Is it possible to lose 10 pounds in a month? We’re all about realistic fitness goals; after all, part of our motto is that we’ll never try to promise you can get six-pack abs by Sunday or go from a size 12 to 6 overnight.
But we do hear you when you say you want actionable ways to lose weight in a month. Let’s talk about losing 10 pounds in 1 month.
How to Lose 10 pounds In a Month
Many people want to set a goal of losing 10 pounds in a month. While losing ten pounds in 30 days is not easy, it is doable if you really commit.
This article includes practical advice on how to safely lose 10 pounds in a month—no fasting or crazy detoxes required. What will be required for this kind of weight loss? Proper nutrition, exercise, and serious commitment.
Here are your personal trainer-approved tips on losing 10 pounds in 1 month
1. Yes, You Need To Count Calories
To lose weight, calorie intake really counts. It’s true that the kind of calories you eat matter (are they from healthy foods or processed packaged TV dinners?) most of all.
If you eat crappy, you’ll feel crappy, and that’s the bottom line. BUT the number of calories you’re consuming still matters, especially when you have the aggressive goal of losing 10 pounds in one month.
Weight loss isn’t easy, but you do have to remember this somewhat simple tenet of losing weight: burn more calories than you consume. Calorie intake is something you have to watch.
How do you burn calories? Through exercise and also your resting metabolic rate.
Your resting metabolic rate is the number of calories you burn at rest, just by occupying your body. More on how to change that in a bit.
How many calories to eat to lose 10 pounds in a month
While everyone’s caloric needs are different, for the average woman who’s looking to lose weight, aiming to eat around 1,600 calories per day will help you drop pounds.
Your calorie intake is something very personal that you will need to experiment with, so consider keeping a detailed food journal or use a food logging app like MyFitnessPal.
Tracking your calorie intake will make your weight loss journey more manageable, and journaling is a positive mental health habit as well.
Check out this sample day of 1,600 calories:
2. Clean Eating For Weight Loss
- We always say “no one ever got fat by eating too many fruits and vegetables,” because it’s true. Fill up your plate with veggies, fruits, lean protein, and healthy fats with real ingredients.
- Say goodbye to processed, packaged foods and artificial ingredients.
- Get rid of your soda habit and make weight loss easier.
- Eliminate added sugars.
- These are the things that will change your diet for good, creating sustainable, life-long habits that boil down to Michael Pollan’s philosophy: “Eat real food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
- By counting calories (as we said above, it does matter) and making those calories healthy and clean, you’ll have one-half of your weight loss equation solved.
Expert Clean Eating Tips
Here are a couple of other weight loss tips when it comes to eating:
Eat Slower
Put your fork down between bites to facilitate slower eating habits. When you eat more slowly, your body is able to recognize fullness better and you’ll prevent yourself from overeating.
Add Fiber
When you’re eating for weight loss, a lot of people are left feeling hungry due to a lower number of calories consumed.
Adding fiber to your meals allows you to feel fuller for longer! Fiber also helps to remove waste from the body, keeping you regular and less bloated!
Hydrate!
Removing sodas and other sugary beverages plays a big role in weight loss, but another factor to consider is upping your water intake! Many times when we’re thirsty, we reach for a snack misunderstanding our feelings of thirst for hunger.
Staying hydrated also aids in so many functions and keeps our body performing at its best. It’s truly one of the best things you can implement for your health!
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Cut Back on Refined Carbs
Refined carbs are a type of carbohydrate stripped of their nutrient and fiber content during processing. They’re absorbed quickly into your bloodstream, causing blood sugar spikes and increased hunger.
For best results, swap out refined carbs like white bread, breakfast cereals, and heavily processed pre-packaged foods for whole-grain products like quinoa, oats, brown rice, and barley.
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Eat a High-Protein Breakfast
A high-protein breakfast can help you stay on track with your weight loss goals. Eating more protein can reduce the number of daily calories you need to consume. Eating high-quality protein can also cut down on the number of calories it has consumed.
High-protein foods include eggs, cheese, yogurt, eggs, and peanut butter, as well as breakfast cereals and cereals.
One study in 20 adolescent girls found that protein intake increased feelings of fullness and lowered levels of certain hormones that stimulate hunger.
3. Combine Cardio and Strength
You can’t lose weight based on your dietary choices alone. Yes, it’s one-half of the battle, but you won’t see any results without exercise.
Many people get caught up in not knowing where to begin when it comes to exercise, whether they’ve avoided it for years or have fallen into a slump and aren’t sure what will work anymore.
