The simple fact of the matter is, the average weight loss with exercise and diet is going to vary from individual to individual.  For some people, it is a matter of losing 1 or 2 pounds a week on a consistent basis.  People who have a lot of weight to lose tend to lose it a lot faster at first and then to eventually slow down to a steady pace.  It is not unusual for somebody that is morbidly obese to lose five or more pounds a week whenever they are first starting out.  For those of us that just want to drop a few pant sizes, however, you really should set some more realistic goals.

Fast weight loss leads to a lot of up-and-down dieting, something that can really damage our metabolism and future weight loss efforts.  It is a much better idea for us to put ourselves in the mindset that we are going to lose the weight for the long term.  Set a goal of perhaps 2 pounds a week and then do everything that you can in order to achieve that goal.  You would be surprised at how quickly you start to notice a difference, even with that small of a weight loss.

Don’t settle for the average weight loss with exercise and diet numbers.  Even if you are only losing a couple of pounds every week, if you’re getting some exercise you are going to start to look good and notice a difference quickly.  You can also speed up the process a little bit here and there but make sure that your efforts are constant, not sporadic.  If you do this, you would be surprised with how you can take the weight off quickly and keep it off for good.

The first of these options is to do a little bit of weight training.  I’m not talking about hitting the gym on a daily basis and pumping iron for a couple of hours, I’m talking about smart weight training.  You can either do this at home with any exercise apparatus that you happen to have or you can do it at the gym.  Although most people will tell you that it is important for you to work your muscles three times a week, it is really only necessary for you to do it once in order for it to be effective.  As a matter of fact, the best exercise for weight loss as far as weight lifting is concerned is to do six to eight sets to total failure.  Just make sure that you’re working out your entire body in those sets and that you lift to the positive for five seconds and to the negative for five seconds.  Within a month, you will have additional muscle which will help you to burn fat easily.

The best exercise for weight loss as far as cardiovascular exercise is concerned is Tabata workouts.  Although very few people have heard of these, the way that it is done is fairly simple and it only takes four minutes per day.  You choose the exercise that you’re going to be doing, perhaps squats or Burpee’s.  You then work full out at 100% of your effort for 20 seconds and rest for 10 seconds, timed rigidly.  Repeat this eight times and you’re done.  This has been shown to be nine times more effective than a regular cardiovascular workouts.  Do this on a daily basis and you will be losing weight amazingly fast.