1. Set your goals
You set your goal to losing 10 pounds in a month, which is great.
Now you need to plan your diet and exercise routines and set a new lifestyle around this goal.
More specific you can get with your plan, the better. It's easier to stick to it and be productive toward your weight loss goal.
This means, you'd plan how many times per week you exercise, what meals to make and pack, what snack options to stock, and etc.
There are a few tools you can use to keep all your plans in one place, should you need it.
A weight loss journal would be a popular choice.
It usually comes with a fitness section and nutrition section, making all your planning a breeze.
You may also download an app that assists you with pretty much anything you need help with, from calorie counting app to workout schedule app.
No matter the tool is, what's essential is having a concrete, detailed plan to lose 10 pounds in the next 30 days.
2. Start your day with a workout
Researchers from the University UK's Northumbria University suggest that a morning workout on an empty stomach can help burn extra calories and 20 percent more fat as opposed to working out during the day or later in the day .
If you think you have to hit the snooze button an hour early for your exercise, think again.
3. Eat a high protein breakfast
If your morning routine includes a bowl of cheerios, switching over to a high-protein meal like freshly cooked eggs and smoked salmon may help you eat 175 fewer calories at lunch according to scientists at Biofortis Clinical Research and the University of Missouri Department of Exercise of Physiology and Nutrition .
In their research, the high-protein breakfast eaters reported feeling fuller, more satisfied, and less desired to eat after their meal.
Protein-rich foods are weight loss friendly, compared to carbs and fats because it uses more energy in the form of calories to metabolize .
In fact, one study found that increasing protein intake from 15 to 30% of their total calories helped them eat fewer calories per day, and lost over 10 pounds during a 12- week period (4).
Need some ideas for a high-protein breakfast?
Try eggs with spinach, tofu kale wrap, or a protein shake. Here are some other you can include in your diet.
4. Drink coffee or green tea
Natural chemicals found in both coffee and green tea are known to increase fat burning and stimulate the calorie burning process, which occurs when digesting and metabolizing foods.
In other words, coffee and tea are metabolism boosting drinks you can enjoy all you want, as long as you forego adding cream and sugar.
According to research, the caffeine in them can boost your metabolism by 3 to 11% .
5. Drink water half an hour before your meal
Dehydration can often be mistaken for hunger.
One way to avoid this is to simply hydrate by drinking plenty of water. This will help prevent overeating.
What's also particularly effective for weight loss is to drink 17oz of water half an hour before your meal.
According to one study, this habit helps dieters increase weight loss by 44% over 3 months .
6. Cut out sugary drinks and fruit juice
Soft drinks and even what's referred to as "healthy fruit juice" are loaded with sugar. Avoiding these types of sugary drinks can help you eliminate hundred of calories per day from your diet.
Don't get fooled by the health claims of fruit juice.
There may be a few essential vitamins and even antioxidants in the juice, but they will not make up for the empty calories and sugar in that drink.
If you're craving something sweet, go for a piece of fruits such as an apple, pear, or orange.
Fruits are naturally low in calories but dense in nutrients, perfect for a weight loss diet plan.
Though you'll find greater calories in a banana than most other fruits, they still are a healthy, nutritious snack option.
Take a 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola drink, for example. In one can, it contains 140 calories and 40 grams of sugar, which is about 10 teaspoons of sugar.
Fruit juice is also not any better. You can easily find 165 calories and 39 grams of sugar (9.8 teaspoons) in apple juice as well.
These sugary soft drinks are nothing but empty calories.
They are worse than eating fattening foods. Avoiding them can help you lose weight .
7. Count calories if necessary
One of the most important questions one could ask when trying to lose weight, is how many calories do i need?
This will help you determine how many calories you need to eat to lose weight.
The easiest one to figure out "how many calories per day" to eat is to use a calorie calculator.
Another easy way to calculate your daily calorie allowance is to use the following formulas:
To maintain your current weight: Your weight in pound x 10-11 calories = daily calorie allowanceTo reach your goal weight: your goal weight in pounds x 10-11 calories = daily calorie allowance
For example, if you weigh 150 pounds, you should be eating anywhere from 1,500 - 1,650 calories a day to maintain your current weight.
If your goal weight is 135 pounds, your daily allowance should be somewhere between 1,350 to 1,485.
Please note that no matter what your goal weight is, you should never go under 1,200 calories a day.
Also, if you need to lose more than 10-15 pounds, say 30 pounds. Breakdown your weight loss in 2 phases and aim for calorie allowance for 10-15 pound less in, 1 and once you achieve it, go for additional 10-15 pounds less to achieve your ultimate goal weight.
8. Eat weight loss friendly foods
In addition to cutting sugar and calories from your diet, it is also important that you choose weight loss-friendly foods.
Certain foods have a very powerful effect on fat burning, metabolism, hunger, and even calorie burning.
Basing your diet around weight loss friendly foods is one of the easiest ways to maximize your calorie burning and metabolism efficiency.
9. Choose a smaller plate for your food
Using a smaller plate for your food can help you eat 22% fewer calories, according to a study conducted by Brian Wansink from Cornell University and Koert van Ittersum the Georgia Institue of Technology .
