If you’re struggling to lose weight, the 60 day weight loss challengemight just be the solution you need.
What makes it so special?
Well, research shows that the average duration to form a new habit is actually 66 days (although it can be shorter or longer for different people) (10). Therefore, sticking to this 60-day weight loss challengemight transform your entire lifestyle.
This guide provides just about everything you need for the challenge, including:
Instructions on how to lose weight in a healthy way.
To succeed with the 60 day weight loss challenge, you must know how to lose weight in a healthy way. You also need to know how to customize your weight-loss plan to your specific situation.
Follow these guidelines to do it right.
Healthy Weight Loss
Your goal shouldn’t be to lose weight fast.
Instead, you should focus on gradual weight loss; otherwise, you’ll regain that weight after the challenge. You should aim to lose about 1 to 2 pounds per week (0.5 to 1 kilogram), which will help you keep the weight off even after the challenge (14).
That means, in 60 days, you’ll lose 8.5 – 17 pounds (4 – 8.5 kilograms).
So, how many calories should you burn in order to lose 1-2 pounds/ week? Well, you’ll need to burn 500 – 1,000 calories more than the calories you consume everyday (19).
Customize Your Plan Based On Your Specific Situation
In reality, the 60 day weight loss challenge isn’t as simple as burning 500 – 1,000 calories/ day.
So many other factors come into play.
Various physiological, physical, and environmental factors can influence the amount of effort you need and the calories you burn. Such factors include:
Your metabolic rate: If you have a lower resting/ workout metabolic rate, you’ll burn fewer calories than someone with a higher metabolic rate doing the same workout (12).
Body fat: Muscles burn more calories than fat.
Age: Young people tend to burn more calories than older people.
Sex: Males have a higher calorie-burn-rate than females.
High altitude environments: You’ll have a higher metabolic rate at higher altitudes.
Post-workout calorie burn: Also called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). This is more likely to occur after intense workouts (1).
How To Do A 60 Day Weight Loss Challenge
Now that you know the recommended suggestions for 60-day challenge weight loss programs, you’re ready to evaluate the guidelines for applying it in real life.
One key rule is that your program should involve both a workout and diet plan.
That’s because you need to watch the amount of calories you consume through a good diet, and burn off excess calories with a good workout. Therefore, follow these guidelines for your workout and diet plan.
Get your personal plan according to your age and BMI
An interesting thing about weight training exercises is they activate hormonal responses that enhance body-fat burning. A study by the University of North Texas revealed a significant increase in such beneficial hormones as growth hormone and testosterone (17).
Increased muscle mass also enhances your basal metabolic rate (BMR) (16). This helps you burn more fat even while resting.
Sleep Long Enough
Sufficient rest is a critical part in working out, since your muscles need time to recover.
Getting enough sleep, in particular, will play a crucial role in the 60-day weight loss challenge. This is based on scientific research which shows that sufficient sleep boosts your health and helps keep your weight in check (15).
Therefore, follow these general recommendations for sleep duration, based on your age:
5-12 years old: 10 – 11 hours per night
Adolescents: 8.5 – 9.25 hours per night
Adults: 7 – 8 hours per night
Exercises To Do
Different workouts burn different amounts of calories (11). So you may need to work out longer with a low-calorie-burn workout than a high-calorie-burn workout.
Here is a useful estimation of the calories burned by a 154-pound (69.8 kg) man during various physical activities (6):
Is it a high-protein, low-calorie, low-carb, low-salt, or low-fat diet (9)?
Does it include alcohol?
Is it easy to follow?
Will it relieve conditions like diabetes and heart disease?
Is it gluten-free, for gluten-intolerant people?
Do you need to pay for the diet plan or is it free?
Is it vegan, vegetarian or animal-based?
Will you eat prepackaged food or homemade meals?
Is it halal or kosher?
Will you include supplements?
Eat A Sustainable Diet
For long-term results, follow a diet that you can continue with after the challenge. This is because you can only sustain your weight-loss goals through a realistic lifestyle, rather than following a fad diet (20).
The main thing to remember is to eat a diet that matches your daily calorie needs (3).
For males, these are some of the estimated calorie needs based on age and activity level:
17 years old – 2,400 calories (sedentary), 2,800 calories (moderately active), and 3,200 calories (active)
18 years old – 2,400 calories (sedentary), 2,800 calories (moderately active), and 3,200 calories (active)
36-40 years old – 2,400 calories (sedentary), 2,600 calories (moderately active), and 2,800 calories (active)
41-45 years old – 2,200 calories (sedentary), 2,600 calories (moderately active), and 2,800 calories (active)
61-65 years old – 2,000 calories (sedentary), 2,400 calories (moderately active), and 2,600 calories (active)
66-70 years old – 2,000 calories (sedentary), 2,200 calories (moderately active), and 2,600 calories (active)
For females, these are some of the estimated calorie needs based on age and activity level:
17 years old – 1,800 calories (sedentary), 2,000 calories (moderately active), and 2,400 calories (active)
18 years old – 1,800 calories (sedentary), 2,000 calories (moderately active), and 2,400 calories (active)
36-40 years old – 1,800 calories (sedentary), 2,000 calories (moderately active), and 2,200 calories (active)
41-45 years old – 1,800 calories (sedentary), 2,000 calories (moderately active), and 2,200 calories (active)
61-65 years old – 1,600 calories (sedentary), 1,800 calories (moderately active), and 2,000 calories (active)
66-70 years old – 1,600 calories (sedentary), 1,800 calories (moderately active), and 2,000 calories (active)
However, remember that different food groups provide different amounts of energy, as indicated here (7):
fat: 9 calories per gram
alcohol: 7 calories per gram
carbohydrates: 4 calories per gram
proteins: 4 calories per gram
Avoid Dieting Mistakes
Some seemingly simple mistakes can ruin this 60-day weight loss challenge.
