What is the best way to lose 40lbs?

A healthy amount of weight to lose is about 1 lb a week (maybe 2 lbs if you are very overweight to begin with). That will put you at losing more like 20 lbs by June. If you are losing more than that, it probably means you are either starving yourself or exercising like crazy, and you probably won't be able to keep up that lifestyle (plus it's unhealthy to not eat and will actually slow down your metabolism). I don't think fad diets like Atkins really work long-term (and the Atikins diet in particular can put you in a state of ketoacidosis and make you sick because you are not eating enough carbs). You just need to practice moderation, cut your portions, and find healthier things to replace the junk in your diet (i.e. eat an apple instead of candy, use whole wheat instead of white bread, drink water instead of soda or juice which are full of empty calories). Exercise is also VERY important. For cardio, start with walking, then progress to speed-walking, then jogging (or ride a bike if your joints are bad). You should do this for 30-60 minutes around 5 times per week. It is also important to do some simple weight-lifting exercises. This will build your muscle, which helps to speed up your metabolism. The only problem with exercise is that it can sometimes make you feel hungry. You need to make sure that you are not canceling out the calories you burn by eating more. Anyway, if you start taking better care of yourself and yet don't seem to be making any progress, remember that it takes time. Also, when you exercise, you will lose fat, but also gain muscle, which weighs more than fat. This may mean that you will not lose weight, even though you're losing fat and looking better. Don't get discouraged! It is more important to be healthy than to look good. Also, for your calorie needs, this is a really neat website: a href="http://nutrition.about.com/library/bl_nutrition_guide.htm" rel="nofollow"http://nutrition.about.com/library/bl_nu…/a You put in your current weight and your goal weight, and it tells you how many calories you need to eat to maintain your weight, and how many to reach your goal weight, with or without exercise.