When it comes to weight loss, we all want quick results. While losing weight quickly can be challenging it isn’t impossible. All you need is the right combination of effort, strategy, and discipline.
Whether you’re looking to fit into your favorite outfit, prepare for an important event, or jumpstart your weight loss journey, you’d be surprised to hear that you can lose 10 lbs in two weeks. Here’s a detailed guide to help you reach this goal safely and effectively.
1. Follow a Calorie-Deficit Diet
The formula for losing weight is simple. You need to consume fewer calories than you burn. Even if your are eating healthy foods, exceeding your daily caloric needs can hinder weight loss. A calorie-deficit diet ensures your body burns stored fat for energy, which leads to weight loss. Here’s how to follow a calorie-deficit diet:
- Calculate Your Caloric Needs: Use a BMR calculator to determine your daily calorie requirements. It can give you the total number of calories you need to take based on your age, gender, weight, and activity level. To stay calorie deficit and for safe and steady weight loss, you must subtract 500-1,000 calories per day.
- Prioritize Nutrient-Dense Foods: Focus on whole, unprocessed foods like lean proteins, vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. They tend to keep you fuller for longer while providing the essential nutrients your body needs throughout the day.
- Control Portion Sizes: Use smaller plates, measure portions, and eat mindfully to avoid overeating.
- Eliminate Empty Calories: Try to completely cut down on sugary drinks, fried foods, and snacks that are loaded with refined carbs or unhealthy fats.
Last but not least, remember that consistency is the key. So, track your meals using apps or a food journal to stay within the calorie budget while ensuring balanced nutrition.
2. Limit Carbohydrates and Sodium
Keep your carbohydrate and sodium intake in check as this can help you lose water weight quickly. Instead of bread, pasta, and sugary foods, focus on complex carbs like sweet potatoes and quinoa. Also, opt for fresh, whole foods and use spices and herbs to lose weight (instead of salt).
3. Make Sure You’re Getting Enough Protein
Protein is an essential nutrient for weight loss because it helps preserve muscle mass while you’re dieting. When people diet, they often lose muscle along with fat, which can lead to a decrease in metabolism. By making sure you’re getting enough protein, you can help prevent this muscle loss and keep your metabolism high.
If you weigh around 155 pounds, aim for 0.36 grams of protein per pound of body weight or about 55-60 grams of protein per day.
4. Increase Your Activity Level
Another reason you or not losing weight or may have plateaued is because your body has adapted to your current activity level. This means that you may be a dancing professional but still be fat. That’s because you’re doing the same workout day in and day out. Due to this, your body is not being challenged enough and, as a result, isn’t burning as many calories.
To overcome this weight loss plateau, you need to mix things up. Adding some new exercises to your routine or increasing the intensity of your workouts. This will shock your body and help jumpstart your weight loss once again.
If you have not been exercising all this while, now is the great time to start. Wear your walking shoes and go for a brisk walk. Alternatively, indulge in your favorite sport, jog, run, swim – but do indulge in physical activity for at least half an hour every day if you aim to lose 10 lbs in 2 weeks.
5. Stay Hydrated
Drinking plenty of water is important for overall health we all know that. But did you know it can help with weight loss too? Many times people mistake thirst for hunger and give in to their cravings.
So next time before reaching for a snack, try drinking a glass of water first and see if that satisfies your hunger. Water can also help increase thermogenesis, which is the number of calories your body burns in order to digest food.
6. Get Enough Sleep
Getting enough sleep is important for overall health but it can also help with weight loss. when you don’t get enough sleep, levels of the hormone ghrelin increase while levels of leptin decrease. Ghrelin signals your brain that it’s time to eat while leptin signals your brain that you’re full so when these two hormones are out of balance, it leads to increased hunger and cravings throughout the day.
To avoid hormone imbalance, aim for seven to eight hours of sleep per night.
7. Keep a Check on Your Stress Levels
High-stress levels trigger the production of cortisol, which in turn can lead to rapid weight gain. To lose weight, it is important to keep your stress under control.
Practice mindfulness, meditation, or yoga to keep stress in check. Go for morning/ evening walks, connect with friends and family, and try to strike a healthy work-life balance.
If you’re struggling to lose those last 10 pounds, don’t give up! By following these tips, you can jumpstart your weight loss and finally reach your goal weight. Remember, losing weight is a journey, not a race so take it one step at a time and celebrate each success along the way! At Kinetix, Dr Lala will support your health journey and lead you to success. Schedule an appointment with her and make way for a healthy, happy life.