For the best weight loss results, women should combine diet and exercise. One pound is approximately 3,500 calories. If you cut 500 calories per day from your food intake, that is 3,500 calories per week. If you burn another 500 calories per day with exercise, that would be equal to another pound per week. By cutting your caloric intake through diet and burning extra calories through exercise, you can lose 10 pounds in five weeks.
Step 1
Cut calories by 500 per day. There are several ways you can decrease your caloric intake. Watch your portion size. A simple way to check your portion size is with your fist. Since women have smaller hands than men, this will provide you with a portion size appropriate for your body. If you have a plate of pasta and sauce, your serving should be about the size of your fist. A portion of meat should be about the size of your palm. Use this as a general guideline. Cut out sweets. Most sweets are high in calories and have very little nutritional value. Cut out cookies, cakes, candy bars and sugary sodas on most days. Allow yourself one treat per week. This will satisfy your craving, but won't destroy your diet.
Step 2
Strength train. A woman won't gain the amount of muscle mass a man does by working out with weights. Her goal with strength training is to burn calories, increase her metabolism and tone her body. According to the American Council on Exercise, strength training increases your base metabolic rate. This means you burn more calories, bringing you another step closer to your weekly goal of burning 3,500 calories with exercise. Strength train two or three days per week, on non-consecutive days. Choose four to six compound exercises such as squats, lunges, chest presses, overhead presses and rows. Perform each exercise for 10 to 12 repetitions with little or no rest between sets.
Step 3
Include interval cardio training in your fitness routine. This is a highly intense form of aerobic training. You alternate periods of intense activity with periods of recovery. A study done in Quebec compared the effects of high-intensity interval training to standard endurance cardio training. The women who participated in the high-intensity interval training lost nine times more fat than those who performed the endurance cardio. Adding high-intensity interval training to your routine will take your fat loss to the next level, allowing you to lose 10 pounds in five weeks or less. Since it is more intense than standard training, interval sessions are shorter. This will overcome the biggest exercise obstacle for women: time. Always start with a five minute warm-up. Perform the intense activity for 30 seconds. Then do a recovery activity for 60 seconds. Using running as an example, you would sprint for 30 seconds, then do a light jog for 60 seconds. You can use just about any cardio activity for this style of training. Continue alternating intense and recovery bouts for 20 minutes. Finish with a five-minute cool-down. Perform four or five sessions per week.
Tips and Warnings
- Always consult a physician before starting an exercise program.
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