The Best Way to Lose 15 Lbs

Many people struggle with their weight, and while 15 pounds doesn't sound like much, it can be difficult to lose. The trick to losing weight is to set realistic, but attainable, goals.

Calorie Cutting

• The first step to any weight-loss plan is to watch what you eat. This seems too logical, but there's more to it than gnawing on a carrot stick at lunch time. In order to gain weight, we have to consume a certain amount of additional calories. The same reasoning goes for losing weight. To lose one pound of body fat, you must cut a certain number of calories out of our diet. In conjunction with burning the right amount of calories, weight loss will occur.

  To lose one pound, you need to burn about 3,500 a week. It's safe to lose from 1 to 3 pounds a week, but keep in mind that most people lose a half-pound to a pound. The more weight a person has to lose, the more weight he will drop in the beginning. To lose one pound a week without working out, cut 500 calories a day from your diet. If you normally eat 2,000 calories a day, eat 1,500 and you'll likely lose about one pound a week. At that rate, by changing your eating habits, but not getting additional physical activity, it will take 15 weeks or a little more than three months to lose 15 pounds.

Burning More Calories

• If one pound of weight loss a week is not enough, you can shoot for two pounds a week and lose 15 pounds in half the time. If you've cut 500 calories a day from your diet, you can lose an additional pound a week by exercising.

  Walking is a great exercise, especially if you are out of shape. Depending on how fast you walk, you burn approximately 100 calories per mile, so if you are trying to burn an additional 3,500 calories a week in addition to cutting 500 calories a day from your diet, you would need to walk five miles a day to do it. Most people can walk about 2.5 to 3 miles a day. At that rate, you would burn an additional 250 to 300 calories a day, or an additional 1,750 to 2,100 calories a week from walking. To work off two pounds a week, you need to burn 7,000 calories a week. Walking three miles a day and eating 1,500 calories a day, you're up to burning 5,600 calories a week, which is 1,400 calories short of your two-pounds-a-week weight-loss goal.

Ways to Burn More Calories

• If you lost two pounds a week, it would take about a month and a half to lose 15 pounds. You can cut an additional 200 calories a day out of your diet, which is not recommended, bringing you down to 1,300 calories a day, or you can learn to burn calories another way. For example, drinking a cold 16-ounce glass of water just twice a day will burn 200 calories and keep you hydrated.

  There is no failsafe, rapid weight-loss method, but you can lose about 15 pounds in a month and a half by cutting calories, taking walks and drinking at least 4 cups of water a day.