Are you wondering how to lose 10 pounds in 3 weeks, but the problem if you don’t know which diet you should go on? It can be very tough if you don’t know which direction to take. With many types of diets around these days you can find yourself spinning in circles all day. I like to keep things really simple, and not focus on any particular diet, but follow certain fundamentals. Here are a few tips that you can use to lose weight in a few weeks (or maybe a month):

Figure out the math

It really comes down to this: you need to burn more calories than you consume. I use the starting point of 12 x my body weight to get my level of daily calories needed to lose about 1-3 pounds a week. I remember reading once that it takes about 1500 calories burned to burn a pound of fat. So if you set yourself in a deficit of 500 calories per day then you’ll lose a pound almost every 3 days. If you want to lose 10 pounds in three weeks, then that’s 15,000 calories you would need to burn. That’s about 700 calories burned per day. Remember, don’t think of this as solid fact, because I’m not totally sure of how correct it is, but I like to use it as a good guideline. If you’re currently not on a diet you’ll probably lose a lot of weight in the first week; this is because your body has been holding onto extra water. Don’t become discouraged if you don’t see a decrease in weight loss after the first week – this is normal.

Eat Natural Foods

If all the food you’re eating comes in a package you most likely shouldn’t be eating it to lose weight. Stick to fresh foods that are high in protein/carbohydrates and low in fat. A gram of fat contains 9 calories while a gram of protein or carbs contains 4 calories. Less calories in your meals = more calories you’ll burn. Good sources of proteins include chicken breast (stay away from chicken wings), turkey breast, eggs and egg whites (whole eggs have great nutritional value, but be careful of the fat content), cottage cheese, and whey protein. Excellent sources of carbs include raw oats (for a natural no calorie sweetener go with stevia), red potatoes, brown rice, beans, and of course green vegetables.

Weight Training

I like to lift weights at least 3-4 times per week. Not only is it good for your strength and muscles – it burns a lot of calories! When you lift weights your body requires nutrition to repair itself so there is a lot less chance of it being stored as fat. Not only will you start to lose weight, you’ll start to feel stronger and better.

Cardio

I also like to perform cardio 4-5 times per week. It’s great for your heart, and burns extra calories. One thing you will want to avoid is choosing cardio over weight training. Weight training should be most important when trying to lose weight.

Get At Least 8 Hours of Sleep

Sleep is very important. You want to get at least 8 hours of sleep. Your body needs to recover. The more you sleep the more easily you’ll find the weight comes off. I’m not sure if this is true for everyone, but try not to over sleep. I know when I sleep in (12-13 hours of sleep haha) I feel sluggish throughout the day, and drink more coffee than usual.

Find Your Motivation

Figure out why you are trying to lose weight in the first place. Is it because you just want to become healthier to avoid health problems? Are you trying to fit in smaller clothes? Do you want six pack abs? Whatever the reason, figure it out and every time you find yourself falling off track remind yourself why you are doing this in the first place.

I also find that it helps if you write everything down. Think of this as a competition (or you could join an actual competition! They have them on most forums), and write down your  beginning measurements with your goals a month down the road. You’ll find that you’ll be able to stay on track much more easily. Write down all the foods that you eat during the day. Remember, it will all be worth it in the end! You’ll then be able to show your friends how to lose 10 pounds in 3 weeks just like you did.

Drink Less Beer

Beer is very high in calories, and by having about 5-6 beers you’re looking at over 700 calories. That’s about 2 full meals for an average person. For every 1500 calories less you consume that’s about 1lb of weight lost. Those beers can really add up!

