Women who want to lose 40 lbs. should begin by selecting a food and workout plan that supports slow but steady weight loss. You need a nutritious yet flexible diet that helps you lose weight as well as keep it off. Adopting healthier eating and exercising habits can result in your losing about 1 to 2 lbs. per week, or 40 lbs. in about five months.
Lifestyle Diets
A nutritionally rich calorie-restricted diet should allow you to eat your favorite foods in reasonable portion sizes. You need a diet that permits you to eat with your family, while traveling and during holiday celebrations. Design your own plan that focuses on unprocessed, unpackaged foods. Eat fresh produce at every meal. Switch from refined flour products to whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, amaranth, unsweetened whole wheat bread and couscous. Eat fish, nuts, legumes and lowfat dairy products instead of red meat.
Simple Swaps
A few key swaps in your food choices can significantly boost your weight loss. If you start your day with a tall coffee drink packed with flavor syrup, switch to black coffee or add a little nonfat milk and a dash of cinnamon. Instead of dessert every night, save the treats for holidays and top your meal with a bowl of fresh blueberries or peach slices. Replace soft drinks with plain water. These changes can trim up to 7,000 calories from your weekly diet, resulting in 2 lbs. of weight loss.
Exercising
You can glean many benefits from exercising at least 30 minutes per day. You will attain heart health, burn fat, improve overall strength and experience less stress. And cardiovascular exercise will help you lose 40 lbs. more quickly. Try speed-walking every day, or spend half an hour dancing to fast music, climbing stairs, rollerblading, jumping rope or doing martial arts. Add a strengthening component such as lifting weights or doing pushups and squats. As women age, they lose muscle mass and bone density, but strength training reverses this process.
Exceptions
In some cases you can follow a food and workout plan to lose weight rapidly. If you need to lose weight due to a medical condition, your doctor may prescribe a diet that is extremely low in calories. To safely implement these diets, women need to stay under the supervision of their doctors. Most strict diets only last between one and two weeks. After the jumpstart period, you switch to a more diverse diet that promotes slower weight loss.
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