QUICK WEIGHT LOSS IN JUST EIGHT WEEKS

If you’re needing to shape up at speed with a target date ahead, try this quick weight loss plan designed to:

Help you lose between 0.5 and 0.75st (3-4.75kg or 7-10.5lb) in body fat
Improve your cardiovascular fitness
Improve all over body tone
Help you look and feel good
Set up a routine that you’ll want to continue with

It sounds too good to be true, right? Well it isn’t and it’s achievable — the results are there for the taking, providing that you are ready to go for it and make a weight loss commitment over the next eight weeks.

The plan focuses on three core areas:

Healthy eating strategies
Cardiovascular exercises that you can fit into your busy day
Resistance training to tone up those problem areas

Before you begin your weight loss plan

One important point before you start, if you have not exercised for any length of time, or have any medical conditions or if you are at all unsure about beginning an exercise program, speak with your doctor first to get the okay before you start.

Planning your exercise and nutrition program

Before you rush into your new exercise and nutrition program, make sure to plan ahead — what you want to achieve, when you will find the time, whom you will involve, who can help you, etc., so that you have some buy-in.

Make a target date, with some small milestones along the way to measure your progress by. Without detailed planning, you are likely to fall behind when other things come into play. Write down why this is important to you, what it will mean when you hit your target and what you are prepared to do to hit your goals.

Nutrition

At the heart of any effective health and fitness program is a sound healthy eating and hydration plan. If you don’t factor in your nutrition as part of your plan, you’re for sure going two steps forward and one step back. Follow the six nutritional tips below for simple, effective strategies to improve your clean eating:

Six nutrition tips

1) Always eat breakfast

Kick-start your body with a low fat, slow release, unrefined start to the day. Oatmeal made with skimmed milk or almond milk and topped with either fresh or dried fruit is ideal.

2) Hydrate

Drink plenty of water and no juices. Central heating, air conditioning, nutrition choices, exercise and daily loss of fluids from the body, all contribute to dehydration. Aim for two liters (68fl oz) spread throughout the whole day and you’ll feel more energized, toxins will be flushed away and to top it all, your skin will definitely improve.

3) NO processed food

If it comes in a packet, do not buy it. Aim to eat an unrefined, whole-food diet with as much fresh produce as possible. That way you’re automatically eliminating food manufacturers’ high fat and high additive products.

4) Take the '20 per day test’

How many different (and healthy!) foods have you eaten today? Many people struggle to get past ten; lets shoot for 20 and make sure they’re all healthy. That way you’ll know that you’re getting a broad range of nutrients in your diet.

5) Limit or avoid salt

Salt and sodium — the hidden killers and are known contributors to high blood pressure. Processed foods in particular are loaded with salt — some ready-made soups contain more than half the recommended adult salt intake — in just one meal! Salt is the cheapest flavor enhancer available and hence a favorite of food manufacturers. Instead, flavor your foods with herbs and spices.

6) Eat evenly throughout the day

Many people "dinner load" their food intake by skipping breakfast, eating a minimal lunch and finally consuming a huge evening meal — often late at night. Instead, try evenly spacing your food out throughout the day — you’ll feel better, have more energy and you’ll be less tempted to snack.

The Workout

If your aim is quick weight loss for a special event such as hitting the beach, then our weight loss workout should deliver the results in time — given you put the work in of course. So it’s time to burn that body fat and tone-up by working out.

Cardiovascular (CV) exercise

Increasing your levels of cardiovascular exercise is central to the quick weight loss plan — as well as bringing you a whole host of health and fitness benefits, including:

Easier weight management — simply put, you burn calories so it is the number one strategy for losing the unwanted pounds.
Toning-up — everyone wants toned legs and CV exercise is the fast-track route. The most effective types of CV exercise use the legs — because that is where your largest muscles are, so an additional benefit is improving leg muscle tone.
Building a strong heart and lungs — having a strong engine is of huge importance for all round good health. In addition, you will find everyday tasks easier, able to tackle each day with increased energy and vitality.

What sort of CV exercise should I do?

Any exercise that gets your heart rate going and you get slightly out of breath is good. Walking, jogging, running, skipping, rowing, cycling, CV machines at the gym — all will train your heart and lungs and bring about all the CV benefits above. Top CV exercises are the weight-bearing activities such as walking; jogging and running because you will burn more calories for the same time spent exercising as you are supporting the whole of your body weight.

How long should I exercise for?

To fast-track your fitness; aim to build up to completing five CV sessions per week. Walking a mile burns approximately 100 calories. So if your target is to lose half a stone, at a rate of one pound per week (0.45kg), you are looking at burning off 3,500 calories each week. To achieve that burn you can use a combination of resistance training, CV exercise and diet, for example:

Walking a couple of miles to work and back, five days a week need only take 35 minutes and adds up to half of your calorie loss straight away!

Resistance training

Resistance training is both a calorie burner and is the best way to tone-up specific areas. The most popular areas to target for that ‘get in shape look’ are:

Stomach
Obliques
Thighs
Underside of upper arms
Bottom
Core

Stomach

Upper stomach muscles — sit-ups and crunches.

Lower stomach muscles — V-sit leg extensions.

Obliques

(sides of the abdomen)

Oblique crunches on a stability ball.

Bicycle crunch

Thighs and bottom

Any aerobic activity which uses the legs such as cycling, walking, jogging, running and rowing.

Underside of upper arms

Any triceps exercise, for example: triceps dips, triceps extensions or triceps kickbacks.

Core

Core exercises train your inner postural muscles. These muscles aren’t visible but are fundamental to holding you in and keeping you upright. Good core exercises include: the plank, sitting completely upright on a stability ball and the stability ball floor bridge.

How much resistance training should I do?

Start slowly with a single weekly session but target building up to two sessions per week. Always allow at least two days rest in between sessions in order to allow time for your body to recover, adapt and grow stronger.

How many times should I complete an exercise?

Frequently, advice is given that to tone-up muscles, lots of repetitions with light weights are necessary. This advice is suitable for basic maintenance but to reactivate dormant muscles, challenging the body with fewer repetitions using a higher weight will bring about quicker and more improved results. Therefore the optimum number of repetitions would be:

Resistance exercises (triceps, obliques and stomach) — build-up to completing three sets of 12 repetitions, with a 60 second recovery between sets.

Core exercises — build-up to holding each exercise for 60 seconds.

Conclusions about the weight loss workout

Nothing worthwhile is achieved without some sacrifice and effort. By making an effort to getting in shape, in terms of time spent exercising and sacrificing bad foods in your diet — you can really achieve something worthwhile. Whether it is weight loss, toning up or a combination of the two, by following this program, you can achieve your goals and boost your overall health and fitness in many ways.