Have a Solid Nutrition Plan

Nutrition is very important if you want to lose a beer belly. Actually, I would say it’s about 90% of the battle. The amount of calories you consume in a day will be a major determinant if you lose weight or if you gain weight. Of course you want to be on the losing side. You will want to eat all natural foods such as chicken, turkey, extra lean ground beef, brown rice, red potatoes, and oatmeal. I think the most important thing is to eat about 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight a day. If I weigh 200lbs then I make sure that I eat 200 grams of protein throughout the day. I eat 6 meals a day, so I would need to eat 33 grams of protein per meal. To get an idea of how much calories are in each of these foods check out this food calorie list. So the next question is most likely “How much should I eat in a day?” There are many formulas that will tell you how much you should eat in a day to lose weight, but honestly everybody is different so it’s always best to choose a starting point and test from there. I usually start at 12 times my body weight, and decrease calories by about 200-500 if I don’t see any progress after 1-2 weeks.

Keep Track of Your Progress

This is a very important step that should not be skipped. It is very important to keep track of your progress. So what is the best way to do this? Take your measurements. Your waist, hip, arm, etc. measurements are more important than what the scale says your weight is. If you lost 10 pounds, but your waist measurement barely moved then this isn’t a good sign of progress – you are probably losing too much lean mass instead of fat mass. If you lost 10 pounds, but also lost 2-3″ off your waist then this is a very good sign!

Work Out At Least 3 Times a Week

At the minimum you should be working out with weights about 3 times a week. I would recommend to also perform 3-4 sessions of cardio in a week. Next you might be wondering what type of cardio you should be doing. It really doesn’t matter. Choose what you enjoy doing. As long as your heart rate is up, your sweating, and enjoy it then it’s worth while. The next question is “How long should my cardio session be?” I would say if you’re doing a very moderate intensity then about 45 minutes. If you’re performing high intensity then about 20 minutes. Personally, I enjoy 3-4 sessions per week on the elliptical, moderate intensity for 40-45 minutes. If I can fit in 4 cardio sessions in a week then I really notice the fat start to burn. The most important thing is to make sure you perform your weight training. If you have to miss one day of the week, then I would choose to skip a cardio session.

Using these tips you will soon find out how to lose a beer belly. The most important thing here is consistency. You have to dedicate yourself to this 100%, and don’t look back. If you find yourself falling back into your old habits ask yourself if it’s really worth it. When I find myself falling off track I ask myself if I would rather have a good body or pleasure of one meal/beer. This usually puts me back on track pretty quick.

You might be wondering “Why am I gaining weight when I’m trying to lose it? I eat healthy and exercise, but the weight isn’t coming off!” There could be several reasons this is happening, but don’t get discouraged. With a couple of changes you might find what’s holding you back from losing weight.

So to answer the question “Why am I gaining weight?”

One of the major reasons is because you are probably eating too many calories in a day. Even though you may be eating all natural healthy foods, too much of it will cause you to either gain muscle or store fat. If you are not weight training, then it is most likely turning into stored fat (which is not what we want when trying to lose weight!)

A good start would be to lower your calorie intake by about 500 calories. Not sure how many calories you are eating in a day? Start tracking. This is the only way you will know. It will also help you to stay motivated when trying to lose weight. It has proven successful for me many times. It only takes a few minutes out of your day, and the results are great.

The next reason may be because you’re not eating the right foods. Stay away from high fat foods such as regular ground beef. The high fat content really adds a lot of calories (9 calories per gram compared to 4 calories per gram of carbohydrates) Eat lean proteins such as chicken and turkey. Eat good carb sources such as brown rice, red potatoes and oats. Stay away from foods with a lot of preservatives. By simply eating all natural foods you notice a big difference – not only in your weight loss, but you’ll notice you have a lot more energy throughout the day.

Another reason is you might not be getting enough sleep. Getting enough sleep is very important for fat loss. Make changes in your life so you are able to get a full 7-8 hours of sleep per night. This can change your weight loss results drastically. Again you will notice that you will start losing weight, and have a lot more energy throughout the day.

There are many other possible reasons why you might be gaining weight instead of losing it, but try these few tips out, and you’ll probably find that the weight starts to come off. Soon you’ll stop asking yourself “Why am I gaining weight” and be thinking “Wow! The weight is finally coming off.”

