How To Lose 50 Pounds In A Month: Here’s Why The “I Want It All And I Want It Now” Approach To Weight Loss Doesn’t Work

Taking Baby Steps Instead Of Giant Leaps

Whether your goal is to lose five or fifty pounds, the bottom line is that weight loss is and will always be a challenge regardless of the number you want to see on your scale. This journey can put a strain on more than just your patience. Factors such as your lifestyle, diet, and physical activity will also be impacted. Losing 50 pounds in a month is a hefty goal to say the least. But is it doable? How to lose 50 pounds in a month without wreaking havoc on your health? We get to the bottom of this question in this article, so keep on reading.

Why Lose 50 Pounds? 

You may have realized from your last checkup that you have gained an unhealthy amount of weight, which might be a risk factor for health conditions such as obesity and heart diseases.

As such, your goal could be dropping off extra pounds, more specifically, 50 pounds. Other weight loss goals could be attaining a particular body shape or becoming more fit. Whatever your reason is, remember to seek help from a dietitian first.

Losing 50 Pounds In A Month: Is It A Bluff?

Dubious ideas are promoted online and offline about rapid weight loss. Marketers may promote particular weight loss pills and supplements that are intended to help with rapid weight loss.

However, after trying them, you may end up not seeing the changes you wanted. It leaves us asking, is it truly possible to lose 50 pounds in a month? The truth of the matter is that it could be possible.

However, it is extra challenging and is unhealthy. Experts acknowledge that in one month, the most pounds you can lose safely range from 4 to 8 pounds (7). This occurs when you focus on healthy eating, maintaining a calorie deficit, and exercising.

The target of losing 50 pounds in one month is higher than what experts recommend. Therefore, it will entail more effort to lose this much weight. Experts acknowledge that this is possible if you focus on maintaining a very low-calorie diet (9).

On a very low-calorie diet you are encouraged to eat less than 800 calories a day (13). In some extreme cases, this number could reach 500 calories. Such a daily calorie intake is too low and can be dangerous to your health. As such, you are urged to start such a diet plan with medical supervision and approval only.

To lose this many pounds healthily and safely, you should aim at a 6 to 8-month weight loss plan.

Read More: Lose Weight On A Budget: 15 Smart Ways To Save Money While Living A Healthy Lifestyle

Effective Ways On How To Lose 50 Pounds In A Month

To lose 50 pounds in four weeks, you will have to put your health at risk. Your actions and efforts will have to be more than those of an individual looking to lose 8 pounds in the same duration. Regardless of what you have heard or have been told, expect to have bad days.

Some days you will wake up highly motivated, while others you will just want to quit. Remember that such a weight loss journey is unhealthy and may have detrimental health effects. Therefore, be cautious and seek professional advice. Here are some accepted methods that can help you lose this much weight in one month:

• Cut Down Your Calories

One of the fastest and easiest ways of shedding pounds is cutting down your calorie intake. Weight loss does not just entail watching your food portions, eating healthy meals, and exercising. It is primarily dependent on reducing your calorie intake.

It means that you have to be calculating your daily calorie intake. Such calculations will help you keep up with how many calories you are consuming. When starting, experts recommend you maintain your daily calorie intake between 1, 000 and 1, 600 calories (3).

Such a limit may be lower depending on your required daily energy requirements. It is influenced by your age, height, sex, health status, and lifestyle. An active male between 16 and 18 years old is required to consume up to 3, 200 calories daily. Likewise, a female aged 19 to 25 years is required to consume 2, 000 calories daily (6).

However, since you are aiming at shedding 50 pounds, you have to consume less calories, and sometimes as little as800 calories daily. As mentioned earlier, consuming fewer calories can be dangerous to your health. It might lead to nutritional deficiencies. So, consult a dietitian before you start focusing on any low-calorie diet.

• Try Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting also ranks among other easy ways to lose weight. It refers to a practice where you are not required to eat for a specified duration daily or weekly. There are several intermittent fasting approaches that you can consider. The most widely adopted ones include:

• Alternate-day fasting. In this approach, you must eat a typical diet one day and then fast or have a small meal the next day. Such a small meal must contain calories that are fewer than 500 (12). 
• Daily time-restricted fasting (16:8 method). In this approach, you eat normally but only during an 8-hour window a day. It means that you can skip breakfast and have lunch. After lunch, you can wait around 8 hours and have dinner around 8 pm.
• 5: 2 fasting. This approach requires you to eat normally for five days but fast for two non-consecutive days in a week. On fasting days, you should eat a 500-600 calorie-meal to sustain yourself.

Although all these approaches can help you shed some extra pounds, they too have their cons. They may cause such side effects as insomnia, fatigue, mood swings, hunger, headaches, and nausea. So, never start a fasting program without seeking professional help.

