Most fad diets claim they can help you lose anywhere from three to six pounds of weight a week - but if you really want to lose weight effectively and safely, it's not recommended that you lose anymore than one to two pounds a week. This might not seem like much, but if you're losing roughly two pounds a week, in ten weeks you could lose up to 20 pounds. That's some substantial weight loss! And by losing the weight slowly, you'll be more likely to keep the pounds off.

To lose weight you need to burn more calories then you consume through exercise and physical activity, or you need to reduce the amount of calories that you consume. One pound equals 3,500 calories, so in order to lose one pound you must burn 3,500 more calories than you are consuming. By reducing your daily caloric intake by 500 calories a day, or by burning more than 500 extra calories a day, you can definitely reach your weight loss goal.

To figure out how many calories you are currently consuming, keep a record of everything you eat in a food diary. Using the Calorie Calculator, determine how many calories you should be consuming each day based on your activity level, current weight and weight loss goal. By maintaining a food diary, you may realize that you're actually consuming more calories then the amount recommended to lose weight successfully.

The Lose a Pound Calculator can help you determine how long it will take you to lose your desired amount of weight and will determine how many calories you'll realistically need to cut from your day.

Click here to find out the the number of minutes of activity required to burn 1 pound (3500 calories) for over 120 different activities.