If you have significant weight to lose and want to do it in a month or less, prepare to make serious and lasting changes in your lifestyle. Rather than crash dieting or following fad diets that leave you hungry and lead to muscle loss (rather than fat loss), look into changing the way you look at food and making your lifestyle a healthier one.
Step 1
Clean your cupboards of high-fat, high-sugar, high-calorie snacks. Chips, cookies, sugary cereals, corn syrup, chocolate and sweets should all be vanished for the whole month. If other members of the family will still be eating those foods, put all of them into a single cabinet and then stay away from it. If you don't see it, you are less likely to be tempted by it.
Step 2
Stock up the house with healthy snacks. Healthy meals are obvious, but having healthy snacks around means you will always have something to munch on when hunger strikes and you don't feel like cooking. Fruits, protein bars and shakes, peanut butter, cut veggies, low-fat yogurts and bran cereal. Choose snacks that contain 100 or less calories per serving (see "Resources").
Step 3
Eat non-starchy vegetables with each meal. They are high in fiber and low in calories, so they fill you up without adding too much in calories and fat. Green leafy vegetables are especially high in nutrients; raw and cooked veggies will work, too.
Step 4
Stop drinking anything that has calories. This includes sodas, gourmet coffees (like Starbucks' Frapuccino or Caramel Macchiato), fruit juices and other sugary drinks. Drink water whenever possible, but also consider seltzer water, diet sodas, teas and coffee (either without sugar or with artificial sweeteners) and flavored waters.
Step 5
Look for lower fat and lower calorie versions of the foods you normally eat. Switching to low-fat dairy is a good example. Also, try baked foods instead of fried ones and always ask the waiter to hold the butter on your toast.
Step 6
Aim for three to four workouts a week. Make them at least an hour long and combine both aerobic and strength training exercises. On the other days of the week, do something active for at least 30 minutes a day. This could include going for a walk, biking, dancing, golfing or even gardening.
Tips and Warnings
- Be realistic when it comes to weight loss. The average person can lose 1 to 3 lbs. of body fat a week.
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