Get your personal plan according to your age and BMI

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Get your personal plan according to your age and BMI

Select your gender

Male Female

• Burn More Calories

Whether you want to lose 50 pounds in 3 months or one, you must focus on burning more calories. The only way you can burn more calories daily is by engaging in physical activity. You can also increase your exercise intensity to enable your body to burn more calories. 

You must consult with a fitness coach before you start any exercise program for weight loss. Although such activities may aid in weight loss, they may also result in serious injuries.

Therefore, seek a trainer’s advice before you start any workout plan. They will offer their advice and help to assist you to attain your weight loss goals. Typically, they will craft a routine for you based on your age, fitness level, and goals (8).

Do not, therefore, expect a 50-year old who wants to lose 10 pounds to have your workout plan. Yours may be more intense and longer as your goal is losing 50 pounds in 1 month. 

• Hydrate

Water not only helps in quenching your thirst but also in suppressing your food cravings. In most cases, you may tend to confuse thirst for hunger. Hence, you may end up overeating, and surpassing your daily calorie intake.

Drink your water whenever you feel hungry. Even better is the fact that it contains no calories. Hence, you do not have to worry about getting liquid calories from your water.

Experts recommend you drink water frequently (10). It will help in your weight loss journey. Additionally, it will help in maintaining your body temperature and getting rid of body waste.

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• Be Consistent

If you want to lose a lot of weight in one month, you must be dedicated to your weight loss journey. You have to make appropriate changes that support the shedding of these pounds. For example, you have to make proper dietary changes.

Likewise, you have to stay consistent if you want results. You have to stay on track with your lifestyle, dietary, and exercise changes to drop this much weight. Exercising and eating right for one week will not help much. Consistency is key!

• Prioritize Progress

Throughout these four weeks, you may slip up and give in to temptation. For example, you may fall off your eating plan for one day and go to town on a bag of chips. Similarly, you may be tempted to overeat, especially when the meal is delicious.

The worst thing you could do when such a thing happens is beat yourself up. It will only demoralize you and trigger the thoughts of giving up on your weight loss program altogether. Remember, tiny slip-ups or minor ‘detours’ from your weight loss journey are never reason enough for you to give up.

Always prioritize progress over perfection. Value what you have achieved instead of focusing on where you slipped (11). Forgive yourself for that, brush it off, and resume your routine. 

• Seek Support

There are times when you will feel like breaking down or quitting your weight loss journey. It happens, especially when you are pushed over the edge. You can fight through such feelings by seeking a solid support system.

Find yourself a group that will exercise along with you or adopts the same weight loss diet plan. Your friends or family members can easily sabotage your weight loss whether knowingly or unknowingly. They may peer pressure you to order unhealthy foods, skip your workout, or make other unhealthy lifestyle choices. Such decisions compromise your weight loss journey.

Therefore, surround yourself with supportive friends and family. They will keep accountable for your dietary, exercise, and lifestyle choices.

• Get Enough Sleep

If your resolution this year is losing weight, then make sure you get enough sleep. Sleep has a profound impact on your body weight. It affects it in the following ways (5):

Lack Of Sleep Increases Your Hunger

Sleep loss leads to the production of a hormone called cortisol. It is the hormone responsible for regulating your appetite. When you do not get enough sleep, you feel hungrier. This then affects your body’s metabolism. Once your metabolism is affected, it becomes challenging to either maintain or lose weight.

Sleep Loss Affects Fat Storage

When you do not get adequate rest, it interferes with the ability of your body to metabolize carbs. As a result, you tend to have higher blood sugar levels. Too much blood sugar in your body leads to insulin overproduction. It then leads to increased fat storage and insulin resistance, which is a build-up for diabetes.

Read More: Is 6 Hours Of Sleep Enough To Build Muscle: How Lack Of Sleep Hinders Your Gains

• Avoid Refined Carbs

Besides setting realistic weight loss goals, you can also safely lose weight by avoiding refined carbs. Carbohydrates can be divided into either complex or simple carbs. Simple carbs consist of refined carbohydrates that tend to cause a sugar spike. Experts acknowledge that refined carbs are more dangerous to your metabolism than saturated fats (4).

Refined carbs are dangerous compared to complex carbs due to their influx of sugar. This sugar triggers the liver to create and release fat into your bloodstream. They include foods such as white bread, white pasta, white rice, white flour, candies, added sugars, and several kinds of cereal. 

Instead of consuming refined carbohydrates, you are urged to consume more whole grains. Examples of these foods include oatmeal, buckwheat, barley, millet and brown rice. 

Therefore, you must keep away from them if you want to shed 50 pounds in such a short timeframe. For healthy weight loss, you are advised to consume a ratio of 40 % carbohydrates of your daily calories.

• Eat More Protein

Eating more protein can also fast-track your weight loss. It can help in boosting your metabolism. Similarly, high-protein diets may help you keep your weight steady. Most weight watchers are advised to concentrate more on consuming lean proteins. Some great sources of lean protein include white poultry, tofu, legumes, beans, fish, lentils, greek yogurt and low-fat cottage cheese. They will not only help you lose weight but also maintain your muscle mass.

