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How to lose 10 pounds in 10 days – 5 easy tips to follow
We’re going to cover the 5 main tips that will teach you how to lose 10 pounds in 10 days. Easy to follow, and easy to apply. We at FIT Couple will always bring you the best, most up to date info on how to stay fit and healthy. So, here are those tips !
First off, let’s clear something up. Is it okay to lose 10 pounds in 10 days ? Isn’t it a bit much ? Won’t you put it all back ?
Very valid questions, and I’m here to help clear that up.
To start, I’m going to tell you my boyfriend’s example. As you know, FIT Couple is about how Dragos and I can help others reach their goal weight, so everything we post on here, or on Facebook is meant to help you.
He lost 10 lbs in 10 days, and he’s just fine, actually he’s still at that weight. He started at 170 lbs (77 kg), and stopped at 160. That’s 6’0” height (1.85 m). He did not put any of it back, he just kept an eye on the food and exercise regimen he’s had.
So how did he do it ? By following the tips we’re going to cover below, and with a bit of exercise. There’s 3 of them, and they’re all important. Using this you can lose those 10 lbs or more.
1. Kiss carbs goodbye !
Here’s the thing. If you want to know how to lose 10 pounds, you have to understand carbohydrates are not essential to the human body. In fact, they’re the biggest weight gain factors out there, right after fats.
What does this mean ? You don’t have to rid your diet of all carbs, but you do have to lower your intake to lose 10 pounds. The main problem with carbs is that they give us so much energy we can’t possibly burn it all in 24 hours. We’d need a grueling regimen of 60 minutes of cardio at the gym to compensate for the extra carbs.
Every day.
So what’s easier, tiring yourself at the gym so you can burn those extra calories, OR just eating less carbohydrates ?
Don’t get me wrong, I do recommend working out, however in this context it would be more tiring than it has to.
You and I both know the answer. So start taking a closer look at the labels and look for foods with little to no carbs. This includes:
- side dishes made out of veggies, that are not potatoes
- eating less bread; most foods are perfectly good without adding bread
- salads (what a shock, I know)
- watch out for added sugar in your food; check the label
As bonus, we recommend keeping an eye on the fats you eat. There are some healthy (avocado, olive oil, fish oils, chia, nuts and seeds, to name a few), and there are some unhealthy ones (cooking oil, lard, for example). The healthy ones contain omega 3 and omega 9, which lower cholesterol levels.
In the long run, it will help more than you’d think. Here’s a wikihow on eating so you lower your cholesterol levels.
2. Curb your sweet cravings
Once you manage to reduce carb intake, you will find it much easier to curb your sweet cravings, so you’ve really grasped how to lose 10 pounds.
First off, you and I know that sweets are, of course, carbohydrate-based. Sugar is a carb, and an empty one at that. It has no vitamins or minerals that would help the body. It does help bring flavor, but it can be easily overdone.
Second, reducing the carbohydrates in your diet will lead to less sugar cravings, because you’ll be eating less of it anyway. It’s one of those “the chicken or the egg” things.
So, if you are used to eating sugary foods you might want to look for alternatives.
Stopping cold-turkey is a hard task, and most people fail. But you won’t, because you’ve got some ideas to guide you ! Here’s some of them:
- Replace sugar with honey. Get the vitamins and immune system boost you can’t get from sugar.
- Replace ice cream with fro-yo, or better yet just yogurt and dried fruit.
- Get a cup of hot cocoa whenever you’d want to have a chocolate or a muffin.
- Eat fruit. All of it. As often as you can, but avoid having them in the evenings since they can bloat you a bit.
- Replace soft drinks with tea, home made. And instead of 2 teaspoons of sugar, add just 2 of honey, or just 1 if you’re feeling particularly brave.
- Dark chocolate instead of any other kind of chocolate ! Aim for 70-85% cocoa.
