How To Lose 10 Pounds In a Month (Realistic Advice From A Trainer)

Fitness, Training Advice, Training Tips

By: // April 3, 2023


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:

sample 1600 calorie day guide meal plan
1600 calorie per day guide
1600 calories per day meal plan sample

2. Clean Eating For Weight Loss

Salad with avocado and greens
Lose weight monthly – realistically.
  • 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!

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.

picture of chris wearing lululemon dupes

3. Combine Cardio and Strength

woman in yellow sports top with dumbbell

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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!)

Try the following workouts to lose 10 pounds in a month

4. Prioritize Sleep and Minimize Stress 

woman sleeping in bed
Sleep is a major component of weight loss.

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

picture that says happy hormones with bowl in front of it

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:

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!

READ THIS NEXT: 25 Sneaky Weight Loss Hacks That Really Work


Printed from GetHealthyU.com

16 Comments


on April 28, 2023 at 9:07 AM Reply

Thanks for sharing. Really need these tips.


on April 4, 2023 at 10:19 PM Reply

Slowing down and focusing on each movement, I will either raise the weight and decrease the reps.


    on April 12, 2023 at 2:04 PM Reply

    Absolutely - I love this :) These are great options and easy ways for you to make the workout work for you!


on September 22, 2021 at 11:57 AM Reply

Hi! I am excited to try this! I am a 57 year old menopausal woman who is trying to lose some weight. My question is, you mentioned burning more calories than I consume, so if I consume 1600, do I need to burn that each day?! Not sure I could work out long enough to achieve that 😕


    on September 24, 2021 at 12:19 PM Reply

    yes, you should burn more than you consume but there are good ways to burn calories quicker and the main one is by building muscle! you would love the challenge we're doing. its spiffily for woman our age > > Get the details here: https://go.gethealthyutv.com/A31662/


on July 4, 2021 at 1:02 PM Reply

One question nobody asks is How many diets have you been on? The higher the number, the less weight will come off during the next try. A youngster, that has never dieted before, can lose 30 lbs fairly quickly. But even a 20-yr-old who has dieted since age 12, won't lose much.


    on July 8, 2021 at 9:34 PM Reply

    Hi There - Great question. I personally do not do diets. I like to say "edit what you eat" and ditch the diet. Now, if you are looking to loose weight quickly you can safely do that as shown in this article here. However, I am a firm believer in living a lifestyle that works for you over a longer period of time. Making your nutrition habits work for your lifestyle is far more important! Hope this helps!


on November 10, 2020 at 3:09 PM Reply

Thanks it is very helpful post. I apply these rules. We can also add things like sports. Ping pong is best for this purpose.


on May 16, 2019 at 7:43 AM Reply

so are we supposed to eat the same items everyday for 30 days, is that what we need to do to try and lose that amount of weight? along with exercise also


    on May 20, 2019 at 2:45 PM Reply

    Hi there! You certainly do not need to eat the same items everyday for 30 days. In fact, it is best if you mix up the foods you eat. I always make sure I have a variety of foods in my diet, but I try to make sure that they are whole foods. So for instance fruits, veggies, and protein is a staple in my diet but I don't eat the same foods every single day. When you are trying to lose 10 lbs in 1 month we just have some tips to keep you more regimented in a shorter period of time. Exercise will also play a huge part into keeping your body moving during this month of trying to loose some extra pounds. It is important to watch calories in versus calories out, which is where your exercise will play a part. Hope this helps!


on April 24, 2019 at 4:28 AM Reply

I am not a regular, but I go to the gym and I am trying to control my diet, although not losing much weight, lost just 2 pounds hardly in last month or so. In the gym, doing cardio mainly, but my lifestyle is sedated as I am a blogger myself. Can You suggest me something? Any changes? considering I am not young anymore.


    on June 3, 2019 at 9:00 PM Reply

    Hi Ashish - Oftentimes, losing weight does get harder as you get older, even if you’re someone who has always been able to easily manage your weight with diet and exercise. Cardio is great and moving your body in general is going to help with weight loss however I want to let you in on a little secret. The more muscle you have on your body, the better your metabolism works. So it’s not just in your head: losing weight after 40 is more difficult than when you were younger. But you don’t have to feel like weight loss after 40 is impossible. My biggest piece of advice would be to add in strength training at least 2 times a week. This is going to help increase your metabolism and will help with muscle toning and building! To find out some of my other top tips check out this blog below! https://gethealthyu.com/6-steps-to-losing-weight-after-40/


on January 16, 2019 at 10:39 AM Reply

Hi Donna! Keep going and remember that it is not all about the scale. Be sure to take proper measurements in several parts of your body. By working out, you may gain muscle which of course weighs more than fat! Best of luck :) Carla


on December 5, 2018 at 2:26 AM Reply

This seems like a lofty goal to loss 10 pounds in a month but it’s entirely possible by making some simple modifications to your diet and lifestyle. By taking one step at a time and make a few small changes each week to lose weight safely and sustainably, keeping it off long term. With a little patience and hard work, you can reach your weight loss goals and improve your overall health in the process.


on December 31, 2017 at 12:06 PM Reply

Hi, Good read but I have a query, I am not a regular, but I go to gym and I am trying to control my diet, although not losing much weight, lost just 2 pounds hardly in last month or so. In gym, doing cardio mainly, but my lifestyle is sedate as I am blogger myself. Can You suggest me something? Any changes ? considering I am not young anymore.


    on January 2, 2018 at 2:48 PM Reply

    Hi Donna - check out this article where you might find some helpful tips: https://gethealthyu.com/25-sneaky-weight-loss-hacks-really-work/



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