10 easy ways to lose 1 pound
By Martin Ebner
With summer coming to a sad but inevitable end if all that’s left along with the drunken selfies and a dwindling bank account is a spare tyre to remind you of the good times, fear not, you’re not alone! Thankfully, with the following 10 easy ways to lose a pound, getting back your pre-summer body needn’t be as challenging or tedious as you might think.
The numbers
To lose 1lb of body weight, you must create a 3500 calorie deficit. In simpler terms, you must consume less energy (Calories) than you expend. The following 10 weight loss methods, when followed strictly, can result in a loss of 1lb over the course of the next 30 days. Hell, if you do all 10 you might just lose 10lbs!
1. Walk a mile a day
Walking is not only great for both your physical and mental health, it’s great for weight loss too! By walking just a mile a day for 30 days at a swift pace, you can shed 1lb over the course of a month. Bye bye belly!
2. Replace 4 regular sodas per week with their non-sugar equivalent
This has to be one of the easiest changes to make. Even if you’re a regular cola evangelist, swapping just a few of those sugar-laden sodas for their non-sugar equivalent is a small change that makes a big difference!
For a lighter version of you, switch up 4 cans a week of regular soda for their non-sugar alternative.
3. HIIT twice a week
High-intensity interval training is all the rage and it’s not difficult to see why. Offering more impressive results than moderate cardio in half the time, HIIT literally incinerates fat not only during but long after you put the dumbbells down thanks to what’s known as the after burn effect.
To lose 1lb per month, aim for two 30-minute workouts a week.
4. Eat fruit, don't drink it
You wouldn’t eat 5 pieces of fruit in a single sitting so why drink them? While fruit drinks and smoothies can offer a quick and easy way to get some of your 5 a day, their vitamin and nutrient content is far less potent than their whole fruit versions. Not only that but their sugar content is often on par if not worse than high-sugar sodas. A definite no no then when trying to lose weight.
Instead of your daily breakfast smoothie or fruit juice, eat 1-2 piece/s of fruit.
5. Opt for salad over fries
Salad isn’t only much lighter in calories, fat and carbohydrates than its stodgy side plate competition, it’s also far better for you. I know, I know, salad can’t and probably shouldn't be compared to fries in terms of satiety or flavour but by ordering salad over fries when dining out just twice a week, you can create a 3500 calorie deficit over the course of a month.
6. Drink 2-3 litres of water per day.
Ok, so drinking water might not directly lead to weight-loss but indirectly being properly hydrated could help you shed up to a pound per month. Drinking water is essentially like flushing the toilet - helping to clean out all the built up crap that could be slowing down your metabolism. Water also reduces hunger and helps boost energy levels allowing you to workout harder come HIIT time!
7. Drink 3 cups of green tea a day
There's a reason that most fat burning supplements are made up primarily of green tea. Asides from the numerous health benefits associated with drinking green tea, it contains EGCG (Epigallocatechin gallate), a substance proven to speed up the metabolism.
For best results, drink one cup before and one after a workout (Walking counts).
8. Drink 4 fewer pints of beer per week
It seems that there are a lot of liquid reducing ways to lose weight yet none more so than restricting alcohol consumption. Beer contains near enough 50 calories per 100ml. Yikes and sorry! By reducing your weekly consumption by just 4 pints a week, you'll reduce your calorie intake by 3500 calories per month.
9. Get your hands dirty
While cleaning the house may be one of your least favourite chores, it’s one of the best ways to burn calories without having to step foot out of your front door. Cleaning the house vigorously once a week for a month will not only leave your home smelling like daisies, it could help you burn up to an impressive 750 calories per clean! Mr Muscle, or at the least the UK version from the 90s was skinny for good reason!
10. Drink your coffee black
Admittedly, if you’re anything like me, black coffee can be a little tough to swallow when you’re used to Starbuck’s deliciously fluffy half-litre full-fat lattes. However, if you can manage to swap up your high-calorie dose of caffeine for regular black coffee just 3 times a week, the calorie deficit will be great enough to result in you losing 1lb a month.
