For many of us, losing weight seems like a long, hard task, and often our motivation drops before we’ve even really started. When your goal weight can seem fat off, it’s easy to give up and give in to your cravings. However, wouldn’t it be easier I we could reach our goal in just 30 days? Well, now you can. By setting yourself a 30 day challenge, you can be a healthier, happier and fitter you!
How many calories should I eat? The main thing people think about when they want to lose weight is calories. According to livestrong.com a pound of fat equals 3500 calories, and to lose weight you need to burn more calories than you consume. However, you should also remember that your body burns calories naturally. You can use an online calculator to find out how many calories you need to consume and how many you need to burn in order to meet your goal. For example, a 30 year old female, who is 5 ft. 5 and weighs 160 pounds and is lightly active (exercising 1-3 times a week) would need 1489 calories a day to lose 1 pound a week, or 989 calories a day to lose 2 pounds a week.
How much should I exercise? Exercise is a key part of losing weight, and increasing from whatever amount you are currently doing will help you lose weight. If you increase your exercise, but maintain your calorie intake you will lose weight, however this will be increased if you ad exercise and reduce your calorie intake, or change your current food options for healthier alternatives. Even a brisk walk in the morning can give your body that boost which will help get you on the road to your weight loss goal. If you start to exercise a few days a week, you need to ensure that you have a rest day also to ensure you do not cause an injury. Does sweating help you lose weight? Some people believe that the amount you sweat, or the act of sweating itself, means you are losing weight. However, this is not strictly true. The amount you sweat does not indicate how many calories you are burning. Sweat is a way for your body to cool down; therefore it indicates how hot you are rather than how many calories you are burning. If you sweat a lot, technically you will shed some weight. However this will be regained once you rehydrate. Although a lot of sweat could look good on the scales to begin with, it is not long term and therefore you should concentrate on the activity that is making you sweat, rather than the amount you are sweating.
What other weight loss tips are there? There are other options that can help you to lose weight. Firstly, try using a smaller plate for your meals. It is true that you eat with your eyes, and if your plate looks fuller (due to it being smaller) you won’t feel like you are missing out if you cut your portions. You could also try incorporating fat burning foods into your diet. Examples of these are whole grains, lean meats, green tea and hot peppers. A morning tip is to drink warm water with lemon juice. This has multiple benefits including aiding digestion and fighting hunger cravings. You could try meal replacement shakes which can be filling and give you a sweet fix (as you can buy chocolate, vanilla and strawberry flavors) at the same time. These help keep both your calories and cravings down. Lastly, something important to mention is make sure you don’t weight yourself every 5 minutes! Set a time that you will weight yourself and make it no more frequent than weekly. If you make sure you weight yourself at the same time of the day, you won’t have to account for body fluctuations (and it will stop you getting disheartened if you weight yourself after dinner and think you’ve put weight on because you weighed yourself before eating anything in the day the previous week).
If you incorporate these methods into your diet, you are sure to lose weight within 30 days and the great thing is, you can keep on losing weight afterwards. Once you set yourself the 30 day target, you will see the results and have the motivation to carry on. This is a healthy, sustainable way to lose weight and it doesn’t leave you with hunger cravings!