Partner wants to know, what's the safest way to lose 1.5 lbs per week?

Eat TDEE-20% calories per day and exercise. Lots of water and nutritionally dense foods. There’s no magic solution in weight loss.

Eat less. Exercise more. If you can spin that out to a couple of hundred page book and give it a catchy name you can make a fortune

Stick to a 1,500 or so a day caloric intake. Drop wine, beer, alcohol, walk 30 minutes a day, get at least 40 grams of protein in your daily intake, and….get enough sleep!
It has been shown sleep deprivation increases weight along with the stress hormone Cortisol.

Thanks!

And Coloma, I love your avatar!

If he can cut his caloric intake by 500 per day, from whatever his intake is now and exercise 5 days a week (vigorous exercise bet 30 & 60 mins) he should be ble to lose 1–2lbs a week without too much hassle

P90X
Partner will have to eat more to keep at at 1.5/wk

Cut caloric intake by ⅓ to ½, eliminate sweets and meat, walk or jog daily. Works for me.

I don’t get some of this advice.

Eat 1500 calories per day.
Cut 500 calories a day.
Cut caloric intake by ½.

We don’t know this person’s weight, height, or current eating habits. Without this information, these specific numbers make no sense. Weight loss isn’t a “one size fits all” type of thing.

If she’s 5’11” and 200lbs, 1500 calories is not enough, but if she’s 5’ and 105 lbs, it may be too much. If she’s currently gaining weight eating 3000 calories per day, cutting 500 calories per day would only (maybe) maintain her current weight. If she’s currently maintaining at 2000 calories, cutting that in half would not be nearly enough food.

Adhering to the basic laws of thermodynamics, you will make moderate changes to your caloric intake while increasing the body’s usage of calories with a variety of exercise.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/39855-lose-pounds-week/#ixzz2YVGEUcVY

Stick to a diet of real, whole foods. All whole grains, nothing refined, processed, or artificial. Don’t buy packaged foods that have more than five ingredients or anything on the label you wouldn’t find in your own kitchen. No refined sugar, only natural sweeteners like honey or maple syrup. Lots of fresh veggies, fruit, whole fat dairy (in moderation), lean meats (in moderation), and wild seafood. Not farmed. Buy organic and local when you can, according to your budget, but don’t sweat it if you can’t swing that. We certainly can’t. It’s a big transition to make this kind of lifestyle change but the health benefits are worth it. The Western Diet is keeping us fat and sick and the USDA is mainly controlled by agribusiness. You’d be amazed at how cutting all the chemical junk out of your diet can help with weight, mood, energy, and sleep.

I’m not obsessed or anything, but at home we follow these guidelines but eat what we want when we go out, which isn’t often, or eat what’s served at someone else’s house. We’ll go out for ice cream for a treat and if we’re at the movies we enjoy popcorn or candy, but just eating real food at home has noticeably improved my family’s health. Forget what you’ve been taught about sugar free and fat free food being the goal and avoid those products. They trick you into craving more and eating more.

On top of eating actual food, not crap, regular physical activity is important. A combination of cardio and strength training is a great way to start.

I also meant to day, don’t focus on weight. Focus on healthy choices and the weight will follow. Even not going to the gym I’ve lost weight since changing my diet. Probiotics really helped too. I just add some kombucha to my morning smoothies.

Weight Watchers is a very good program to follow. You can do it online.

Failing that, eat less and move more.

Go on a liquid diet. Also, run about an hour every day.

Cut 400 calories a day and increase exercise by a total of 3 hours a week. Or, if she already exercises a lot, decrease 600 a day. 3,000 calories is about one pound. If she doesn’t want to count calories, and assuming her diet is a typical “American” diet, of she just switches to much less meat, cheese and startches and more veg and fruit she will likely lose weight, primarily vegetables. I have never been ok with a no carb diet, don’t think I am saying cut out all carbs. If she doesn’t want a big diet change, then counting calories is the best way, actually writing down what you ate throughout the day, weighing the food, etc.

@momster I’m not sure if you know this, but UNBUTTERED movie popcorn is HORRIBLE for you. It has the calories and fat of two Big Macs.

@gorillapaws I say if you’re going to munch on popcorn at the movies, go all out and get it buttered and salted to utter deliciousness. It’s an occasional thing unless you go to the movies all the time. We go about once a month and I’ll be damned if I’m bringing a ziplock baggie of Smart Pop 100 calorie kettle corn with me while everyone else eats the good stuff. I can eat that any day, so I’m going to live a little. I’ve learned the hard way that constantly denying myself tasty food is the fastest way to set myself up for failure. That’s what cheat days are for.

Ask me for the fool-proof way to pop your own real popcorn at home and control what, if anything you add. Completely off-topic.)

@livelaughlove21‘s sensible advice bears repeating

We don’t know this person’s weight, height, or current eating habits. Without this information, these specific numbers make no sense. Weight loss isn’t a “one size fits all” type of thing.

One size fits most- Adhering to the basic laws of thermodynamics, you will make moderate changes to your caloric intake while increasing the body’s usage of calories with a variety of exercise. (I get it. No one looked at my link because I’m new here).

@harangutan Don’t worry – we are equal opportunity not-link-lookers.

@harangutan I looked at the link, and there was no specific advice listed. It was super general. Of course one size fits most when the advice is to count calories and exercise more. Duh. I was talking about the super specific numbers people were throwing out. You can’t tell people, “Eat x amount of calories per day” or “cut x calories per day” when you know absolutely nothing other than that they want to lose 1.5 lbs per week.

No specific advice? Yeah, ok. duh. whatever

That makes me feel better @janbb :)

We only go to movies a few times a year. We only go out for ice cream once every several weeks. Since we eat at home the vast majority of the time and my kids almost always pack lunch for school I don’t mind treats from time to time. I’m not about to subject my kids to an unhealthy preoccupation with food so if they are at a party or a restaurant I don’t hassle them about their choices. I’d be quite a hypocrite because I sure do love a big ice cream cone or a slice of chocolate cake from time to time!

Out of all the diet programs out there, the one that has been around the longest is the one that is the healthiest and well balanced and can be followed for lifetime eating if necessary.

If you use Weight Watchers you can’t go wrong. It’s better if you go to the weekly meetings because research has shown that the support and accountability gives a far better chance of successful outcome.

But, you can follow their plan without that if you just want a sensible guide for eating and meal preparation. Their cookbooks also have great recipes and ideas.

@livelaughlove21 You make a good point, I guess I should have said, based on your height and weight. I am 5’ ¾, small to medium frame and 1,500 calories a day is what I need to stick with if I want to drop some poundage. Yes, someone larger or smaller would need to modify their requirements.