20 pounds in 30 days is quite an ambitious goal. On average, doctors recommend that you lose 1-2 pounds a week. This means only 8 pounds a month! To triple this amount, you would have to do extraordinary things.
Many of us have been led to believe slow weight loss is the best strategy. However, studies show that people who lose weight fast keep it off longer than those who lose slowly.
Fast weight loss is only disastrous if you ‘diet’ your way to weight loss.
Dieting in this context refers to a temporary (usually 6 weeks or less), restrictive (you can’t eat most foods) and unrealistic (extremely low calories) program designed to lose weight in a short amount of time. Examples include juicing or detoxing.
This study shows that people who diet tend to gain back the weight they lost because of several reasons.
First, you binge-eat when your body feels severely deprived. Deprivation is bound to arise when you take no carbs or essential nutrients. Second, your metabolism reduces, and this makes it harder to lose weight. Third, diets are only temporary, so when you finish the diet, you go back to typical eating patterns that caused the weight gain in the first place.
Because of the above reasons, you don’t want to use diets as a way to lose weight rapidly. Instead, make lifestyle adjustments that you would be able to maintain over the long haul. Here are some of the adjustments:
How to Lose 20 Pounds in 30 Days without Dieting
1. Become Calorie-Conscious
Since 20 pounds is a pretty precise number, you need to know precisely how much you eat and what you need to reduce to get there.
To shed off 2 pounds a week, you would need to cut off 500 calories a day. To shed 5 pounds a week, you need to cut off almost 1,250 calories.
Get an app that measures the total number of calories you have been taking normally. You simply input the food you eat. Then deduct 1,250 calories from it. What is left is the number of calories you would need to consume daily to reach your target.
Note that you can still lose 20 pounds in 30 days if you maintain a deficit of 800 calories and increase your physical activity.
2. Watch Your Portions
Keep the daily calorific figure above in mind as you eat. However, portion control does not imply eating very little. It means knowing which foods you can eat plentifully and which ones you should reduce.
For a female eating 1,000 calories a day, try not to exceed 2 fistfuls of starch (200g) a day. Half of your plate should have vegetables and the rest should have proteins and starch.
Use cups as a substitute for a kitchen scale if you don’t have one. A good portion size would be half a cup for carbohydrates and proteins.
3. Practice Mindful Eating
Mindfulness means being mentally present and focusing on only what one is doing. When attempting to lose weight, the practice can help to make you feel fuller and can reduce binging.
You can practice this by chewing slowly and thoroughly, taking the time to soak in the smells, texture, flavor, and color of the food.
Make sure that you are not multitasking or watching TV as you eat. Think about how your body is reacting to every bite. Space out each bite so that your mind processes it.
4. Fiber, Fiber, Fiber
Fiber makes you have a smaller appetite. This increases your chances of sticking to the weight loss program.
In this research, the authors found that the participants were less likely to gain weight when they ate high-fiber meals.
Plant-based foods are the key; these include leafy vegetables and fruits. Some high-fiber foods you should eat include oatmeal, sweet potatoes, wild rice, and cous cous. You should also consider taking fiber supplements.
5. Trick Your Mind into Eating Right
First, drink water 30 minutes before eating and after. This way, your brain won’t confuse thirst for hunger.
Putting your food in smaller plates will give the illusion that there is volume and depth in your food.
Eat with your left hand if you’re right-handed, use chopsticks or eat bony meat. Use culinary tricks like cutting your toasted sweet potatoes into chips too.
6. Consume Protein
Proteins use more energy when being broken down, and they make you feel fuller for longer, according to research. Aim for 30 grams of protein (palm size) in every meal.
Plant proteins like beans and peas are ideal but you should also take lean meats like fish and poultry.
7. Exercise
Exercise is pivotal in weight loss because it burns calories and boosts your metabolism. Aim for 150 minutes per week of moderate cardio.
Consider combination exercises where you do step ups and squats, lunges or front raises. The workout can last 30 minutes and may be done during alternate days. You do not want to overdo it since your energy supply is low.
In fact, you can build lean muscle and burn fat while exercising for less than 15 minutes a day, here’s how to do it.
8. Do 24-Hour Fasts Once A Week
A 24-hour fast might sound torturous if you’ve never fasted before but let me assure you that it’s very doable.
You only need to eat dinner and then skip breakfast and lunch the following day. Then eat dinner to break your fast.
24-hour fasts are excellent for conquering cravings and speeding up weight loss. Here are the numerous benefits of 24-hour fasts.
9. Change Your Environment
Aim for stimulus control so that you don’t have to rely on willpower to minimize food consumption. A stimulus is anything that will trigger an impulse.
First, know what yours are. Then minimize your exposure to the triggers by clearing your kitchen, having someone else lock it at night, or not baking.
Talk to your family about your goals and ask them to help. In short, reduce your expose to any food that you might binge on.
10. Exercise Self-Control
Eat only when you are truly hungry and make sure you stop when you finish. Additionally, be aware of how your senses react when you see unhealthy foods.
This way, you exert control over cravings when they set in again. Pause and take a breath before reaching out for something unhealthy. Plan ahead of time exactly what you will eat.
11. Take Low-Calorie Snacks
Prepare for those moments when hunger pangs strike by keeping low-calorie snacks. Replace that bag of tortilla chips with these options: hard-boiled eggs, coconut chips, apples with peanut butter, or nuts (do not exceed ¼ cup).
Greek yogurt, vegetable soup or fruit smoothies are other options. Roasting grains like pumpkin seeds and chickpeas are delicious alternatives too.
12. Other lifestyle changes
The above changes are crucial, but when your internal system is off, you will plateau. Aim for 8 hours of sleep and reduce stress in your life. This way, you don’t upset hormones like cortisol or leptin, which suppress or stimulate your appetite. Imbalanced hormones would make it hard to resist food cravings.
Final Word
What you eat matters more than anything in this process. You also want to adopt habits that you would sustain in the long-term. This means avoiding extremes or not reverting back to what you used to do. Endeavor to make these changes a part of your lifestyle going forward.
While the above strategies are extremely effective, you may need a more detailed plan to lose 20 pounds in 30 days. If that’s the case, start following this step-by-step fat loss system today.
