Cutting unnecessary calories from your diet is one of the quickest and most effective ways to begin losing weight. It's important to balance your caloric intake to ensure your body is getting the nutrition it needs while at the same time burning excess fat as fuel rather than storing more of it. This should be viewed as a long term process because losing weight too fast may be unhealthy if your body is not getting enough vitamins and nutrients.
CDC Recommendation
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests weight loss of 1 to 2 lbs. per week is an ideal target for most people. Considering 1 lb. of body fat is equal to 3,500 calories, this means you must eliminate 3,500 to 7,000 calories per week from your diet to achieve 1 to 2 lbs. of weight loss. Exercise can also help you burn additional calories toward this goal, so it doesn't all have to come from eliminating calories from your diet.
CR Diet
A calorie restriction diet, or CR diet, is designed to promote a longer and healthier life, according to the CR Society International, a non-profit organization dedicated to the CR lifestyle. Weight loss is merely a side effect of a CR lifestyle. Dr. Roy L. Walford M.D., an international authority on gerontology and nutrition, supports the idea of a CR diet but cautions that losing weight too quickly has its risks. His recommendation is to slowly reduce your daily caloric intake over a period of at least six to nine months to allow your body to adjust.
Risks
Dr. Walford points out the risks of losing weight too fast on a calorie restricted diet. He mentions that many foods in the American diet contain pesticides that are harmlessly stored in body fat. However, when this body fat is oxidized too quickly, these toxins may get introduced into the blood stream and cause kidney problems or other health-related issues. Walford performed scientific tests using mice and found that a CR diet can actually shorten their lifespan if the transition period between current diet and CR diet is not gradual. He prefers a one to two year transition period where you slowly reduce your daily caloric intake each week or month.
Potential
Eliminating empty calories from your diet can lead to significant weight loss over time. For instance, at an average rate of 2 lbs. per week, you can expect to lose 30 lbs. in just over three months. The key is to first determine how many calories it takes for you to maintain your current bodyweight. You can use a basal metabolic rate (BMR) calculator to get an estimate of your daily calorie needs. Subtract 500 to 1,000 calories from your BMR, depending upon your weight loss goal, to target a weight loss of 1 to 2 lbs. per week. Remember to factor in calories burned during exercise when determining your calorie target.
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