Best way to lose 20 lbs. by August?

Answer 1

First, I caution that fad/crash diets are usually short-term solutions to something that should be a life-long commitment toward health and fitness. Many are completely worthless and as you suggest, a waste of money/time/effort. Please don't take any advice that leads down these paths.

You've accomplished an important step in developing a fitness plan (again something that should be considered a life-long commitment). That step is identifying a quantifiable objective. In your case, you have chosen to lose 20 pounds. Before going into methodology, let's analyze your objective. I assume you intend to lose weight in body fat and not necessarily total body weight. If not, you should reassess your objective (which may mean you don't have to actually lose 20 pounds total). The reason is that as you commit to proper nutrition and exercise, you will begin to shed body fat and generate lean body mass (muscle tissue), which weighs more than fat. Furthermore, bone density and bone weight make a difference in your body mass index. In initial weeks, you may not recognize a significant change in your total body weight even as you are steadily and positively progressing towards a total transformation. It's important to remember that two people of the same age, gender, height and weight can be completely different in terms of health/fitness. It has to do with body fat percentage.

I recommend getting your body fat percentage professionally checked (doctor's, fitness trainer, etc). By getting a proper check (caliper method is great), you can more accurately measure your body fitness and the progress you make every 12 weeks (which is the proper time frame for measuring significant progress).

With this information you can have an even better method of goal-setting and progress measurement. The next step will be methodology to acheive your goals.

The secret is acknowledging the true purpose of food as fuel rather than entertainment. Focus on protein, fats, and carbohydrates and learn about each of them. A little bit of research online will teach you a lot. Remember, don't diet; change your eating lifestyle. Doing so will change your life for the better. For the exercise, consider it a priority to include it into your routine.

Anyway, if you want it simple, here it is in ten steps:
1. protein is good...eat plenty (about 30% of your caloric intake)
2. fats are good and bad...know the difference
3. saturated and trans fats are the bad ones - limit these
4. poly- and mono-unsaturated fats are good - don't be afraid of them
5. carbohydrates are good and bad...know the difference
6. fibers and complex carbs are the good ones - eat these (about 40% of your caloric intake)
7. sugars and simple carbs are the bad ones - limit these, particularly late in the day (stay away from sodas and chips!)
8. drink water - lots and lots and lots of water. It's the only drink you need. Anything else is either wasted or simply bad for you
9. Eat 4-6 "meals" a day to boost your metabolism.
10. A meal is defined as a portion of a low-fat, protein rich entree, a portion of veggies for vits/mins, and a portion of complex carbs. (You can get these combined as a health shake)

For exercise, it's even simpler:
1. 4-6 hours per week
2. 45-90 min each day you exercise
3. do aerobic exercise (20-40 min) every day you exercise
4. work abdominals every day you exercise (between sets makes it easy)
5. do chest and triceps exercises on one day
6. do back and biceps exercises on a different day
7. do legs and shoulder exercises on a different day
8. do your exercises in sets (i.e. 3 times with 6-12 repetitions each)
9. keep a record of what you do to measure progress.
10. when your progress stalls (called "plateau"), switch up your routine.

If you decide to stick with a 20lbs of body fat loss as your objective, you can mathematically plan your journey. Generally one pound of body fat equates to 3500 excess calories to burn it off. So, that means that over a given period of time, you should plan to burn 70,000 excess calories. "Excess" means that after 'being you' - that is, eating, sleeping, breathing, walking, talking, sex, watching TV, and anything else you may do to burn calories without thinking about it - those calories are those you burn above and beyond through exercise. The way your body burns calories will depend on a multitude of variables, including your body type (look up endomorph vs. ectomorph vs. mesomorph), intensity of your exercise plan, and how well balanced your nutrition plan is. But, you can effectively burn 400-800 per exercise day (60 min) with the tips I wrote above. Let's just say the burn rate for you is 600/day and let's say you choose to exercise 5 times per week. So, that's 3000 excess calories burned per week. If this math is true, then you would expect to burn 20 pounds of body fat in about 23 weeks. Fortunately, this time frame is inaccurate because as you become more fit, your metabolism will change (for the better) and your ability to burn calories will increase exponentially. So the longer you commit, the shorter your goal will be. Your timeframe goal is19 weeks. I challenge that you will make extreme progress if you really take my suggestions to heart. 20 pounds of body fat is very realistic. But, my hope is that you will not step on a scale or worry about how much weight you have lost. Get that body fat percentage checked. Check it again in 6, 12, and at the end of your 19 weeks. You will be impressed - trust me!!! And even better, you will have developed life-long healthy lifestyle habits that will boost your energy levels, self-esteem and confidence, and let you sleep better at night.

