What is the quickest way to lose weight?

It’s not good to just lose weight fast. It’s also important to try and lose it in a safe, healthy manner.

According to Michael Dansinger, MD, the medical doctor for NBC’s The Biggest Loser, “In theory, one could drop as much as 20 pounds in a week following a very ambitious eating and exercise plan, devoting more than seven hours per week to rigorous exercise, and under a physician’s care like we do on the television program.”

In order to lose your desired weight you need to burn more calories than you eat. Experts recommend reducing your caloric intake by 500 calories per day through a combination of eating fewer calories and increasing physical activity. Over the course of a week, this should yield a loss of about 1-2 pounds of fat.

In order to lose weight faster, you need to eat less and exercise more. Bottom line: 1,050 to 1,200 calories and one hour of exercise a day. However, you should not go below that level for safety. With a plan like this you could lose 3-5 pounds the first week, or more if you weigh over 250 pounds.

“Dieters who follow the plan can lose 2 pounds from diet and 1 pound from exercise each week, and even more if they have more to lose, because the more fat you have to lose, the faster it comes off,” says Dansinger. And, “when you reduce sodium and cut starches, you reduce fluids and fluid retention, which can result in up to 5 pounds of fluid loss when you get started,” explains Dansinger.

For rapid weight loss, dieters should eat mainly fruits, veggies, egg whites, soy products, skinless poultry breasts, fish, shellfish, nonfat dairy foods, and 95% lean meat.

And exercise is key. A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine indicated that losing weight requires close to an hour a day of moderate exercise.

That fits in with Dansinger’s recommendation of seven hours per week of cardio exercise leading up to your special event. “Cardio burns the most calories, so it is ideal for fast weight loss, but afterwards you need to include a few hours a week of strength training,” he says. To burn the most fat, try to break a sweat after your warm-up and keep sweating for the entire hour, says Dansinger.