Is The Fastest Way To Lose Weight Working Out?

Exercise may allow you to lose weight, but the safest way to lose weight quickly relies on a combination of both calorie restriction and exercise. Leading health organizations, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Mayo Clinic, advise that long-term, successful weight loss results when you lose 1 to 2 lbs. each week. Achieve this by creating a calorie deficit of 500 to 1,000 calories each day.

Calorie Reduction

Calorie reduction can help create a sufficient calorie deficit, but you do not want to reduce your calories too much. A very low calorie diet -- under 1,200 calories for women and under 1,500 calories for men -- may cause your body to go into a starvation mode. Starvation mode causes your body's metabolism to slow down and diminishes your chances of successful, long-term weight loss. "Aim to consume between 1,600 and 1,800 calories when you want to lose weight," recommends Dr. Michael Hall, a Pennsylvania-based family physician practicing medicine for DuBois Regional Medical Center. To keep yourself full, replace high-calorie foods with low-calorie alternatives such as fruits, vegetables or unbuttered popcorn, which allows you to eat more food without consuming too many calories.

Weight Lifting

Weight lifting helps you build lean muscle, which speeds up your metabolism. Increasing your lean muscle tissue improves your chances of losing weight and keeping it off. Perform weight lifting exercises that work the entire body, such as bench presses, shoulder presses, pushups, leg presses, squats, lunges and step ups. Aim to perform three to four sets containing 10 to 12 repetitions of each exercise on two to three nonconsecutive days each week. A weight that exhausts your muscles by the 12th repetition of each set increases your ability to produce lean muscle mass.

Cardio

Cardiovascular exercise, or cardio, burns more calories than any other form of exercise. Perform cardio for 30 to 90 minutes on most days of the week. Common forms of cardio include running, cycling, walking and swimming. Select a form of cardio you enjoy to increase your motivation to exercise. If you cannot exercise for 30 to 90 minutes straight, consider breaking your exercise time down into 10- to 20-minute workout session three to four times a day. A workout that requires you to exercise at a vigorous level burns more calories than a moderate-intensity workout.

Increased Daily Activities

Further increase the number of calories you burn each day by finding additional ways to be active. For example, take the stairs instead of the elevator, park as far as possible from your destination, walk around the house during commercials or join a sports league.

Considerations

While a combination of diet and exercise provides you with the fastest safe weight loss option, other weight loss techniques such as weight loss pills, fasting and gastric bypass surgery could provide faster results. These more extreme options are risky, though. Talk to your physician to learn more about safe and effective weight loss options before trying weight loss pills or fasting.