They discovered that shifting from 12-inch plates to 10-inch plates result in fewer calories.
It seems to be that fullness is not solely the matter of your stomach, but in the eyes of your brain, so to speak.
10. Eat nutritiously-balanced, healthy meals
A well-balanced, health meal should include a protein source, a fat source, and low-carb vegetables.
Constructing your meals in this format will automatically bring your macros into the recommended range of 20-50 grams per day.
When your goal is to lose weight and fat, try always aim for 45 percent protein, 35 percent carbohydrates, 20 percent fat.
Consuming each in the proper proportion will help you achieve balanced nutrition, maintain energy levels throughout the day, and contribute to longer-lasting satiety.
Also, eat 2-3 meals per day with 1-2 healthy snacks in between.
11. Try intermittent fasting
One of the most popular weight loss methods for weight loss and fat burning is intermittent fasting.
Intermittent fasting is a way of eating that alternates between short periods of fasting (usually lasting several hours) and non-fasting.
This eating pattern is said to help people eat fewer calories and optimize some weight loss related-hormones.
It works simply because it doesn't restrict people from eating a certain type of foods. Instead, it helps to reduce the number of calories you take in.
As long as you are not compensating by eating more calories during the non-fasting periods, then intermittent fasting methods will lead to reduced calorie intake and help you lose weight fast .
12. Eat more fiber
One of the main reasons people tend to lose weight quickly when they going on a vegan diet plan is because of fiber.
When people eat a fiber-rich diet, they tend to lose weight fast.
That's because fiber cannot be digested by the human body, so it passes right through the digestive system mostly unchanged, eventually reaching the friendly bacteria in the intestine who end up digesting the fiber and turning into unusable energy .
Because of that, the body doesn't retain the calories from fiber.
Additionally, fiber foods are also very filling causing people to full feel once it reaches the stomach.
In addition to helping you lose weight, there is some evidence that viscous soluble fiber also targets and reduce the harmful fat in the abdominal cavity belly fat which is strongly associated with increased health risks such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes .
13. Cook your meals at home
In weight loss and dieting, small changes can make big impacts.
Research shows those who cook meals at home 6-7 times a week eats about 600 fewer calories, 5 grams fewer fat, and 16 grams less sugar than those who cook dinner less than once a week .
That's about an hour of jogging on a treadmill.
Home cooks whether on a diet or not are shown to eat healthier.
14. Stock up on healthy snacks
Healthy snacks can be quiet handy and useful especially when the unexpected happens.
Sometimes we just get too busy and don't have the time to prep and eat a healthy meal.
By always having healthy snacks available, you reduce the chances of grabbing something you shouldn't be eating. Instead, you can reach to a snack you know you can enjoy without harming your weight loss.
There are so many healthy choices when it comes to snacks that are easy to prepare and easy to take it on-the-go.
Here are a few of my favorite weight loss snacks:
Greek yogurtWhole fruit like an apple and a bananaNutsHummus and carrot dips Hard-boiled eggs
15. Do cardio exercise
One of the major benefits of cardio exercises is weight loss.
Cardio burns calories and helps you create the calorie deficit you need to lose weight.
In addition to overall weight loss, cardio workouts seem to be particularly effective at getting rid of the dangerous belly fat (visceral fat) that resides near your organs which can cause metabolic disease .
Cardio, which is anything from jogging, running, cycling, power walking or swimming, is also a great way to burn calories and improve your mental and physical health.
16. Add resistance exercises to your workouts
Cardio is great for burning calories, but not so good at muscle building, which accounts for 20 percent of your total metabolism.
In fact, one of the side effects of dieting is a loss of lean muscle mass.
And when you begin to lose a lot of your muscle, your metabolism will slow and body will begin to burn fewer calories .
By incorporating resistance training and weight lifting into your routine, you can prevent the muscle loss .
As an added benefit, your body will also look firmer and more toned with weight training.
Here's a list full of resistance training workouts you can do using your own bodyweight or a pair of dumbbells.
17. Avoid processed foods
One of the easiest ways to lose weight is to cut out processed foods out of your diet.
Processed foods are usually high in calories, full of preservatives, sugars, and sodium.
What's more, today, food manufacturers are more clever with their marketing tactics to get you to buy these unhealthy foods.
In fact, many processed junk foods are being marketed as healthy, when they are not entirely.
Always read labels and stay away from highly-processed and engineered foods.
Here's a list of 5 food to never eat. This list can be handy when shopping for foods.
Always go one single ingredient food as often as you can.
18. Keep a food journal
Did you know that women who keep a food journal lose twice as much weight as women who don't?
Tap into the power of food journaling and record keeping.
19. It's all about changing your lifestyle
Losing 10 pounds in 1 month is a good starting point, but don't just focus on losing weight.
Instead, focus on improving your health by incorporating nutritious foods into your diet that nourishes your body.
Diets are short-lived. While they may work and help get to your goal weight, it rarely won't last .
Eat and exercise to become a healthier, happier, and fitter person—not just to lose weight.
Comments