Dieticians and other health professionals recommend that a slow weight loss is the safest and most effective approach. A sensible weight-loss program will allow a person to lose weight gradually - about one-half to one pound per week. Gradual weight loss promotes long-term loss of body fat (helping to properly adjust the body’s basal metabolic rate, not just water weight that can be quickly regained.

Most people leading moderately active lives need about 15 calories per pound to maintain their weight. So, a person weighing 150 pounds would have to eat foods containing no more than 2,250 calories each day in order to simply maintain his or her weight. Based on this formula, in order to lose one pound, a person would need to burn 3,500 calories more than they consume. Thus, by reducing one’s caloric intake by just 300 per day, and then increasing one’s daily activity to burn off an additional 200 calories should result in a weight loss of one pound per week.

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