it.
Fast Weight Loss is a Numbers Game
If you do your calculations correctly, you will see that you need to burn more calories each day than you consume through the food that you eat and the liquids that you drink. Experts agree that to lose weight quickly, say at a rate of 3 pounds in a week, you need to work on having burned around 500 calories more than you consumed during the day through your weight loss diet.
That means achieving a total of 3500 calorie deficit in a week. When you put it in those terms, it suddenly looks pretty tough to cut your total calorie quota for the week, but actually it is not so difficult as it at first seems.
You need to measure this as best you can, although don't go overboard on trying to account for every single calorie. A good calorie monitor that you can wear while exercising will give you a good idea on how many calories you are burning through sustained exercise during each session.
You can try some exercise equipment such as using a home treadmill to burn calories, or whatever kind of apparatus you prefer. Add to what you will burn through exercise the amount of calories you will normally burn just performing your normal daily functions, which is actually more than many people realize.
Create a Calorie Deficit
Then make sure your intake of calories through your diet is low enough so that you create that deficit of 500 calories each day.
As a guide, you should look to consuming about 7 calories per pound of your personal body mass per day. That means, if you weigh 200 pounds, you should consume no more than 1400 calories per day.
To do that effectively, you may want to invest in a digital nutritional scale that you can get at most home stores or online from places like Amazon, such as the Kitrics Digital Nutrition Scale. This kind of device will tell you exactly how many calories there are in each portion of food you prepare in your meals for the day by weighing each ingredient. It's a little extra work, but totally worth it if you want to be reasonably accurate about this.
Your diet needs to minimize or even eliminate starches, including bread and pasta, all added sugars and also saturated animal fats that come from meat and dairy products. Instead, you should eat mostly fruits and vegetables as well as egg whites and soy products. You can also include skinless poultry breast and 95% lean meat, most fish and shellfish as well as some nonfat dairy foods.
You must also drink lots of plain water, as much as 3 pints per day and absolutely NO soda (not even diet soda) or fruit juices or sports drinks. Just water!
By increasing the level of proteins in your food, while cutting the levels of high Glycemic Index carbohydrates, you will help your body to maintain strong muscles while burning more fat. This is a desirable situation to place yourself in.
Slimming Calculations
Then you need to do your sums. If you are consuming 1400 calories per day, you need to be burning a total of 1900 calories or more per day to achieve 3 pounds lost per week. That's where the exercise monitor comes into its own so you can get a good idea of how much you are burning.
When all is said and done, you should really not try to exceed this level of weight loss and certainly not reduce your daily calorie intake to less than about 1000 calories. When you go too far, you not only lose fat but you also start losing muscle density which is counterproductive. This is because it slows your metabolism making it harder for your body to burn calories.
The best way is definitely to make your body as strong as you can through regular exercise, doing aerobic workouts and some strength training too. This makes your metabolism strong so you burn more calories, which is much more desirable and will help you achieve a faster rate of weight loss over time.
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Posted on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 in Weight Loss Tips | 20 Comments
20 thoughts on "How to Lose Weight Fast and Safely"
pauleena says:
There are lot ways to loose weight. It is a great challenge to look for the right program that suites you health and body condition. I advice to do the natural way of loosing weight since it has less disadvantages and less body side effects. I also divide my food into 5 light meals but never make myself full. I keep myself moving every time I have a chance to do it like walking every morning before breakfast and do little physical activities in the office. I also take herbal medicine, vegetables and high fiber foods.
Shaun says:
Wow! Your post blew me away. It's jam-packed with a bunch of useful information. You got a great blog going, keep up the great work! :)
If any of you are looking to lose some weight fast and safe, this is a great article to check out cause it really can help you!
Kathy Thomas says:
Interesting sites like yours contribute so much for so many people who struggle to lose weight.
I know because I used to have a massive problem until I managed to win the battle - I havent looked back since.
Thanks again for your valuable information.
emma says:
Thanks for your share with us! I am being honest here that i am a fat girl,i am crazy for my fat body that im fed up with,i can't wear beautiful clothes like other girls,i really want to lose weight to look better and feel good. So i make exercise everyday and drink much water,only eat vegetables and fruit,but it very slow. I lose only 4 pounds in almost one month,i need to know how can i lose it faster? I read this report and it tells me some good things i will sure to try,thanks!
Said says:
Hi, thank you for this post. I have often wondered about the pros and cons of trying to lose weight too quickly and you present some interesting ideas here. Keep adding new posts as I look forward to them :)
Hannah says:
Awesome information. I'm going to be sure to try some of these things. I really want to lose weight, I'm not too much overweight but I'd really like to look nice for my Senior year. Thanks!
Full Fast says:
Good post exploring some ways one may lose weight. Exercise seems to be key for most people's slimming programs.
donald heape says:
Interesting sites like yours are great! I found that there are very few programs out there that teach you how to eat properly,lose weight,keep it off,and be happy about it.
Austin says:
This is a great post. Truly, setting a desired goal is a great motivation. One of the best ways to lose weight, I think, is to carefully balance the diet between to Energy Needed and Energy Intake.
