Lose 20 pounds in one month?

Somebody asked me about losing 20 pounds in 1 month. While this would be nice, it is very bad for your health; and probably bad for your mind too. This is an unrealistic goal and sets you up for failure from the beginning. Did you watch "The Biggest Loser", the reality show where obese people were trying to lose weight? They worked out until they dropped and dieted with professional nutritionists and personal trainers. The average per week loss was probably around 5 pounds - 20 pounds in one month. But these people had doctors monitoring them, personal trainers helping them work out for hours and nutritionists helping them with meals. Plus, most of them had over 100 pounds to lose. This kind of weight loss is NOT healthy without close professional supervision. The metabolism drops and the chances of hurting yourself is great. Once the metabolism drops, you have to work out harder and longer to lose the same amount of weight, rather, if you keep your metabolism high, your muscles burn calories even when you are not working out, and as you DO work out, the muscles get bigger and burn even MORE calories.

It is much wiser if you are going to try to lose weight yourself to try for 5 pounds a month. This is not dangerous to your physical health as well as not unrealistic for your mental health. Set yourself small goals and when you reach them, reward yourself. And if you fall off the bandwagon, just get back on. Remember "losers" never quit. They just try again.