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Weight Loss Questions - Can I Lose 12
Pounds In 1 Month?
Weight Loss Question:
Is it possible for me to lose 12 pounds in one month
eating 1200 calories a day and doing aerobics and weight training for two hours
a day?
Weight Loss Answer:
It may be possible but it's NOT recommended!
First off, 2 hour workouts will cause your body to be extremely overtrained!
With extreme states of overtraining, the body may actually start breaking down
muscle tissue and there is a very high possibility that you will get sick since
your body is always trying to recover from training and its much more susceptible
to flu since its immune system is in a weak state.
I highly recommend
working out for a short amount of time per session and spread the workouts over
the course of several days. The reason for this is because if you train for a
short amount of time per session, you can train at a high level of intensity and
really focus on the task at hand. After about 45 minutes, your body's natural
testosterone levels begin to decrease so you really want to focus on keeping them
short and intense. Spread your body part out over a week like this:
- Monday:
Chest
- Tuesday:
Back
- Wednesday:
Shoulders
- Thursday:
Arms
- Friday:
Legs I would
not recommend losing more than 1 pound per week for healthily weight loss. The
reason for this has do to with the issues which quick and drastic weight loss
can have on your body's metabolism and muscle mass. When you lose a lot of weight
quickly, you really need to strictly monitor where this weight is coming from.
Is it water weight, body fat or muscle mass? The majority of the time, it unfortunately
comes from lean muscle mass and this is exactly what will cause serious issues
with your metabolism. Muscle is your body's most potent and active tissue for
burning calories and body fat. Its basically your body's "furnace" which
you want to always keep burning hot. When someone loses a lot of weight, which
usually comes from crash dieting or some other unhealthy way of dropping the weight,
the body's lean muscle mass is cannibalized and you lose some of your biggest
"power" tissue for keeping a lean body.
The worst thing is
when the person finally decides to get off the diet and start eating again. Their
calories go back up, but since their BMR (basal metabolic rate) is lowered and
they have lost muscle mass, the end result is they pack on the body fat very quickly!
Ever heard of the term "yo-yo" dieting. This is the reason why tons
of people have issues and hard times with their weight loss plans.
My
advice is to focus on creating a max 500 calorie deficit per day which equates
out to an overall 3,500 calories per week (1 pound of body fat). Create this overall
500 calorie deficit through a 250 calorie drop in your diet and another 250 burned
with an exercise routine. This is the healthiest way to lose body fat while keeping
your muscle mass and having your body run at an optimal level. It will also provide
you with a much better plan to permanently keep the weight off forever!
For your diet, focus on getting enough protein throughout the day by choosing
lean items like chicken breast, egg whites, turkey breast and fish. Also, make
sure to eliminate all empty calories like soda, high sugar fruit juices, candy
and fast food. Try and eat several small and nutritious meals throughout the day.
By cleaning up your diet, you should see a vast improvement in your physique.
Its also extremely important to keep a diet journal of your nutritional intake.
This way you will be able to track where all your calories are coming from and
really monitor your intake. You can download our free diet journals here:
Another extremely important aspect of building
a lean body and dropping fat is to strength train. Studies have estimated that
for each pound of muscle that you add to your body, you burn an additional 35
to 50 calories per day. So, an extra 10 pounds of muscle will burn approximately
350 to 500 calories a day, or an extra pound of fat every 7 to 10 days, without
making any other changes. In another study, researchers found that regular weight
training boosts basal metabolic rate by about 15%. This is because muscle is 'metabolically
active ' and burns more calories than other body tissue even when you're not moving.
Here is our database of exercise guides for strength training and workout
routines:
To burn off some extra calories, you can
follow some of these different cardio exercises:
For motivational tips, you can review these
great resources:
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