How To Lose 5 Pounds in 5 Weeks

When starting a weight loss plan, most people start with big hopes such as losing thirty pounds in six weeks or fifty pounds in ninety days. This expectation is promised by fad diets everywhere yet leaves most dieters doomed to failure. Try setting a more reasonable small goal at the start, such as to lose five pounds in five weeks.

Materials:
Weights for strength training
Water bottle

1. Set a goal of one pound per week. In order to lose weight, you must burn more calories that you eat each day. To lose one pound requires that you consume 3500 calories less than you burn for the week. This difference works out to be 500 calories per day. Once you set your goal, you should decide how you will create the deficit.
2. Take a walk. You’ve heard it before--in order to lose weight you have to move. If you weigh more than 180 pounds, you will burn about 100 calories per mile walked at a pace of two miles per hour. However, if you increase your speed, you increase the number of calories burned. If you are less than 180 pounds, you will burn slightly fewer calories as you walk. If the idea of burning calories just by walking five miles a day is daunting, there are other steps you can take. Still try to walk at least two miles for 200 calories.
3. Speed it up. Walking faster or even jogging will burn more calories per mile. Jogging will burn two to three times more calories than walking. If you can work up to running at a pace of ten miles per hour, you can burn up to seven or eight hundred calories in an hour.
4. Add weights to your workout. Adding strength training builds muscle and the more muscle you have, the faster your body’s metabolism and ability to burn calories. Add strength training to your routine at least twice per week for visible results. A half an hour of weight training also burns one hundred to one hundred and fifty calories.
5. Hydrate every day. Your body needs water. In order to lose weight, you have to drink enough water to keep your body functioning and removing waste. Try for six to eight glasses per day.
6. Cut the soda and sugar. One of the fastest ways to cut calories from your diet is to change your beverage habit. A can of regular soda contains about 150 calories. If you give up your soda habit, you can cut calories quickly. The same goes for sugary fruit juices and sugar used in fancy coffee drinks.
7. Stick with it. Losing one to two pounds per week is a healthy speed for weight loss. Making small activity and dietary changes can help you lose weight.

Losing five pounds in five weeks is not an overwhelming goal. It may not be as fast as you want to slim down but this is a reasonable and achievable goal.