Lose 10 Pounds

 I'd have to say that most people could probably lose 10 pounds and be a very happy camper. Weight gain has a tendency to creep up on you while you're not paying attention to what you eat. For those of us that eat out a lot, it's tough to pass up that special of the day just to keep things interesting. And if you have a few too many specials, you also get the bonus calories that usually accompany these meals.

Same goes for really busy people who just don't feel like cooking and take the easy way out with processed foods. Convenience food is quick and easy but normally contains some high calorie items. Any processed food (ready made meals that are frozen or prepared for quick preparation) are often high calorie foods. We are all guilty of saving time and effort with the easy out of TV dinners and similar products.

So between the lack of time and the slow creep of extra calories, most of us can easily afford to lose 10 pounds. This amount is normally above any quick fix diets that are designed to help you lose 3-5 pounds in a short period of time. So

The photo above shows how much 10 pounds of fat looks like for reference. One of the things you need to do is be realistic on what it takes to lose 10 pounds and not expect miracles. The dangers of getting too radical on dieting greatly increase as the amount of weight to lose increase and the time allowed decreases.

How To Lose 10 Pounds In A Week

I won't say it's impossible since there are so many variables and possible body types. But for the average person, losing that much weight in 7 days is going to be tough. There are ways that athletes use to drop weight fast for competition but for the average person it's not only going to be difficult but probably very unhealthy. 

Crash diets of any kind have a tendency to use whatever means available for that kind of weight loss. Most healthy diet plans shoot for around 2 pounds of weight loss per week, not 10 pounds. Crash diet results usually are temporary, in other words you will gain the weight back. There is one way that you could temporarily lose weight very quickly and that would involve going on a Detox Diet. 

Lose 10 Pounds in 2 Weeks - Possible but still pushing it

If you expand the time period for losing 10 pounds to two weeks, you have a much better chance and don't need to go so radical on your weight loss methods. It's still pushing the envelope on weight loss but depending on your current weight (for people who weigh more it becomes a smaller percentage of their weight) it is doable with a little will power and making better choices on what they eat. Using similar techniques that are listed below in the 30-40 day plan such as portion control, eliminating high fat food items, and eating more healthy can help. Losing 10 pounds in 2 weeks does require you to cut back your normal calorie consumption or calorie burn rate by at least 2500 calories per day. And still not void the 2,000 calorie intake that is recommended by most dieticians or nutritionists.

Lose 10 Pounds in 30-40 Days - Very possible and safe 

There are a couple of good ways to lose 10 pounds in about 30 to 40 days that is very realistic for almost everyone. If you need to hit a specific deadline, like a special event or occasion that requires less weight to fit into that dress or tux, you can accelerate these basic techniques. Lets take a hard look at the science of trying to lose 10 pounds first and then suggest the path of least resistance to accomplish this weight loss goal. 

A pound equals about 3500 calories, give or take any exact measurements that are commonly used. So what we are looking at is to reduce our daily intake, increase our daily calorie burn rate, and track our calories every day. 10 pounds equals 35,000 calories we need to dump in the next 30 to 45 days. Faster if you want but trust me when I say consistency is far more important than going too radical early in your dieting methods. If you go overboard at first you may see some faster results but won't be able to maintain that level of loss to complete your goal.

First things first, we need to set a baseline of your current calorie intake and burn rate. We also want to determine your current weight. So start doing a daily calorie count, it doesn't have to be exact. In fact it's almost impossible to get an exact amount of calories in food due to the nature of the beast but you can get within 3-5% of possible numbers. And if you eat processed or restaurant food you never really know exactly how many calories are in a certain dish due to portions and other unknowns.

For our plan to lose 10 pounds we'll create an average eater and say they currently consume about 2500 calories a day and burn about 350 in a normal routine. Everyone is different and so don't be upset if your baseline is different. Just make the best call on your calories and go from there. And you can always adjust your burn rate to compensate as we move forward to give you some wiggle room. And don't forget to weight yourself, and it's best to use the same scale during our test. We don't care if it gives your exact weight but we do want to see our results for our test.

Lose 10 Pounds - Four Best Ways To 

1. Water represents up to 2/3 of your body weight. If you don't drink enough water, your body has a tendency to store water since it's never sure if it will get replaced. So if you start drinking more water, you body will naturally start releasing more. This is a simple but effective way to drop 2-3 pounds right there. Those will probably be the easiest pounds to lose so make sure you take advantage of them and increase your water consumption everyday. And that can get us off to a rousing start by dropping the first 2-3 pounds in the first week which equals about 2100 calories of our 35,000 goal.

2. The next easy way to lose 10 pounds involves increasing your caloric burn rate. If you established your daily burn rate of say 500 calories, lets double that number. A good way to do that with most people is to add a 30-45 minute walk every day. Not every other day, everyday. I know it's tough to add 45 minutes of anything during our busy schedules but there are good ways to slip it in with our too much trouble. Get up 15 minutes early and walk for 15 minutes before breakfast. When you go to lunch or after you eat lunch, take a 15 minute walk. Same goes for dinner. Get into the habit that when you eat, you walk 15 minutes. And try to build up a little on the pace as you go. Depending on your speed and distance, this can burn approximately 250 calories a day or 21,000 calories over the 45 day period.

3. Watching what you eat and how it is prepared is the next challenge. Stick to grilled or baked instead of fried food items. Pick lean meats like chicken, turkey, and fish. Watch the condiments and especially sauces that contain dairy products. Use spices to add a little flavor or punch to your food. And instead of ordering something that is drowning in sauce, put the sauce to the side and add just what you want, not what they may serve. We can't really put a realistic number to this area but lets say we cut out about 250 calories a day if you are a heavy fried food and sauce kind of person. Maybe half that it not. So lets use the smaller figure of 125 calories a day less for a total of 5625 calories gone.

4. OK, this is a huge factor that can help take out some serious calories. It's called portion control and you can make a lot of progress by not super sizing any meal item. Under this instead getting the large order, get the smaller order on any meal. Splitting a meal out is a great way to do this and many restaurants serve way too much to start with so this saves money and calories. If you drop your portions by even 20% you can save a good 150 calories a meal. Once again we will error on the short side and say about 200 calories a day or 9,000 total for the 45 days.

OK, so lets look at our total caloric reduction for the 45 day period. These are best guess but should be fairly accurate since we always chose the low end any calorie counts:

1. Water dumping = 2. Walking 45 minutes a day = 3. Watching what you eat = 4. Portion control =	2,100 21,000 5,625 9,000
Total	37,625
(remember 3500 calories equal 1 pound)

Lose 10 Pounds - Slow But Steady Results

So there you have it, you can lose 10 pounds just by following these four basic methods and not have to go on any special foods or dramatic changes to your lifestyle. If you miss a goal for the day, just make it up in the next day or two. Stick to the healthy choices and follow these basic guidelines and you probably will continue to lose weight. If you fall off the wagon for a a day or two, just get back in the wagon and no harm, no foul.

If you need more guidance or specific meal plans you might want to check out our Diet Reviews. These are our top choices for people who need a little more regimentation and help to lose 10 pounds.