When losing 15 pounds, you must be careful not to lose the wrong kind of weight. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, exercise and dietary programs that promote extremely low calorie intake can be detrimental to a person's long-term weight loss goals. In other words, losing muscle weight can cause you to pack on more fat in the long run. Fortunately there are a few ways to lose 15 pounds the right way.
Exercise
Exercising is a sure way to drop weight if it’s done the right way. According to the American Council on Exercise, building lean mass through exercises can significantly raise your body’s metabolism, helping you burn more fat and lose weight. If you don’t exercise at all and want to lose 15 pounds fast, you will have to begin a fitness routine slowly so you don’t injure yourself. If you are already active, then increasing the intensity of your workouts will help you drop weight faster.
Eat More Protein
Building lean mass through exercise requires protein. If you don't get enough, you can end up wasting all the hard work you put into building muscle. Good sources of protein include legumes, eggs and lean meats. Lean meats include turkey, chicken and fish. Red meat is a good source of protein but often contains high amounts of saturated fat. So until you reach your 15 pound weight loss goal, it is recommended that you keep red meat consumption to a minimum--no more than one serving per week.
Drink Green Tea
According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, drinking green tea may help to raise your body’s metabolism and help you burn fat. A combination of green tea and caffeine increased weight loss in moderately obese individuals. Green tea may also help maintain current body weight. Try drinking one to three glasses of hot or cold green tea. Hold the sugar.
Get Enough Sleep
Getting plenty of rest is essential for the body and mind to reboot. Sleep is also the time when your body does most of its muscle repair, according to the American College of Sports Medicine. If you don’t get enough sleep or get sporadic bouts of rest, it can significantly hamper the ability of your body to build lean muscle, which can slow down your metabolism and hinder weight loss. Try to get no less than eight hours of sleep per night.
Ditch the 'Bad' Carbs
Okay, so carbs aren’t technically bad, but in order to lose weight fast, you have to be consuming the right kind. Enter, complex carbohydrates. Complex carbs such as broccoli, oatmeal and brown rice digest slower and keep your blood sugar stable--too much sugar in the blood can promote the deposition of body fat. They also keep you feeling full longer and prevent over-eating, which keeps you from--yep, you guessed it--gaining weight. Eating too many pastries, white rice, pastas and other “bad carbs” are notorious for raising blood sugar ... a big weight loss no-no. So ditch the doughnuts for nuts--hold the salt--and watch the weight melt away.
References
- "Sports Nutrition Manual"; National Federation of Professional Trainers, Mark P. Kelly et al; 2006
- "American Council on Exercise Personal Trainers Manual"; Cedric X. Bryant; 2003
- "ACSM’s Resources for the Personal Trainer”; American College of Sports Medicine; 2010
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Green Tea
Member Comments