Dieting is never ever a short term project. You didn't gain all that
weight in a week or two, and you won't lose all that weight in a week
or two, either.

We have to think LONG TERM, and nothing less. Anything else is fantasy
land stuff, unless you want to pay a surgeon to cut you open and cut/
suck, excess fat off you.

If you watch the TV show "The Biggest Loser", you get a great idea of
the maximum weight that can be lost, in a VERY intense, 24 hrs. a day
supervised setting, complete with on-site trainers, and a doctor.

Despite the appeal of the quick weight loss and muscle up, on the
show, their weight loss is WAY too fast to be really healthy.

A far healthier diet would cause a much slower 1 or 2 pounds per week
weight loss, on average. During the first week (aka The "Honeymoon"
week), everyone will lose more weight (3 to 5 lbs. is common, more
loss if you're more obese to begin with), on a good diet, but that
will slow down, quickly.

A diet is an adjustment to your body. The slower your body can make
that adjustment, the easier it will be. On the other hand, it's also
essential to keep enough progress to keep yourself motivated to
continue the diet and exercise program.

BIG Warning: If you try to lose more weight per week, (like "The
Biggest Loser" contestants), you're setting yourself up for failure
and health problems, as well. Some of those problems have killed some
dieters, and put others into coma's.

Don't try to maximize your weight loss. Don't try to fight for more
weight loss. Managing your food and exercise is not a tug of war -
it's like an easy long distance swim. You don't want to fight the
water - don't try to hold your head up out of the water, learn to
course through it in a streamlined position, using gentle kicks and
long, easy arm motions.

It's not karate, it's Tai-Chi Chuan or Aikido. You're not struggling
against yourself (how could you win that fight?), you're blending and
re-directing your old habits to take charge of your caloric balance in
a natural way. You're becoming complete in this way - and you don't
need to obsess over food, use stimulants, get shots, have surgery, or
vomit your food back up. (which is a particularly dangerous habit).

Sure, when we start, we count the bejeesus out of calories, but
remember, at the end of your diet, you want to have learned (or
continue to count calories until you do), how to eat and exercise,
habitually; just in the amount you want and need, to maintain your
goal weight.

You won't be counting calories, forever - that's just for beginner's,
as you'll soon see. Why? Because you'll quickly memorize all the
common foods and portions that you eat. Calories are just the little
signs on the road of weight management. They keep us from getting
lost, and help tell us where we are with our food intake.

Learning how to count Calories is not the long-term goal of a low
calorie diet. Having a healthy body composition, and healthy eating
habits --*THAT'S* our goal.

I hope that's your goal, as well.

Seeing your doctor before you start your diet is always a great idea,
and remember to take your calorie cut back, and your exercise
increase, in small and easy increments.