A: You can safely lose 3 or more pounds a week at home with a healthy diet and lots of exercise, says weight loss counselor Katherine Tallmadge, RD.

Having a goal in mind is also a great motivator to help you lose the weight.  Just be sure to follow a weight loss plan that you can keep up for life, not some fad diet that helps you rapidly lose 15 pounds of water weight.

Remember calories count the most when it comes to losing weight, which means you will want to lower your caloric intake and burn extra calories everyday through exercise.

Monitor your weight loss and adjust your diet and exercise regimen accordingly.  Keep in mind, however, that for health reasons you don’t want to fall below roughly 1200 calories consumed in a day.  It can be hard to maintain a very low calorie diet and it’s difficult to get all the recommended nutrients if you’re eating less than that.

Also keep in mind, if you’re already extremely lean and follow a workout and diet regimen, it may be harder to lose those 15 lbs in a month’s time.  You will have to kick up your exercise regimen a notch or two to see results.

Here’s a few more tips to help you out:

• Eat plenty of low calorie vegetables and other water dense foods that make you feel full, for example, broth-based soup.
• Drink plenty of water so you don’t confuse hunger with thirst.  Read these tips for recognizing hunger.
• Remove trigger foods from the house.
• Stay busy to prevent eating out of boredom.
• Download our Free low calorie diet plan and learn how to make healthy and lasting changes to your diet.

Here’s the bottom line, your rapid weight loss plan should be almost identical to a healthy long-term weight loss plan.  One that is sustainable for the rest of your life.

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How Can I Safely Lose Weight Fast?

A: The “Biggest Loser” is a wildly popular show that may help those looking to lose weight in one very important way: Motivation. It can be very inspiring and motivating to see people transform their physique.

But there is a major downside to weight loss contests and it’s that they put too much emphasis on the scale.  Your goal shouldn’t necessarily be to drop numbers on the scale, but rather to improve your fat to muscle ratio.

Why is this important?  First of all, these weight loss contests reward people for losing fat, but also for losing muscle mass and water weight.  Here’s the thing, it’s possible for some to transform their body and become leaner and healthier than ever, all the while only losing maybe a pound.  This is because you could replace the fat weight with new muscle weight.  The contestants in a weight loss contest like the “Biggest Loser” that do this would be penalized because they didn’t lose enough weight.

So, instead of living and dying by the scale, try to lower your body fat percentage by focusing on eating healthy foods and exercising. Let the mirror be the judge, not the scale.

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What do you think of weight loss contests like the “Biggest Loser”?

A: Good for you for wanting to cut soda out of your diet. Here’s a few tips that should make the process go a lot smoother:

• First of all, quitting cold turkey may not be the way to go.  Instead, try weaning yourself off from your soda habit by slowly cutting back.  Cut down to two a day the first week, one a day the second week and so on.

• Replace your usual soda with a healthier alternative.  Flavored water, unsweetened drinks, mineral water and tea are all healthier alternatives.  It’s easier to cut something out of your diet when you replace it with something else.

• If it’s a sugar craving you satisfy with your soda habit then try reaching for a piece of fruit or chew sugar free gum every time you feel a sweet tooth coming on.

• Be careful when replacing soda with fruit juices.  While juice may be a healthier alternative, the calories and sugar can add up pretty quickly.

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How can I kick my soda habit?

A: More than a decade’s worth of research has shown that green tea may help prevent cancer and heart disease, lower cholesterol, prevent diabetes and, to answer your question, may aid in weight loss as well!  Studies have shown that participants who drank tea, especially caffeinated tea, lost weight. Even green tea extract has shown to aid in weight loss and lower blood pressure.  Just be sure you are eating a balanced, healthy diet and feel free to drink as much tea as you want.

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Can green tea help me lose weight?

A: Not always.  Contrary to popular belief, cooking vegetables doesn’t destroy all the nutrients and some vegetables are even more nutritious after cooking.  Studies show that cooked spinach, carrots, asparagus and a host of other vegetables actually supply more antioxidants as opposed to their raw counterparts.  Another study which appears in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry showed that cooking carrots increases their level of beta-carotene.

One of the downsides to cooking vegetables is it can  reduce the amount of Vitamin C. But, here’s the bottom line: if cooking vegetables increases the chance that you will eat them, then by all means don’t think twice about it.

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Are raw vegetables healthier than cooked?

A: It’s true. Eating spicy foods that contain red or green chili pepper can temporarily increase your metabolic rate by up to 23% some studies suggest.  The actual weight lost will be minuscule, but if you eat spicy foods often the affects may add up.  If you don’t mind spicy foods try adding a dash of red or green chili pepper to your favorite pasta, chili and stews.

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Do spicy foods aid in weight loss?

A: Great question!  First of all, if you want to add some muscle you will need to take in an extra 200 to 500 or so calories a day.  Keep in mind that you will most likely see a slight increase in body fat, but this is usually necessary to pack on muscle, especially for those who are pretty lean and have been working out for a few years.  Many top fitness and bodybuilding professionals recommend cycling between fat loss (cutting) and muscle gaining (bulking) phases.  This way you can keep your body fat levels relatively low while still adding muscle.

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How can I effectively add some muscle to my body?

A: Fiber does have some weight loss benefits with the main one being that it helps you feel fuller longer, so you consume less calories.  It is also believed that fibrous foods generally take longer to chew, which gives your body ample time to register when you’re no longer hungry, so you’re less likely to overeat.

More importantly, however, are fiber’s affects on your health.  It can lower cholesterol, lower your risk of diabetes and heart disease plus it helps control blood sugar levels.

The National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine recommends your daily fiber intake should be:

Men

• 50 years old and younger: 38 grams

• Older than 50: 30 grams

Women

• 50 years old and younger: 25 grams

• Older than 50: 21 grams

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How does fiber help me lose weight?

A: You have a six-pack abs, there just hidden under the layer of fat on your stomach!  Doing a thousand crunches a day will not guarantee you a six-pack.  The only way to reach your goal is to create a calorie deficit, either through consuming less calories, burning more calories through exercise – or a combination of the two!  You might want to try cutting back on the amount of ab work you do and concentrate more on intense calorie burning cardio.  Plus, take a close look at your diet.  You might want to try cutting out a few calories for a few weeks and see if that helps give you the results you are looking for.

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I do 1,000 crunches a day but I still can’t see my abs. What gives?

A: You heard correctly.  Manufacturers are allowed by the FDA to label foods containing less than 0.5 grams of trans fats as 0 grams.  While this may seem like a trace amount, it can add up fairly quickly.  Limit the amount of trans fats you consume by passing on items with “partially hydrogenated”, “shortening” or “interesterified” in the ingredients list.

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Can foods labeled as zero grams of trans fats still contain trans fats?