Crash diets don’t work. While you might lose the weight initially, ultimately most people who go on crash diets gain the weight back quickly. Goals should be set of losing 5 to 10 percent of your body weight.
A realistic goal is to lose 1 to 2 pounds per week. Any more than that and your body will go into starvation mode and start shedding muscle rather than fat.
By using the numbers above, you can see that if you need to lose 25 pounds, you’re going to be embarking on a 3-month program. If it’s 50 pounds, you need to commit to at least 6 months.
When you step on the scale each week and you’ve lost 1 pound, that is a victory. It’s in shedding the individual pounds that you will actually start racking up the larger numbers and reach your 5, 10, or even 50-pound weight loss goals.
There are online apps that you can use to track your calories, track your exercise, and record your weekly weight. This daily accountability helps to keep you on track.