Many people who are well on the weight loss track tend to ask this question – "At what rate should I lose weight?" While many health pundits differ in their opinion when it comes to answering this question, one golden rule everybody agrees with is this – Everyone is a little different, and so is the rate at which they should be losing weight. 

Now we all know that losing weight is not an easy task. If done the healthy way, it becomes easier to keep the lost weight off for a long time. So, what is your plan of action for healthy weight loss – are you losing weight too fast or too slow?

Note that the rate at which you are losing weight is affected by many factors. These factors are could be your height, weight, gender, Body Metabolic Rate, composition of diet, disease and medication history, hydration status, exercising intensity and body composition (fat to muscle ratio), to name a few. 

Experts suggest that one should not lose more than 1 to 2 pounds of weight in a week, in order maintain healthy weight loss. This means that you will have to shed 3,500 to 7,000 calories in a week. This further breaks down to 500 to 1,000 calories in day. 

Now let us look at the top 3 factors, which would help in losing weight at a healthy pace.

#1 Factor. Burn calories with exercise. Aim at burning nothing less than 500 calories in one workout session. And as you start following a routine workout, aim at making your body stronger by selecting high-intensity activities, which help in boosting your calorie-burning goal. 

#2 Factor. Go for healthier food versions of tempting unhealthy foods. Choose healthy toppings and healthy homemade meals. Avoid buying store bought sauces and prepare healthy versions instead.  

#3 Factor. Boost your metabolism. Follow these healthy practices:

• Boost your metabolism by adding breakfast to your daily meal plan. By skipping breakfast your body assumes that you’re fasting and as a result it responds by slowing down your metabolism. 
• Take more proteins as your body requires 25% more energy to digest proteins as compared to carbohydrates and fat. However, the diet should be a balanced one, try to substitute carbohydrates with proteins (e.g. potato with soybean, French fries with chicken). 
• The most forgotten nutrient ‘water’ aids in burning fat. Water is also a natural appetite suppressant and washes out surplus amount of sodium and toxins from the body and should be your best friend in your journey to weight loss. 
• The more lean muscle you have, the more calories you'll burn, even while resting. Gaining muscle mass boosts your metabolism and makes losing weight much easier. In a bid to give a boost to your metabolism and tighten your body on the whole, you must do heavier weights for fewer repetitions. The tension in the body by lifting heavy weights will tone your body adequately and boost metabolism. 

Therefore, losing weight at a pace, which suits you and your needs, is the best pace. Consult a nutritionist, or a fitness instructor and understand your body type, if you feel you are too fast or too slow in losing weight. 

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