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How To Lose 40 Pounds In 6 Months – Is It Healthy?

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Reviewed by: Dr. Sadie Wegler
Fact Checked by: Dr. Jordan Wheeler Kincaid

How To Lose 40 Pounds In 6 Months
How To Lose 40 Pounds In 6 Months

How to lose 40 pounds in 6 months, you must have the willpower to stay committed to doing what is required for weight loss. Many people think weight loss means that you will need to do dieting and work out. 

Although they play a major part, besides it, the family, health medication, stress level, sleep, and what you consume impact our body. Hence to lose weight, you need the right diet and approach. 

It will require significantly reduced calorie intake and attention to what type of calories you eat.

Healthy weight loss does not come from yo-yo dieting. We all know how it works. You will lose many pounds at once and eventually get it all back. 

Thus instead of restricting your calories too much, choose a healthy eating habit. Also, refrain from straining your muscle excessively because of an intense workout regime. It can create many muscle problems later.

Find the balance for your diet and workout plan, which you can regularly follow for six months. Only then will you lose 40 pounds of weight. 

You should try to lose a pound or two weekly for the most effective long-term weight management. We are giving you some awesome steps that you can follow to achieve your goal.

How To Lose 40 Pounds In 6 Months – Effective Ways

Calorie Deficit Diet Plan:

How To Lose 40 Pounds In 6 Months
How To Lose 40 Pounds In 6 Months

To create a calorie-deficit diet, first, you need to determine your maintenance calorie. It means how many calories you need in a day to support your calorie expenditure. 

Maintenance calories vary from person to person. Once you decide the number of calories you require in a day, start cutting all the extra calories.

You can achieve a calorie deficit when you eat fewer calories than the calories you are spending.

A calorie deficit diet does not have to be a nutrition deficit. Ensure your diet contains all the healthy nutrients that are essential for the body. Experts suggest a balanced diet because it is generally low in calories and high in nutrition. 

If you have already determined your maintenance calorie, make a diet plan by cutting approx. 500 to 700 calories in a day. It is a safe amount that does not risk deficiencies.

On average, women require at least 1200 calories a day, while men require more calories, which is 1500 calories. A diet that does not provide that much calorie causes nutrition deficiency and slows down metabolism. 

Hence instead of lowering calories to a dangerous amount, opt for spending more calories through a workout. It will also provide flexibility in calorie intake.

With a combination of exercise and consuming fewer calories, your body will start burning fat and increase the metabolic process.

Although adjusting to a new diet routine can prove difficult, do not give in to your craving for food; instead, prepare some homemade snack or fruit like cucumber that is extremely low in calories for munching. It will help you maintain your calorie count more closely to our goal.

Also read the following:

Eating Calories Right Way:

Eating Calories Right Way
How To Lose 40 Pounds In 6 Months

You will be astonished to know how certain food and beverages in relatively small quantities can quickly add up to thousands of calories which is why keeping track of your calorie intake is extremely important. You can keep track of your calories with mobile apps or handwritten journals.

You do not have to go on a trendy diet or eat any particular food to lose weight. But some high-calorie food adding zero nutrients to your body needs to be cut off for six months.

Aim to limit sugar, especially in sweetened drinks, coffee, cake, cookies, and soda. These food items can add up to 800 unnecessary calories in a day. Instead, take your sugar from natural fruits.

Also, you must pay attention to what type of carbohydrates you eat. For example, white pasta, white flour, and white bread are refined foods with zero nutrient value and heaps of calories. 

Hence choose carbohydrates that are low in glycemic index, for example, sweet potatoes and asparagus. Besides them, you can also add whole grain bread and pasta to your diet, which has more fiber and iron than its refined counterparts.

Adding protein and fiber to your diet gives you immense benefits. But remember to choose lean protein like fish instead of fatty meat.

Suppose your diet contains a substantial amount of fiber and protein. You will sense fuller for a long time, and your body will spend more calories digesting them. Therefore you can burn calories by eating.

Also, add unsaturated fat like olive oil and nuts to your diet.

Lastly, remember to split your calories across the day, do not consume all calories while binge eating, and drink plenty of water.

Workout Planning:

Plan at least six days of workouts weekly to lose 40 pounds in 6 months. You need to engage in 40 minutes of cardio exercise for six days. You have set your monthly workout goal for 250 minutes.

If you want to lose weight fast, add strength training between your cardio exercises. It will work on your strength and specific muscle groups. Remember not to work on the same muscle for two consecutive days.

Cardio:

When you are only focusing on cardio exercise to get into healthy shape. You need to invest 150 minutes in high-intensity cardio for each week. It will be a good idea if you choose a cardio workout you can enjoy. Some examples of cardio exercises are:

·  Running

·  Swimming

·  Walking

·  Cycling

·  Hiking

HIIT Workouts:

High-intensity interval training is called HIIT, and performing HIIT exercises can make your weight loss journey smoother. It includes high-intensity exercise that makes your heart rate faster and low-intensity exercise interval that keeps your body moving.

The best part of choosing HIIT exercise over cardio is that you have to spend far less time doing the workouts. Suppose you are doing 30 minutes of HIIT, equivalent to 68 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise.

Strength Training:

If cardio and HIIT exercise to burn calories in a moment, then strength training supports weight loss in the long run by building muscle. Strength training burns more calories because one session can burn calories for up to 72 hours, even if you are sleeping.

Appropriate Sleeping Pattern Is Important:

How To Lose 40 Pounds In 6 Months
How To Lose 40 Pounds In 6 Months

Sleep is imperative for your weight loss. You can also burn calories while sleeping and if you are depriving yourself of sleep. It can lead to loss of lean muscle mass rather than fat.

Sleep-deprived people’s bodies store more fat and feel less fuller after eating. Plus, a nice sleeping pattern can lessen the risk of diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure. It also reduces your stress because now you are getting a good rest. In addition, it can boost your immune system.

Less amount of sleep produces ghrelin hormone, which increases your appetite and decreases the leptin hormone, which tells you that you are full. Together can sabotage your weight loss plan.

Conclusion

Extra weight can be a concern for your health. An obese person has more risk of getting a disease. Your journey will have many challenges, but you must keep yourself motivated. Connect with other people who have already lost weight. They can inspire you to keep going.

Therefore choosing how to lose 40 pounds in 6 months is a great decision for which a person needs to be appreciated. When you accomplish your goal, share your stories with others so that other people can also get motivated.

Dr. Cornell Heller
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