It is virtually impossible to achieve and/or maintain weight loss without setting both long- and short-term goals. Above all, these goals must be realistic. If someone has a goal of losing 100 pounds in six months this is not very realistic.
Considering that there are 3,500 calories in a pound of fat, a grand total of 350,000 calories will have to be lost in a 6-month period, which equates to about 58,300 calories a month or 14,575 calories a week. This requires expending and/or withholding about 2,100 calories a day.
From a standpoint of calorie expenditure, attempting to work off 1,000+ calories everyday with physical activity is possible for someone who is physically conditioned to do so, but not for someone who is already 100+ pounds overweight. On another note, when too many calories are withheld on a daily basis the body will breakdown protein stored within muscle in order to obtain the energy it needs to function. This means that the net weight loss that occurs from such a method is not exclusively fat but muscle as well. Moreover, excessively withholding calories forces the body into a protective mode to counter potential starvation which, in turn, causes the overall rate at which the body burns calories (metabolism) to slow down making it that much more difficult to achieve weight loss.
