The weight didn't come on overnight, and it's certainly not going to come off overnight. Focus on losing one to two pounds per week through healthy eating and exercise. It takes a combination of both to achieve lasting weight loss. {relatedarticles}As the old saying goes, slow and steady wins the race, and that definitely holds true with weight loss. Studies show that people who lose at a slower pace are more likely to keep off the weight. The National Institute of Health recommends dropping one to two pounds a week for safe, effective weight loss. It may not sound like much, but it adds up fast. Over a one-year period, that's between 52 and 104 pounds. One pound equals about 3,500 calories. So in order to lose a pound a week, you'll need to trim about 500 calories a day from your diet either by cutting out those costly sweet treats or by burning the extra calories through exercise.
Or you can do a combination of both. Eliminate 250 calories and perform about half hour of cardio, which will burn through about 250 calories. Most experts recommend only shedding two pounds -- any more than that can either be water weight or muscle.{relatedarticles}Losing muscle is detrimental - the more muscle you have, the harder your metabolism works when your body is at rest. To prevent muscle loss, it's important to consume at least 1,200 calories a day. The other dangers of rapid weight loss include dehydration, malnutrition, diarrhea and fatigue.