Eat all your meals.
While you may feel tempted to skip breakfast or spend a day fasting, you
should resist the urge to do so. Prolonged fasting can cause muscle
loss and other health problems, but it can also make it more difficult
for your body to lose weight. When the human body does not receive
enough nutrition, it automatically starts conserving calories by burning
them at a slower rate. You may experience significant weight loss after
the first few days, but by the end of the two weeks, you will probably
gain a good portion of it back.[1]
2
Cut junk food from your diet.
Cut it out completely. Someone following a standard diet can usually
afford to fall off the junk food wagon once or twice without suffering
major repercussions. For more extreme, short-term weight loss goals,
however, junk food must be completely avoided. Stay away from greasy,
fatty foods as well as those with a high sugar content.
3
Munch on "negative calorie" foods.[2]
Whether or not negative calorie foods are truly negative is up for
debate. As the theory goes, some foods take so much energy to digest
that eating them actually burns more calories than the foods contain.
Even if you do not burn calories eating these foods, though, you will
not gain many calories from them, either.
In the way of vegetables, eat more asparagus, beet root, broccoli,
cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, hot chili, cucumber, garlic,
green beans, lettuce, onion, radish, spinach, turnip, and zucchini.
As for fruits, gravitate toward apples, blueberries, cantaloupe,
cranberries, grapefruit, honeydew, lemons, limes, oranges, mangos,
papayas, peaches, pineapples, raspberries, strawberries, tomatoes,
tangerines, and watermelon.
4
Drink more water.
Water flushes out your system, removing excess salt and aiding in the
weight loss process. Moreover, water is free of calories, making it a
much better choice than sugary drinks. In fact, if you can limit
yourself to only water, your odds of losing the weight will increase. If
you need something flavored from time to time, choose a diet soda or,
even better, unsweetened tea.
5
Stick to the food pyramid.[3]
Contrary to popular belief, “fad” diets that require you to only eat a
certain type of food will leave your body malnourished. A malnourished
body cannot function properly, which makes it difficult to lose
calories. To maintain a healthy level of nutrition, you should follow
food pyramid proportions. You can still lose weight by following these
proportions as long as you use low-calorie foods to meet the
requirements.
6
Choose leaner proteins.
Instead of beef and pork, opt for leaner meats like chicken or fish.
Consuming fish is especially helpful because the fatty acids in fish
give your body the beneficial oils it needs, and may help subdue the
urge to consume greasy or fattening foods.
7
Only eat whole grains.
Completely cutting the carbohydrates from your diet will leave you
nutritionally imbalanced. Instead, eat fibrous whole grains instead of
enriched white bread, pasta, or rice. The fiber contained in whole
grains can help you flush out your digestive system, thereby reducing
the weight you carry in your gut from undigested or partially digested
food.
8
Count your calories.
During these two weeks, it is essential that you monitor you calories
closely. Only by noting how many calories you consume will you be able
to determine how many calories you need to burn to lose weight.
Lifestyle Changes
1
Make a commitment.
It sounds obvious, but one of the most important things you can do to
guarantee weight loss success is to commit to your goal. This is
especially important for a short-term diet like this. You cannot afford
to have an “off” day when you slack on your diet or exercise regiment.
Once you decide to go this route, you must be committed to seeing it
through.
2
Get several hours of moderate to vigorous exercise each day.[4]
The best way to burn calories is through exercise. If your body is
already familiar with moderate physical activity, you might be able to
take things up a notch by alternating moderate and vigorous activity
throughout your day. On the other hand, if you are unaccustomed to much
physical activity, you should only stick to moderate exercise. Either
way, make sure to take plenty of breaks and to re-hydrate yourself with
plenty of water.
Vigorous activity burns between 400 and 600 calories per hour, and
examples include running, bicycling, swimming, aerobics, basketball, and
heavy weight lifting or yard work.
Moderate activity burns between 200 and 400 calories per hour and
includes hiking, light yard work, dancing, golf, slow bicycling, and
slow walking.
3
Balance the calories you burn with the calories you consume.
Weight loss occurs when you burn more calories than you consume. On
average, a person needs to burn 3,500 calories more than he or she
consumes to lose 1 lb (450 g).[5]
To lose 20 pounds (9 kg) in two weeks, you will need to lose a little
under 1.5 lbs (675 g) every day. That means burning a little over 5,000
calories more than you consume each day.
4
Get a full night’s sleep.
The human body cannot function properly without sleep. Sleep gives the
body a chance to rest, restoring it to peak operating conditions and
thereby making it easier for the body to burn calories and drop weight.
In order to lose a lot of weight in a short amount of time, you should
make sure to get between seven and eight hours of sleep each night.
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