Skipping meals is one such mistake.
It seems counterintuitive, but skipping meals will make you add on more weight. This is especially so when skipping breakfast (5).
Therefore, aim for at least three meals in a day.
Another mistake is failing to consider the calories in beverages.
When you drink beverages, you need to compensate for the liquid calories by eating less. If not, you’ll gain more weight (13).
Eating mindlessly is the third mistake to avoid.
You can consume a lot of calories through “eating amnesia” (21). This is mindlessly putting hand to mouth, like eating from a box in front of the television.
Instead, you should choose small portions while eating slowly and mindfully.
Foods To Eat Or Avoid
You aren’t likely to succeed with the 60-day weight loss challenge if you don’t know what foods to eat or avoid.
This knowledge will make your weight loss plan far easier since you’ll avoid foods that pack excessive calories. That means less work to burn off fat.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans emphasizes eating minimally processed whole foods, including (8):
On the other hand, you must avoid or limit the following types of foods in the 60-day weight loss challenge:
too much salt (high-salt diets linked to higher body fat (18)
sports drinks, soda, fruit drinks, and other sugar-sweetened beverages
fruit juice
white pasta, white bread, white rice, and other refined grains
sweets
potatoes (fried or baked)
beef, lamb, pork, and other red meats
processed meats like bacon, salami, ham, and sausage
highly processed foods like fast food
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Based on all those guidelines, you can set up an effective 60-day weight loss challenge plan (for meals and workouts).
To start off, here’s a useful meal plan.
60 Day Weight Loss Challenge Meal Plan
This 60-day weight loss challenge meal plan features about 1,000 calories per day. If your daily calorie requirement is more than that, you can simply take additional portions of each meal.
The meal plan features great nutritional balance, geared towards healthy weight loss.
Day 1 & 2:
breakfast: 2 muffin-tin quiches, smoked cheddar, potato, and a cup of herbal chamomile health tonic
lunch: 1 serving of spicy slaw bowls, shrimp, and edamame
dinner: 1 bowl of Asian beef noodle, and 1 kiwi
Day 3 & 4:
breakfast: 2 blueberry-pecan pancakes, 2 tbsp. nonfat Greek yogurt, and 1 tsp. maple syrup
lunch: 1 1/2 cups of white turkey chili
dinner: 2 cups of slow-cooker pasta e fagioli soup
Day 5 & 6:
breakfast: 1 whole-wheat tortilla, 1 scrambled egg, and ½ cup black beans
lunch: two corn tortillas, ¼ sliced avocado, and ⅓ cup shredded chicken breast
dinner: 1 serving of stetson chopped salad, 1/2 slice whole-wheat toast, and 1 tsp. olive oil
Day 7 & 8:
breakfast: 2 blueberry-pecan pancakes, 2 tbsp. nonfat Greek yogurt, and 1 tsp. maple syrup
lunch: 1 serving of cod, tomato cream sauce, 2 cups mixed greens, and 1/2 cup easy brown rice
dinner: 1 serving of spaghetti squash, chicken, and avocado pesto
Day 9 & 10:
breakfast: 1 slice of peanut butter-banana cinnamon toast
lunch: 1/4 cup hummus, 1 1/2 cups slow-cooker vegetable soup, and 6 seeded crackers
dinner: 1 serving of vegan coconut chickpea curry
Day 11 & 12:
breakfast: 3/4 cup steel-cut oatmeal, 2 links country-style turkey sausage, and 1 cup blueberries
dinner: 1 serving of butternut squash soup, avocado, chickpeas, and 1 slice of whole-wheat toast
Day 59 & 60:
breakfast: 1 frozen whole-grain pancake, ½ sliced apple, and 1 cup nonfat/ soy milk
lunch: 1 serving of green salad, edamame, and beets
dinner: 1 serving of chickpea curry, 1 serving of turmeric-roasted cauliflower, and 1/2 cup brown rice
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Based on the knowledge of effective workouts, the best workout plan is a 60-day challenge weight loss bodybuilding combination.
The specific exercises in this 60-day weight loss challenge workout plan are based on an estimated calorie burn ranging from 150 – 250 calories per day for a 150-pound (68 kg) man. As your fitness capacity increases, you can increase the intensity or duration of workouts to burn more calories.
It also features workout variations to avoid overuse injuries.
Week 1:
Sunday: Rest
Monday: Weight training – barbell front squats (5 sets, 6-10 reps)
Tuesday: Cardio – jogging (5 mph, 30 minutes)
Wednesday: Weight training – Romanian deadlifts (5 sets, 6-10 reps)
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Weight training – pull-ups (5 sets, 10-15 reps)
Wednesday: Weight training – lat pull downs (5 sets, 10-15 reps)
DISCLAIMER:
This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not address individual circumstances. It is not a substitute for professional advice or help and should not be relied on to make decisions of any kind. Any action you take upon the information presented in this article is strictly at your own risk and responsibility!
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