A lot of people suggest that you can hope to lose about one to two pounds of weight each week in a healthy and sustainable manner. To aim for a much greater speed of weight loss, you can end up attempting to reduce your calorie intake by too much. By introducing too great a calorie deficiency, you may see rapid weight loss, but your body will have to adjust to the shortage of calories by burning less to maintain itself. Therefore you will ultimately gain weight beyond your starting point once you resume normal eating again, thus initiating the well known yo-yo effect.

The key is to be able to continue your weight loss until you reach a healthy weight, and aiming to lose one to two pounds per week is much more realistic for this. Realistic expectations here will allow you to continue your weight loss plan so as to lose the weight you need to reach a healthy weight and then keep it off.

So as you can see, the real question is what speed can you lose weight while being able to maintain your weight loss until you are no longer overweight.

In order to achieve this weight loss speed, it is beneficial to understand the importance of calories. You can lose approximately 1 to 2 pounds per week by introducing a 500 to 1000 calorie deficit in your daily diet and exercise regime. That means consuming between 500 and 1000 calories less than the amount you burn each day. You will need to start to keep track of the calories you burn and your calorie intake to be able to establish a target calorie deficit. Also, always be sure to consult your doctor about your weight loss plans as this will allow you to receive any advice that may be specific to your own situation.