How to Lose 40 Pounds Without Starving

No matter the amount of weight you want to lose, weight loss takes time and patience. For those who are looking to lose weight in smaller quantities to make their much larger goal easier to meet, losing 40 pounds may be the first hurdle.

Most experts suggest that despite the amount of weight you lose, in order to be healthy, you should shoot for no more than 2 pounds a week. Losing weight too quickly can result in a lot of adverse side effects such as fatigue and muscle loss.

In order to lose weight at this level, you have to choose a diet plan that limits your calorie intake yet does not starve you. To make your weight loss journey successful, you need to find a good diet. So what is a good diet? A diet that is focused on you eating healthy foods that are nutrient-dense but low in calories is what most experts suggest.

But your diet isn’t the only thing that needs to be adjusted for you to lose those 40 pounds. You will have to make some lifestyle changes that include adding exercise into your daily routine. 

There is a lot to consider, so we thought we would help you out by creating a quick guide. This guide will be full of suggestions that should help you lose that weight easily and in a healthy way.

How Long Does It Take to Lose 40 Pounds?

Being consistent with your health and lifestyle changes should allow you to lose 1 to 2 pounds per week. Considering that you may lose more than that in the first two weeks, thanks to the reduction of water weight, you’re looking at approximately 5 months until you reach that goal. 

Men and women may have different timetables, but if you take your health into your own hands and utilize some of the tips below, you should be able to reach that goal in the same timeframe.

Tips on How to Lose 40 Pounds

One of the most important lifestyle changes you will have to make is adjusting your eating habits and getting active in your life. Making a few adjustments will make your weight loss easier. So here are a few tips and suggestions that helped a lot of people on their journey to creating effective weight loss plans:

#1 Try intermittent fasting

Intermittent fasting doesn’t limit you to particular food but rather when you can eat. Your eating windows can be set up to be daily or weekly.

For instance, you may fast every day by choosing to set up a schedule where all meals from lunch to dinner fit within a 12-hour eating window.

You might also eat regularly throughout the week but fast two times a week for the entire day. People who choose this option select two days and fast for the entire 24-hour period.

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#2 Eat regular meals

The biggest rule when it comes to losing weight is that you have to eat fewer calories than you expend during your day. But that doesn’t mean you should skip meals. After all, you can still manage a calorie deficit and still eat.

It is important not to cut your calories so much that your body craves food. By not eating regular meals, you might be cutting calories, but you will also be signaling your body to start looking for food to satiate itself.  

The amount of calories that every person will need for weight loss depends on many different factors. Not everyone will have the same amount, and this is because of things such as age, sex, height, body weight, and activity level.

On average, both men and women can lose weight successfully by limiting their calories to between 1,200 and 1,600 calories per day. This means if you’re looking to lose 40 pounds, you should build a weight loss plan that includes 3 meals of between 350 and 500 calories and one 100-calorie snack.

#3 Use smaller plates

In order to manage a significant drop in weight, you have to train yourself to be full-on what you are taking in. Sometimes this comes from eating nutrient-dense and filling things, and other times it can be done by using mental tricks.

One of the best mental tricks you can do is utilizing smaller plates. By using a smaller plate, your mind feels that you have been eating more food and therefore leads your brain to send signals to your stomach that it is full.

#4 Drink plenty of water

It might be so simple in the morning to reach for that second cup of black coffee. But this caffeine fix is not helping with your hydration. Hydration is something that is super important when trying to lose weight.

Many studies have shown that people who drink multiple glasses of water before a meal tend to eat less. This, of course, means they are taking in fewer calories, and that will assist them in maintaining their weight loss goals.

There is also significant proof that sometimes when you feel like you’re hungry, you are actually just thirsty. So drinking more water can help with weight loss and ensure that your systems function properly.

#5 Avoid added sugar

If you’re looking for a major impact when it comes to your weight loss, then the biggest change has got to be reducing or eliminating added sugars. This means you have to understand where sugars are hiding in your foods.

Whether you’re getting your added sugars from carbs or processed foods, they put a damper on any potential weight loss. Cutting added sugars may mean that you have to look closer at the labels of the foods you are eating. But we promise that it will assist you in shedding those pounds.