Everyone is always finding different ways to lose weight fast. It is possible, but if you have never been in a cutting stage before (losing body fat while maintaining muscle mass) you will find that it is very difficult to lose weight. You find that the pizza in the fridge is very tempting – you know you shouldn’t reach for it, but you reach for it and eat it anyways. Oops – there goes the diet. It takes practice just like everything else in life. We as humans are made lazy, and very tempted by the easy ways out, and we have to change that!

Now a lot lately you’ve been hearing that you should change your ‘lifestyle’ instead of going on a diet. If you want to lose weight fast you’re going to have to do both. Yes, change your lifestyle and include a diet to lose weight.

Changing your lifestyle

Changing your lifestyle includes not being tempted to go out to eat with your friends for pizza. It means incorporating a weight lifting routine into your day, and cardio activity 3-5 times a week for at least 30 minutes each session. It means eating whole natural foods – chicken, beef, eggs, broccoli, beans, asparagus, rice, sweet potatoes, green beans…you know the healthy stuff your mom always told you to eat. If you really want to lower your body fat low enough so that you can get the sculpted look, changing your lifestyle won’t be enough. You will have to incorporate a diet to burn fat.

Diet to lose weight

The best way to find out how much you need to eat in a day to lose weight is by trial in error. Now, why can’t there just be some magical number? It’s due to that everybody’s body is different, and so the needs are different. There is a starting point that you should start at:

bodyweight in lb x 12 = calorie level to start at

Eat at that level for the first week. You will probably notice a big loss during the first week – that’s ok. Continue at that rate for another week.

If you lost 1-2lb – stay at that level of calories
If you lost more than 2lb – Increase your calorie intake by 500 calories
If you didn’t lose anything or gained weight – lower your calorie intake by 500 calories

Eat 5-6 Meals A Day

This is the number one reason why I believe people fail at losing fat. I will admit it is hard to eat 5-6 times a day, but it is important to keep your metabolism efficiently burning calories. We have always been taught to eat 3 round meals per day, but what happens is that is too much space between meals. Your body begins to think that you are starving. Your body’s metabolism will begin to slow down.

You will want to keep your meals in a proportion of 40% proteins, 40% carbs, and 20% fats.

Perform Intense Weight Training At Least 3 Times A Week

Having a solid weight training routine will help you burn fat in the future. Adding muscle to your body requires you to expend more energy – hence burn more calories to maintain that muscle. The more lean muscle tissue you have the more calories you will burn at rest.

Perform Cardio 3-5 Times A Week

Whether you have 20 minutes a day to do cardio or if you have 40 minutes you have to incorporate cardio. Cardio makes you lose fat faster while you can eat more. Yes – eat more. You can either choose to do short (20-30 minutes) intense sessions or long (40-1 hour) moderate intensity sessions. I would recommend long moderate intensity sessions.

When I’m trying to cut down my body fat I like to do fasted cardio in the morning, moderate intensity for 40-60 minutes, 4-5 times a week. Doing this helped me go from 13.8% (186.6lb) to 11% (172lb) body fat in a month’s time.

Get Motivated

Always set goals. If you’re trying to lose weight without goals your on a trip without a map. You’ll end up lost in the forest with your tires stuck in the mud. Until you set a goal on how much body fat you want to lose you will unlikely see results. Set practical real goals. Be specific, and write it down. As human beings we need reason. When it’s written down you will do whatever it takes to achieve your goals. When you don’t have it written down you will give yourself reasons not to eat healthy or going to the gym.

Don’t Stop Drinking

Water is very important to losing weight. It is used in every physiological process in your body. You want to drink at least 1 gallon of water a day. Try to shoot for 2 gallons. If you don’t make it to 2 gallons and drank 1.5 gallons than you drank more than most of the population. What’s the best way to do this? Bring water wherever you go – next to the tv, to the gym, at your desk, in your car, next to your bed at night, everywhere.

Using these simple tips you will be able to maximize your fat loss while maintaining muscle.

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Hugo’s Rules For Getting Lean In 8 Weeks!