Remember, you need "fuel" to sustain your activity level so eat healthy choices and eat often as I suggest. Exercise smartly. YOU CAN DO IT!! YES, YOU CAN DO IT!!!!

Answer 2

It's amazing what you can do without spending money. Cut back on the sweets, especially soda. I've known people who lose 10 pounds in a couple months just by not drinking any soda. Also, walk walk walk. Park further away from the store so that you can get the extra 2 minutes of walking in. There's no need for a special diet plan or going to the gym daily, it's simple routines that you can change in every day life. Watch what carbs you take in, and try to walk more often. Take a stroll down the block if you have time!

Answer 3

You can make a lot of simple lifestyle changes that will help you lose weight and keep it off.

The first is watching your calorie intake. Google "calorie calculator" and you will be directed to many Web sites that will tell you how many calories you should eat per day based on your goal weight and height. Know that 1-2 pounds per week is the norm.

Then start to watch food labels. Seemingly healthy foods are loaded with calories (things like crackers).

By watching calories alone, I lose three pounds in a week and a half off the bat.

Also, eat smaller, more frequent meals to keep your metabolism up. Snack between meals on fruits and veggies. If you need something that kind of junk food-y, get those 100-calorie packs. They taste great!

Start an excercise program. Fitness experts will tell you to combine cardio with muscle toning workouts. If you do the same excercise over and over again, your body will eventually get used to it, and you will hit a weight loss plateau.

However, if you're short on time, go for walks. Walking is very good for you. Once you build stamina, start to jog for 30 seconds at a time, and go up from there.

This plan has worked so well for me because all y ou're really doing is watching what you eat, you're not counting points and weighing in at meetings. Just make sure that once you hit your goal weight, you reevaluate your calorie intake so that you maintain your weight.

Answer 4

I better eating lifestyle and exercise is always a good way to lose weight, but if you have a lot of weight to lose, the quickest way that I have found is with a low carb diet. I must add that the last 10 or 15 lbs that a person wants to lose is the hardest, so then I recommend the DASH diet, you can google it and find lots of information. The DASH diet is not really a diet per say but a better way of eating, and it helps with high blood pressure and cholestorol.

Answer 5

exersize and eat healthy foods.
If you take up walking every day, or walking a longer distance every few days this should help burn fat. Or you could go dancing, jogging or swimming a few times a week. any kind of cardio is good.
Try eating three healthy meals a day with no snacks in between or really healthy snacks.
Drink lots of water. If you can don't drink anything but water, and maybe some milk in a healhy ceriel for breakfast.
a healthy lifestyle is the best way to loose and maintain a healthy weight.

Answer 6

Exercise everyday like jogging around the block
Skip meals. Eat 2 times per day than 3 times per day
Dont eat until you're full
Eat fruits at night if your hungry.
Drinks lots of water and stop all the fast food and chocolate.
There are more tips and info.
there's a video on success fitness too.

Answer 7

Having a special diet also going to the gym 2wice a week. It is also better to set a goal like 1 pound a week. You can also eat low calorie foods like celary and salad

Answer 8

I've had good luck with ediets.com

It's about $15 a month and they give a lot of good nutrition advice.

Answer 9

Eat healthy, drink plenty of water, and exercise. We all know this stuff.