Saying no to sugar
I always had 2.5 teaspoons of sugar in my tea or coffee, and i had maybe 4-5 cups a day, every day. Aside from eating random sweet snacks and having a chocolate stash in the fridge. But the more I read about nutrition and healthy, the more I realized I should maybe cut back on sugar.
I’ll tell you right here, it was not easy. I started reducing to 2 teaspoons, then 1.5, then I managed to actually get to 1 tsp, in about a month ! It’s amazing what your body gets used to, both good and bad. And I only have the 1 cup of coffee a day now, in the morning like most people.
Did I notice any differences ? Yes, my stash of chocolate goodness became pointless because I’d rarely reach for it, and I could taste the sugar added to bread and sauces. Cake isn’t as great anymore, because I can now feel how overly sweet it is.
How to eat less sugar ?
Just start. Remind yourself that cravings are just that, cravings. And in the first few days or weeks, use that list I gave you earlier, with sweet alternatives.
3. How to lose 10 pounds through detox
Maybe you’ve heard of it before, maybe you haven’t.
The point is, two of the major effects detoxing has on the body is that it flushes out toxins, and reduces water retention. Both are keys in weight loss.
Remember Dragos’ example from before ? Part of those 10 lbs was lost through a detox. Conversely, I’ve lost around 3-4 lbs as well while on a detox program. It can really boost your metabolism and speed up the rate at which you lose weight.
So how do you detox ?
Well, there’s many ways you can do it, some entail drinking lemon water and nothing else for 2 days straight, some have you eat cucumbers all day and there’s many other options out there.
IF all else fails, you can try 24h fasting, or even the 18/6 h intermittent fast. Just keep in mind that a detox can be a bit rough for some people, but everyone turns out alright in the end. If you decide to detox through fasting, make sure to check on article in fasting and intermittent fasting.
However, as a detox is something we’ve used on ourselves and on our clients, we recommend using a verified detox method. Not that fasting isn’t, but it’s not the most thorough. It will being you results, but you can get better results.
4. Drink water for weight loss – 8 glasses of water/ day.
It might sound like something too ordinary to even glance at, but it’s quite important. You bladder and kidneys function way better when they have actual water to process, and this in turn help your overall health.
Here’s what’s NOT acceptable alternatives to water:
- coffee and energy drinks – I drink it too, but we can’t count it as ”drinking water”. They actually dehydrate you. Actually, for every cup of them, drink a cup of water. You’ll be fine then.
- anything not water-based – milkshake, hot cocoa, smoothies, etc. They’re not bad, but they’re not water.
- soda or store-bought ice-tea. Mostly because of the added flavors and sugars. Try and brew your own tea at home, with less sugar.
5. How to lose 10 pounds through exercise
Normally, after all we’ve talked about before with cutting carbs and sugar, and staying 500 calories under the limit, and detoxing, you’d be pretty close to the 10 pounds already.
BUT since we want to be very sure those 10 suckers go away, we’re going to hit the gym.
It might not be what you want to hear (or, it might, i dunno), and it might not be the first thing you want to do, since you’d be pretty low on energy. But it’s the most efficient, right there after eating right and detoxing.
It’s also THE KEY to keeping those 10 pounds off, after you’re done with them.
Something to try, if you’re concerned about a specific body part, is a waist trimmer. You can find one here, and it’s meant to help you lose more weight through targeted sweating.
So we recommend cardio, lots of cardio. Aim for 20 minutes, at the beginning of every gym session. If you can, you should even do a whole session for cardio, with a few breaks between your sets to drink a bit of water and just breathe.
If you can pull if off, HIIT workouts are the best. If you’re not familiar with them, it’s basically running on high speed for 5 minutes, then walking for 2 minutes, then sprinting for another 5 minutes, and so on. The theory is that you’re taxing your body more, and more efficiently, so the workout itself will be better.
Once you’re done with the first 10 pounds, you can continue with the next few !
Check out our article on how to lose the next 20 pounds
Or our article on intermittent fasting for fat loss – actual fat, not just weight !
We hope you’ll find this post really useful, including the ones to come !
