Overview
Losing weight and increasing muscle tone in 30 days is tough but possible if dietary and exercise guidelines are followed. The recommended maximum amount of weight loss per week is one to two pounds, so that should be your goal. To burn one pound of fat per week, you must eliminate 3,500 calories for the entire week. This can be done through a combination of diet and exercise by cutting out 500 calories a day. The idea is to eat healthier, low-calorie foods while at the same time implementing an exercise program to burn an additional 300 calories per day.
Step 1
Stop buying unhealthy foods. These include sugary snacks, high-calorie foods, white bread/pasta, regular soda or sugar-filled juices, and other foods containing empty calories. Instead, focus on eating vegetables, fruits, whole grains and lean meats and dairy products. Treat chicken, fish and turkey as a side dish rather than the main course. Two-thirds of your diet should be vegetables, fruits and whole grain items, and the other one-third should include meat and dairy products. A woman’s daily caloric intake should be between 1,200 and 1,500 a day; a man’s should fall between 1,500 and 2,000.
Step 2
Exercise a minimum of five days per week for 30 to 60 minutes per session. Use a moderate intensity level when working out, meaning that you should work up a good sweat, increase your breathing and have an increased heart rate of approximately double its resting rate. An acceptable example would be walking for 30 minutes per day at about 3 1/2 mph. To burn additional calories, walk on an incline or increase the exercise time up to 60 minutes. Try to burn 300 calories per day through exercising.
Step 3
Live an active lifestyle. This means that you should turn off the TV and computer and instead do some sort of physical activity. For instance, you could walk the dog, play with the kids outside, mow the lawn, clean the house, work on a household project that keeps getting put off and anything else that gets you up and moving around. Try to do something active for at least 60 minutes per day. This sort of activity can help burn an additional 200 to 300 calories a day or more.
Step 4
Perform resistance exercises by the second week of your 30-day exercise regimen. No special equipment is required. The main exercises you should focus on includes push-ups, crunches, squats, dips and shoulder presses (use equal weight on each arm or dumbbells if you have them). Do two to three sets of each resistance exercise, and do as many repetitions as you can to maximum muscle failure. Resistance training should be two to three days per week with at least one day of rest in between each workout. This workout will start to firm up your muscles within a few weeks.
Tips and Warnings
- Find a workout partner to increase the odds of succeeding at your fitness goals. You can motivate each other and make sure you both stay on track.
Continue your diet and exercise regimen beyond the 30 days. Look at it as a lifestyle change rather than a short-term weight-loss fix.
- Don’t change your diet “cold turkey.” Instead, ease your way off high-calorie treats you already have in the cupboards. This will help your body adjust to the dietary change.
About this Author
Joseph Eitel is an established writer who graduated from Kellogg Community College with a degree in graphic design. He has worked for a variety of online publications since 2006, including the Developer Shed Network and Huddle.net. He has become an online authority when it comes to technology and health; his health blog has become one of the most popular websites in the healthy living niche.
