The best way to lose weight and to keep it off is by exercising and controlling your diet. You can lose weight by exercise alone, but you will lose it faster--and be more likely to keep it off--if you both exercise and eat less. By exercising more and eating less, you should be able to lose 20 lbs. of fat in five months.
Step 1
Start slow. If you're new to exercise, begin with a 10 to 15 minute workout and slowly build up your time. You want to avoid an injury from doing too much too soon. If you're heavy, start with non-weight-bearing exercises such as cycling or swimming and slowly add more intense exercise, such as jogging.
Step 2
Build up to exercising 200 to 300 minutes per week while reducing your weekly diet by 500 to 1,000 calories. That recommendation from the American College of Sports Medicine translates into an hour of exercise a day, five days a week. At this level, weight will start melting off.
Step 3
Reduce the amount of fat to less than 30 percent of the total number of calories you're eating. That means eating less red meat and fewer fried foods. Try to eat more fruits, vegetables and complex carbohydrates, such as brown rice and whole-wheat products, that are low in fat but provide energy for your workouts.
Step 4
Monitor your progress. In addition to checking your weight once a week, keep a daily log of your exercise regimen, making notes on how long you exercised and at what level. Every week, try to exercise more than you did the previous week--but don't increase the amount by more than 10 percent.
Step 5
Exercise with purpose. The harder you go, the more calories you will burn and the faster you'll lose the 20 lbs. A 170-lb. man burns about 300 calories during 30 minutes of moderate lap swimming. But if he swims hard during those 30 minutes, he can burn nearly 400 calories.
Step 6
Mix it up. Exercise can quickly become drudgery for some people, so make an effort to find training partners or scenic routes to spice up your routine. Make it fun--you're more likely to continue.
Tips and Warnings
- Start with small changes to your exercise and not enormous changes that will be difficult for you to maintain. As you become more fit and start losing weight, don't become overconfident and backslide. Instead, increase your effort level; you'll reach your goal sooner. Do not become obsessed with weight. Stay focused on the health and well-being benefits that come with exercise. Devices such as pedometers and bicycle computers are useful for helping you accumulate data and measuring your progress. Devices such as the Bodybugg, which measures motion, heat flux, skin temperature and other factors to determine calories burned, are useful for people who use dance or kickboxing for exercise.
- People who have health issues are encouraged to talk to their doctor before beginning an exercise regimen. The faster you lose weight, the more likely you are to gain it back, so shoot for 1-2 lbs. a week. Don't stop exercising just because you lost the 20 lbs. Exercise is a key to good health--and a key to keeping the weight off.
References
- "The Montreal Gazette;" Remove the Extra Baggage; June Thompson; Jan. 20, 2009
- "The Washington Post;" Half Hour Works Out; Rob Stein; Sept. 16, 2003
- "USA Today;" 20 tips to lose 20 pounds; Nanci Hellmich; Jan. 5, 2005
- University of New Mexico: Exercise vs. Diet in Weight Loss
- Women's Sports Medicine Center, Hospital for Special Surgery: Exercise Tips for Fat Loss
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