I’m sick of being fat. I’ve been overweight for pretty much my whole life, and enough is enough! I want to lose weight, and I want to lose it fast. I know, I know–I’m not supposed to lose weight too fast. I’m supposed to lose it slowly and make long-term changes and blah, blah blah. But that’s not going to work for me, because I need to see results in order to stay motivated. And I’m tired of being told that it’s possible to lose weight too fast–if that’s really true, then can you please at least just tell me what the fastest possible healthy weight loss is, and how I can do it?

Sure! Here you go: the fastest that you should lose weight is at a rate of 2 pounds per week.

That may not seem like a lot, but there are good reasons to lose weight at this rate or more slowly. As you probably know, weight loss works because your body burns fat to create energy. If you supply less energy than you use, your body will start burning fat. That’s the basic version of things, of course, and it’s over-simplified. But here’s the problem with rapid weight loss: your body will burn muscle, too. And the faster you lose weight, the more indiscriminately you’re going to be burning stuff. That’s not good, because burning muscle will actually lower your metabolism, which can hinder your attempts to eat fewer calories while setting you up to quickly regain your lost weight when your diet is up.

This isn’t the only problem with losing weight too quickly, or even the main one. Losing weight too fast can be dangerous for your health, which is a larger and more important thing than your weight. But it’s helpful to remember that losing weight too fast isn’t just bad for you–it’s actually counter-productive!

But losing two pounds every week is a pretty solid weight-loss rate. It’s a nice, fast rate of weight loss, and it won’t be easy to achieve it–but you can do it.

There are a lot of ways to lose weight quickly, and a lot of products, techniques, and information to help you do it. To be clear, you’ll always want to root your diet in a smart, balanced strategy. Yes, we’re talking about that “lifestyle change” idea you’re frustrated with: you’ll need to eat healthier, not just eat less, and you’ll need to incorporate things that you plan to stick to after your “diet” is over. There’s nothing temporary about a truly healthy eating strategy.

But that doesn’t mean that you can’t take serious temporary steps, too. As long as your diet is founded in sustainable changes, there’s nothing to stop you from adding a short-term program: a couch-to-5K journey, for instance, or a regimen that involves taking diet pills (safe ones, like Fastin). It’s totally fair to want to do something intense and exciting to keep you engaged in your healthy future, so if you want to combine your lifelong healthy eating plan with a 30-day exercise plan, we say go for it. Just be ready to transition into sustainable, reliable habits when you reach the end of your “diet” period! Good luck.

“To keep the body in good health is a duty, otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.” – Buddha