How to Lose 40 Pounds in 2 Months: Ultimate Guide
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You are two months away from a big event or a big trip, but your old jeans do not button up. Whether you want to fit into your old jeans or lose weight for a big event, the desire to lose weight is understandable.
There are numerous weight loss options, and the journey can be challenging, but this article will explain how to lose 40 pounds in 2 months.
Most people shy away from fast weight loss because of the work they need to put in. Spoiler alert: you will not lose 40 pounds from diet alone; you need to exercise a lot as well. If you follow the tips in this article, a trip to the mall to buy smaller clothes will be on your schedule.
2-Month Weight Loss: Is It Healthy?
Losing 40 pounds in two months is not a healthy goal. Research suggests that a healthy weight loss rate is between 1 to 2 pounds a week. It would help if you had a balanced diet that sustains your weight loss routine before you get to that goal.
Losing 40 pounds in 2 months is no easy feat as it equates to roughly losing 4.5 pounds a week. This is on the high end of the weight scale and will undoubtedly require you to push yourself to the limits.
The catch 22 is that your body will need calories to fuel an intense workout routine for such rapid weight loss, and you might not be eating enough to meet that demand.
If you still want to lose 40 pounds in 2 months, there is a healthy way to do it, and you can check the ideas listed in this article after discussing them with your doctor.
How to Lose 40 Pounds in 2 Months: 5 Simple Steps
It is not too late to make those changes you desire and get to your weight goal. Losing 40 pounds in 2 months is an aggressive goal, but it is not out of the question. Below are simple steps to help you lose weight faster.
#1 Move more
Any form of exercise speeds up the weight loss process. Exercise increases your heart rate and consequently speeds up metabolism.
However, if you want to lose more weight, gravitating towards the treadmill alone will not get you to your weight goals. You have to incorporate strength training.
With strength training, you will build more lean muscle mass, which is essential because the more muscle mass you have, the more calories you burn while at rest.
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This is not just one more restrictive diet that you can usually find on the market. Instead of following strict rules, Perfect Body helps you find balance and form healthy habits.
#2 Reduce your calorie intake
A healthy calorie restriction is one of the best ways to lose weight. To create a calorie deficit, you need to cut off added sugar and processed foods and embrace a low-carb diet.
You also need to reduce your intake of starchy vegetables and some fruits.Another way to create a calorie deficit is through intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting diets preserve calorie deficit through low-calorie dieting.
The best personal intermittent fasting assistant for weight loss is DoFasting. The DoFasting app offers a customised fasting schedule to help people meet their weight goals.
The app also offers access to healthy meal recommendations and professional nutritionists that guarantee healthy weight loss.
The app educates and motivates you during your weight loss journey. It also features unique 7-, 14-, and 28-day fasting challenges that will help you form stronger and healthier habits. As an accountability partner, it enables you to stay consistent and persistent on your weight loss journey.
The DoFasting app also has a calorie tracker to help you effortlessly count calories. This way, you will spend less time figuring out what to eat and how much to eat.
The app has three pricing plans: the 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month plan. The 3-month plan costs $78 (£69), the 6-month programme costs $104 (£91.50), and the price of the 12-month plan is $268 (£236).
#3 Avoid fad diets
Fad diets are the worst approach to losing weight. They promote quick weight loss without accounting for your body’s nutritional requirements.
A number of these diets claim that some hormones are to blame for gaining weight and that food can change body chemistry. These diets are not well researched and are more detrimental than beneficial in the long term.
These hype foods eliminate certain ingredients such as lectin and protein sources like grains. Other fad diets, like a soup, smoothie, or juice diet, may include drastic changes.
Most of the initial weight loss achieved through fad diets can be attributed to the loss of water weight. Healthy weight loss is gradual. Most of these proposed diets offer a quick fix, but the lost pounds are regained quickly.
#4 Eat whole foods
The food you eat is critical to your weight loss management. A balanced diet gives your body the necessary nutrients to keep your body healthy.
A balanced diet also means avoiding too much of some foods while ensuring you get enough of others. Start by stocking up healthy foods such as low-fat dairy, lean meat, fresh produce, and whole grains.
