With all of the products, books, DVDs, and dieting gimmicks on the market today all promising weight loss in just days, it is quite tempting to try these methods.  Everyone wants to lose weight as quickly as they can, but can you lose weight too fast?

The simple answer to this question is yes.  You most definitely can lose weight too quickly.  Losing weight too rapidly, can lead to both short term and long-term consequences, and it generally quite unhealthy.

To better understand why losing weight too quickly is a poor idea; you first need to understand how weight loss occurs.  In order to lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you take in.  Losing just one pound of weight in a week means that you need to expel 3,500 calories from your body.  That would mean you would need to either decrease your total weekly caloric intake by 3,500 calories, perform enough exercise to burn off that amount of calories, or a combination of both.  This translates into decreasing your daily calories by 500.  That is just to lose one pound.  To give you a clearer idea of why losing large amounts of weight quickly is dangerous, consider los
ing ten pounds in one week.  Using the same principles as just discussed, you would need to get rid of a total of 35,000 calories.  This translates into consuming 5,000 less calories per day, or burning off that same amount with exercise.  This is simply not safe, or practical.

A much more realistic goal is to lose one to two pounds each week.  Using this guideline means that you would, at most, have to reduce your calories by 1,000 each day.  You can easily accomplish this goal by getting regular exercise and decreasing your daily caloric intake by 600.  You may find that you need to reduce your calories more when you are first starting an exercise program, as you will need to ease into a fitness routine.

While it is very easy to get caught up in the all of the excitement that surrounds many of the diet aids available, it is important to remember that weight loss needs to happen slowly, and at a steady pace.  You will get the most out of your diet, lose the weight, and keep it off if you work at changing your personal behavior, increasing your physical activity, and eating a healthy well-balanced diet.

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