The Best Way to Lose Weight

The best way to lose weight is gradually. Most weight loss experts would agree that 1-2 pounds per week is the best rate to lose weight. If you lose weight gradually and re-educate both yourself and your body about food, you'll have a good start. The secret to keeping weight off is to balance your energy needs with your food intake. Eat enough calories to supply your body's energy needs, but not so many that your body stores the excess as fat.
 
The truth is it will be a lot harder to lose weight if you do not exercise. A half hour of moderate exercise daily is the minimum activity level for healthy weight loss. You can get it walking, running, cleaning your house - anything active burns calories.
 
The best weight loss results happen when you burn more calories than you consume. If you only need to lose a small amount of weight and your diet is generally healthy, you can lose weight by increasing your activity level to burn more calories. If your diet is poor, or if you're more than a few pounds overweight, you really need to learn a new, more healthy way of eating, or you'll put the weight back on when you go back to 'normal' eating.
 
Most diet experts recommend that you weigh yourself no more than once a week. Some go so far as to tell you to throw out the scale entirely! Personally, I think that people who are trying to lose weight should focus less on what they weigh. Yes, I know that sounds strange, but people who are trying to lose weight should focus on how they look and feel more than how much they weight. A more accurate measure of your weight loss is your clothing size. If your clothing is feeling looser, you're doing great.