{"id":6,"date":"2012-06-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-06-24T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/mitchelljenkins\/lose-weight-fast-how-to-do-it-safely\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T19:14:36","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T19:14:36","slug":"lose-weight-fast-how-to-do-it-safely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/mitchelljenkins\/lose-weight-fast-how-to-do-it-safely\/","title":{"rendered":"Lose Weight Fast: How to Do It Safely"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lose Weight Fast: How to Do It Safely<\/h2>\n
\n

By Kathleen M. Zelman, MPH, RD, LD<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

You\u2019ve heard it time and again: fad diets don\u2019t work for permanent weight loss. But what about those times when you really need to lose some weight fast? It\u2019s hard to pass up the promise of crash diets like the Lemonade Diet, Cabbage Soup Diet, or the latest diet book when your mission is to squeeze into a new outfit in time for a reunion or wedding, or you finally decide you just want to lose weight.<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s wrong with dropping 20 pounds fast so you can wow your friends and family with a svelte new shape?<\/p>\n

The truth is that nothing is wrong with losing weight rapidly \u2014 as long you do it the right way, says Michael Dansinger, MD. He\u2019s the medical\u00a0doctor for NBC\u2019s The Biggest Loser<\/em> show, which spotlights quick and dramatic weight loss.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn theory, one could drop as much as 20 pounds in a week following a very ambitious eating and exercise plan, devoting more than seven hours per week to rigorous exercise, and under a physician\u2019s care like we do on the television program,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

But even if you can\u2019t drop everything to go to weight loss \u201cboot camp,\u201d you can safely lose 3 or more pounds a week at home with a healthy diet and lots of exercise, says weight loss counselor Katherine Tallmadge, RD.<\/p>\n

In fact, having a goal like looking great at a wedding or reunion can be a great motivator, as long as you follow a weight loss plan that you can keep up after the special event.<\/p>\n

But you need to plan ahead and allow enough time to make changes to your shape.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t wait until one week before the reunion to try and lose 10 pounds,\u201d advises Tara Gidus, MS, RD, team dietitian for the Orlando Magic.<\/p>\n

How to Lose Weight Fast<\/h2>\n

Losing weight is a simple mathematical formula: You need to burn more calories than you eat. Experts generally recommend creating a deficit of 500 calories per day through a combination of eating fewer calories and increasing physical activity. Over the course of a week, this should yield a loss of about 1-2 pounds of fat.<\/p>\n

If you want to lose weight faster, you\u2019ll need to eat less and exercise more. Bottom line: 1,050 to 1,200 calories and one hour of exercise a day (but be sure not to dip below this calorie level for safety\u2019s sake). On this type of plan, you can expect to lose 3-5 pounds the first week, or more if you weigh over 250 pounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cDieters who follow the plan can lose 2 pounds from diet and 1 pound from exercise each week, and even more if they have more to lose, because the more fat you have to lose, the faster it comes off,\u201d Dansinger says.<\/p>\n

You may lose even more weight initially if you limit salt and starches.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you reduce sodium and cut starches, you reduce fluids and fluid retention, which can result in up to 5 pounds of fluid loss when you get started,\u201d Dansinger says.<\/p>\n

Diets for Fast Weight Loss<\/h2>\n

When it comes to weight loss, calories count the most, says Dansinger. He recommends cutting back to a daily level of 7 calories per pound of your current body weight (which for a 200-pound person, for example, would be 1,400 calories), but no less than 1,050 calories\/day (the lowest level that can be done safely at home). Dietitians more typically recommend 1,200 calories as a daily minimum. That, Dansinger points out, is what the 1,050-calorie plan turns out to be at home. \u201cThe actual calories eaten are\u00a0typically about 25%\u00a0higher than the number of calories people think they are eating. In other words, what appears to be 1,050 calories according to calorie-counting methods is typically closer to 1,300 calories in actuality because people sometimes inadvertently underestimate the amount of food,\u201d Dansinger says.<\/p>\n

Dansinger advocates a diet that minimizes starches, (even healthy whole grains should be controlled), added sugars, and animal fat from meat and dairy foods. For rapid weight loss, dieters should eat mainly fruits, veggies, egg whites, soy products, skinless poultry breasts, fish, shellfish, nonfat dairy foods, and 95% lean meat.<\/p>\n

He notes that there are other ways to control calories, such as minimizing total fat, but believes that tends to be more challenging than his suggested weight loss plan.<\/p>\n

Other experts interviewed by WebMD recommended tactics including drinking lots of water, eating plenty of protein, and keeping a food journal.<\/p>\n

Diets for Fast Weight Loss continued\u2026<\/h2>\n

\u201cEat enough protein and distribute it evenly through your meals to minimize muscle loss and maximize fat loss,\u201d says Tallmadge, author of Diet Simple,<\/em> who also advises clients to swap out carbs in favor of veggies.<\/p>\n

