What Is the Safest Way to Lose Weight?

The safest way to lose weight is gradually, with a combination of exercise, eating less and eating healthier. No fad diet is safe. About two pounds a week is considered the optimal level of weight loss.

Drink Water

• Replace most of your daily beverages with water. Water has no calories or unhealthy additives and keeps your metabolism working.

Breakfast

• Eat a healthy breakfast to get energy for the day and jump-start your metabolism, which slows overnight.

Snacks

• Replace junk food with a handful of nuts, which have healthy unsaturated fat and have been shown to aid weight loss, or fruit, which is also healthy and nutritious.

Carbs

• Skipping carbs is not a safe way to lose weight; get carbs from whole grain breads, cereals and pastas, brown rice and oats.

Weight Training

• Resistance and weight training exercises are essential to safe weight loss. When losing weight, you lose muscle mass faster than fat if you don't exercise.

Aerobic Exercise

• To lose weight, you must burn more calories than you consume and aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking or jogging, is the best way to burn calories.