Limit your intake of “empty foods,” the ones that are high in calories but low in nutrients. Choose foods high in fiber and protein. It would be best to choose foods from different food groups in every meal.
#5 Find a support group
Support groups are an excellent resource for encouragement and accountability as they help you push forward towards your weight loss goal. They also help you achieve long-term success by lending you a hand in keeping off the excess pounds you lost and staying healthy.
Joining a support group also normalises and eases the whole weight loss process as you can witness and hear what other people with problems similar to yours have gone through.
There are numerous local and online support groups you can join from the comfort of your home. In these groups, you will find the desired support necessary to actualise your weight loss goals.
2-Month Diet Plan: What You Need to Know
The first step in a weight loss plan is checking your diet. You need to eat enough healthy and whole foods to provide your body with the optimal nutrition it needs.
It would help if you were on a calorie deficit to lose fat. According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the recommended calorie intake to lose 40 pounds is 1,200 to 1,600 daily.
As stated by the calorie needs above, you need three meals of about 350–500 calories a day and an additional 100-calorie snack. You should include as many food groups as possible in your diet to satisfy your diet requirements.
It would be best if you could make the following adjustments to your diet.
#1 Green tea
Green tea contains caffeine, a well-known stimulant that improves exercise performance and helps in fat burning.
For your body to burn fat, it first breaks down fat cells and moves them to your bloodstream. Green tea boosts fat-burning hormones such as noradrenaline, thus promoting fat loss.
Your body constantly burns calories even when you’re sitting down or sleeping. When you drink green tea, it increases your metabolism and helps you burn more calories at rest. Green tea helps you burn an additional 4% calories a day.
Another way green tea aids weight loss is by reducing your appetite, and theoretically speaking, this effortlessly lowers your calorie intake.
#2 Cut the sugar
When limiting your food intake aiming to lose 40 pounds, you need to consider healthy options such as cutting off sugar. It would also help if you could determine empty calories from sodas, sweets, and pastry as they have no nutritional value.
If you crave sugar, you can use natural sweeteners instead. Staying off the sugar helps you lose weight in a comparatively shorter time.
#3 Do it yourself: 100-calorie snacks
A snack serving gives you an energy boost and helps control hunger pangs, and it is also an excellent way of eating more fruits and vegetables. Great snack ideas include sliced carrots, cucumbers, and celery.
#4 Do not skip meals
Skipping meals is counterproductive, and it does not help you lose weight faster. Going into starvation mode leads to extreme hunger, excess food consumption, and weight gain.
Every meal plays a vital role in a weight loss plan.
Your first meal — breakfast — should be a priority. A healthy option for breakfast might include non-fat milk, a banana, and two slices of toast.
People tend to consume the same amounts of food each day. For sustainable weight loss, you need to fill up on lunch but reduce your calorie intake. Lunch helps keep your metabolism active.
You can keep yourself full while reducing your calorie intake by eating more healthy protein sources such as chicken breast, fruits, vegetables, and other lean protein sources. These foods are low in calories but have large portion servings.
At around 4 to 5 in the afternoon, you can have a healthy amount of snacks such as digestive crackers, low-fat snacks, an apple, banana, or green tea.
Dinner is your last meal of the day, and it should be lighter than other meals. This is because your activity gradient reduces at the end of the day.
Skipping dinner is not an option as it creates a big gap between dinner and breakfast. This can make you feel hungry, causing increased appetite, heartburn, and insomnia. Eat correct portions and ensure you eat your dinner at least three hours before bed.
While on a diet to lose 40 pounds, you should be cautious about your carbohydrate intake. Check your carbohydrate intake before consuming food of any kind. Try to stick to a low carbohydrate intake of 10 to 20 grams a day.
Some low-carb food sources include chicken breast, fish, other lean meats, egg whites, most vegetables such as spinach and broccoli, and most fruits like apples and oranges. Avoid processed, fried, and fast food.
