A big happening approaches on the calendar and it is just a month away! You are sure that you don’t want to be at that wedding, reunion, or holiday weighing what you are now. Fight the desire to fall for one of those fat weight-loss programs that guarantee amazing results in just one month. You don’t want your weight loss to be short-term, resulting to a quick regain, or to put your health at risk. Your best month-long plan for losing weight should include continuous habits you can maintain prior to that one month deadline to help you keep your new weight and body.
Realistic Goals
The best weight loss strategies involve a realistic weight loss goal to help you keep on track and avoid disappointment. A reasonable and healthy rate of weight loss for most people is 1 to 2 pounds per week, based on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. You may decrease more weight than this when you originally start your month long plan, but by the middle of the month, losing weight will most likely even out to this rate. As an outcome, expect to lose weight, at most, 8 pounds in a month.
Calories
A lot of aspects affect the rate at which you lose weight, but calories in versus calories out is one you can manage. Calories are energy found in food and about 3,500 of them form a pound. To decrease some excess weight, lower 3,500 to 7,000 per week from your dieting plan. Cut the portions you put on your plate and don’t go for second servings. Change some of the higher calorie foods you consume, such as fresh fruit for sweets, junk foods, and fries. Decrease or completely get rid of sugar-laced drinks from your diet to further cut down calories. You don’t want to decrease it below 1,200 per day, however. You’ll experience severe drops in energy and possible deficit in nutrients, even in one month.
Cardio Activity
You don’t have to register for a boot camp class or marathon to lose weight in one month. Just make a pledge to become more active. If you don’t work out or do training at all, add a minute walk to five of your weekdays. If you are already working out, try doing intervals such as short bursts of high-intensity exercise followed by equal periods of low intensity training — which helps your body become more effective at burning fat, notes a paper issued in a 2011 of the “Journal of Obesity.” You may have to shake up your workout routine if you are stuck in a rut. Your body becomes adapted to the step class on Monday, run on Tuesday, walk on Wednesday routine. In this case, trying a new program or activity could be the challenge your body needs to improve calorie burning and lose more pounds in one month.
Strength Training
If you add strength training to your month long weight loss routine, you will preserve muscles while eliminating your stored fats. You will not only fit into a smaller pant size, but your body will look slender, too. A study published in a 2008 issue of the journal “Obesity” discovered that women who are active in resistance training while on a low calorie diet drop the same amount of weight as women who did not, but maintained their lean muscle. You must target a twice-per-week workout routine that involves all the major muscle systems. By keeping lean muscle mass, you will keep your metabolism high so your weight recovers after your month-long exercise. You’ll have to continue the strength training routine after the month has ended or else you’ll lose the entire fitness workout you’ve made.