• Increase Your Fiber Intake

Fiber has numerous benefits for anyone trying to shed some pounds. First and foremost, it tends to increase your satiety. Feeling fuller for longer will help you eat or snack less. As a result, it will help you cut down your calorie intake.

Similarly, fiber also helps to keep your digestive system in top condition. When your digestive system functions properly, waste is not compacted in your body. Fiber also balances bacteria in your gut, which have been linked with supporting weight loss (4).

You can acquire fiber from eating various foods. Try whole-grain cereals and products such as oats and barley. Also eat fruits and vegetables like oranges, berries, broccoli and carrots for their high fiber content. You can also acquire fiber by consuming seeds, nuts, beans, pulses, and peas.

• Try A Probiotic

You can also consider trying probiotics. Probiotics are helpful bacteria when it comes to digestion. Experts believe they influence your body weight, mood, fat, and mass (1).

You will highly benefit from taking probiotics. They will regulate your body weight and provide energy for your liver cells and gut wall. You can attain probiotics naturally from various fermented foods. Some of these include yoghurt, kefir, kimchi, miso, tempeh, kombucha, and sauerkraut.

• Reduce Your Stress Levels

Stress also influences your weight gain and loss. When you are highly stressed, you are most likely to binge and overeat. In most cases, you are most likely to binge and emotionally eat unhealthy foods.

So, try and reduce your stress levels to curb such unhealthy eating behaviors. There are various recommended ways in which you can reduce your stress. They range from exercising, practicing meditation, doing yoga, to spending quality time outdoors. Pick a soothing method that helps you relax and reduce your stress.

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• Eat Mindfully

Another tip that will help you lose weight is eating mindfully. The eating mindfully concept entails being aware and alert of what, how, and how much you eat. Concepts such as portion control will help you eat mindfully.

You can try and serve your meals on a smaller plate. Using smaller plates will help in reducing how much food you serve yourself. As a result, it will limit your calorie intake. Cutting down your calorie intake will help you lose some pounds.

You can also practice mindful eating by eating slowly. Take time to chew your food and enjoy it. Do not rush through your meals as it will make you swallow large food portions. Such portions complicate or slow down digestion.

Similarly, you can practice mindful eating by eliminating any distractions while you eat. Try to put down your phone or switch off the television. While you eat in the presence of such distractions, chances are you will most likely overeat or eat fast. 

• Eat Healthy Weight Loss Snacks

Losing weight does not mean that you will automatically give up the urge to snack. You will crave for some snacks, regardless of the last time you ate. In this case, you are urged to eat healthy snack options that promote weight loss.

They should have low contents of salt, sugar, saturated fat, and refined carbohydrates (2). You should also go for filling snacks that help in regulating how much you eat. They should be nutritious but also help in preventing you from overeating. Some of the most common and healthy weight loss snack options include (2):

• Hummus and vegetables
• Hard or soft boiled egg
• Celery sticks and nut butter
• Low-fat cheese
• Fruit and nut butter like apples and peanut butter or banana and peanut butter 
• Nuts
• Greek yogurt with strawberries or other berry kinds
• Salt-free or air-popped popcorn
• Edamame

The Bottom Line

How to lose 50 pounds in a month? This journey is certainly not for the faint-hearted. One thing you should keep in mind, that losing more than 2 pounds a week is unhealthy and is highly discouraged by doctors and dietitians. Instead of trying to find a quick fix to your situation, change your perspective and put your health first. Take baby steps instead of giant leaps. Incorporate more activity into your day, try to maintain a calorie deficit, eat mindfully and get enough rest. Put these tips into practice and in a couple of months, you’ll be well on your way to reach your objectives!

DISCLAIMER:

The following is meant for general informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for any professional or medical help/advice. Any action you take based on this article’s findings is solely at your own risk and responsibility!

SOURCES:

1. 14 ways to lose weight without diet or exercise (2018, medicalnewstoday.com)
2. 9 healthful snacks to eat for weight loss (2019, medicalnewstoday.com)
3. 10 tips for successful weight loss (2019, medicalnewstoday.com)
4. 20 ways to lose weight safely (2019, medicalnewstoday.com)
5. Can’t Shed These Pounds? (2003, medicinenet.com)
6. How many calories should I eat a day? (2018, medicalnewstoday.com)
7. How much weight can you safely lose in 1 month? (2020, medicalnewstoday.com)
8. Is it possible to lose weight quickly? (2020, medicalnewstoday.com)
9. Rapid Weight Loss (2019, webmd.com)
10. Water: How much should you drink every day? (2020, mayoclinic.org)
11. Weight Loss:  The No-Diet Approach (2020, medicinenet.com)
12. What is intermittent fasting? Does it have health benefits? (2020, mayoclinic.org)
13. What to know about low-calorie meal plans (2020, medicalnewstoday.com)