Dietitian Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD,\u00a0author of The Flexitarian Diet<\/em>, recommends:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Eat plenty of low-calorie vegetables to help you feel full.<\/li>\n
  • Drink plenty of water so you don\u2019t confuse hunger with thirst.<\/li>\n
  • Clear the house of tempting foods.<\/li>\n
  • Stay busy to prevent eating out of boredom.<\/li>\n
  • Eat only from a plate, while seated at a table.<\/li>\n
  • Always eat three meals and one snack daily \u2014 no skipping meals.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Weighing yourself daily and tracking your food intake can also help you keep focused, experts say.<\/p>\n

    \u201cEven if you write it down on a napkin and end up throwing it away, the act of writing it down is about being accountable to yourself and is a very effective tool for weight loss,\u201d says Bonnie Taub Dix, MA, RD, author of Read It Before You Eat It<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    Although it won\u2019t actually help you lose weight, Blatner says that eating fennel seeds, ginger, parsley, peppermint, pineapple, and yogurt with honey one to three days before the big event can help you de-bloat and keep your tummy feeling flatter.<\/p>\n

    Exercising for Fast Weight Loss<\/h2>\n

    Even if you are currently exercising, you\u2019ll need to kick it up a notch if your goal is rapid weight loss, says Gidus. A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine<\/em> indicated that losing weight requires close to an hour a day of moderate exercise.<\/p>\n

    That fits in with Dansinger\u2019s recommendation of seven hours per week of cardio exercise leading up to your special event.<\/p>\n

    \u201cCardio burns the most calories, so it is ideal for fast weight loss, but afterwards you need to include a few hours a week of strength training,\u201d he says. To burn the most fat, try to break a sweat after your warm-up and keep sweating for the entire hour, Dansinger says.<\/p>\n

    Most everyone can do an hour a day, but the intensity of your workout will depend on your current state of fitness. Experts recommend gradually increasing exercise intensity to avoid injury.<\/p>\n

    When you can\u2019t do cardio, Tallmadge recommends doing strength training at least twice weekly, working all your major muscle groups, and fitting in at least 15,000 steps a day (get a pedometer to keep count).<\/p>\n

    Gidus suggests doubling up on your exercise routine: \u201cDo a morning and evening workout, and if you don\u2019t have time to do two a day, expend more calories in the workouts you are currently doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Another option is to incorporate interval training. The South Beach Supercharged<\/em> plan by Arthur Agatson, MD, promotes adding high-intensity intervals to workouts to burn more calories in less time.<\/p>\n

    \u201cInterval training allows people to work harder without having to spend the entire time at the higher level, and over time, the more you do it, the easier it becomes to burn more calories,\u201d Blatner says.<\/p>\n

    Fad Diets and Crash Diets<\/h2>\n

    Many people don\u2019t have the time to do the rigorous amount of exercise required to lose weight quickly, and so turn to fad diets. But keep in mind that if a diet plan sounds too good to be true, it probably is. So steer clear of programs that promote detoxification pills, laxatives, fasting, or potions, and any that promise weight loss faster than 2-3 pounds per week.<\/p>\n

    \u201cWhen you eat too few calories you lose fat but also precious muscle, which is the worst thing you could do because it slows your metabolism and makes it more difficult to increase exercise intensity or duration,\u201d says Dansinger.<\/p>\n

    And what about over-the-counter (OTC) diet pills? Except for the OTC version of Alli, most respected experts do not recommend them.<\/p>\n

    \u201cDiet pills are either ineffective or extremely dangerous, and not recommended,\u201d Dansinger says.<\/p>\n

    The bottom line? Weight loss experts agree that any rapid weight loss diet should be identical to a long-term, sustainable plan \u2014 and not a fad diet. And fasting or cutting calories below 1,050-1,200 are not appropriate for the long term unless you are under a doctor\u2019s care.<\/p>\n

    Original Source:\u00a0http:\/\/www.webmd.com\/diet\/myths-vs-facts-10\/lose-weight-safely?page=1<\/p>\n

    This article includes pages 1-4 from Webmd. Its a great article.<\/p>\n

    So there you have it,\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0how to lose weight safely.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Lose Weight Fast: How to Do It Safely By Kathleen M. Zelman, MPH, RD, LD You\u2019ve heard it time and again: fad diets don\u2019t work for permanent weight loss. But what about those times when you really need to lose some weight fast? It\u2019s hard to pass up the promise of crash diets like the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":957,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,13,2,3],"tags":[24,25,26],"class_list":["post-6","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exercise","category-food","category-health","category-weight-loss","tag-how-to-lose-weight-fast","tag-lose-weight-fast","tag-lose-weight-safely"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/mitchelljenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/mitchelljenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/mitchelljenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/mitchelljenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/957"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/mitchelljenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/mitchelljenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/mitchelljenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6\/revisions\/46"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/mitchelljenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/mitchelljenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/mitchelljenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}