How can I lose around 2 pounds a week? My nutritionist suggested that I should be lose around 2 pounds a week, yet it usually takes me around a month just to drop 2 pounds. I have tried and tried and I still can't lose weight. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I'd get a new nutritionist. Seriously. 1% of body weight/week on average is a reasonable estimate if you are fairly young and very careful. Anyone either promising 2 lbs a week or, worse, making you feel bad for not losing 2 lbs a week is pretty damn unprofessional, in my opinion.

Now, if she said weight loss of up to 2 lbs a week, that's fine. That's a reasonable approximation. But insisting that someone who weighs 150 should lose 2 lbs a week is crazy.

If you really truly believe you have tried and tried and there is nothing else YOU can do to lose weight, then you should consider going to your doctor for a check up to make sure there's not something preventing you from losing weight.

I am having much more success by eating whole foods and ditching the processed foods. I read SuperFoods RX 14 foods that will save your life and it's amazing! I also calorie count and use this tool as a estimate about how many cals I should consume. http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

However, sometimes it just takes time for your body to let go. We're so over exposed to people like the biggest loser, where people lose 12 lbs a week. It's just not healthy....2-4 lbs a month is very safe, try not to be discouraged, and give up, it all adds up. Just remind yourself to be healthy and your habits will catch up with your weight sooner rather than later

Well what have you been doing to lose the 20lbs you've lost so far? Also, I agree w/ shmead. I've been losing 2lbs a week with the calorie recommendations from freedieting.com. Recently I switched to mostly whole foods and that's made q big difference in my hunger levels. I also exercise everyday. I should say though that my 2lb lose/wk is average. I generally lose 4 lbs 2 weeks out of the month and nothing the other 2 weeks.

When I started losing weight I read that 2lbs per week is a reasonable amount to expect to lose. Not that if you aren't losing 2lbs per week you're a failure but more like you shouldn't expect to be dropping huge amounts of weight like we see on shows like The Biggest Loser.
I thought the 2lbs per week came from the idea of exercising off 500 cal per day and cutting 500 cal of food per day. That way each week you are losing 3500 calories from exercise (1 lb) and 3500 calories from diet (1 lb)

I was thinking like Shmead. Losing .5-2 pounds a week is usual. And it's easier to lose weight when you weigh more -- you're not that heavy, and so it's going to take you a while to lose the weight. Half a pound a week WILL get you here. You might want to check out the featherweights forum here.

All that being said, it's hard to give you advice without knowing what you are doing right now to lose! Give us some more info on your food and exercise plan!

Losing "only" a pound a week is nothing to sneeze at. In a year, that's over 50 pounds! Even as heavy as I am, I expect about a five pound loss in a month. Most months it's a bit more than that, but not much.

It's not just about speed of loss, but also about making changes that you can maintain. You might be able to cut down on calories even more, and lose a little faster, but that can be a problem if you can't maintain it or you get to the point where you are overwhelmed and give up completely.

Better to lose .5 - 1 pound a week and keep it off!

Call me crazy, but shouldn't a nutritionist help you customize a safe, healthy nutrition plan to meet your medical goals? I would think he/she would be helping you plan out meals that will help you lose the 2lbs a week, if that's the goal...