5 Side Effects of Losing Weight Too Fast
It is normal to desire to lose weight fast, but losing it at a slow and steady pace is better. Studies show that people who quickly lose weight are unlikely to keep it off in the long term and are exposed to more health risks. Below are the dangers associated with losing weight too fast.
#1 Dehydration
It is common to see a slightly faster weight loss rate during the first two weeks due to the loss of water mass. However, rapid water loss causes dehydration, coupled with other side effects like constipation, muscle cramps, headaches, and low energy.
Ensure your weight loss plan focuses on hydration. Track your water intake and make certain you are getting enough electrolytes.
#2 Hair loss
Restrictive diets and sudden weight loss can cause hair loss. This is mainly due to nutritional deficiencies that are often imposed by a restrictive diet.
Restrictive diets cut out entire food groups, and a diet low in amino acids, which are the basic building blocks of protein, affects the production of keratin, the main structural protein for hair growth.
#3 Nutritional deficiency
Rapid weight loss can cause nutritional deficiencies within days or weeks. Some of these nutritional deficiencies can affect appetite, energy levels, and immunity, and even cause hair loss.
You should therefore see your doctor if you experience nutritional deficiencies. Experienced dieticians can also show you corrective measures that you can take to deal with dietary deficiencies.
Nutrient-rich foods containing healthy fats
Early symptoms of nutritional deficiencies include fatigue, palpitations, general body weakness, loss of balance, difficulties in eye movements, sore tongue, and muscle cramps. If you have these symptoms, see your doctor for medical advice.
#4 Not sustainable (yo-yo dieting)
Yo-yo dieting or weight cycling is one of the side effects of rapid weight loss. It is a pattern of losing weight and rapidly regaining it.
Effects of yo-yo dieting
Yo-yo dieting leads to increased appetite, which ultimately leads to gaining weight over time. It also increases the percentage of body fat and puts people at a higher risk of obesity.
This weight cycling also magnifies the chances of contracting diabetes and heart attack. It can also cause depression once you see all the weight you worked hard to lose rebounding back. Rapid weight loss is therefore not sustainable — the best solution is slow but sure weight loss.
#5 Fertility problems
Research suggests that by losing weight rapidly, obese ladies trying to have a baby may harm rather than improve their chances of conceiving.
Losing weight at an unhealthy rate causes irregular menstruation, dehydration, and electrolyte imbalance. This also causes hormonal imbalance and hurts chances of conception for would-be moms.
A Word from Our RD
Rapid weight loss plans can be quick and easy, but they are not sustainable. Fad diets and supplements promise to speed up the weight loss process, but instead, they deny the body of necessary nutrients for growth.
A healthy weight loss rate is 1 to 2 pounds a week, and a faster rate than this can lead to underlying health problems such as gallstones, dehydration, irritability, headaches, and electrolyte imbalances.
To tell the truth, rapid weight loss can have ill effects, but so does obesity. It’s obvious that people trying to lose weight face many dilemmas.
We can say with confidence that the only proven path to safe weight loss is a low-calorie diet combined with regular exercise. See your doctor first to work out an effective and long-term weight loss plan.
Conclusion
Losing 40 pounds in 2 months is an uphill task. However, successful long-term weight management requires a lifestyle change. If you want long-term success, you need to have an honest look at your exercise routine and eating patterns.
Weight loss can be challenging, but gradual change in habits and attitude will help you move beyond challenges that set you back. Stay calm and patient on your weight loss journey to avoid getting frustrated, and the results will be worth the effort.
If you don’t know how to efficiently and safely lose weight, dieting apps can be a good start.
Easy to follow online weight loss plan
- Swappable ingredients in the recipes
- Includes more than 1,000 recipes
- Meals with quick preparation times
- Water intake & workout trackers
- Easy-to-find ingredients
- Adjustable plans based on your progress
- Daily caloric intake tracker
Edibel Quintero is a medical doctor who graduated in 2013 from the University of Zulia and has been working in her profession since then. She specializes in obesity and nutrition, physical rehabilitation, sports massage and post-operative rehabilitation. Edibel's goal is to help people live healthier lives by educating them about food, exercise, mental wellness and other lifestyle choices that can improve their quality of life.
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