Let’s start with the basics: to lose weight you need to hit a few minimum exercise requirements each week:
How much exercise to do to lose 10 pounds in a month
- At least 150 minutes of moderate, heart-pumping cardiovascular exercise each week. This can be divided up however you want, and done through activities like running, biking, or anything else that gets your heart rate up.
- At least 2-3 strength training sessions per week. Strength training is the KEY to a revved-up metabolism, because the more muscle you have on your body, the higher your resting metabolic rate. (Your resting metabolic rate is how many calories your body burns at rest.)
Consider Circuit and Interval Training
What’s an easy way to tackle both of these requirements at once? Try getting your cardio and strength done at once doing a HIIT workout.
Circuit and interval workouts require you to give all-out effort, so they get your heart pumping hard and typically use a series of strength moves to do so. This helps you tackle both your cardio and strength at the same time, which can be helpful if you’re short on time.
A huge factor to consider when you want to lose weight is intensity.
You need to be sure you’re training in different heart rate zones. (Use our heart rate calculator to find your personal training zones!)
Keep in mind, all that extra exercise means you’re losing a lot of electrolytes.
Check out my recommendations to the best electrolyte supplements to keep your body balanced and full of energy. I take one before every work out!
Try the following workouts to lose 10 pounds in a month
- HIIT For Beginners
- Total-Body Medicine Ball Workout
- Full-Body Kettlebell Workout: Complete Guide For Beginners
- Belly Fat Blast Challenge
- Elliptical Workout For Weight Loss
4. Prioritize Sleep and Minimize Stress
Lastly, aside from diet and exercise, there are other factors that can make losing weight difficult. These two factors are often overlooked when looking to lose weight, but they do matter.
There’s a scientific link between the stress hormone cortisol and belly fat. And sleep deprivation throws two hormones that regulate your appetite—leptin, and ghrelin—out of whack, making it harder for you to feel satiated, thus causing overeating.
Work on ways to manage daily stressors and prioritize getting 7-8 hours of sleep per night. These things can help make your weight loss journey a bit easier.
You Might also like: Bedtime Yoga For Better Sleep
5. Bring Your Hormones Back Into Balance
Sometimes hormonal issues can also make losing weight extra difficult, especially if you’re in perimenopause or menopause. If you’re currently feeling the menopausal spread around your middle, you’re not alone, and no, you’re not crazy: it does get harder to lose weight as you age. But it’s NOT impossible.
Use the information above and then also these resources to help balance your hormones and lose weight in menopause:
- Balance These 4 Hormones If You Want To Lose Weight
- 9 Ways To Beat Menopausal Belly Fat
- 7 Best Vitamins For Women Over 50
- How to Deal With Menopause with a Positive Mindset
- Menopause Diet
If you’re still having trouble losing weight despite making dietary and lifestyle changes, consult your doctor or reach out to a nutritionist or health coach.
Weight loss can be a difficult journey that you don’t have to go alone, and there may be other medical or psychological barriers at play that someone can help you address in a healthy way.
How Much Weight Can You Lose in A Month?
As we mentioned, losing 10 pounds in one month is doable, but it’s not easy and it’s not a guarantee. Losing weight quickly can depend on the individual and the metabolic body type. While it sometimes seems unfair, some people just plain have an easier time losing weight than others.
Can you lose 40 pounds in a month? That’s unlikely, and if you find the scale moving drastically, it’s likely due to water.
Safe Weight Loss
The American Heart Association recommends that a person sets realistic weight loss goals. According to the CDC, a loss of 1–2 lb per week is a reasonable goal for most people.
CDC: A person who loses 4–8 lb per month is more likely to keep the weight off. The U.S. Department of Agriculture suggests a healthy weight loss routine should consist of: a healthy meal and exercise in a healthy way to maintain the weight loss rate of 1/2lb per week.
Losing weight quickly can also often be a reflection of losing water weight. While the scale may have gone down, water weight isn’t exactly the type of weight you’re looking to lose.
The good news, however, is that our weight loss plan above is sustainable and can be used for long-term weight loss.
Trying to lose those 10 pounds in a month? Great!
Focus on calorie intake. Burn more calories than you eat. Enjoy eating whole foods. Reduce your sugar. Hydrate.
When you implement the above steps and then CONTINUE them for long-term results – you will lose weight.
The best part? You’ll feel SO good, you’ll keep going far beyond a month. Let’s go!
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