How to Lose a Pound a Week
If you're not shedding extra weight like you'd like to, don't get discouraged. No one loses weight as fast as they want to lose it, but here is something that may help to get you moving in the right direction toward your weight loss goal.
The key is to not try to lose all that weight in a few days. You will have much greater success by losing the weight slowly but consistently; and once you have lost it, you will be much more likely to keep it off for good.
A good goal is to aim for dropping one pound per week. That may not seem like a lot, but if you did this consistently for six months, you would be down about 25 pounds! Even better, once you achieve your goal weight, maintenance will be a breeze. How great would it be to get that slim new body in six months and keep it forever?
So, how do you go about the dropping that pound each week? I can tell you from experience that it doesn't have to be mysterious or frustrating. In fact, with just a little calculation and effort, you can consistently drop one pound a week until you reach your goal.
All it takes are small changes in your daily lifestyle; nothing drastic. Let's take a look at the process.
There are about 3500 calories in one pound of body fat. So, to lose a pound a week, you simply need to burn 3500 calories more than you eat each week, which is an average of about 500 calories per day.
It's just that simple. No miracle pills or powders will do it. No magic bullet exercise or fad diet. Just burn 500 calories per day (3500 calories a week) more than you eat and you will lose about a pound a week. The best part is, to create this 500 calorie per day deficit, all you need to do is move a little more and eat a little less.
Start dropping those pounds and inches by following these three steps:
1. Increase your daily activity. Whatever your activity level is now, you must add to it.
You don't have to add much, but try to get half of that 500 calorie deficit to come from added exercise. That would mean taking about an hour long walk (about 3 mph), half an hour jog (about 5 mph), or about half an hour of vigorous cardio or weight lifting at the gym. You should be able to squeeze that into your schedule somewhere.
2. Record your normal daily food intake. This may be hard to do at first, but remember that you are only cheating yourself by not recording everything accurately. Calculate the total number of calories that you eat in an average day.
3. Once you know your daily calorie intake, you need to reduce it by 250 calories.
Find at least 250 calories that you can cut out somewhere during the day.
That could be a couple glasses of wine, sodas or a cookie. Maybe a smaller portion of pasta or less dressing on that salad. Once you've cut out those 250 calories, keep tracking your daily intake to make sure they don't creep back in there.
You will be amazed at what you learn about your eating habits when you see them written down on paper.
That’s it! Just consistently eat a little less and move a little more each day. So, get started burning up those extra 500 calories a day and you are on your way to dropping a pound a week!
Ed Ferrell is a Certified Personal Fitness Trainer and owner of Fitness Together in Temecula. If you would like more information or would like to schedule a free, no obligation training session and fitness assessment call (951)302-2995 or visit www.fttemecula.com
