If you need to lose a significant amount of weight, setting reasonable and achievable goals is the first step to developing a successful weight-loss plan. Overweight individuals should aim to lose 5 to 10 percent of their current weight over a six-month period to reduce their risk of heart disease and other weight-related health conditions, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. If you weigh 420 pounds, you should set a goal to lose 42 pounds in six months, or 7 pounds per month. This works out to approximately 1.75 pounds per week.
Energy Deficit
Losing weight requires burning more calories than you consume. This shortage of calories results in a state known as an energy deficit. To obtain the energy needed for exercise or normal daily activities your body will burn fat stores, resulting in weight loss. An energy deficit of 3,500 calories equals one pound. You can achieve this number by a combination of diet and exercise.
Diet
By reducing your caloric intake by 500 calories a day, you can reach an energy deficit of 3,500 calories over the course of one week. To consume fewer calories, replace high-calorie foods and snacks with high-volume, low-calorie foods such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains. These foods are associated with an increased feeling of satiety, or fullness, and reduced feelings of hunger, according to Joan Salge Blake, RD, MS, author of "Nutrition & You." Your meals should also include some protein and healthy fat, both of which help prolong feelings of satiety. Sources of healthy unsaturated fats include nuts, vegetable oils and some fish.
Exercise
Regular physical activity can also contribute to your energy deficit by burning calories. Simply walking is an excellent way to burn calories. To calculate the number of calories burned during moderate walking, multiply your weight in pounds by the duration in minutes of exercise, and multiply the result by 0.029. If you weigh 420 pounds and walk for 40 minutes a day, you will burn an additional 487 calories a day, resulting in an additional 3,400-calorie deficit over the course of a week.
Behavior Modification
Making lasting changes in your daily routine may require some behavior modification techniques to help break long-term habits. Blake recommends keeping a food log to track when, where and why you eat. Identifying eating triggers other than hunger may help you deal with underlying emotional issues that can lead you to use food as a source of comfort. For example, if you discover that you eat when feeling stressed, you can learn to use other methods of stress management such as exercising, talking to a friend or family member or engaging in a hobby to head off such eating.
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