What Is A Healthy Weight Loss Per Week?

For many people, losing weight is not an easy thing to do. A common problem is that people usually have the wrong approach. They just think that if they ate less and exercised more, that they will eventually lose weight.

It is true that in order to lose weight, you do need to burn off more calories than you take in over a period of time. However, if a person does not have defined weight loss goals and a way to monitor his progress, he will not know whether or not his weight loss method works. Some people go on a crash diet with the assumption that it will help them lose the weight faster. However, that is not only a futile effort, but it is also dangerous. Robbing your body of the nutrients that it needs by starving yourself is not the right way to lose weight. This must be done gradually, over a sensible period of time. So, what is a healthy weight loss per week?

Typically, you should not aim for losing more than one to two pounds every week. That works out to be a negative difference of 3,500 to 7,000 calories between how much you eat and how much you burn off every week. If you can burn off 3,500 calories more than you take in, you will lose a pound.

Losing weight faster than that is not advisable. That is because you have to allow your body to adjust to the increase in physical activity and reduction in food intake. Your body still needs to be nourished for its daily functions. So, you still have to eat.

In order to achieve a healthy weight loss per week, you need to pay attention to what you put into your body. Your meals should contain lots of leafy green vegetables. Your muscles will need a high quality protein to build up strength. You can get this from a serving of lean meats, like fish or poultry. You will need fiber in your diet. Stick with complex carbohydrates like whole grains. Since you need to limit your caloric intake, every bite you eat should be packed with nutrients, without the bad fats, high salt content and sugar.

It is not enough to reduce your caloric intake. You have to approach it from the other end by increasing your physical activity. Increase the number of calories you burn off. Incorporate a few cardio routines and some strength training into your daily activities.

Keep a journal of the foods you eat everyday and the physical activity that you are doing daily, and assign a calorie count for each. Your daily goal should always be a higher total in the calories you burn off over the calories you consume. If you can sustain a deficit in your total caloric count everyday, you will eventually lose those extra pounds.

In making sure that you are working toward a healthy weight loss per week, you will need to count calories in the beginning. However, once you get into a routine, you will get familiar with the caloric measures of the foods and the physical activities that make up your daily routine. You can then figure out how long it will take you to lose a specific number of pounds.