Experts say losing 1 to 2 lbs. a week of fat is a healthy goal for weight loss. Reducing how much you eat can help you lose up to 8 lbs in a month without exercise. Penciling some cardio sessions into your weekly calendar can take care of the rest and help you on your way to losing 10 lbs in a month or less.
Go over your plan with your physician in case you have special circumstances that make cutting calories or doing more exercise unwise.
Step 1
Add up everything you're eating, and then cut 1,000 calories from your daily consumption. The American Obesity Association says that eating 1,000 fewer calories per day can result in 2 lbs. per week of weight loss. An easy way to cut calories is to eat more fruits and vegetables, which have lots of vitamins, minerals and fiber but few calories.
Step 2
Sign up for a cardio class like step aerobics, stationary biking or cardio kickboxing at your gym or hit the cardio machines for a minimum of 30 minutes five days a week. It doesn't matter what machine you use because it takes your body about a month to adapt to any exercise, which will make using it less efficient. No gym membership? No problem. Go for a jog or use exercise DVDs at home.
Step 3
Exercise at a moderate intensity to make the most of your workout time, and burn more calories. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being resting in front of the TV and 10 being sprinting as fast as you can go, exercise at a 5 or a 6. Work up to a 7. This is called rating of perceived exertion or the Modified Borg Scale.
Tips and Warnings
- Use a Body Mass Index (BMI) calculator to see if you are in a normal, overweight or obese range based on your height and weight. See the Resources section for a link.
- Eating below 1,200 calories a day can result in malnutrition. Have your doctor or dietitian oversee your progress if you plan to eat less than 1,000 calories per day. The American Obesity Association suggests that people with a Body Mass Index(BMI) of 27 or more should eat between 800 and 1,400 calories a day, if supervised. A BMI of 30 or greater may indicate the need for a very-low calorie diet of less than 800 calories a day.
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