Getting ready to attend a class reunion and want to impress all your old high school cronies? Have a special formal event to attend and need to lose 20 pounds to fit into that special dress or suit? Losing weight quickly can be accomplished through a regime of exercise and diet.
Diet
According to the Mayo Clinic, diets in which you lose pounds quickly typically result in loss of water weight and lean muscle tissue, not actual body fat. There are times though, when a quick fix is necessary to reach your goal.
One of the most successful programs for rapid weight loss is the low carbohydrate diet. In a July 17, 2009 report by the New England Journal of Medicine, a low carbohydrate diet is the healthiest and best way to lose weight and keep it off. It beats the Mediterranean Diet, and low fat diets in total pounds lost.
Low carb diets reduce the total number of carbohydrates consumed daily. This results in rapid weight loss, particularly during the first two weeks. You should aim to eat only 20 g of carbohydrates daily to promote rapid weight loss. The total grams of carbs can be easily found on the nutrition facts label on food products. You do not have to limit your consumption of fats, calories or protein foods, but remember moderation is always the key. Aiming for vegetarian sources of fat and protein, and avoiding trans fats entirely will speed the weight loss.
You should gradually increase your carbohydrates to 80 to 120 g per day if trying to maintain this diet for a long length of time. You can easily tell when you have exceeded your carbohydrate needs when you start gaining weight.
There are many fad diets that people have tried and have successfully lost weight. Fad diets are too numerous to name all of them here, but some popular ones have been the Cabbage Soup Diet, the Chocolate Diet and the Grapefruit Diet.
Losing 20 pounds quickly doesn't have to be as a result of a particular diet regime. It can be as simple as eating lots of fruits, vegetables and lean meats, avoiding starchy foods and drinking tons of water. Drinking more water can help flush toxins and water weight from your body quickly. This reduces water weight and can easily result in a 10 to 20 pound weight loss.
Exercise
Exercising is one of the best ways to lose weight. The most important thing to remember is to exercise consistently. Many people are gung-ho the first day or two, have intensive workouts and then give up. Being active causes your body to burn calories faster. A pound of body fat equals 3,500 calories. In order to burn calories, you should have a goal to do moderately intense exercise at least five days a week for at least 30 to 60 minutes. You will know that you are obtaining an intense enough work out by increased breathing, and heart rate; also you may work up a light sweat.
Different activities burn calories at different speeds. Mayo clinic states the calories burned in one hour by a 200 pound person are as follows: jumping rope, 910 calories; aerobics, high impact, 637 calories; playing basketball, 728 calories;
roller blading 1,138 calories; ice skating, 637 calories; jogging, (5 mph) 728 calories.
Some people don't have the training or the stamina to start an intense exercise program. For these people, the following options are available: walking, which burns 346 calories at 3.5 mph, and the stair treadmill, which burns calories at a rapid pace of 819 calories an hour.
Warnings
Mayo Clinic states that a weight loss of one to pounds a week is the best way to lose weight, and to maintain that loss. A fad or intense diet can result in a fast weight loss, but it will be hard to keep it off.
Increase intensity of workouts gradually to reap the most benefits. Jumping into an intense workout can result in sore muscles, cramps and loss of motivation.
Slow and steady will always win the race, but doing an intense diet and exercise program short term for a special event is sometimes necessary.
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