One month gives you time to lose a few pounds and, more importantly, to ingrain healthy habits that will help you sustain your weight loss. If your goal date is only a month away, you must be diligent in your approach to diet and exercise. Loss of just one pound requires the creation of a 3,500 calorie deficit to lose just one pound. Avoid crash diets and gimmicks that promise quick solutions. Stick to your plan and you can lose between four and 10 pounds in a month.
Step 1
Follow a low-calorie eating plan. Consume between 500 and 1,000 fewer calories than you burn a day to lose one to two pounds per week. Do not become consumed with whether you are eating too much protein, fat or carbohydrates. A low-calorie diet, regardless of its macronutrient makeup, facilitates weight loss.
Step 2
Do not skip meals, especially breakfast. Try to eat every three or four hours, or risk drops in your blood sugar that can lead to poor choices or overeating at subsequent meals. Make like 78 percent of the participants in the National Weight Control Registry, a research group of over 5,000 successful dieters who have kept their weight off for over five years who maintain that eating breakfast played a key role in their ability to control their weight.
Step 3
Make each of your three main meals contain between 300 and 400 calories (depending on your daily calorie goal). Include controlled portions of high-quality foods that make you feel full and maximize fat burning---think whole grains instead of refined flour and monounsaturated fats instead of saturated and trans fats. Try eggs and whole grain toast, a bowl of oatmeal, or even just a banana and a handful of nuts within an hour of waking to start your metabolism and fuel your morning.
Step 4
Snack on a piece of fruit, a low-fat string cheese or a tablespoon of almond butter with celery between breakfast and lunch. Munch on another snack of whole grain crackers and hummus or a cup of broth-based soup a few hours before dinner.
Step 5
Prepare four ounces of baked salmon or tofu, a half cup of brown rice and asparagus for dinner. When you reach your goal date, feel free to include a treat every once in a while, but strive to eat healthfully and watch portions 80 percent of the time.
Step 6
Engage in cardiovascular exercise that is intense enough to raise your heart rate and create a sweat for a minimum of 60 minutes, five times per week. Try jogging, swimming, cycling or an aerobics class---but make it non-stop for the entire hour. Cardiovascular exercise helps you burn calories. After your initial month, keep training, but consider reducing cardio activity to 30 minutes if it becomes too taxing on your schedule.
Step 7
Lift weights or use body weight exercises to work the entire body at least twice a week. Strength training encourages the development of lean muscle mass.
Step 8
Turn off the television and burn calories instead. Take a walk, clean house or enroll in a dance class. Take advantage of every opportunity to move during the day--volunteer to run errands at work, climb stairs, wash the dishes or walk the dog. This helps burn calories--contributing to your calorie deficit and accelerating weight loss. After a month, some of these forced activities will become habitual.
Tips and Warnings
- If creating a deficit means you have to dip below 1,200 calories a day as a woman or 1,500 a day as a man, then re-evaluate your weight loss goals. Dipping below these amounts leads to diminished energy and nutritional deficiencies. It is hard to sustain a diet this low in calories and you are likely to give up on your goal in less than a month.
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