The best weight-loss plan is one that allows you to shed pounds gradually. The Mayo Clinic advises a weight loss of 1 to 2 pounds a week. If you have 15 pounds to lose, you'll have it off in less than four months without much trouble. You can do this at home by eliminating 500 to 1,000 calories from your weekly diet.
Step 1
Drink water, seltzer, tea, diet soda or other calorie-free beverages in place of regular soda, fruit juice or other beverages with calories. As the Nemours Foundation Teenshealth website notes, just one such swap a day eliminates about 150 calories from your daily diet. Eliminate one of these sugary drinks a day, and you've saved 1,050 calories in a week.
Step 2
Cut out a daily snack, particularly if it's junk food. As an alternative, replace unhealthy snacks with healthier, lower-calorie ones, such as fresh fruit and vegetables or a few whole-grain crackers. While this means you've cut fewer calories, snacks can prevent overeating at meals.
Step 3
Note how many servings you usually have at one meal and the sizes of those servings. Find places to reduce your typical portion size. For example, if you have more than one bowl of cereal at breakfast, stick with just one. Measure serving sizes to better see where your calories come from, and make them smaller. Don't overlook less obvious sources of calories, such as condiments or dressings.
Step 4
Burn calories with cardiovascular exercise. Try step aerobics, a treadmill, an exercise bike or jogging in place to reach your goal of losing 15 pounds at home. Consult your doctor before starting any exercise regimen. Build up to longer, more intense workouts as recommended. Aim to work up to 30 minutes of moderate cardio five days a week or 20 minutes of intense cardio three times a week, as suggested by the American College of Sports Medicine's exercise guidelines for healthy adults under 65.
Step 5
Skip the crash and fad diets. They generally encourage unhealthy eating patterns and rates of weight loss, and many are based on misinformation, cautions the American Heart Association.
Things You'll Need
- Unsweetened drinks
- Healthy snacks
References
- Weight-Control Information Network; Do You Know the Risks of Being Overweight?; December, 2007
- Harvard School of Public Health; Diets That Reduce Calories Lead to Weight Loss, Regardless of Carbohydrate, Protein or Fat Content; 2009
- TeensHealth from Nemours; How Can I Lose Weight Safely?; 2011
- MayoClinic.com; Weight Loss: 6 Strategies for Success; December 18, 2010
- American College of Sports Medicine; Physical Activity and Public Health Guidelines; 2007
- American Heart Association; Quick-Weight-Loss or Fad Diets; 2011
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