While it is possible to lose 10 pounds in less than two weeks, there is no ‘one size fits all’ remedy for weight loss, and our bodies react differently to diets and exercise regimes.
While entirely dependent on your genetics, medical conditions, gender, and starting weight, the key to weight loss comes down to a combination of three things. They are cutting down calories, increasing physical activity, and getting enough sleep.
Let’s look at some interesting facts and tips to lose 10 pounds in less than two weeks.
Go on daily walks or do HIIT workouts
The key to losing weight is to burn more calories than you consume. Unsurprisingly, engaging in ongoing exercise, is one of the safest ways to lose weight.
Besides burning calories, exercise is known to improve your overall mood and well-being, making you more likely to continue your exercise routine.
Walking is one of the simplest yet highly rewarding ways to improve your core strength and burn calories. It is a low impact activity and won’t tire you out.
According to Harvard Health, the average person weighing 155 pounds burns 149 calories on a 30-minute walk (at about 3.5 miles an hour).
High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a type of high-intensity cardio, as the name suggests. Promising one of the most effective workouts in the least amount of time, HIIT involves repetition between short and intense exercise sets followed by a recovery period. This conditioning workout is proven to be one of the fastest ways to burn calories and boost your metabolism.
Three HIIT sessions per week are enough to burn some severe fat. Because of the intense nature of this training, your body needs time to recover in between workouts.
Try to balance your HIIT workout days with Pilates and yoga classes. These toning activities help maintain your core strength while stretching your ligaments and muscles, preparing you for more intense cardio.
While HIIT is a great way to lose 10 pounds in under two weeks, those with heart conditions or arthritic joints should take care not to overshoot their limits.
Low carb vegetables are your friend
Increasing your intake of low carbohydrate vegetables is one of the best diet changes one can make to lose 10 pounds quickly.
So, which vegetables have a low carb concentration? As a general trend, vegetables that grow above the ground are low in carbohydrates. In contrast, root vegetables that grow underground have a high carb content.
Low carb vegetables include all leafy green family members, including spinach, lettuces, and herbs. Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, and brussels sprouts are other great options.
Cauliflower can even be cooked to substitute as a rice or mash dish. Avocadoes, asparagus, green beans, and zucchinis are equally as nutritious and low in carb content.
Click here to see 21 of the best low carb vegetables.
Detox from complex carbs
While carbohydrates are an essential macronutrient needed by the human body, differentiating between healthy and complex carbs are necessary for your weight loss journey.
Although rich in dietary fiber, complex carbs are calorie-heavy and take longer to burn off with exercise.
Many of us think of pasta, bread, and cake when it comes to complex carbs. However, they can be found in fruit, vegetables, and other legumes too.
Here are some examples of complex carbs:
- Bread, grains, and pasta
- Breakfast cereals
- Cakes and baked foods
- Starchy vegetables
- Beans and legumes
- Sweets and dried fruit
Avoid processed sugars
Processed sugars are a significant barrier for many weight loss journeys. Refined sugars are found in most baked goods, pre-packaged meals, sauces, and condiments sold at supermarkets.
Refined sugar is derived from heavily processed sugar cane and corn plants. Keep an eye out for the words sucrose, glucose, and fructose on nutritional labels, as these are all guises of processed sugars.
The easiest way to cut these sugars out is to cook your food at home. By avoiding pre-cooked meals and cooking from scratch, you will be able to control exactly what you put into your food.
Keep your salt intake to a minimum
While a stable salt level is essential to maintain a balance of fluids in your body, consuming too much salt will bloat you while stimulating your appetite and thirst.
The CDC recommends limiting your salt intake to about 2.3g per day. It is advised to carefully read the labels of your food to ensure you aren’t over-consuming salt.
Just like processed sugars, sodium is most commonly found in processed and pre-packaged food.
A recent study by Jens Titze revealed how a high salt intake increases one’s appetite for food, indirectly leading to weight gain. Put, the more salt we eat, the more food we crave.
Eat more protein
Protein is the most critical nutrient for those aiming to lose weight quickly. As with all nutritional needs, the amount of protein you require depends on your body type, age, weight, and the activities you engage in.
Calculate how much protein you need for your body type here.
So, how does protein affect your weight? Digesting and metabolizing protein-rich food burns a lot of calories.
Replacing high carb foods with protein suppresses your appetite while burning calories. In this sense, a high protein diet leads to reduced hunger and cravings and increased satisfaction.
Meat, fish, and eggs are known as the most common protein-rich foods. However, plant-based proteins can be equally as rich in the nutrient and are more easily digested and metabolized. Take a look at the 15 top plant-based proteins.
Drink a lot of water
Those who keep sweetened tea, juice or soda by their side throughout the day should replace the contents of their glass with H2O.
Although it won’t have a considerable weight loss effect on its own, water provides your body with added energy for exercising. Here are a few weight loss benefits of drinking water:
- Water naturally suppresses your appetite while stimulating your metabolism
- Ensures proper digestion and removes body waste, saving additional energy for metabolizing more food
- It improves motivation, reduces stress, and energizes muscles, influencing your ability to maintain a healthy diet and exercise regularly.
- Maintains your fluid balance and hydration levels while keeping you feeling satisfied and full for longer
According to Harvard Health, the average adult should drink between 4-6 cups of water each day. A study by Dias and Alias mentions how fruit and vegetable juices, herbal teas, and milk also contribute to your daily water intake.
Get more sleep
- Adequate sleep helps you to rebuild and conserve your energy for when it’s most needed. Depriving yourself of sleep leaves your body with little energy to digest and metabolize your food fast enough.
- A lack of sleep means an increased appetite. When ghrelin hormones are released, we feel hungry. When Leptin hormones are released, we feel full and satisfied.
Without enough sleep, the balance between these hormones is disturbed, and we produce more ghrelin than leptin.
- When we sleep, our bodies produce insulin. Insulin is a hormone that converts the sugars and starches that we consume into energy. When we lose sleep, our insulin levels drop, and our sugars and starches are stored in fat deposits instead.
- Sleep deprivation increases the release of the stress hormone cortisol. Stress is commonly associated with a boosted appetite, especially in females.
Sticking to a vague sleep schedule is a great way to ensure you get enough sleep and have sufficient time in your day to cook, eat, and exercise.
Make a commitment
As with any life goal or decision, it’s essential to make a substantial commitment to yourself when you decide to lose 10 pounds in less than two weeks.
Track your calories
Tracking your calories is useful if you’re unaware of the calorie content of the food you eat. While this is a great way to monitor your diet, it’s equally important not to obsess over counting the calories you consume.
Keeping a food journal has proven useful for staying accountable for what you eat. Those who keep journals are more likely to understand how their bodies react to certain foods. Alternatively, download a food tracking app such as MyFitnessPal.
Conclusion
As with most diet or lifestyle regimes, each person’s body may respond and react to things differently. The results you experience are dependent on a variety of factors.
Balance is key, and it’s essential to know your own body’s limits before committing to a lifestyle changing diet.