When you want to lose weight fast, you need to be disciplined during your waking hours. Your best bet is to take an approach that balances healthy dieting with exercise. If you do one without the other, you might make progress, but it won't be as fast. By losing weight, you will not only reduce your disease risk, but also boost your self-confidence.
Step 1
Use a free online resource like The Daily Plate to track your calories for three days and figure out your daily average intake. Subtract 500 to 1,000 calories and make this your new total. This will lead to 1 to 2 lbs. of weight loss a week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Step 2
Eat nothing but fruits, vegetables, lean meats, fish, low-fat dairy products, beans and nuts. These foods are low in fat and high in nutrients. Stop eating chips, nachos with cheese, burgers and fries, doughnuts, pork chops, hot dogs and white bread.
Step 3
Have a meal when your get up and continue to eat every two to three hours for the rest of the day, but with smaller portions. Combine protein and complex carbs with every meal to make them balanced. Whole wheat toast with two hard boiled eggs is a balanced meal.
Step 4
Drink water throughout the day instead of liquid calories. Reduce your intake of processed juices, dessert coffees, sweetened teas, lemonade, soda and alcohol. By drinking water instead, you will keep your calories under control and hydrate your body. The Institute of Medicine recommends that women get approximately 2.7l a day and men get approximately 3.7l.
Step 5
Do 60 to 90 minutes of cardio, five days a week, recommends the American College of Sports Medicine. Follow these guidelines and do any type of cardio that you enjoy, such as running, fast-paced walking, elliptical training, stair climbing or inline skating.
Step 6
Perform weight training exercises that target as much of your body as possible, like chest presses, upright rows, back rows, dips, curls and lunges. Work out twice a week and aim for 10 to 12 reps and do three or four sets of each exercise. Weight training increases your resting metabolism.
Step 7
Become more active with your daily life by adding extra daily activity. Get a group of friends together to play softball once a week, take 10-minute walks during your lunch hour, walk up stairs instead of using elevators and park at the far end of parking lots. Find ways to get as much additional movement into your day as possible.
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