Losing weight in a short time requires patience and discipline
Losing weight in a short time requires patience and discipline. You need to bring about some major changes in your diet andexercise regularlyto shed off a few pounds in a week. Ideally, one should aim to lose a pound per week. Try the following methods at home to lose weight in a short time:
- Set a realistic goal: Set an achievable goal and strive to achieve it rather than setting an unrealistic goal and fretting about it. For example, I will try to lose 10 pounds in a week is a realistic goal but a dangerous goal.
- Create an exercise plan for 7days: Only dieting will get you nowhere. Create an exercise plan to which you can stick to for 7 days. Create a schedule for the workout and try to stick to it. Include different workouts for each day and maintain consistency. Try to include a burst of high-intensity activities in your regular aerobic exercises. For example, when you are walking, run for five minutes, and then again continue to walk. This burns more calories. Zumba, aerobics, and swimming are good options for rapid weight loss.
- Create a meal plan: Try to create a meal plan for 7 days. Meals specific for breakfast, lunch, and dinner should be included in the plan. This may help to stick to healthy eating and avoid unhealthy foods.
- Create a list of eating habits: Reflect on your eating habits. Make a list of eating habits that would contribute to weight gain. Keep a food diary to note down the food you eat throughout the day. This may help you to identify the foods or habits that are leading to weight gain.
- Get rid of some eating habits: Some of the eating habits may increase the risk of overeating; hence, it is necessary to highlight those habits. Eating habits include:
- Eating too fast
- Always eating dessert
- Skipping meals
- Eating when not hungry
- Always cleaning your plate
- Eating while standing up (may lead to mindless eating)
- Practiceportion control:To control the temptation of overeating, serve food on an individual plate instead of putting it in serving dishes on the table. This may discourage you from overeating. Measuring portions helps you take control of the amount of food you eat daily.
- Eat a high protein diet: Protein helps to build muscle mass, which helps in increased metabolic rate and decreased calorie intake. High protein diets prevent weight gain and abdominal fats.
- Curb on carbohydrates: Restrict the intake of the total amount of carbohydrates and consume foods, such as oats, barley, non-starchy vegetables, and nuts that are low in the glycemic index.
- Eat plenty of soluble fiber: Fiber has a bulking effect and stimulates early satiation, thus preventing abdominal obesity. Flax seeds, avocados, legumes, and blackberries have plenty of soluble fiber.
- Limit saturated fats: Limit the portion of saturated fats, such as full-fat dairy products, to restrict calorie intake.
- Avoid consumption of sugary foods andbeverages:Sugary foods and beverages have highsugarcontent. Added sugars contain high fructose, which may decrease fat burning. Hence, avoiding sugary foods and beverages, such as candies, cakes, frozen yogurt, soda, flavored coffeedrinks,and sweet tea, helps you to losefat.
- Stay hydrated:Drinking water can do wonders. Drinking water often leads to consuming fewer calories without any added sugar as compared to sweetened drinks.
- Improvesleepquality:Sleeping for less than 5 hours per night may result in aweight gainof around 32 lbs. Similarly, sleeping for more than 8 hours also does the same. People withsleep disordersare most likely to experience weight gain. Hence, sleeping for 6-8 hours seems to be adequate for weight loss.
Is working out 30 minutes a day enough to lose weight?
The amount of time you need to spend working out depends on your fitness goals and current weight
Losing weight requires a combination of the right diet (reducing calorie intake) and physical activity. But there is no one answer as to how much exercise is enough for a person, since the amount of time you need to spend working out depends on your fitness goals and current weight.
Thirty minutes of exercise a day may be enough, but it depends on your:
- Starting weight
- Weight loss goals
- Metabolism
- Fitness levels
- Type of exercise you plan on doing
To lose weight at a healthy and realistic rate of 1-2 pounds per week, you need to burn, on average, 500-1000 more calories than you consume each day. Moderately working out 30 minutes a day can help keep you healthy and help with weight loss in a sustainable way. But to shed more pounds in a shorter time period, you may need to upgrade the intensity and duration of your workouts.
In general, however, researchers have found that moderately overweight men who exercised hard enough to sweat for 30 minutes a day lost an average of 8 pounds over 3 months.
It’s important to keep in mind that you should never try to rush the process. Crash diets and crazy exercise programs rarely provide long-lasting results and can be unhealthy.
What is Tabata training?
Tabata training is a short, high-intensity workout that is supposed to reduce weight more quickly and increase metabolism.According to research from the American Council on Exercise (ACE), Tabata can help you burn up to 15 calories per minute.
Tabata, in essence, is a build-your-own-adventure fitness regimen that can produce a heady burn and afterglow. It consists of strength and aerobic exercises that work the entire body as opposed to just one set of muscles. Exercises include warm-ups, side shuffles, shoulder rotations, etc. to start, then gradually move on to cardio exercises (such as skater plyo) and then into strength exercises (such as push-ups). You can also use a combination of exercises where you complete sets of various workouts, such as burpees, lunges, kettlebell squats.
All of the moves in a Tabata workout need to be carried out for only 4 minutes. During those 4 minutes, you need to push yourself extremely hard for 20 seconds and then rest for 10 seconds (20:10 rule). This completes one set. You then complete 8 such sets for each exercise. While this can be tiring, pushing yourself this way helps you reap the maximum benefits of this exercise.
Here’s an example of a 20-minute session:
Round 1
- High knees
- Plank punches
- Jumping jacks
- Side skaters
Round 2
- Jump rope
- High or low boat
- Line jumps
- Push-ups
Round 3
- Burpees
- Russian twists
- Squats
- Lunges
Round 4
- Mountain climbers
- Push-ups
- Split squats
- Box jumps
What to keep in mind about Tabata training
Although a Tabata workout is great for some, it can be too physically demanding for certain people and age groups. If that’s the case for you, you can try other HIIT workouts that are more practical for you that have high-intensity intervals that match your fitness level.
Many people think that they can just jump into a Tabata session, but the truth is, you need to work up to this sort ofhigh-intensity training. Try to find a range of beginner Tabata workout routines to start with and take it slow. Your body will have to get accustomed to the more intense demands of this type of workout so you can avoid injury.
Tabata is cost-effective, fun, super challenging and, when adhering to the 20:10 principle, can produce remarkable results.
Since intense workouts carry a greater risk ofdehydration, make sure to keep water handy and refuel with apost-workout snackif needed.
References
WebMD. Reasons You're Not Losing Belly Fat. https://www.webmd.com/diet/ss/slideshow-reasons-not-losing-belly-fat
John Hopkins Medicine. 8 Ways to Lose Belly Fat and Live a Healthier Life. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/8-ways-to-lose-belly-fat-and-live-a-healthier-life
