If you're hoping to lose more than just a few pounds, setting a long-term goal is a smart strategy. Planning to lose weight over the course of a few months means making moderate changes to your habits, which makes it more likely that you'll stick to your plan and reach your goal.
Fifteen pounds in three months is a realistic weight-loss goal, as long as you're willing to commit yourself to a lifestyle change. You'll need to lose roughly 1-1/4 lbs. every week, which fits right into the guidelines of 1 to 2 lbs. per week as a healthy goal. Combining healthier eating with an exercise program will give you the fastest results without requiring you to exercise for hours every day or make drastic cutbacks to your calorie intake.
Calorie Requirements
To lose 15 lbs. in three months, your calorie expenditure must exceed your calorie consumption by about 583 every day. Put simply, you should try to cut close to 300 calories from your diet and burn another 300 through exercise to achieve your goal. On days you can't exercise, you'll need to cut the full 583 from your intake to keep up your weight loss. If you hate dieting but don't mind hitting the gym, it's fine to cut just 100 calories from your diet as long as you're burning close to 500 through exercise. The most important thing is to find a method that works for you, since you'll need to stick with these changes long-term.
Exercise Plan
Exercising for weight loss doesn't have to mean killing yourself at the gym for an hour every day. Most days you'll have to decide whether you want to put in more time for low-intensity exercise or do a quick but intense workout. A 160-lb. person burns nearly 300 calories biking at 10 mph for an hour or playing basketball for 30 minutes, according to MayoClinic.com. Heavier individuals will burn more calories, and lighter people will burn fewer. Other ways to burn 250 to 350 calories include an hour of water aerobics, 60 minutes of walking at 3.5 mph, a 30-minute jog at 5 mph or 30 minutes of high-impact aerobics.
Cutting Calories
Cutting 300 calories from your daily diet is much simpler than it sounds, especially if your day usually includes empty sources of calories like candy, soda and cookies. For example, swap your two cans of soda for water and you've already reached your goal for the day. If you already limit your junk food intake, focus on trading your usual foods for similar versions that contain more nutrients or fewer calories: swap white bread for whole wheat, white rice for brown, fried chicken for grilled and full-fat yogurt for fat-free. These exchanges not only cut your calorie intake, they provide more protein and fiber, which help you feel fuller so you can eat less without going hungry.
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