A Trainer’s Guide to Losing 10 Pounds in 30 Days
Is it possible to lose 10 pounds in a month? I’m all about realistic fitness goals; after all, part of our motto at Get Healthy U is that we’ll never try to promise you can get six-pack abs by Sunday or go from a size 12 to 6 overnight.
But we do hear you when you say you want actionable ways to lose weight in a month. Let’s talk about losing 10 pounds in 30 days, realistically.
While losing ten pounds in a month is not easy, it is doable! Proper nutrition, exercise, and serious commitment are required for this kind of weight loss.
Here are 8 tips for safely losing 10 pounds in a month without fasting or crazy detoxes.
1. Yep — You Need to Track Your Calories
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The truth is, if you eat poorly, you’ll feel poorly! But the number of calories you’re consuming still matters, especially when you have the aggressive goal of losing 10 pounds in one month.
The overall equation for weight loss comes down to this: you have to burn more calories than you take in. Calorie consumption is something you really have to watch.
While everyone’s caloric needs are different, for the average woman looking to lose weight, eating around 1,600 calories per day will help you drop pounds.
Your calorie intake is something very personal that you will need to experiment with, so consider keeping a detailed food journal or using a food-logging app like MyFitnessPal.
2. Reduce Your Sugar Intake
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Consuming a bunch of refined sugar activates fat storage in the body, which is hard on your metabolism.
Some of the biggest culprits are sugary beverages, including sodas, specialty coffees, fruit juices, and energy drinks. In fact, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) are the largest contributor of sugar intake in the United States!
Sugary drinks and foods can also lead to a temporary spike in blood sugar followed by a crash, which makes you feel hungry or thirsty soon after. (Thus, making you eat and drink more.)
Try staying away from things like pastries, cookies, donuts, candy, cupcakes, granola bars, and sweetened yogurt. (Moderation is key!)
3. Stick to Clean Eating
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In general, fill up your plate with veggies, fruits, lean protein, and healthy fats with real ingredients.
Other tips include:
Cut out processed foods, packaged foods, and artificial ingredients.
Get rid of your soda and sugary drink habit to make weight loss easier.
Eliminate added sugars, such as white sugar, brown sugar, fructose, and molasses.
You should also eat more healthy, filling foods to avoid grabbing high-carb and high-calorie snacks.
Try foods like:
Boiled or baked sweet potatoes
Beans, peas, chickpeas, and lentils
Whole fruits and vegetables
Eggs
Nuts
Lean meats, poultry, and fish
4. Add More Fiber to Your Diet
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When you’re eating for weight loss, a lot of people are left feeling hungry due to a lower number of calories consumed.
Adding fiber to your meals allows you to feel fuller for longer! Fiber also helps to remove waste from the body, keeping you regular and less bloated.
Some of the best high-fiber foods include oats, whole wheat bread, bananas, and carrots.
5. Keep Yourself Hydrated
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Removing sodas and other sugary beverages plays a big role in weight loss—and you can replace them with water!
Drinking plenty of water is essential for weight loss because it:
Helps suppress your appetite
Stimulates metabolism
Improves your workouts
Helps remove body waste
Saves you calories when you drink it instead of soda, juice, and sweetened tea or coffee
The recommended water intake is around 9 cups daily (8 oz each) for women and 13 cups for men.
6. Eat a Protein-Packed Breakfast
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A high-protein breakfast can help you stay on track with your weight loss goals. Eating more protein can reduce the number of daily calories you need to consume. Eating high-quality protein can also cut down on the your calorie intake.
High-protein foods include eggs, cheese, yogurt, eggs, peanut butter, and certain breakfast cereals.
7. Try High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
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Dietary choices are helpful with weight loss, but you won’t see any results without exercise!
Try getting your cardio and strength training done simultaneously by doing high-intensity interval training (HIIT).
This type of training utilizes interval workouts, which burn more calories in less time by using short bursts of all-out effort followed by brief rest periods. HIIT workouts get your heart pumping hard, and typically use a series of strength moves to do so.
This helps you tackle both your cardio and strength simultaneously, which is especially helpful if you’re short on time.
8. Focus on Sleep and Stress Management
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Sleep and stress are two factors that are often overlooked when looking to lose weight, but they matter!
Stress causes your body to release cortisol (i.e., the stress hormone), and too much of it can cause belly fat. Work on minimizing stress as much as possible by practicing deep breathing and meditation, journaling, taking long walks in nature, or doing yoga.
As for sleep? Plenty of research associates poor sleep habits with less weight loss. For example, a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that when dieters cut back on sleep over a 14-day period, they lost 55% less weight from fat.
Getting too little sleep can also throw two of your body’s hunger hormones out of whack—leptin and ghrelin—which can cause you to hold onto more fat and crave sugary, salty foods more frequently.
Aim for 7-9 hours of sleep per night. If you are having trouble falling asleep, you can try meditation, taking magnesium or melatonin, and reducing or eliminating screen time before bed.
Sugar Detox: How To Quit Sugar In 6 Steps
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It’s hard to find the best way to quit sugar when it’s in so many of our foods! That’s why it’s important to cut back in a smart, sustainable way since doing it cold turkey can be pretty jarring for your body.
Here, we’ll take a look at some of the sugar basics, why you crave it, and how to quit sugar without making yourself totally miserable.
Sugar Detox: How To Quit Sugar In 6 Steps
Inspiration For Weight Loss – 12 Inspiring Tips to Get You Motivated
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Let’s get one thing straight: being healthy isn’t just about the number on your scale. There are tons of other factors that affect your health besides your weight, and every one is built differently.
However, if being overweight is affecting your day-to-day life, sometimes weight loss is the goal. Unfortunately, even if you know how to lose weight, finding the inspiration for weight loss and motivation to actually make those healthier choices can be another story.
Whether you’ve been in a rut for a few months or many years, we’ll help you find the weight loss motivation you need to finally make a change.
Inspiration For Weight Loss – 12 Inspiring Tips to Get You Motivated
21 Healthy Quinoa Recipes You’ll Want to Make ASAP
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On the hunt for the best quinoa recipes? We don’t blame you! Quinoa—an edible seed and plant-based protein—is known for being a nutritional powerhouse and easy to incorporate into any meal needing a healthy boost.
Check out our favorite quinoa recipes that are so delicious, you’ll forget how healthy they are!