If you need to lose weight, it's possible to drop several pounds during a four-week period. Losing this weight requires cutting daily calories and ramping up exercise goals. Losing excess body weight has many benefits, including reduced risk for high blood pressure and developing diabetes, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Healthy Weight Loss Pace
There are weight loss programs that promise rapid weight loss within a month. With fast weight loss, however, you aren't necessarily just losing fat. Muscle mass and water weight is lost too. A healthy pace for weight loss is 1 to 2 lbs. weekly, according to MedlinePlus. Losing weight at this pace also makes keeping weight off long term more realistic.
Exercise Goals
Physical activity burns calories. When your body burns more calories than it needs for body functions, it burns stored fat. This promotes faster weight loss. Healthy adults need about 30 minutes of cardio activity most days of the week for weight loss, according to MayoClinic.com. If you haven't exercised recently, start out with less intense activities, such as water aerobics or walking briskly. Increase activity intensity as your body gets stronger, with activities such as jogging, rollerblading, biking on hills or high impact aerobics. These activities burn 500 or more calories an hour for a 160-lb. person, according to MayoClinic.com.
Planning Calorie Consumption
The amount of calories you consume daily varies, based on your weight loss goals. Keep a calorie diary to track the amount of calories you currently consume. Then, select a weight loss goal of 4 lbs. or 8 lbs. a month, which breaks down to 1 to 2 lbs. a week. A pound of fat contains 3,500 calories. If you want to lose 4 lbs. of fat monthly, you need to burn 500 daily calories, which is 3,500 calories weekly. You might decide to reduce calorie consumption by 400 calories and burn 100 calories daily with exercise.
Increase weight loss to 8 lbs. a month by burning 1,000 calories daily, which is 7,000 weekly calories. For example, you might burn 600 calories with exercise and reduce calorie intake by 400 calories. Discuss a healthy calorie goal with your doctor.
Portion Sizes for Weight Loss
An effective method for scaling back on calories is watching your portion sizes. You might be consuming more calories than you realize during meals. For example, when eating a bowl of cereal, think about consuming the size of a hockey puck. The next time you eat butter, keep your serving to the size of one die. A protein serving is about the size of a deck of cards. Premeasure foods into single-serving-size plastic bags to minimize overeating.
References
- MayoClinic.com: Exercise for Weight Loss
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Statistics Related to Overweight and Obesity
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: How Much Exercise Do I Need?
- MayoClinic.com: Portion Control -- Downsize Portions for Better Weight Control
- MedlinePlus: Weight Loss Tips
- American Dietetic Association: Staying Away From Fad Diets
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