Lose 25 pounds easily

What if I told you it was possible to lose 25lbs relatively easily? Do you even need to lose that much weight, maybe 10lbs is your goal – even better. Here’s a simple formula for you

Weight loss x time = Big change

It is possible to achieve huge weight losses over long periods of time with relative ease

Simple enough... half a pound of weight loss per week for a whole year equals 25 lbs – a huge difference. Multiply that by 2 or more years and you have a massive, awe inspiring goal. 1/2 pound a week is not difficult to achieve either – with the right strategies it can be almost unnoticeable – this would allow the occasional slip up/diet break throughout the year and still achieve our goal. The problem most people have is they set silly goals such as lose 20 pounds in a month – which is very difficult to do and not sustainable, although possible. Wouldn’t it be better so set a more realistic goal and give yourself a longer time to achieve it? I’m sure no one would mind being 25 pounds lighter at the end of the year, but how many people do you know actually achieve that kind of success? Could it be that people are setting goals that are too lofty, with too small a timeframe within which to achieve it?

10 years from now, if you are like most people, there is a massive chance that you will be much heavier than you are now. Why? Because the formula works in reverse too. Small weight gains multiplied over time make massive weight gains. We don’t notice the 2 pounds we put on in a year; we quickly brush it aside as the heavy meal the night before. But sometimes, that 2 pounds stays with us and we get a little too comfortable with it – no one noticed so it can’t be that bad. The problem is, 10 years also passes very quickly and we can easily be 20 lbs heavier as a result. But imagine the type of weightloss you could achieve in 10 years as opposed to what the average person does. Whilst they are gaining weight, you could be achieving small, sustainable weight losses.

Why don’t we do this then? Most people see weight loss in the wrong light. Their experiences of it from magazines and previous attempts have been gruelling hours on the treadmill and nothing but rabbit food. Whilst this would provide results, our body will quickly go into metabolic decline slowing our results, and our mental state would be awful as we dread the next workout session. This combination of slowed results, horrible food and massive cravings leads us to quickly abandon the diet. The problem was that the diet was not sustainable for long enough to see lasting results.

Most people see dieting as only eating rabbit food, like above. If only they knew

Here are two very different dieters.

• Dieter A picks up the latest fad book and cuts out all their foods. They lose 10lbs in the first week, 3 lbs in the next week and 2lbs third totalling 15lbs weight loss. After 3 weeks, they can’t stick the diet anymore, come off it and instantly gain back 7 pounds water weight, get more depressed and stuff more food in their mouth. At the end of 2 months, they are back to where they have started.

• Dieter B makes a small change and loses 1lb per week. As it is not so drastic and they are not exercising so hard or cutting too much food out, they find it is easier to maintain for a long time. After a year, it has simply become a part of their life, and they are now 30lbs lighter. They came off the wagon a couple of times so didn’t achieve the full 50lb weight loss expected, but they found it easy to get back on again.

Which one do you want to be? The quick fix nation, or the actual success story?

So how do we do this? 

How much weight do you need to lose really? 20 pounds? Do yourself the biggest favour you can and see this as a one year plan rather than a 2 month plan. If you have a holiday coming up and you need the quick fix, - go ahead. Do the fad extreme diet and lose 10 lbs (of water) in a week, but don’t go expecting to keep it off. If you’re serious about getting yourself in shape for the long haul, be sensible about it. Set a BIG goal – something that inspires you, but give yourself a realistic time period to achieve it.

In the last article we talked about possible energy needs to maintain your weight. Our average, semi active woman may need 2,000 calories to maintain her weight - this equals 14,000 calories per week. In order to lose 4lbs of fat per week we would need to eat literally nothing all week. Even then, there is no guarantee we would lose all fat – some would be muscle loss and as our metabolism slows down we would see a less weight come off – not to mention this would be impossible to maintain for more than a few days. So don’t set yourself a silly goal like this.

If your goal is to lose 20lbs, aim for 30lbs spread over a year. This accounts to about 2,000 calories less per week than maintenance. Use the following formula;

(Goal weight loss *5000) / 52

This will give you a realistic target of calories to cut from your maintenance level in order to achieve your goals in a year. Multiply this by 2 to do that goal in 6 months – but then also see how much more difficult it is to achieve, and decide whether it is do-able. 

So, set yourself a goal, make it inspiring enough that it excites you (5 pounds weight loss is not inspiring enough) but give yourself a long enough time span to achieve it – 6 months to a year. Factor in a little ‘fudge’ room for mistakes and diet breaks and you will be laughing at the end of a year. Remember how quickly a year passes, you will be kicking yourself if you are at the same weight (or heavier) again 12 months from now. Make a commitment to make a positive change today.