 By Heather Although Fat Creep™ is all about healthy eating and maintaining a regular exercise regime, I get asked questions about how to lose weight fast more frequently than one might expect! I have never had to lose weight fast so these tips are based on what I know about food and periods when I have just happened to lose weight rapidly. Okay, so let's say you have 7 to 30 days within which you need to drop a dress size or two. The following will help you get trim. FAST WEIGHT LOSS MEAL PLAN: a. Breakfast: 40 - 60 grams of oats cooked with water or fully skimmed milk with no sugar added, if possible. Oats are very filling and will help you to stave off cravings. Do you have a kitchen scale? It is not obsessive behaviour to weigh key food items like grains and other carbs because eating too much of these is a common reason for weight gain and weight retention. Get a scale. b. mid-morning snack: a vegetable or fruit such as carrot, kiwi, tangerine or any other fruit/vegetable. c. Lunch: if you consider an ordinary-sized plate, carbs (e.g. cous cous, corn, rice or pasta) should fit in no more than one-third of the plate; half should be vegetables, and meat should fill just under a quarter of the plate. Alternatively, just have a 12-ounce soup or a large salad with no bread or fatty salad dressings. Some people will advise you not to have any rice or pasta at all but in all honesty I find that having a little bit (say, 100-125 grams in one meal) stops carb-cravings from occurring. I think cutting carbs out completely does more harm than good. d. afternoon snack: allow for more than the mid morning snack: a heftier fruit serving or a boiled egg. e. dinner - like lunch.  FAST WEIGHT LOSS RULES: 1. Completely remove all processed foods including (but not limited to) the following from your diet:
If you are offered foods like the above at a party or any other unavoidable social gathering and cannot resist, just have a mouthful from someone else's plate and stop there. If you get your own serving you will finish it. Clear your cupboards at home of all the above foods to avoid temptation. 2. If you go to restaurants, choose fish, meat and salad options, they tend to contain fewer calories; if they come with carbs e.g. rice or mash, give half of that to someone else. If you can, don't eat out at all for this period of fast weight loss. Going out just opens you up to a lot of temptation. 3. Never ever get hungry, hunger pangs lead to cravings, cravings lead to overeating bad food - keep carrots and other portable veg in your handbag. You can eat as many vegetables as you like but don't overdo the fruit, too much sugar!  4. Drink water regularly: 2 glasses each first thing in the morning, before lunch, during the afternoon and before dinner. Making sure you are well hydrated will help to keep cravings at bay and is great for good skin. 5. Nuts are good but for a rapid weight loss, I would consider not eating them at all as it can be hard to eat the right-size portion. If you love nuts then have no more than a handful within any seven day period; nuts are high-ish in calories although they are healthy. 6. Do at least 45 minutes of cardio at least twice a week e.g. an intense jog, cycle or rowing session. 7. Do resistance training at least twice a week. I've actually put this as a separate thing 'to do' because combining this with the cardio would lead to people doing just the type of exercise they prefer, cardio in my case. Combining different exercises actually helps more with weight loss than doing just one type. 8. Adjust your daily routine to include more activity e.g. walk to work or part of the way to work, take the stairs instead of the lift, walk up escalators, do sit-ups and weights as you watch TV, put a cycle bike in front of the TV. Substitute sedentary activities e.g. watching TV with active ones e.g. going to a museum. Overall, the less you eat and the more you exercise the faster you will lose weight. You might also like: What's a balanced diet? A healthy eating plan: slow-carb diet, Low-GI diet The 'life' stuff that unexpectedly makes you fat. Be aware.  Although your personal finances and your business success are my primary interest, I believe you only operate at peak efficiency when you're fit and healthy. If you feel good, it filters through to your work. To help you with that, click for your free ebook: The Quick Guide to Sexy
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Heather Katsonga-Woodward, a massive personal finance fanatic.
** All views expressed are my own and not those of any employer, past or present. ** Please get professional advice before re-arranging your personal finances.