Losing a significant amount of weight requires consistent healthy eating habits and participating in regular exercise. To lose fat, you must burn more calories than you consume. Consistent exercise contributes to the amount of calories you burn, and eating healthy foods ensures that you're consuming an appropriate amount of calories to lose weight as quickly as possible while still being safe. With consistent efforts, you can expect to lose one to two pounds of body fat per week.
Step 1
Consult your primary care physician. If you feel you need to lose a significant amount of weight, you may be susceptible to health problems of which you're unaware. Get a physical to ensure you're healthy enough to start a weight loss program and to be aware of any special circumstances you need to address while making your lifestyle changes.
Step 2
Measure your current weight using a scale. Write down the date and your current weight in a notebook. You will monitor your progress as you continue through your weight loss program.
Step 3
Pick a day of the week and weigh yourself on the scale that same day weekly, first thing in the morning. Monitoring your weight will not only keep you motivated to be able to see numerical changes in your body fat, but will also keep you accountable. You may think twice about skipping a workout or eating something high in fat and calories if you know you're going to be weighing yourself soon. Write down the date and your weight in your notebook every week.
Step 4
Incorporate daily exercise into your routine. Being physically active is an important part of any successful weight loss program. If you haven't been exercising, start by taking 10- to 15-minute walks daily. If your schedule allows, fitting in two 10- to 15-minute walks is even more beneficial. As you build your fitness endurance, increase the amount of time you spend exercising by three to five minutes per week until you can complete 60 minutes.
Step 5
Be more active throughout the day. Workouts needn't be structured rituals. Parking at a location where you have to walk further to get into a store or to work, or getting up to walk to speak to a co-worker instead of using interoffice mail or the phone eventually add up to make a significant difference. Not only do you burn more calories while you're moving, but you also boost your metabolism so that it remains active.
Step 6
Limit calorie intake. Consuming fewer calories is the easiest and most important component to successful weight loss efforts. To determine how many calories you should allow yourself, first find out how many calories would keep you at your current weight. You can do this by using an online calorie calculator. Once you have this number, subtract 500 to 1,000 calories to give you the appropriate daily calorie total to lose one to two pounds per week.
Tips and Warnings
- Choose exercise activities that you enjoy. Don't run if you hate running just because it burns the most calories. The key to making physical fitness a part of your daily regimen is to participate in activities that you like.
- Do not try to lose more than one to two pounds per week. It's typical for those who have a significant amount of excess body fat to lose more weight than that in the beginning of their weight-loss efforts, but don't use diet pills or other weight loss supplements in an attempt to speed up weight loss. They're dangerous, and their results are temporary.
Things You'll Need
- Scale
- Notebook
- Athletic shoes
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