A program that promises weight loss in one month may sound too good to be true. But losing weight in one month is doable. The main question is how much weight can you lose in one month. In this post, let’s talk about what habits to kickstart your weight loss journey in 30 days and to keep it off.
Keep reading to know more.
Before talking about the habits that can help you start your weight loss journey, let’s talk about how much weight can you healthily lose in one month.
Weight Loss in One Month: What’s the Magic Number?
A healthy weight loss is about one to two pounds a week. In that case, you can lose up to 8 pounds of weight in one month.
This is a modest weight loss but it can provide big benefits.
When you lose at least 5% of your total body weight can already improve your blood pressure, blood sugar, and blood cholesterol.
Although you can lose more than 8 pounds of weight per month, you should not practice those quick-weight-loss methods.
Keep in mind that if you rapidly lose weight, you can’t stay it off in the long term.
Now, what habits you must follow to help you start your weight loss journey?
1. Count Calories
I know, it’s time-consuming. But trust me on this. If you don’t count your calorie intake, you’ll be eating more calories than your body burns.
You may use Lose It to help you get started on counting calories. This is also an ideal app if you’re following one of the intermittent fasting methods.
Read: What is the best intermittent fasting schedule for weight loss?
Now, how many calories you must eat every day to lose weight?
It depends on your age and current weight. When you use Lose It, it will suggest calorie intake based on the data you entered.
When you enter your information, though, make sure that it’s the truth.
You must avoid entering less than your current weight. Don’t lie about your age, too. Keep in mind that your ability to lose weight also depends on your age.
The older you are, the more difficult it is to shed some pounds.
2. Get Adequate Sleep
If you have less than 8 hours of sleep each night, you experience grogginess. You also feel lethargic.
Less sleep is also linked to higher levels of ghrelin, which is the hunger hormone. Do you notice that when you have less sleep, you tend to feel hungry every hour?
That’s the ghrelin talking.
How much sleep you need depends on your body. However, it’s highly recommended to get at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night.
In my case, I need at least 7 hours. Otherwise, my concentration is low and I tend to eat a lot the following day.
If you find it difficult to sleep at night, try these remedies. You may also avoid digital screens an hour before bedtime. Or you may drink herbal teas that help you relax.
And make sure to avoid coffee a few hours before bedtime. It’s especially true if you are highly sensitive to caffeine.
3. Exercise
When you have enough sleep at night, you have the energy to get your heart rate up. Another habit you need to form now is getting regular exercise.
The recommended exercise is 2.5 hours to 5 hours of moderate-intensity activity.
You may think that the only exercise you can do to lose weight is cardio training, but you’re wrong. Cardio isn’t the only workout you need to shed pounds.
Muscle strengthening is also an ideal form of exercise to lose weight.
And make sure that you don’t do the same workouts every day. Instead, perform a variety of exercises each week.
If you’re not sure what type of exercise to follow every week, you can focus on walking. You don’t need Zumba or strenuous exercises just to lose weight.
Walking every day for 30 minutes can help boost your fat-burning ability. You can go for a brisk walk or a slow jog.
This form of exercise can increase your heart rate by 77 percent.
4. Reduce Carb Intake
The key here is to reduce and not avoid. You still need carbs but complex ones. Eating fewer carbs every day can help you lose weight.
When you have dinner with your friends, you can opt for cauliflower rice instead of the breadbasket. Or choose chickpea pasta instead of wheat pasta.
But if the place where you’re dining with your family and friends doesn’t have such alternatives, you can just choose healthier alternatives, like vegetable salad.
You may also try a ketogenic diet. It’s a weight-loss method that focuses on eating healthy fats and low carbs. Then, when you pair ketogenic with intermittent fasting, you’ll get decent weight loss in one month.
Can You Exercise on Ketosis Diet?
However, when it comes to a keto diet, you need to consult with your healthcare provider. It’s especially true if you have a certain medical condition.
5. Eat Protein
One thing about protein is that you’ll feel full for longer hours. I notice that when I eat hard-boiled eggs at 6 am, I don’t feel hungry at 9 am. I can go on with my day without snacks.
That’s because protein doesn’t only boost metabolism but it also helps you feel full. However, if you follow a keto diet, you should eat a moderate amount of protein.
Keep in mind that when you eat a lot of protein, it can be converted to glucose, which cancels out your purpose of doing keto.
6. Avoid Sauces and Condiments
A 15-gram mayonnaise, for instance, has 120 calories. And if you choose to add more for your bread or vegetable salad, the calories can easily add up.
Thus, cut it out of your diet along with ranch dressing, source cream, and melted butter. Those much-loved sauces and condiments can ruin your weight loss goal.
Summary
Kickstarting your weight loss in one month is easy if you follow the aforementioned habits. But when you start your journey, make sure to be kind to yourself. And opt for a health plan that you can stick with for the rest of your life.
Jane is a licensed medical technologist who bridges the gap between clinical precision and digital innovation. While her formal background is rooted in the meticulous world of laboratory science, her passion lies in the logic of software development. When she isn’t analyzing data or writing clean, efficient code, you can find her on the golf course, applying that same focus and discipline to her swing.
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