When you're talking about weight loss, you probably think faster is better -- if you see faster results, your motivation to stay on the diet will stick around and you'll continue to lose weight. Unfortunately, when you're trying to rid yourself of those excess pounds, you run a greater risk of gaining them back fast if you lose weight fast. It's possible to lose 20 lbs. in two months, but you might want to take it slower.
Weight-loss Basics
Dieting almost seems like a national pastime in the United States. More than 50 million people -- one out of every six Americans -- try to lose weight every year, according to the University of Colorado. Sadly, 95 percent gain the weight back within a couple of years, indicating that fad diets aren't the answer to the weight-loss dilemma. Instead, you need permanent changes in your lifestyle that spur slow weight loss -- about 10 lbs. in two months instead of 20 lbs. -- to keep the pounds at bay.
Calories Burned
In order to lose 20 lbs. in two months, you'll need to drop about 2 1/2 lbs. every week. Since you must "lose" 3,500 calories for every pound, that means cutting back on calories or ramping up your physical activity so that you burn 1,250 calories more every day than you consume. It's possible to do this through a combination of diet and exercise, but you'll be eating very little and potentially risk some diet side effects related to eating too little, such as constipation. You also risk slowing your metabolism, which slows down your weight-loss efforts as well.
Liquid Diet Potential
Some people turn to a commercial liquid diet program if they need to lose 20 lbs. in two months. Liquid diets can work for this purpose. According to Vanderbilt University, liquid diets that replace most or all meals with low-fat, vitamin-enriched shakes can spur significant weight loss. However, participants often feel hungry and deprived, and a small handful experience serious adverse effects such as cardiac problems and gallstones.
Medically-supervised Weight Loss
If you're quite overweight and you want the fastest, safest weight loss possible, you might want to consider signing on to a medically-supervised weight-loss program. These programs, which often are recommended for people considering gastric bypass surgery, usually use prescription liquid diet products to replace all meals, according to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Participants can expect to lose up to 10 lbs. each month or more while following the typical 800-calorie-per-day medically-supervised diet.
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