Losing weight is a goal most people have but never get around to…

Every month, there are thousands of people searching for a way to shed a few pounds in a short amount of time. Even most of the people who are excited and “committed” to their weight loss goals for a New Year’s resolution give up only weeks into the year. 

Why does this occur? 

It could be due to the fact that they usually don’t have a plan to follow. So instead of focusing on one small, achievable goal at a time, many are only focused on the long term goal or big picture, and can only think about losing 20 pounds. Of the few willing to break a sweat and hit the gym, a large percentage may not be doing the correct exercises for to produce the desired results. That’s a sure way to kill your motivation. Now out of those who are exercising correctly and burning calories, many are just putting back on the calories they burned by not having a proper diet plan. You see how not having a plan in place can really slow your potential for success?

The Truth is it’s Really Hard to Lose Weight if You Don’t Understand How!

Theoretically, about 3,500 calories equals one pound of body weight. This would mean that in order to lose one pound, you would have to lose or burn, 3,500 calories. 

According to WebMD, the moderately active man needs about 2,600-2,800 calories per day, while the active woman would need about 2,000-2,200 per day to maintain their weight and energy balance for daily activities. It can take 60-90 minutes to lose anywhere from 400-1000 calories depending on the exercise or training being conducted. Either you need to be doing one exercise, or mixing in a combination of exercises, but either way it would need to equal 3.5 hours of burning 1,000 calories an hour just to lose one pound. 

Why do you want to lose weight and how long do you have to lose it?

Many people have different reason for wanting to lose weight. Maybe you want to fit into that wedding dress, feel confident in your bathing suite, or impress your old class mates at a reunion. Whatever the reason, you want to lose weight and you want to lose it fast, right?

So how do you lose weight while still being healthy?

Looking at the facts above, we know it takes at least an hour of hard work to burn even close to 1,000 calories, and around 3,500 calories weigh a pound. So in order to lose 10 pounds you need to burn around 35,000 calories (3,500 calories per pound x 10 pounds).

So now you know how to do it, but will you do it?

Will you have the discipline to eliminate those 35,000 calories?

For example, rather than setting unrealistic expectations, let’s shoot for a goal that is less difficult to achieve but will still require some work. Let’s say you want to lose 10 pounds over the next 6 weeks. That’s not an unreasonable goal and it can be accomplished in the desired time frame without too much work.

In business, everything is about systems. Why? Because they work and they’re easy to follow. Why not develop a “system” or a plan, to lose a specific amount of weight in a desired amount of time? Setting smaller goals will help you reach the overall or long-term goal, to achieve your desired outcome.

So if you want to lose 10 pounds in the next 6 weeks, that’s around 1.6 pounds a week. If you can lower your daily caloric intake by 500 calories, you’d be cutting 3,500 calories a week, or one pound. At that rate, you could lose 10 pounds in 10 weeks, but keep in mind that’s without exercise. If you were to exercise for an hour 3-4 times a week, you could burn an additional 3,000-4,000 calories a week. Combine that with the 3,500 calories you shaved by eating the right food, you would easily be on target to lose at least 1.5-2 pounds each week. That’s seems much more doable in the amount of time given and at that rate, in 6 weeks you’ll have lost those 10 pounds.

So what’s your plan to lose weight?

I’ve come up with a 4 step process to help you achieve your desired weight loss goal. Before you’re going to be able to effectively plan your weight loss goals, you’ll need to understand how certain factors can affect your progress.

Here are the four parts you need to know to develop your plan:

        1.Goal – set your desired weight loss goals and time frame for losing it. 

Trying to figure out how you’re going to lose 20 pounds within X amount of time can be a little bewildering. If you have a certain event or occasion in the near future to attend and are feeling a little self-conscious about your weight, figure how how long you have and break it down into smaller chunks that you can work on. For example, if you wanted to lose 6 pounds in the next 30 days, you can focus on smaller chunks of time such as 1 pound every 5 days. It will be easier to stay motivated and focused for 5 days since the challenge will only be a few days away each time you hit a goal.

        2. Diet – understand calories, what to eat, and when.

I’m not going to tell you that you can’t eat a burger. I will say what’s more important is the amount of calories you’re putting into your body. Figure out how many calories you need to lose and give yourself a daily amount. Try to ration those calories throughout the day. Do a little research and find out how many calories are in the foods you eat most frequently. If the calories are higher than you like or more than what you should eat for your daily calorie budget, try eating smaller portions. Find alternatives to your favorite unhealthy foods that are low in calories and can stimulate your metabolism.

        3. Exercise – you need to do the exercises that burn the most calories.

While cutting unnecessary calories out of  your diet will surely help you lose weight, exercise is the real key to speeding up the process. Think about it like this…If you’re eating 6,000 calories a day and you’re only burning 500 calories from exercise, that still leaves 5,500 calories left over. Even if you’re body uses 3,000 calories of energy on its own throughout the day, there’s still 2,500 calories you’ll be keeping. You need to do high-intensity workouts that ensure you’re burning the most calories possible and making the most of your time.

        4. Track – keep track of your progress and results.

There’s no sense in trying to have a plan if you’re not going to write it down and track your results. Not only will it be easier than trying to remember everything in your head, being able to see that you have accomplished the smaller goals on the way to your ultimate goals will be some positive reinforcement to keep going.

You should follow these simple, yet effective steps to create an effective strategy for your weight loss goals.

If you want to lose weight, no matter how much, it really boils down to burning more calories than you’re consuming. My suggestion is to have a plan to follow and make it that much easier on yourself.

I recently found this program that includes all the information you need to create your own plan to lose weight. It includes an introduction to calories and how we burn fat. It has a diet section that explains how to calculate lean body mass, fat percentage, and provide you with a rapid weight loss plan. There’s also a workout portion that covers exercises that can double your results without going to a gym. Last but certainly not least, the course also has a motivation and mindset area to get you focused on your goals and motivated to reach them. It’s been getting some crazy testimonials also. If you’re serious about losing those 10 pounds you should check it out here.

Until next time,

Happy weight loss!