Yes, You Can Lose Up to 15 Pounds in 2 Months (and Keep It Off) — Here's How

Although everyone's body is different, in general people can expect to lose one to two pounds a week if they are doing so in a sustainable manner. "Over the course of two months or eight weeks, a healthy weight-loss goal is eight to 16 pounds," White said.

Losing weight at this rate ensures that you'll keep it off for the long-term. If you have more weight to lose (50 or more pounds), you may lose more weight in the first few weeks, but in general, about a pound or two a week is a healthy target.

Ultimately, in order to lose weight, you have to burn more calories than you take in. "You have to create a deficit of 3,500 calories to lose one pound," White explained. "This can be done by burning extra calories through exercise or reducing your intake of calories, but the best way is to use a combination of both methods. This ensures that you're giving your body enough nutrients during periods of weight loss."

However, eating in a 3,500-calorie deficit doesn't guarantee an exact weight loss of one pound. There are a lot of other factors that impact how your body loses weight, including stress, sleep, and hormones.

Although you should eat in a calorie deficit, he doesn't recommend anyone eat fewer than 1,200 calories a day. And since calorie needs are highly individual from person to person, White recommends meeting with a registered dietitian if you can to assess your needs and your goals. If that's not a possibility, you can use this formula to calculate your ideal calorie deficit for weight loss.

It's not just the quantity of calories you take in, but also the quality. White explained that not all food is created equal. "Especially when restricting calories, it's important to choose foods that are packed with nutrients," he said. He recommends following the MyPlate guidelines for incorporating each food group at every meal:

Another helpful strategy for dialing in your diet is counting your macros. Like with calories, your macro needs will vary depending on your overall lifestyle and goals, such as how active you are, how much weight you want to lose, and a variety of health conditions.

In general, White recommends the majority of your calories come from carbs, with a moderate amount of protein and fat. A good place to start for weight loss is 50 percent carbs, 25 percent protein, and 25 percent fat. If you aren't seeing the results you want with that breakdown, you can make adjustments from there.

"For weight loss, cardio is king," White said, adding that the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends 300 minutes of cardio training a week for weight loss. "I would recommend low to moderate continuous exercise," he said.

If 300 minutes sounds like a lot, it doesn't have to equal vigorous HIIT training or an intense Spin class. Your cardio workout should be at least continuous cardio at a moderate level reaching 60 to 70 percent of your max heart rate.

You can also break it up throughout the week; instead of an hour at a time, maybe you go for a walk for 30 minutes in the morning and ride your bike for 30 minutes in the evening.

Cardio is essential for weight loss, but you shouldn't ignore strength training, either. Not only does lifting weights burn calories in and of itself, but building lean muscle will help you burn more calories at rest. "I would recommend two days of strength training a week of full-body exercises for maintenance," he said.

But if you're tracking your progress simply from the scale, you may not notice it budging much each week if you strength train more often. As you build muscle, it will change your body composition but the number on the scale may stay the same. That's why it's important to track your progress using other methods such as measurements, how your clothes fit, and before-and-after photos.