Jay says:
First and foremost nice article! When it come to losing weight the way you eat is the king of fat loss. People think they can exercise more and still eat the same. Which is not true I'm living proof when I was tryin to get abs
shawna dawn says:
If you dont balance what you eat with the amount of exercise you do you will be overweight in no time it is very important to exercise but also to eat right, We have a plan that will help people stay in shape or even lose a few pounds if you follow it
See if you like it like the other people that have tried it
Rezqon says:
Many people who struggle to lose weight need to read such an article because it not only tells it like it is, but gives a lot of constructive advice on the best ways of doing it. Thank you for this post.
jack says:
Hi
I think dieting is one of the most popular & fastest solutions to losing weight but it is important to take note that that eliminating essential food groups in your diet is not healthy at all.
KimberlyJo says:
Thank you for the great artical. I'm felling very motivated now, I will try some of these tips very soon and will try to report back.
Kim
Jane says:
Very realistic. You really need a mindset which is encouraged at the subconscious level to give a feeling of permanent motivation to lose weight. One thing that actually helps here is effective hypnosis, I and my family particularly lost a lot of weight and stress with it.
Well Idk! says:
Hi, I'm 5'4 and 150 lbs. I'm unhappy with my weight, and if anybody comes across a good diet plan on any sort help me! I work out and diet as best as I can. I work out at the gym maybe 4 times a week and walk the rest. I've only lost 7 lbs in the past three months and I'm very unhappy. I am also a minor, so if it is a diet supplement it's almost impossible. HELP!! Email me if you have advice (email address removed by admin)
Chris says:
Aerobic exercise for weight loss? What about giving women a metabolically challenging workout?
The average woman when she joins a gym looks at how many treadmills there are and the group fitness schedule to see if there are classes that fit her schedule. When women want to lose weight they torture themselves with hours of cardio. If you take a look at all of the women walking on the treadmills, or on the street, you’ll notice none of them have the body most women want.
When women join a gym in order to lose pounds, they are advised by ‘fitness professionals” to do the following:
Spend endless hours in cardio or aerobic classes
Avoid strength training because you don’t want to get big and bulky
Cut back on your calories
Focus on the scale
What works about this plan? Nothing!
What is wrong about this plan? Everything:
While it’s true you will lose mass but it will be a mixture of muscle, water and maybe some fat, so you’ll end up looking like a smaller version of yourself. In the process, you will have damaged your metabolism so there will be no way you can keep the pounds off and you will gain it back, guaranteed. This is the cycle most women have been through many times throughout their lifetime. Yet, when they want to lose weight they do the same thing again. The definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect a different result.
To change your body shape, do the following:
Complete a full body strength training program lifting challenging weights with big bang exercises. This should be their priority workout 3-4 days per week.
Boost your intensity and drop the duration on cardio sessions, performing interval style workouts for no more than 30 minutes at a time.
Fuel her body with healthy foods according to her metabolic type
Focus on how her clothes fit and how she looks and feels rather than on a number on the scale.
Focus on Fat loss, not weight loss.
What works about this plan? It will boost your metabolism, it will change your body, it will make you feel confident about yourself, you can eat and still be able to maintain your new body!
What’s wrong with this plan? Nothing!
Hmm? says:
I am surprised that no one has commented on the inaccuaries in this article.
The most important one being that a pound of fat contains 3500 calories. You need a 500 calorie a day deficit to lose 1 pound of fat a week. Admittedly not all the weight we lose is going to be fat some is water and inevitably muscle. Still a 500 calorie a day deficit results in one pound of fat lost per week.
Also you can never lose 20 pounds in a week healthily. And for many people eating 7 calories per pound of body weight would put them under 1000 calories so that is contradictory.
Terry says:
Mr Hmm?,
Inaccuracies (try spelling it correctly if you must use that word for emphasis)? You're quoting math and not reality here.
I have personally watched a patient lose 20 pounds in a week and while it is NOT healthy to do so as stated, the patient did it without too much trouble considering they needed to lose close to 200 pounds and this occurred during their first week.
I have also watched several patients lose 3 pounds a week on a 500 calorie a day nutritional intake deficit and that happens because when you lose weight you do not just lose fat mass, but (as you rightly mentioned) water and muscle goes into that equation. Also, different people use greater or lesser amounts of energy when exercising as well as during the digestive process itself and this can be altered depending on the kinds of food ingested as well as the amount of plain water. The 500 calorie a day figure is just a ballpark.
While many people who are not overweight might need 1000 calories a day for 7 pounds of body weight, this article was not written for them! Most overweight people exceed that figure, some by quite a margin.
Lost it! says:
I know many at this site advocate slow is the way to go regarding weight loss, but I disagree.
After years of dissappointing results with every diet imaginable, I finallhy was able to take it off steadily using HCG Activator with a low-cal (about 700 per day) diet of mainly veggies & lean protein & low salt/fat.
PS--The first week I lost 8 pounds. Then about .5-1 per day thereafter. I got results by using the supplement, following a good diet & exercising 30 minutes per day.
This created the deficit I needed to take off the weight (40 pounds so far!). I learned better eatig habits & will not go back there again.