How much weight can you SAFELY lose in 5 months?

Answer 1

A safe and realistic amount is 4-8 pounds a month, which equates to 1-2 pounds a week. If you have a bit of extra fat, then its fair to say that more is fine. As long as you are not driving your body into the ground by hardly eating and exercising yourself till you black out, you should be fine with what you can lose. But again, 4-8 pounds is safe and reasonable.

Answer 2

You can lose a lot, but losing more than about 4 to 8 pounds per month is not recommended. Here's a program for the period in which you want to lose weight:

Plenty of moderate aerobic exercise, no sweetened liquids at all, and no junk food at all. Preferably no sugar, and as little added salt and processed foods as possible. Eat 3 not-large-portioned meals/day; do not skip breakfast; and avoid sweet snacks. Limit your calories (best to consult a doctor or nutritionist concerning the amount), and weigh yourself 2-3 times/week. If you see your weight diminishing at a safe, reasonable rate (1-2 pounds/week), keep it up.

Once you've reached your target weight, increase your calorie intake somewhat. And you can then have small amounts of sweetened foods or junk food on occasion (if at all), along with your regular foods. But keep checking your weight 2-3 times/week.

Avoid crash diets, diet pills etc. Avoid fatty cuts of meat. Walk as much as possible. Bicycling and swimming are good too.

More guidelines:

Don't concentrate on specific foods so much as on a balanced, healthy diet plus exercise. Plenty of moderate exercise rather than intense exercise, which can damage your joints.

Good nutrition means eating what your body needs, while ingesting as few harmful things as possible. It has also been described as getting enough of each of the major food categories (grains, fruits, vegetables, protein, dairy, etc.; plus plenty of water).

This will vary somewhat from one person to another; and I don't believe that there's any universal diet that can be prescribed for everyone. Avoid best-sellers with their perennial fad diets.

In general, a healthy starting point could be a menu of whole grains, whole-wheat bread, a good amount of vegetables, some fruits and nuts, fish, lean meats (in not-large amounts), and some dairy. However, this must be tweaked according to one's lifestyle, age, health, weight and other factors at the outset; and also adjusted over time, as one sees what works for him/her in particular.

Also...whenever you feel queasy, nauseous, constipated or otherwise not completely well, try to remember what you've eaten over the last several hours or the last day. This is one method of adjusting one's food habits.

Answer 3

A safe amount of weight loss is about 5 to 6 pounds per month. The best way to do it is to eat a balanced diet, cut out junk food, and start a daily exercise program.