How to lose weight fast is a question that most people want an answer to at one point or another. Whether it is for a vacation, a special date, a wedding or a graduation, there are times when the weight has got to come off quickly. Many will lean toward a fad diet or program that promises to melt the pounds away when they need to lose weight fast. Most of these types of diets are difficult to follow due to severe calorie restriction, many induce boredom by forcing you to eat the same food over and over, and some are just plain unsafe. To learn how to lose weight fast and stay healthy, it makes sense to get back to the basics of weight loss.

Basically, all of the fads and trends create a situation where you are taking in fewer calories than you are burning off. Your body creates a calorie deficit and you end up losing weight. Generally, it takes about a 3500-calorie deficit for you to lose one pound of fat. If you create a 500-calorie daily deficit you’ll lose around one to two pounds per week. This is what many experts recommend, and it isn’t a bad rate, but it still won’t get you where you want to be, when you want to get there. To find the answer to the “how to lose weight fast” question, you have to create a higher calorie deficit and get your metabolism moving to help you burn calories around the clock.

Diet and exercise are your primary weapons to help you lose weight fast and stay healthy while you do it. Building more lean muscle mass will help you to burn more calories even while you’re at rest, so including resistance training in your weight loss routine is a good idea. You may not have tons of time to create new muscle, depending on your fast weight loss schedule, but including resistance movements will still provide a benefit.

Use bodyweight exercises like pull-ups and push-ups, lift free weights or use the machines at the gym. Compound exercises that work multiple muscle groups like squats, bench press and rows will help accelerate your muscle gains. Also include regular cardio sessions like running, swimming or cycling. To lose weight fast, you may want to add a few extra sessions per week to boost the calorie burn.

As for your diet, if you really want to lose weight fast you’ll have to remove all fast foods, junk food and processed food from your daily eating plan. Focus on lean meats, whole grains and green vegetables to keep the caloric intake down. Vegetables are high in fiber, which is filling, but low in calories which enables you to eat a higher volume of food without the consequence. Also, keep in mind that little things add up to big results, so avoid that extra piece of bread or high fat condiments like mayonnaise. Keeping focused on your end goal will help you avoid temptation and lose the weight.