5 Simple Ways on How to Lose 2 Pounds a Week
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How to Lose 2 Pounds a Week
Below are 5 simple ways on how to lose 2 pounds a week. Remember that every body is different, and what works for others might not work for you. Depending on your goals, some of these tips may require alteration for you to achieve success. Because of our individual differences, it is advised for you to seek advice from your doctor and dietician before starting an exercise or diet plan to make sure that you are being safe, and setting yourself up for success!
Set Realistic Goals
Often people believe that to lose weight they just need to eat less or drink smoothies, but this is not the case to achieve and maintain long term weight loss! The first step is to identify your motivation for wanting to lose weight and set a realistic goal. Realistic, is the most important part of this sentence. Generally, it is not realistic for anyone to say, ‘I am going to lose 10 pounds this week’ and then maintain this weight loss. The SMART goal setting method is a great way to ensure that you are setting realistic goals that you can achieve in a timely manner.
SMART goal setting stands for,
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely
Make sure that the goal you create for yourself includes each of these aspects! An example of a SMART goal that is realistic for a sedentary person could be, “I will lose 1-2lbs per week by walking every day for at least 60 minutes”
Next, talk to your doctor to determine if you need to lose weight to make sure that you are being safe. Identify why it is important for you to lose weight. Maybe it is because you are nearing a risk factor for disease, or you’ve noticed that your clothes are suddenly not fitting anymore. Whatever the reason is, identifying your why can help to motivate you towards your goal.
Start Moving
You cannot expect to eat less and lose weight. You may lose a pound or so, but this is not weight loss that will be sustained. In order to achieve sustainable weight loss, you need a combination of proper nutrition and movement! Specifically, you will need to create a calorie deficit to lose weight.
Engaging in exercise will help you to create a calorie deficit that you could not achieve through diet alone. The number of calories that you will burn during exercise depends on the type of exercise you choose, and the frequency, duration and intensity in which you perform the exercise. When planning out your movement for the week, it can be helpful to use the FITT principle. The FITT principle stands for,
Frequency
Intensity
Time
Type
When you are creating your smart goal, also break down your exercise using the FITT principle. This will help you to identify exactly what type of exercise you are doing, and for how long during the selected days per week. An example of using the FITT principle would be, for 4 days per week, I will bike for 30 minutes at an intensity of an RPE of 7-8. To learn about RPE (rating of perceived exertion) check out our overview here.
Being active has numerous health benefits including improved mood, sleep, strong immune system, increased cardiovascular health, reduced blood pressure, reduced cholesterol and much more! Not to mention, the more consistent you are in your physical activity and exercise, the more likely you will be able to remain independent for longer as you age.
Snack Smarter
What type of snacker are you? When you get a craving, is sweet or salty? Have you ever thought about why you are having these cravings? Do you eat late at night?
These are just a few examples of questions you can ask yourself about your snaking! When it comes down to your nutrition, you should always consult a dietician to ensure that you are meeting the proper energy requirements for your body based on your lifestyle. Often, we can have gaps in our diet that cause cravings throughout the day! Discovering what these gaps are can help to address the issue.
There are many simple tips about snacking that you can use to help you lose weight each week. First, reach for healthier snacks. Some example include,
Instead of potato chips, try kale chips, or carrots and hummus
Instead of ice cream, try frozen grapes, or frozen fruit dipped in Greek yogurt
Instead of chocolate or candy, try a trail mix
At the end of the day, there is nothing wrong with snacking! However, the choices that we make during the week can help to contribute to your weight gain or loss. Additionally, choosing low fat dressings and sauces (or completely omitting them!) is another way to reduce your caloric intake.
Drink Water
Are you a latte lover or pop drinker? Many of us end up drinking a lot of our calories that we don’t really need! For example, a grande caramel macchiato has 250 calories, a can of Coca Cola has 140 calories and there are 150 calories in Gatorade. A simple tip that can help you to lose 1-2 pounds a week is to switch your pop or juice for water!
Many people claim that water is too plain, hence their preference for a sugary drink. However, you still have options! If water is too plain for you, or you crave some carbonation, try flavoured water. Specifically, flavoured sparkling waters can offer you taste, and carbonation without the calories. Many of these options are 0-50 calories, but you still need to pay attention to the nutrition label to ensure that you are making an appropriate selection.
Some tips you can use to spice up your regular water include adding lemon or lime, cucumbers or even fresh berries!
Find Things That You Enjoy
When it comes to maintaining healthy habits, you need to find something that you enjoy doing. If you are facing a daily battle with yourself to go for a run, chances are this is not a long term habit that you can sustain. Finding activities that you enjoy may take a few weeks of trial and error, but is worth it to maintain your weight loss.
Being active does not necessarily have to involve being drenched in sweat but moving your body intentionally everyday as opposed to not doing anything at all. Some examples of activities you might not have thought of include gardening and housekeeping, walking your dog, swimming, biking and playing with your kids. Finding ways to move with the entire family will instill healthy habits for your children and allow you to spend quality time with them.
Once you find an activity that you enjoy, you will find that being active can be very enjoyable and physical activity does not have to be a punishment! Try being active with a friend or joining a new club or team. Chances are, you will enjoy the social aspect so much, that Friday night baseball will not even seem like hard work!
Breakdown How Much 1 LBS Would Be in Terms of Calories
According to the MayoClinic, about 3,500 calories is equivalent to 1 pound (0.45kg) of fat. This means that to lose 1 pound, you need to burn 3,500 calories. Remember, if you are eating more calories than you are burning, you are going to gain weight. If you are burning more calories than you are eating, you will lose weight.
In general if you cut roughly 500-1000 calories a day from your diet (there are 1015 calories in a Big Mac meal with medium fries and a regular coke!) you could lose about 1-2 pounds per week. This is that part where you need to be careful and seek the advice of a dietician to get specific advice for your body. Adult women need about 1,600-2,400 calories per day and adult men need 2,000-3,000 calories per day. Going below these numbers can have negative health effects.
How Many Calories to Lose 2 LBS
If we follow the rule above, in order to lose 2 pounds, you would need to burn 7000 calories. Remember that it is not healthy or possible to lose a pound per day, so your weight loss and activity will be spread out over the week.
Recommendations On How to Lose 2 Pounds a Week
It will not be enough to follow these simple steps and expect to lose weight immediately. Chances are, if you follow these suggestions for a few weeks and then stop, you will regain the weight you lost pretty quickly. If you are looking to lose weight, first speak to your doctor and a dietician to make sure that you are healthy enough to be making changes, and to help identify gaps in your diet.
Often, small changes in your lifestyle habits can have profound impacts on your life! For instance, talking the dog for a walk twice a day or even just drinking more water can have a big impact on your mood, health and overall wellbeing. Before you start out on your weight loss journey, make sure that it is for the right reasons and use these tips to help change your life!