#6 Choose snacks wisely

Healthy eating doesn’t mean you have to forget about your snacks throughout the day. In fact, it is great to have one or two snacks throughout the day to satiate your hunger and help boost your energy.

In order to lose 40 pounds, snacks should be no more than 100 calories per sitting. This is easy to do as you can have a quick snack of cut-up vegetables with a little bit of hummus, fruits, nuts, or even a small yogurt.

#7 Try exercise

Healthy eating is just half of the equation when it comes to weight loss. It doesn’t matter how many calories you cut; if you’re not burning the excess fat, you’ll never lose those 40 pounds.

This means at some point, you’re going to have to add in a fitness routine to burn fat. The exercise you choose depends on you, but it should include a mixture of multiple different styles.

Like with everything else, you can always build-up to the more intensive exercises. This means you can start with walking every day. Then when you build up some stamina, you can take your fitness routine into the gym.

What Is the Best Way to Lose 40 Pounds?

Nowadays, you may discover solutions online where people share various recommendations on how to improve your health. Using similar content, we have built a list of the best ways to lose weight just in case you’re still on the fence about getting your body and mind fit and ready for a long, happy, stress-free life.

Half of the challenge of getting rid of that extra fat is proper mindset and consistency. Many of us struggle in this area, so having assistance from a friend or an app could be the best way to get started and keep going on our fat loss journey.

Consistency is key when it comes to losing weight. So utilizing an app like DoFasting could be the ticket. This app is outfitted with a ton of great features that will help you choose a fasting method and remain steadfast in your goal of losing 40 pounds that will work with your lifestyle and so much more.

In order to get you started on the right track, this app offers daily motivational boosts, a fasting challenge mode, meal recommendations, a progress tracker, training routines, and tips.

But along with the helpful addition of an app, you can also try the following:

Exercises for women

When looking to lose weight and build lean muscle mass, besides relying on your diet, you have to take a look at your gym activity as well. Before all of that, you have to set realistic goals, and then you can look at the other half of the equation.

It’s a good rule of thumb to begin slowly. That means if you’re someone who is highly active, jumping straight to the two-and-a-half-hour of light-intensity exercise might not be the smartest thing. Instead, starting with a couple of weeks of 1-hour sessions in the gym is a good way to get your body used to exercise.

Once you have done that, you can begin adding exercises that’ll help you create that lean muscle mass you’re looking for. This includes things like lifting weights (both machines and free weights) as well as strength training at least twice a week. You can then place aerobic exercise into your week between these sessions.

You will quickly see your health improve once you have a good exercise plan in mind, thanks to the muscle mass created by all the fat loss.

Exercises for men

When it comes to crafting the body you’re looking for, the trick is to make sure you are not solely concentrated on weight loss but rather fat loss. The male body is a little different, and so when it comes to diet and exercise, there is plenty of food that is high in protein (though the ladies out there can benefit from this as well). For men, when you’re looking to create lean muscle mass or build your muscle mass in general, you want to pay attention to the type of exercise you’re adding to your week.

This is not done just by limiting carbs; you need to make sure you’re adding in resistance training (something as simple as push-ups if you are starting out is fine) as well as weights. In addition to that, we know it’s very tempting to add in cardio. But before you start running, you should understand that you need to limit your cardio in order to reach the point you’re aiming for.

Meal plans

To ensure you are eating the proper calorie count and the right food, you have to make sure you have a plan for the week.

After all, you don’t want to have a meal that is too heavy and carbs that could ruin your metabolism for an evening meal. Instead, you should meal prep to balance your proteins and nutrient-dense dishes to optimize your food intake.

Mindfulness

Losing pounds is not all about diet and exercise. Sometimes it has to do with another important aspect – your mind.

By using mindfulness techniques like meditation and mindfulness exercises like yoga, you’ll reduce your stress. Including things that help protect the most powerful muscle in your body will ensure a more comprehensive weight loss.

A Word From RD

Final Thoughts

Setting out to lose 40 lbs can be challenging. But with the right attitude and changes to your lifestyle, you should be able to do this within a few months. These changes need to be not only dietary but also physical and mental. 

Finding tools and inspirations from outside sources can be helpful. But nothing can happen until you are ready to make those changes that will change your entire life forever!